BEIJING, Dec. 29 -- Pop songbird Mariah Carey, enjoying one of the music industry's biggest comebacks, is giving rap star 50 Cent a run for his money in a year-end, down-to-the-wire race for best-selling U.S. album of 2005.

    As of Christmas Day, 50 Cent stood at No. 1 in the United States with 4.8 million copies of the album "The Massacre" sold since March, according to the latest figures from retail sales tracker Nielsen SoundScan.

    Carey was closing in rapidly on the rapper with her latest Grammy-nominated collection, "The Emancipation of Mimi," which has tallied sales of 4.6 million since its release in April, Nielsen SoundScan reported.

    At current sales rates, Carey would overtake 50 Cent by year's end. On the latest sales chart, "Mimi" ranked No. 7 with weekly sales of 191,000 copies, compared with just 21,000 for "Massacre."

    Both albums topped the charts in their opening weeks but neither has set a sales benchmark for the artists.

    Still, the success of "Mimi" marks a dramatic turnaround for Carey, 35, whose career hit the skids four years ago.

    She is now tied with Elvis Presley at No. 2 on the all-time Hot 100 list with 17 chart-topping singles.

    Overall, sales of CDs and digital album downloads are down 8 percent compared with the same period a year ago, while sales of digital singles have jumped to well over 320 million, up 150 percent over last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)