LONDON, England (AP) – In the contest, she finished second. But on the charts, she’s number one.

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 November 23 make it the fastest- selling album so far this year, and are the largest first-week sales for a debut album in UK chart history.

Millions of people have seen an online clip of Boyle auditioning for the judges. Wearing a somewhat dowdy frock and with a halo of untidy hair, Boyle told judge and producer Simon Cowell that her dream was to be a professional singer. “I’ve never been given the chance before, but here’s hoping it’ll change,” she said then.

She sang I Dreamed a Dream, from Les Miserables, and her soaring vocals earned a smile and raised eyebrows from Cowell – and a standing ovation from the audience.

“In Britain’s Got Talent she opened her mouth and the world fell in love with her, which is why her album has been the fastest- selling of any woman

making her debut,” Cowell said. “She’s amazing.”

Though she was taken aback at first by her fame, Boyle has since had a glamorous makeover, been photographed by an upscale fashion magazine, and been profiled for NBC’s People of the Year special in the United States. In Britain, she’s appeared as a special guest on a wildly popular talent show,

The X Factor.

Of her number one album, Boyle said only, “it’s fantastic” in a statement released by her record company.