Are Losers really the winners?

First Clay Aiken, now Daughtry. He might have been fourth in the eyes of 2006 American Idol voters, but Chris Daughtry is the top dog in album sales.

The bald rocker's self-titled debut is the top-selling album of the first half of 2007, according to new data from Nielsen SoundScan, having sold 1.7 million albums so far. Daughtry is the fastest-selling rock debut in the 16-year history of the Billboard album chart's sales-tracking system and the fifth best-selling digital release of all time. (Michael Jackson is First)

Daughtry bested the year's other contenders, with Norah Jones' Not Too Late, Akon's Konvicted, and Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight ranking behind him.

Carrie Underwood, who won American Idol in 2004, nabbed the top-selling country album and the fifth best-selling album overall with 1.1 million copies of Some Hearts sold.
The period's total sales figures continued their downward slide, with a total of 229.8 million albums sold in the US between January 1 and July 1, a 15 percent year-over-year drop. But digital track sales continued to rise, jumping 49 percent to 417.3 million songs sold digitally so far this year.

Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape" was tops among digital singles, selling 1.8 million so far. The next-closest seller is "Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym Class Heroes followed by Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" and Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race."