A ‘Fearless’ prediction: Taylor Swift at No. 1

Taylor Swift’s latest hit, “Love Story,” allows a pair of star-cross’d lovers a happy ending for a change, while the new album it’s from, “Fearless,” is off to a pretty cheery beginning.

Billboard reports that “Fearless,” which was released Tuesday, should easily take the No. 1 spot on next week’s national sales chart, which would give the 18-year-old singer and songwriter her first chart topper with what is only her second album.

“Fearless” had sold more than 200,000 copies just by the end of its first day in stores, based on reports from retailers that Billboard says account for 80% of all U.S. album sales. The early returns have prompted the album’s distributor, Universal Music Group, to project a first-week total of around 600,000 copies. That would be the biggest inaugural-week figure for a country album this year, and one of the biggest for any genre for 2008.

-- Randy Lewis