Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Apparently, Clay Aiken still has plenty of fans out there ready to buy his music.

Enough so that his new album, “Tried and True,” just debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200.

The CD is a cover album including such classics as “Suspicious Minds,” “Unchained Melody” and “Moon River.”

And that number nine debut compares quite favorably to other major Idol album releases so far this year.

Consider: Danny Gokey debuted at number four with “My Best Days,” Jason Castro at number 18 with his self-titled debut album, Katherine McPhee at 27 with her second post-Idol album, We Are the Fallen (Carly Smithson) at number 33, and Bo Bice at number 154 with “3,” his third album since finishing second two years after Clay.

Elsewhere on the music charts this week:

American Idol, Season Nine: The album featuring a song each from the top 10 drops to 131 on the Billboard 200, down from 110 last week.

Crystal Bowersox: A week ago, she had two songs among the Hot 100 — her “Falling Slowly” duet with Lee DeWyze at number 66 and “Up to the Mountain” at number 57. This week, the latter drops off that chart while “Falling Slowly” slips to number 88.

Lee DeWyze: The season nine winner watched “The Boxer” and “Hallelujah” fall from the Hot 100; they were 88 and 44, respectively, a week ago. But in addition to “Falling Slowly,” Lee is still on that chart with “Beautiful Day” at number 24.

Bucky Covington: The season five contestant has had a heck of a time getting a song on the country top 30 since his 2007 debut album yielded three songs that climbed as high as number 11. But Bucky might be back with “A Father’s Love.” The song cracked the top 30 at number 30 last week; this week, it’s up to number 27.

Daughtry: “Life After You” has fallen out of the Hot 100, but the song is still number seven on the adult pop song chart. The “Leave This Town” album hangs in at number 72, up five spots. And the band’s debut album reappears at number 145 on the Billboard 200 this week.

Fantasia: “Bittersweet,” the season three winner’s new single, continues to climb the R&B/Soul singles chart. This week, it moves from number 23 to number 20.

Danny Gokey: His aforementioned debut album is number 32 on the country album chart for the second straight week.

Adam Lambert: With the Glam Nation tour now under way, Adam’s “Whataya Want from Me” checks in at number three on the adult pop song chart. It’s 40 on the Hot 100, down five notches. “For Your Entertainment” falls from 72 to 78 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Carrie Underwood: With a CMT Awards show bounce likely next week, Carrie’s “Undo It” hangs in at number 25 on the Hot 100 after jumping all the way from 59 to that spot a week ago. The song has cracked the top 10 among country singles at number nine, up two spots. “Play On” is number 24 for the second straight week on the Billboard 200 and moves up from five to four among country albums.

We Are the Fallen: Three weeks on the Billboard 200 was all the staying power Carly Smithson and her band could muster. The band’s debut album had been 160 on the chart last week, down from 104.