"I've dreamt of making a Christmas album for as long as I can remember. I had very specific ideas of how I wanted it to sound and feel. I'm very proud of it, but of course I'm thrilled that the public has responded to it with so much enthusiasm," Buble told Reuters by email.

Sales of Buble's holiday record may have been boosted by the singer's appearance on Saturday Night Live this past week as well as the retail rush in the run-up to Christmas day.

British singer Adele, who crossed the 5 million sales milestone with her hit album "21" this week, climbed back to No. 2. Her album has spent 42 out of 43 weeks in the top five of the chart, while the third single, "Set Fire to the Rain," climbed to No. 7 on Billboard's Digital Songs chart.

Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber climbed to No. 3 with his festive album "Under The Mistletoe," ahead of the singer's performance on the finale of the U.S. television reality show "The X Factor" this week.

Recent releases from the Black Keys, Lady Antebellum, Nickelback and Amy Winehouse stayed within the top ten on Billboard's album chart, with the highest new entry being "Back to Love," by R&B singer Anthony Hamilton. It landed at No. 12.

LMFAO kept the No. 1 spot on the Digital Songs chart this week with "Sexy and I Know It," while Rihanna's "We Found Love" held steady at No. 2, Flo Rida's "Good Feeling" climbed to No. 3, Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain" remained at No. 4 and Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Ni**as in Paris" climbed to No. 5.

Next week's chart is likely to reflect the holiday season sales boost, as well as new releases from rappers Common and Young Jeezy.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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