While sales of physical CDs have plummeted in 2006, big increases in the demand for digital tracks and albums have kept the overall music business in line with 2005 totals.

According to estimates for the week ending October 1, marking the end of the third quarter, physical album sales so far this year totaled 370.5 million units, down 8.3 percent from the 404.2 million racked up during the same period a year ago.

However, digital album sales climbed 115 percent, with 22.6 million sold through September. Downloaded tracks soared 72 percent, to 418.6 million.

Adding digital albums and track equivalent albums (with 10 digital tracks equaling one album) to physical sales, a total of 434.9 million albums have been sold in 2006. The comparable year-ago figure was 439.2 million.

Walt Disney Records' High School Musical soundtrack remains the top-selling release so far this year, with 3.1 million copies sold to date. Second is country act Rascal Flatts' Me and My Gang, accumulating 2.5 million sales.

Three '05 holdovers have remained in the top five throughout this year. The No. 3 title, U.K. singer-songwriter James Blunt's Back to Bedlam, has sold 1.9 million of its 2.2 million-unit total, while Some Hearts, the first album from our own Carrie Underwood, has reaped sales of 1.8 million in '06, giving the fourth season American Idol winner's debut album an impressive 3.5 million sales overall.

Coming in at No. 5 was The Breakthrough by Mary J. Blige, which has sold an impressive 1.6 million of its 2.6 million-unit total this year.

It will be interesting to see how digital sales impact the figures of other American Idol favorites once more data is gathered. Clay Aiken released his second album two weeks ago, and a number of new Idol stars, including last season's winner Taylor Hicks and runner-up Katharine McPhee, are due to put out their debut efforts this November.

What's your American Idol memory like?

If you've been following it since its debut season, you may remember the top two competitors (who doesn't), but what about the other finalists? As the show enters its sixth season this winter, the number of American Idol stars to enter (and fade from) the limelight grows.

Here's a little trivia for you. Try to remember the finalists from the first season. They're listed below, so no cheating. Here's are some small hints -- and a little bit of trivia at the same time -- there were only 10, not the show's now-standard dozen, and there are a lot of "J's."

We will list them in alphabetical order, in case anyone's watching the Idol recaps and wants to preserve some sense of suspense...

1. Christina Christian
2. Kelly Clarkson
3. E Jay Day
4. A.J. Gil
5. Tamyra Gray
6. Justin Guarini
7. RJ Helton
8. Nikki McKibbin (right)
9. Ryan Starr
10. Jim Verraros

Note that Ryan Starr is not the same person, or even the same gender, as this year's Rock Star: Supernova contestant. How did you do? We admit to having looked a few of these people up, too.

What a great show!

Despite having sold upwards of 285,000 copies of A Thousand Different Ways in under two weeks, Clay Aiken's new album is (perhaps prematurely) being called a commercial disappointment by some.

On the one hand, Clay's debut album, Measure of a Man, solid 613,000 copies in its first week alone, 400,000 more than ATWD netted. Some have also theorized that recording primarily covers on ATWD may be hurting its credibility.

We're not sure either estimation is accurate. Remember that MOAM hit stores right after he won the hearts of millions on American Idol, so that type of success may never be equaled.

There's also the question of whether Clay Aiken fans follow the typical industry sales patterns -- in which the weekly units moved fall off steadily after the initial buzz fades. Aiken may be more likely to sell albums over the course of a few months (rather than only in the first 2-3 weeks) than most artists.

It's also worth noting that in this digital age, the recording industry as a whole is posting 5 percent annual dropoffs. So with the notable exception of Ms. Kelly Clarkson, it seems fairly likely that any artist would see slightly disappointing numbers. We'll keep you updated on any new data or analysis that comes along.

American Idol Worship has come across an online account of a Clay Aiken record release event in Los Angeles. Here's the eyewitness account:

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More than 125 fans gathered at the Burbank Hilton Hotel and Convention Center to listen to Clay Aiken's new album, A Thousand Different Ways, eat some food, talk about their favorite Idol, raise money for his Bubel/Aiken Foundation, and engage with some very special guests.

