Save Mariah: Mimi's Memoirs Flop

Last week was a big week for record industry, with 6.87 million albums sold. That's 16% more than the week before (although it's down 8% from the same week last year). Most of the press was given to Mariah Carey and Paramore as they battled for the No. 1 spot on the album chart, but singer Barbra Streisand ended up surprising both artists for a first place finish.

Streisand's Love Is The Answer sold 207,000 copies, enough to give her her ninth No. 1 album, the record for female singers. Chart watchers didn't see Streisand coming as she sold extremely well in non-traditional outlets such as QVC and Starbucks.

Paramore's Brand New Eyes managed to reach No. 2 with 175,000 copies sold. Mariah Carey's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel lived up to its title by debuting at a less than perfect No. 3. That makes it Carey's lowest charting album since 2001's Glitter.

Poor Mimi. The drama surrounding her albums lead single, "Obsessed" made her and her fans the laughing stock of the blogosphere and things still aren't looking up. "Obsessed" managed to crack the top ten of the Hot 100 where it has bumbled around for a few weeks, but her cover of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" is languishing at No. 60.