Week Ending Dec. 4, 2011. Albums: Headed For A Triple Crown

Adele

's DVD Live At The Royal Albert Hall sold 96,000 copies this week, which is the greatest one-week sales tally for a music video in four years. After just one week, Live At The Royal Albert Hall is the best-selling music video of 2011. It is followed by AC/DC'sLive At River Plate (73K), Beyonce's I Am…World Tour (63K) and a 25th anniversary concert presentation of Les Miserables (63K). Adele is now assured of having the year's #1 album (21), #1 song ("Rolling In The Deep") and #1 music video.

No other artist in Nielsen SoundScan history has ever topped all three of these year-end charts. *NSYNC and 50 Cent each had the year's #1 album and #1 music video, but fell short on the list of the year's best-selling singles. The boy band scored in 2000 with the album No Strings Attached and the music video Live At Madison Square Garden. 50 Cent triumphed in 2003 with the album Get Rich Or Die Tryin' and the music video The New Breed.

Adele's DVD sold more copies this week than any of Michael Jackson's videos did in any one week in the wake of his death in June 2009. Live In Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour sold 74,000 copies in one week in July 2009. Jackson's Number Ones video sold 69,000 copies the following week. (These figures may not sound like much, but bear in mind that music videos are pricier than CDs or digital albums.)

What was the last music video to sell as many as 96K copies in one week? That's a surprisingly tricky question. Until February 2008, DVDs that were packaged with CDs were allowed to appear on both Top Music Videos and The Billboard 200. (Now, they appear on one chart or the other, depending on which component is predominant.) Under the old rules, Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Collection was considered both an album and a music video. The retrospective topped 100K in weekly sales in each of its first seven weeks of release in November and December 2007.

Live At The Royal Albert Hall

is the third video recorded at the legendary London venue to reach #1 on the Top Music Videos chart. It follows a 10th anniversary presentation of LesMiserables, which entered the chart at #1 in October 1996, and Cream'sRoyal Albert Hall: London May 2-3-5-6 2005, which debuted at #1 in October 2005.

Michael Buble's Christmas tops The Billboard 200 for the second week. The album sold 293,000 copies this week, which is the heftiest total for a Christmas album since Susan Boyle's The Gift sold 335K copies in its second week in November 2010. (It will do even better next week, with estimates starting at 400K.) Buble's album sold nearly 60K digital copies this week, which puts it at #1 on Top Digital Albums.

Shameless Plug: Buble's album zooms to #7 on the year-to-date sales chart and will probably wind up at #2 or #3 for the year. That would be the highest year-end ranking for a Christmas album since Josh Groban'sNoel was the best-selling album of 2007. On Thursday, we'll post a Chart Watch Extra in which I take a look at the top 10 albums for the year-to-date, as well as the leaders in a wide range of genres, from comedy to reggae. Then, on Wednesday Jan. 4, the very day the final numbers for 2011 come in, I'll update the post to reflect the final rankings and sales tallies. So check back tomorrow for a preliminary report and again in a few weeks for the final accounting.

Canadian artists account for an unprecedented four of this week's top five albums. Buble is followed by Justin Bieber at #3, Drake at #4 and Nickelback at #5. There are only two American acts in the top 10 (Mary J. Blige and Lady Antebellum). England is represented by Adele; Barbados by Rihanna; Italy by Andrea Bocelli. (Now 40 rounds out the top 10).

Andrea Bocelli

's Concerto: Live In Central Park rebounds from #14 to #8 in the wake of PBS' airing of the concert special at which this album was recorded. This is Bocelli's sixth top 10 album, which is one of the highest totals ever for a classical crossover artist. Mario Lanza, who was billed as the greatest operatic tenor since Enrico Caruso, amassed 10 top 10 albums, from the soundtrack to That Midnight Kiss in 1949 to the posthumous Mario Lanza SingsCaruso Favorites in 1960. (Lanza died of a heart attack in1959 at age 38.) Josh Groban has also had six top 10 albums, from Josh Groban in 2002 to Illuminations last year. Bocelli landed his first top 10 album, Sogno, in 1999.

