LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Newly crowned "American Idol" champion David Cook took over America's Hot 100 singles chart on Thursday, sending a record-breaking 11 new titles into the tally a week after he won the top-rated TV talent show.
The old mark was set by teen idol Miley Cyrus (as her Disney Channel character Hannah Montana), who placed six new titles on Billboard magazine's flagship pop singles chart in November 2006.
The Beatles hold the all-time record for songs charted in a single week, with 14, during the height of Beatlemania in 1964.
But while the Fab Four owned the top five songs that week, Cook's best showing was a No. 3 start for his original recording of "The Time of My Life." The first single from his upcoming debut album sold 236,000 downloads, Billboard said.
His other entries included another new song "Dream Big" at No. 15, and covers of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," at No. 22, and Collective Soul's "The World I Know," at No. 28.
Cook, 25, who hails from Blue Springs, Missouri, is preparing to start recording a debut album that is due for release in the fall, according to his new label, RCA Records.
"Idol" runner-up David Archuleta, 17, who had been favored to win the Fox network competition, landed three songs on the chart, led by his cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" at No. 36.
Fox's "American Idol" and Beatlemania share some characteristics, but observers who mention manufactured singing stars in the same breath as the biggest pop band ever inevitably invite snorts of derision.
