Carey’s CD takes over lead in sales

MARIAH CAREY added a line to her 2005 Cinderella story Wednesday by moving ahead of 50 Cent in the tight race for the year’s bestselling album by nearly 32,000 copies with just days to go. Winning that crown would leave the Grammys as her chief remaining challenge.

Though the New York rapper’s “The Massacre” had a 2-million-copy sales lead over Carey’s “The Emancipation of Mimi” as recently as June 5, the Carey CD has steadily chipped away at that margin and finally moved passed it in the latest Nielsen SoundScan figures: 4.866 million to 4.834 million.

Carey’s CD, which is nominated for album of the year in the Grammy competition, sold 290,000 more copies last week to finish No. 6 among the week’s biggest sellers. The 50 Cent album is no longer a major seller.

The top spot on the new album chart was claimed by Mary J. Blige’s “The Breakthrough,” which sold 727,000 copies last week. Jamie Foxx’s “Unpredictable” finished No. 2 (598,000 copies) and Notorious B.I.G.’s posthumous package of duets finished No. 3 (438,000 copies). Eminem’s hits collection fell from No. 1 to No. 4 (430,000).

When “The Emancipation of Mimi” was released in April, Carey was a huge underdog in the race against “The Massacre,” which had come out the previous month. She had lost so much luster that EMI paid $30 million to buy out her $80-million contract in 2002. She was then signed by Island Def Jam, which released “Mimi.”