I kept saying a shake-up would come, and it kinda did.

The newest project in the WOW Gospel series has debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart.

James Fortune & FIYA’s newest album, Encore, debuted at #2.  He said yesterday, via Twitter, that Encore sold more in one week than his last album, The Transformation, sold in 6 months’ time!

The fun industry moment that I predicted last week didn’t take place… though James Fortune debuted #2, his older project, The Transformation, got bumped outta the top 10.  It sits at #11, though, so stay tuned… maybe he’ll have two albums in the top 10 next week.

WOW Gospel, however, DID manage to have two albums in the top 10– in addition to the 2010 release debuting at #1, WOW Gospel 2009 sits at #9.  Well, kudos to Y’ALL then!

With last week’s releases, BeBe & CeCe Winans’ reunion project, Still, drops from the #1 spot for the first time since its release, landing at #3.  Tamela Mann is holding strong at #4, followed by Fred Hammond’s Love Unstoppable at #5.

Time Life Entertainment’s latest rendevous into the gospel marketplace, Shouting Down The Aisles, debuted at #8 on the charts.

Hmm… I think those are the highlights.  Whatd’ya think???

There are 4 compilation projects the top 10 spots of Billboard’s gospel albums chart.  I believe there’s a direct correlation between that number and the Christmas season– a woman knows that her auntie loves gospel music, but is totally unfamiliar with the genre, herself… she grabs a compilation album cuz you can’t go wrong.

So, the Time Life Christmas compilation continues selling, as does Gotta Have Gospel Christmas, WOW Gospel 2009 and a compilation called Gospel’s Best: Men, Women and Choirs, which I believe is a 3-disc, 30-track compilation released by EMI Gospel… great gift idea.

Other than that, the charts are really uneventful, folks.

In fact, the only movement in the top 5 slots is that Tamela Mann’s The Master Plan and Gotta Have Gospel Christmas have switched places since last week.

The full run down in the top 5:

1.  BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
2.  Voices: A Gospel Choir Christmas (Time Life compilation)
3.  Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
4.  Tamela Mann – The Master Plan
5.  Gotta Have Gospel Christmas

I also wanna shout-out Trin-i-tee 5:7, whose Christmas album, Love, Peace, Joy at Christmas, popped into #10.  I’ll share some of that music with you guys soon.

Are you buying gospel music as gifts for the holidays?  Who are you buying?

Pastor Shirley Caesar’s latest project, A City Called Heaven, debuted at #8 this week.  Kudos!  If you guys haven’t heard her lead single, “Nobody” feat. J Moss, you can check it out on the PunditPlayer.

The top 5 slots on Billboard’s gospel chart remain the same as last week with the exception of #5– Byron Cage’s Faithful To Believe was displaced by a holiday compilation album, Voices: A Gospel Choir Christmas, distributed by Time Life Entertainment.

Aside from that, BeBe & CeCe Winans are still #1, followed by Fred Hammond at #2, Tamela Mann at #3 and Mary Mary at #4.

My prediction is that the charts will look a lot like this through the new year, with the exception of some holiday albums sprinkled around and a few artists popping into the top 5 for a week, then dropping out again.

Whatd’ya think?