Usher denies 'Damita Jo'
top spot on album charts

updated 9:49 a.m. ET April 9, 2004

NEW YORK - Janet Jackson is now suffering from a sales malfunction.

Her new album, “Damita Jo,” sold approximately 381,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 2 on the charts. Her last album, 2001’s “All for You,” debuted at No. 1 with more than 605,000 copies sold. It’s the first time her album has not debuted at No. 1 since 1989’s “Rhythm Nation 1814.”

Jackson was denied the top spot this time by Usher, who sold 486,000 copies of “Confessions.” He debuted at No. 1 last week with 1.1 million copies sold.

Jackson, 37, released “Damita Jo” on March 31, about two months after her infamous breast-flashing Super Bowl halftime performance with Justin Timberlake.

Both blamed the incident on a “wardrobe malfunction,” but it drew the ire of the Federal Communications Commission, which launched an investigation.

Since then, Jackson’s popularity appears to have faded a bit. The album’s first single, “Just A Little While,” was a bust at radio and the second, “I Want You,” has not gotten much airplay on Top 40 radio stations.

In addition, MTV, which produced the Super Bowl halftime show for fellow Viacom station CBS, did not initially play her new video, though last week they said they would add it to its rotation.

There was plenty of hype surrounding “Damita Jo,” including Jackson appearances on “The Late Show” with David Letterman and “Good Morning America.”

This weekend, she will be the guest host and performer on “Saturday Night Live.”

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