Usher "Stands" To Be #1 On Charts

With first-day sales reports coming in at more than 146,000, Usher's latest album Here I Stand is expected to hit the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 next week.

After dropping this Tuesday, May 27th, the project is currently on top of the Nielsen SoundScan Building chart. Unweighted first-day sales from the nine accounts who make up the charts panel showed sales for Here I Stand around 146,000.

Earlier this year, Mariah Carey had a similar first day sales number of 154,000. After promotional appearances on "Oprah Winfrey" and "American Idol," Carey finished her first week with sales of 463,000.

Usher's previous album, 2004's Confessions sold 1.1 million in its first week and went on to spend nine weeks at the top of the Billboard 200.

After a reported leak last week, it's estimated that some 500,000 copies of Here I Stand were illegally downloaded.