Lauren Alaina may have lost out to Scotty McCreery for the title of the next "American Idol." But she's ready to go another round on the charts.
So how does she measure up to her Idol rival?
"Like My Mother Does," the first single from the spunky 16-year-old runner-up, debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Digital Albums and Country Albums Chart and No. 11 on the Digital Songs chart after its release to country radio and online last week.
"Mother," which also landed at No. 20 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and No. 49 on the Hot Country Songs chart, has racked up sales of 121,204 units — the highest debut for a second-place Idol finalist in six years.
"This is so awesome!" Alaina said in a statement. "'American Idol' has changed my life, so I'm excited that the songs I performed on there are doing so well. I can't believe that I have a song out on country radio, much less that so many stations started playing it right away. I can't wait to get out and meet everybody and thank them personally for playing my song."
"Like My Mother Does," which Lauren also performed on the May 24 finale, still wasn't good enough to top Scotty, however, who won this rematch handily.
By comparison, the 17-year-old crooner's first post-Idol single, "I Love You This Big," has sold 171,404 units since hitting the charts a week after he was declared this season's champ thanks to a record 122.4 million votes. The tune also bested Alaina's on the Hot 100 chart, snagging the No. 11 spot, and came in at No. 32 on the Country Songs chart — the best debut for a new artist's first single since Jan. 20, 1990, per Billboard. It also reached No. 1 on iTunes.
But Lauren can take heart: a compilation of the Southern belle's performances from the hit Fox talent show called American Idol Season 10: Lauren Alaina, is currently ranked No. 9 on the Digital Albums and Country Albums charts with sales of 10,651 units.
Alaina heads back into the studio this week in Nashville to record her official debut album.
As for appearances, Lauren is scheduled to be a presenter at Wednesday's CMT Music Awards. She'll then make her concert debut at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday before joining the American Idols Live Tour kicking off July 6 in Salt Lake City.
We wish her good luck.