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 brought her success on both sides of the Atlantic.

"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," Simon Cowell said. "She's amazing."

In a statement, Boyle said only, "It's fantastic."

On the big screen

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. But New Moon was nearly blindsided for the top spot by a real-life football drama.

The Blind Side had a great second weekend with $40.1 million, coming in at No. 2, just behind New Moon. Warner Bros.' inspirational story of Baltimore Ravens tackle Michael Oher stars Sandra Bullock as a woman whose wealthy family takes in the homeless teen and enrolls him in private school.

The two movies propelled Hollywood to record revenue 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 Thanksgiving record of $244.4 million set in 2000, when Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Unbreakable topped the box office.

Hardly fiction

Pulp Fiction co-screenwriter Roger Avary has been removed from a prison work-furlough program and locked up, authorities say. Avary was sentenced in September to a year in jail and five years of probation for causing a drunken-driving car crash that killed a passenger and injured Avary's wife. News reports say he has been serving his time in a work-furlough program. But on Friday, Ventura County sheriff's spokesman Capt. Ross Bonfiglio said the 44-year-old Avary had been locked up in the county jail. The Los Angeles Times and the Ventura County Star reported that he was removed from the furlough program and jailed after allegedly tweeting about his experiences since being sentenced. But Avary attorney Mark Werskman denied that tweeting caused his incarceration.

Hard time?

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 on whether to extradite him to the United States. His three-story stucco-and-wood home on the edge of Gstaad, Switzerland, has its own garden. He'll be allowed to host parties. The biggest drawback for Polanski is that he won't be able to leave the 19,000-square-foot property without losing $4.5 million in bail. "He will have no prison regime," Justice Ministry spokesman Falco Galli said. "He is completely free to determine his daily schedule. It's also up to him to get in food and other supplies."

Contact "SideShow" at sideshow@phillynews.com. This column contains information from Inquirer wire services.