Keith Urban and Prince battle it out on the albums chart

Prince has been grinding hard to promote his new triple release, Elixer/LOtUSFLOW3R/MPLSoUND — live shows, Leno appearances, the works. All that effort paid off to the tune of 168,000 shoppers picking up the set at exclusive U.S. retailer Target, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s a fairly strong opening number, but it was still only enough to get Prince to No. 2 on this week’s Billboard 200. Who can Prince blame for this indignity? Keith Urban, whose Defying Gravity bowed at No. 1 with just a few more customers for a total of 172,000. Coming in behind both of them at No. 3 was Diana Krall, whose Quiet Nights appealed to a healthy 104,000 jazz fans and/or homebodies.

Other debuts this week came from Texan rappers UGK, whose UGK 4 Life, billed as their final release after member Pimp C’s untimely death, debuted at No. 6 with 76,000 copies sold; Flo Rida, whose massive single “Right Round” produced a middling 55,000 units moved of his album R.O.O.T.S., at No. 8; jazz trumpeter Chris Botti’s live set Chris Botti in Boston at No. 13 with 36,000; country singer Rodney Atkins’ It’s America at No. 15 with 34,000; Bow Wow’s New Jack City II at No. 16 with 31,000; and Gavin DeGraw’s Free at No. 19 with 26,000.

That’s nine debuts in the Top 20 — not nearly as many as last week‘s whopping 12, but still more than usual. One new entry that didn’t make it anywhere near the Top 20 was the Fast & Furious soundtrack, which sold a paltry 5,000. So much for the movie’s success rubbing off on the soundtrack. Weigh in below: Were you surprised by any of this week’s sales results?

addCredit(“Urban: Ethan Miller/Getty Image; Prince: Kevin Winter/Getty Images”)