American Idol Finalists Storm The Pop Charts

American Idol finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard have shot to the top of the American pop charts after rush releasing their debut singles on the same day last week.

But the pop chart battle didn't go the way of the final - Aiken, who finished as American Idol runner-up last month, claimed the top spot.

His version of Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over TRoubled Water and This is the Night outsold Idol victor Studdard's Flying Without Wings by more than 100,000.

It's the first time in the 45-year history of America's HOT 100 chart that the top two positions are new entries, and the first time since 1998 a new release has debuted at the top.

With 393,000 singles sold, Aiken's debut boasts the biggest one-week sales figures since Sir Elton John's Candle in the Wind in 1997.

Aiken and Studdard appear on the chart's new number three entry too - the AAmerican Idol Finalists' version of anthemic Lee Greenwood hit God Bless America, which had been number one for eight weeks.