'Dancing' star's album tops country charts

Americans not only love Julianne Hough's dancing but love her music as well. The 'Dancing with the Stars' two-time winner's self-titled album topped the Billboard country music charts last week.The 19-year-old Mormon and Utah native, whose dance floor talent secured two wins in ABCs reality series 'Dancing with the Stars' in May and November 2007, sold 67,000 albums in the first week of her CD's release, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the sales source for the Billboard music charts."Julianne Hough" was released May 19 and is currently at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.Hough was raised in a dancing family and spent five years studying dance in London before she moved back to the United States in hopes of pursuing a music career, according to her Web site, where she gives some insights into her career ambitions. "Do I stay here (in London) and pursue a career that I know I'm going to succeed at? Or do I go back home, start from scratch and pursue what I really want to do?"Soon after returning to the U.S. to pursue a career in country music, she was cast for the ABC reality show where professional dancers are paired with celebrities. She was paired with Olympic speed skating gold medalist Apolo Ohno on her first appearance on the show's fourth season and was matched up with Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves the next season. She and partner Adam Corolla were eliminated in week four of the shows sixth season.Because Hough's main goal had always been to make a career in country music, she flew back and forth between Los Angeles and Nashville, Tenn., to work on her album. In 2007, she released a song titled "Will you Dance with Me" as part of an American Red Cross fund-raising project to aid tornado victims in Kansas. While it was never released on the radio, the song made it to No. 8 on iTunes country music charts.Julianne will tour with country artists Brad Paisley beginning June 11.Preview Julianne's album at CMT.com