Madonna's "Hard Candy" Debut Disappointing?

Even though Madonna just did her big launch gig in New York, she might feel a bit worried when looking at how frequently her current CD, Hard Candy, is leaving the stores. It is expected to move between 275,000 and 300,000 copies its first week in America, which should easily put it at #1 - which was expected as well. However, Hard Candy is falling short on it's predecessor.

Her last album, Confessions, debuted to about 350,000 copies during its first week, without much radio support for its first single Hung Up. A lot of support has been given to her new single, 4 Minutes, massive campaigns and deals have been signed and put up to promote the album - which makes her expected debut that much more disappointing. In comparison, the "rival diva" Mariah Carey, not only sold about 475,000 copies of her new CD, E=MC2, but it was also her biggest debut week ever.

Part of the suggested blame has been put to Madonna herself. She has not done much promotion for her new album. She appeared in "106 & Park" for the first time in BET history, but has not done that much tv to promote the album - at least not in America. We look forward to seeing how things develop and reporting as the figures come in - or the dates for additional new shows she's going to be in!