Also, there were 300 ATDW CDs that had been pre-sold and then handed out that night.

Fred Bronson of Billboard Magazine, who has become the icon of industry statistics and predictions for Los Angeles-area Aiken fans since Clay’s first CD release, was there to exchange and inform.

Fred’s friendship with Clay Aiken and his experience in the business make him a desirable person to have around at an event of this sort, and the party guests were delighted with his presence once again.

Mr. Bronson held a Q&A with the fans about industry standards and expectations for Clay’s new CD.

He also gave some advice about how to handle requests with radio stations for ATDW.

Fred himself always has a million different irons in the fire -- books he’s writing, others he’s updating. His latest, entitled Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, is in bookstores now. Fred will be writing for the upcoming American Music Awards as well as Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve show.

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Blow-dryer in one hand and pomade in the other, former American Idol star Constantine Maroulis tries to fix his hair, which is in a mass of tangled curls after being pinned under a brown mullet wig for his Friday-night performance of The Wedding Singer on Broadway.

The room had two mirrors, a fridge, a sink, two bottles of champagne, a six-inch stack of unanswered fan mail, a gift basket with Greek flags sticking out of it (one of Maroulis' nicknames is Greek Boy), and about a dozen empty vases that had been filled with roses and flowers, according to the Village Voice.

The costume rack for Maroulis, best known to Broadway audiences and most Americans as the fifth runner-up in the fourth season of American Idol, was stuffed with '80s outfits, including one sparkly white glove and a red jacket reminiscent of Michael Jackson in "Thriller."

The names on the rack didn't identify the clothes as belonging to Maroulis; instead the label read "Matthew Saldivar," an actor who has left the show to make room for Maroulis.

After the 31-year-old rocker finished fixing his hair, even fluffing the hairs on his chest a bit with the blow-dryer, Constantine Maroulis sprays a coat of deodorant all over his torso, put on a purple T-shirt with an indescribable graphic design, yanked on a pair of embroidered cowboy boots, and put his arms through the sleeves of a slick black leather jacket.

As he prepared to leave, he looked one more time at the only photo that decorated his otherwise nondescript dressing room -- of Maroulis standing with his arm around a pudgy middle-aged woman, the fan who sent the photo to him. He smiled a little as he looked at it, as though it reminded him of those who found pleasure in standing next to a real live star.

Tonight a woman Maroulis had met recently -- at one of the rock performances at bars and clubs that now fill his schedule -- and who had been writing to him on his MySpace page was going to meet him backstage. He seemed interested to get to know her because they shared New Jersey roots.

"She's, like, a very sexy Jersey girl," he said to a visitor as he prepared to reacquaint himself with her in a few minutes.

Maroulis is always the last cast member to leave the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on West 45th Street to sign autographs for fans. But he at last finished with his post-show primping and was ready to face his adoring public. At the bottom of the stairs he paused, took a deep breath, and said, "All right, let's go for it."

He then stepped out onto the sidewalk and stopped for a moment as about 100 women and girls screamed his name and pushed to get closer to the metal barricade. Women held their playbills out to be signed and snapped his photo.

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As American Idol judges hoped to find the next Taylor Hicks in Seattle, they were faced with more impressions of William Hung than any winner of the FOX reality series.

However, The Seattle Times reported, the panel amused themselves with ample quips about the city.

"I think it must be something in the rainwater," said Randy Jackson, during a break in auditions, which continue today at a downtown hotel.

"They are astoundingly awful," said Paula Abdul, actually not offering praise for once.

After two hours of auditions, the judges had let through three of the first 12 hopeful stars. But at least the bevy of awful ones should make for entertaining TV when Idol returns in January.

"Wild. Insane. Maybe depressed," suggested Jackson, to explain the lack of talent seen so far.

At least the group of singers countered the Seattle stereotype that the city is too nice. they did blow apart one Seattle stereotype: its politeness. One wasn't exactly inviting to Simon Cowell.

