Ruben's Star Power Starting to Add Up

Numbers Have Factored Greatly into the rise of "American Idol" Ruben Studdard.

First, there were the 205 Flava jerseys the Birmingham singer wore during the competition --- until he filed a lawsuit last August, claiming the clothes maker unfairly profited by using his unauthorized image to sell its wares. (205 Flava's owners, brothers Frederick and Will Jenkins, countered that they secretly paid Studdard to wear the jerseys on "Idol," despite the show's ban on such deals. In the end, it was settled out of court.)

Now his ballad "Sorry 2004" holds the No. 6 position on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop singles charts.

And while we're calculating: 1,600,000 The number of copies Studdard's debut CD, "Soulful," has sold to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. 416,500 "Soulful's" first-week sales when it debuted atop the pop charts in December 2003. (The Clay Nation will be quick to note that was nearly 200,000 less than "Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken's bow in October.) 134,000 Of the 24 million tallied, that was the difference between the "Idol" votes for Studdard and Aiken. 1983 The year of the Malibu he left in the driveway when he went off to "Idol"-dom. 360 His weight, last time some reporter asked the "velvet teddy bear." 9 The number of consecutive weeks "Soulful" stayed in the Top 10. (Aiken's "Measure of a Man" held on for four). 8-10X The size of his custom 205 jersey. 1 The number of Luther Vandross remakes on "Soulful" --- an obvious choice considering Studdard sounds so much like the sophisticated soul legend.