It's an embarrassment of Billboard chart riches for North Texas-based pop acts these days. Just a week after Selena Gomez hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her new album, Revival, two of her locally-bred contemporaries top that chart this week.
The biggest deal is that Pentatonix, the a cappella sensation led by three Arlington singers, has landed its first No. 1 album with its self-titled full-length collection. At nearly 100,000 copies sold in its first week, the band's feat is notable not only because it's Pentatonix's first release featuring mostly original songs, but also because it's the first time in history that an a cappella album has topped the pop album chart.
Coming in just behind Pentatonix on the chart with almost as many new albums sold is Dallas' Demi Lovato, whose fifth album, Confident, finds the songstress shedding physical and emotional layers.
Lovato and Pentatonix were close in sales numbers all week, so it was a bit of a nail-biter to see which claimed that No. 1 spot. But neither can be too sad about the chart performance -- we're in a time now when 100,000 units is more than respectable for a debut week.
The numbers bode well for Lovato's upcoming joint tour with Nick Jonas (which hits American Airlines Center next September). And Pentatonix's already packed TV dance card should start to fill up even more, especially with the holiday season coming up -- you'll recall that last year's holiday collection, That's Christmas to Me, was huge hit in its own right.
