Celine Dion's 'Day' Leads Sony Euro Charge

Female Sony artists dominate Music & Media's European Top 100 Albums chart this week. Celine Dion repeats her performance on The Billboard 200 with a No. 1 debut for "A New Day Has Come" (Epic). She bows at No. 1 in the U.K. (on sales of 89,000 units), France, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Italy, and Ireland; she also climbs 47-1 in Belgium and 22-1 in Norway.

The French-Canadian superstar's European pre-eminence is long established, with Sony estimating career album sales at 50 million units.

Since the IFPI's inception in 1996 of Platinum Europe certifications for sales of 1 million units, Dion has amassed a record 33 awards-almost twice as many as her nearest rival, Madonna, with 17.

Other Sony women in the top 10 are Shakira, at No. 2; Anastacia, No. 3; Barbra Streisand, No. 7; and Jennifer Lopez, No. 8.

German hip-hop favorite Xavier Naidoo bows at No. 9 with the double CD "Zwischenspiel/Alles für den Herrn" (Naidoo/SPV). As expected after the success of lead single "Wo Willst Du Hin?" (Bulletin, March 15), the album debuts at No. 1 in Germany, as well as at No. 2 in Austria and No. 3 in Switzerland.

Enduring British rock group Iron Maiden arrives at No. 11 on European Top 100 Albums with the double CD "Live in Rio" (EMI), despite minimal mainstream radio and no touring planned. Recorded in January 2001 at the Brazilian festival in front of the band's biggest-ever live audience of 250,000, the album enters at No. 7 in Italy and No. 8 in Finland and charts below the top 10 in 11 other territories, including No. 15 in the U.K. "The guys did a lot of promotion in a lot of territories, and that's evident in the chart position," says a spokesman for the band's managers, Sanctuary.

Another veteran British band is back among the European bestsellers, if not at home. Supertramp's "Slow Motion" (EMI) fails to chart in the U.K. but arrives at No. 6 in Switzerland and No. 8 in France, opening at No. 18 overall. The band starts a major European tour April 18 in Benidorm, Spain, and will visit 16 countries through July.

Meanwhile, with Shakira's "Whenever Wherever" (Epic) in its sixth week atop Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, the breakout track in much of Europe is French act Mad'House's reworking of Madonna's "Like a Prayer."

The track-released on Bio locally and on Edel and other labels internationally-is up 12-8 on the Eurochart. In Holland, it moves 3-2, behind Shakira.