Neil Diamond shines in this week’s top events rankings

Sweet Caroline! Legendary singer/ songwriter Neil Diamond has taken TicketNews’s exclusive Top Events Rankings by force for the week of April 21 – April 27, 2008. This living legend climbed from 15th to second place over the past week as tickets for his highly anticipated North American tour have gone onsale across the country. Neil Diamond also earned first place on the Top Concert Events chart this week, beating out artists like The Eagles, Kenny Chesney, and Kanye West, who topped the list last week.

Neil Diamond’s Overall Top Events power score of 3.41 was bested only by Wicked, which earned the first place position with a score of 4.78. Other top events this week included the New York Yankees in third place with a power score of 3.24, the Boston Red Sox in fourth with a 2.64 power score, and Jersey Boys in fifth with a score of 2.16. After two series against the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians, the Yankees record currently stands at 13-13, while the Red Sox are at 15-12 after facing the Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays this past week.

The Yankees and Red Sox also topped the Sports Events chart this week, with power scores of 9.19 and 7.48, respectively. Finishing out the top of that chart were the Chicago Cubs in third place, up two positions from last week and with a power score of 4.16, and the Philadelphia Flyers, who appeared on the chart in fourth with a power score of 2.45. The Flyers continued their run for the Stanley Cup this week, and currently stand tied with the Montreal Canadiens at one game apiece after upsetting the Washington Capitals in the quarterfinal round.

The Top Theater Events and Top Broadway Events lists saw little change this week, as a familiar group of shows dominated both charts. “Wicked” headed up the theater rankings this week with a power score of 35.59, followed not so closely by “Jersey Boys” with a power score of 16.00, and Lion King with a 6.46 power score. The usual Broadway behemoths headed up that chart this week, with “Wicked” in first with a score of 33.36, followed by “Jersey Boys” with a 15.49, and South Pacific with a 9.09 power score.

Familiar acts also shone on the Top Las Vegas Events chart. Cher dominated the rankings with a power score of 48.12. Bette Midler trailed behind with a score of 17.62, and Cirque du Soleil – “O” finished out the top three with a power score of 9.99. Stay tuned next week to see which events keep on shining bright and which will fade away.

TicketNews Exclusive Rankings and Power Scores are based on ticket sales from the TicketNetwork Exchange™, the world’s largest secondary market exchange. A Power Score illustrates a given event’s category-specific significance. Two factors are used to calculate a power score: total ticket sales from the given event and total ticket sales within the category. As such, power scores should only be used to compare events within a particular category.