Who are the contenders for Christmas number one? - The Leamington Observer

Who are the contenders for Christmas number one?

Leamington Editorial 28th Nov, 2020 Updated: 28th Nov, 2020   0

Liam Gallagher, Jess Glynne, Matt Lucas and Robbie Williams are said to be among the contenders for this year’s Christmas number one.

The Official Charts Company has included the acts on its list of challengers for the 2020 festive top spot.

Former Oasis star Gallagher is on the list with All You’re Dreaming Of, while Glynne’s cover of Donny Hathaway’s This Christmas is also suggested as a potential chart-topper.

Comedian Lucas has put a festive spin on his successful charity song Thank You Baked Potato, which was released earlier this year to raise money to feed NHS workers, by recording Merry Christmas, Baked Potato.




Williams’s Can’t Stop Christmas is also likely to be in the running, along with Sam Fender’s Winter Song.

Becky Hill’s Forever Young, Nathan Dawe and Little Mix’s No Time For Tears, and It’s Christmas Time, It’s Time To Lash by Rigaid are also named among the contenders.


Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said: “After such an extraordinary year, Christmas is sure to feel more special than ever – and, of course, the Christmas number one race will be one of the highlights again.

“This year’s race will also feel extra special because the festive chart-topper will be announced on Christmas Day, so we are delighted to fire the starting pistol and unveil some of the key contenders.

“This year, the contenders will be aiming to wrest the Christmas number one title from LadBaby, who has taken the title for the past two years – and there are plenty of big name contenders.

“But as history has always told us, only a fool would make a prediction this far out.

“The public will decide.”

Sales and streams of Christmas classics are up 51% compared to this time last year, the Official Charts Company added.

The Christmas number one will be announced on Christmas Day.

Christmas Number One Records:

The Beatles are the only act to have four Christmas number ones, three consecutively starting from 1963. On two occasions, 1963 and 1967, they had both the Christmas number one and the number two, the only act to have achieved this.

As part of two acts, George Michael repeated the feat with Band Aid and Wham! in 1984, and Ed Sheeran did so in 2017 with duets with Beyoncé and Eminem.

Paul McCartney has been top eight times with various acts. Cliff Richard has spent four Christmasses at number one; two as a solo act, one with The Shadows and one as part of Band Aid II.

The Spice Girls later equalled the record of having three consecutive Christmas number ones, from 1996 to 1998. Spice Girl Melanie C achieved a fourth Christmas number one as a member of The Justice Collective in 2012, which also gave Robbie Williams his third.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, which reached the number-one spot at Christmas 1975 and 1991, is the only record to have reached the top twice. “Mary’s Boy Child” is the only song to be Christmas number one for two artists (Harry Belafonte in 1957 and Boney M. in 1978), although “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” has been Christmas number one for three generations of Band Aid.

The original version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is the second best selling single in UK history while “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the third best selling single of all time.


Number Ones Since Year 2000:

2000 – Bob the Builder “Can We Fix It?”

2001 – Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman “Somethin’ Stupid”

2002 – Girls Aloud “Sound of the Underground”

2003 – Michael Andrews and Gary Jules “Mad World”

2004 – Band Aid 20 “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

2005 – Shayne Ward “That’s My Goal”

2006 – Leona Lewis “A Moment Like This”

2007 – Leon Jackson “When You Believe”

2008 – Alexandra Burke “Hallelujah”

2009 – Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the Name”

2010 – Matt Cardle “When We Collide”

2011 – Military Wives with Gareth Malone “Wherever You Are”

2012 – The Justice Collective “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”

2013 – Sam Bailey “Skyscraper”

2014 – Ben Haenow “Something I Need”

2015 – Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir “A Bridge over You”

2016 – Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie “Rockabye”

2017 – Ed Sheeran “Perfect”

2018 – LadBaby “We Built This City”

2019 – LadBaby “I Love Sausage Rolls”

 

Source: The Official Charts Company and Wikipedia

Photo credit: Press Association

Reader Travel

Check out all of the latest reader travel offers to get your hands on some free gifts.

Buy Photos

Buy photos online from the Leamington Observer newspaper.

Announcements

Weddings, Birthdays, Bereavements, Thank you notices, Marriages and more.

Advertising

Advertise with the Leamington Observer to reach your audience