"They told me not to come back to your country," said the Brit. "I really feel unwelcome."

An estimated 9,000 singers came to audition Sept. 19 at KeyArena. About 150 advanced to the next day's second round before the show's producers.

The American Idol staff wouldn't say how many singers moved on to perform for the judges over two days, but 30 to 40 sang Monday and more are planned for today.

The Velvet Teddy Bear is coming to Meridian, Miss., for a charity event, the Biloxi Sun-Herald reports today.

The venerable Ruben Studdard, who was given his nickname from R&B legend Gladys Knight, will be performing a concert on October 13 to benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children Transportation Fund.

"I'm coming up there to do a concert to support the kids. I am just a firm believer that you do unto others that you would have them do unto to you," Studdard said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

A native of Birmingham, Ala., Studdard rose to success after winning Fox's smash hit American Idol in 2003, narrowly defeating Clay Aiken in the show's second season.

He has released two albums under the label J Records and plans to release his third album, titled The Return, on October 17.

The proceeds from the Meridian show will go to the transportation fund of the Hamasa Shriners, who serve 32 counties in eastern Mississippi from Corinth down to Hattiesburg, according to Benny Eggler, the recording secretary for the Meridian-based Shriners.

The Hamasa Shriners help transport 500 children and their families each year to hospitals in Shreveport, La.; Galveston, Texas; Chicago; St. Louis; and Philadelphia, Pa.

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The third-season champion of American Idol, Carrie Underwood is the poster child for many young girls. Now she's literally the poster child for the Oklahoma Library Association's "Read Y'all" literacy campaign, as well.

Posters featuring the country singer from Checotah, Oklahoma, will be distributed free to every academic, public, school and special library in the state, according to Buffy Edwards, the official coordinator of the campaign.

The rising country star attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in mass communication and an emphasis in journalism.

Other Oklahoma natives to appear on the posters include country star Toby Keith, actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth, actor James Garner, author Dana Dunbar and New Orleans Hornets star Desmond Mason. Governor Brad Henry and first lady Kim Henry were featured on the first poster in 2003.

"I think Carrie Underwood just represents Oklahoma in such a positive manner. She's grounded in her upbringing. She's proud of her state. She appeals to a very wide age range," Edwards said.

"I think America fell in love with Carrie Underwood on American Idol, and we're very lucky she's from our state."

What hurts more than being booted off American Idol?

Not much, but a broken finger may be up there.

Unfortunately, season five contestant, Elliott Yamin, has now suffered through both experiences. The number-three finisher this past season is recovering from an hour's worth of surgery last week after breaking his pinky finger on his left hand in a freak accident.

Yamin, 28, was picking up rocks and throwing them at a sign after visiting a nightspot in his hometown of Richmond, Va., when "his finger got caught on a rod holding down a rock," a source close to the situation told People magazine.

"My finger snapped back and broke. I had to get a plate and two screws and I'm wearing a cast," Yamin said. "I'm doing okay. It's not hampering me."

The pinky will be on the mend for the next five to six weeks - but don't worry, fans, Elliott is right-handed, so he can still sign autographs.

"Everything is scheduled as planned. I'm good," said Yamin, who is performing with the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra in Birmingham, Alabama later today.

Fortunately for Ryan Seacrest he was out ... of a planned sketch to set up the American Idol host on an MTV comedy show.

Ashton Kutcher came clean to Seacrest when the TV and radio presenter taped an interview with the actor. Just before cameras started rolling on the chat, Kutcher revealed he had devised an elaborate practical joke - for the show, Punk'd - to make Seacrest think his new dream home was on an earthquake fault line.

"I was gonna pull something on you ... There was a small window when it (house) was in escrow," Kutcher said. "I wanted to get into your property and establish a fault line underneath your house and sink about half of it, sink the front of the house into the fault line.

We were shooting, so I couldn't do it at the time. You got really lucky because it would have been brutal."

At least Seacrest can take solace in the fact that he's leading our poll for favorite American Idol judge or host. Hang in there, Ry!