Bocelli has a second album in this week's top 20. His 2009 album My Christmas rebounds from #50 to #17 in its 24th week. It's #1 on Top Catalog Albums for the fifth week; and the first time this holiday season. Bocelli is the only artist with two albums in the top 20 during this busy week for music sales.

Bruno Mars'

"It Will Rain" jumps to #1 on Hot Digital Songs. Will it also move up to #1 on the Hot 100? You'll find out later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs. You'll also find out if either or both of the songs that move into the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs also move into the top 10 on the Hot 100. They are "Ni**as In Paris" by Jay-Z/Kanye West and "5 O'Clock" by T-Pain featuring Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Michael Buble, Christmas, 293,000. The album holds at #1 for the second week, matching 2009's Crazy Love as Buble's longest-running #1 to date. This is its sixth week in the top 10. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas," which jumps from #172 to #79.

2. Adele, 21, 144,000. The former #1 album rebounds from #7 to #2. This is its 41st week in the top 10. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Someone Like You," which drops from #7 to #9.

3. Justin Bieber, Under The Mistletoe, 133,000. The former #1 album rebounds from #6 to #3. This is its fifth week in the top 10. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Mistletoe," vaults from #37 to #21.

4. Drake, Take Care, 90,000. The former #1 album holds at #4 in its third week. Five songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Motto" (featuring Lil Wayne), which jumps from #18 to #15.

5. Nickelback, Here And Now, 78,000. The album drops from #2 to #5 in its second week. "When We Stand Together" drops from #35 to #40 on Hot Digital Songs.

6. Mary J. Blige, My Life II…The Journey Continues (Act 1), 72,000. The album dips from #5 to #6 in its second week. "Mr. Wrong" (featuring Drake) drops from #131 to #183 on Hot Digital Songs.

7. Rihanna, Talk That Talk, 68,000. The album drops from #3 to #7 in its second week. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "We Found Love" (featuring Calvin Harris), which holds at #2.

8. Andrea Bocelli, Concerto: Live In Central Park, 61,000. The album rebounds from #14 to #8 in its third week. This is its second week in the top 10. The album has sold 213K copies in its first three weeks.

9. Various Artists, Now 40, 48,000. The album rebounds from #13 to #9 in its fourth week. This is its third week in the top 10. The album has sold 305K copies in its first four weeks.

10. Lady Antebellum , Own The Night, 48,000. The former #1 album rebounds from #22 to #10 in its 12th week. This is its eighth week in the top 10. It's #1 on Top Country Albums for the fourth week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Just A Kiss drops from #40 to #46. "We Owned The Night" drops from #50 to #61.

Three albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Daughtry's Break The Spell drops from #8 to #14. Scotty McCreery's Clear As Day drops from #9 to #11. Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto drops from #10 to #12.

Glee: The Music: The Christmas Album, Volume 2

rebounds from #26 to #13 in its third week. It's #1 on Top Soundtracks for the second time in three weeks…The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part One drops from #18 to #20 in its fourth week. It's the #1 soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie for the fourth straight week. The movie was #1 at the box-office for the third straight weekend. It's one of only two movies to spend three weekends at #1 in 2011. The other is The Help, which scored in August and September.

Trey Songz's EP Inevitable bows at #23. This represents a drop-off from Songz' 2009 album, Ready, which hit #3...Hot Chelle Rae's sophomore album Whatever bows at 48. The group's 2009 debut, Lovesick Electric, didn't chart. The new album features the group's infectious hit "Tonight, Tonight," an energetic blend of power-pop and bubblegum. The song has sold 2,358,000 copies, making it #24 for the year-to-date. Hot Chelle Rae's album sold just 18K copies in its first week, but this is hardly the first time a smash single hasn't moved big numbers of albums.

Coming Attractions: The Black Keys' El Camino is expected to debut in the top three next week, with sales of about 160K. Amy Winehouse'sLioness: Hidden Treasures is expected to debut in the top 10, with sales of about 90K. Also due: Glee: The Music, Volume 7, Korn'sPath Of Totality, The Roots' Undun, Robin Thicke'sLove After War, T-Pain's Revolver,The Very Best Of Neil Diamond and Chevelle's Hats Off To The Bull.