Season 11 "American Idol" winner Phillip Phillips, seen here performing his victory song "Home" May 23, earned the highest debut on the Digital Songs chart for the week ending May 27. MICHAEL BECKER/Fox
"American Idol" winner Phillip Phillips has made the highest debut on the Digital Songs chart for the week ending May 27 with his "Home" launching at no. 2 with more than 278,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundSCan.
The news was reported Wednesday by hollywoodreporter.com.
It is the second highest volume of digital sales for all "Idol" contestants with winner Kelly Clarkson's 2009 "My Life Would Suck Without You" debuting with 280,000 downloads.
"Home" also marks the biggest sales week for any "Idol" winner's first single since SoundScan began tracking downloads in 2003, according to the story. It surpasses former Tulsan David Cook's 2008 "The Time Of My Life," which launched with 236,000 downloads, according to the website.
In comparision, Oklahoma native and country superstar Carrie Underwood saw her song "I Told You So" with Randy Travis garner with 125,000 downloads in its first day.
And, before downloads replaced CD singles, "Idol" finalist Clay Aiken's single "This Is the Night" had 393,000 in its first week of sales and winner Ruben Studdard started with 286,000 downloads of "Flying Without Wings,” according to the website.
Phillips also debuted at no. 41 on Digital Songs with "We've Got Tonight" (43,000) and No. 54 with "Volcano" (35,000).
FYI: Since weekly sales of songs by the reality show’s contestants are withheld while the season is in progress, the sales are only for the week ending May 27.
Phillip Phillips performed his coronation song "Home" on the Season 11 finale of "American Idol."
