In the contest, she finished second. But on the charts, she's No. 1.

Susan Boyle's debut record, "I Dreamed A Dream," entered the British album chart in the top spot yesterday. The 48-year-old Scottish songstress famously finished second on "Britain's Got Talent," but the variety show launched a career that has seen her win success on both sides of the Atlantic.

According to the Official Charts Company, which tracks music sales in Britain, the more than 410,000 copies of "I Dreamed a Dream" sold since its release Nov. 23 make it the fastest selling album so far this year. It also marks the largest first-week sales for a debut album in U.K. chart history.

POLANSKI TO SERVE HOUSE ARREST AT CHALET

Roman Polanski is expected to trade the confines of a Swiss jail this week for house arrest in a luxury chalet with a view of the Alps, where he will await a Swiss decision whether to extradite him to the United States.

Polanski's three-story home on the edge of Gstaad has its own garden. He'll be allowed to host parties. The biggest drawback will be that he will be unable to leave the 1,800-square-meter property without losing $4.5 million in bail.

"He will have no prison regime," said Justice Ministry spokesman Falco Galli. "He is completely free to determine his daily schedule."

Swiss officials say they still think there is a high risk Polanski will try to flee, even though he will be wearing an electronic monitoring device that will detect any attempt to leave the property.

SENATORS URGE CHARGES AGAINST CRASHERS

Two senators say authorities ought to pursue criminal charges against the Virginia couple who crashed last week's state dinner at the White House.

Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana and Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona said yesterday such behavior should be strongly discouraged.

Authorities say Michaele and Tareq Salahi were allowed into the White House dinner Tuesday night even though they were not on the guest list. Bayh said it's no laughing matter that two people could get so close to President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden without being cleared.

'NEW MOON' RETAINS BOX OFFICE BITE

Vampires and werewolves continued to howl at the box office with a $42.5 million weekend for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

Summit Entertainment's "Twilight" sequel remained No. 1 over what proved a record Thanksgiving weekend for Hollywood. "The Blind Side," Warner Bros.' inspirational story of Baltimore Ravens tackle Michael Oher, had a great second weekend with $40.1 million, coming in at No. 2 just behind "New Moon."

The two movies propelled Hollywood to record revenues over the five-day Thanksgiving period. Wednesday-to-Sunday receipts came in at an estimated $275 million, according to Hollywood.com box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. That surpassed the previous record of $244.4 million set in 2000, when "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Unbreakable" topped the box office.