Following an interesting conversation I had the other day about the merits of X Factor with Lauren, the argument that the notion of a credible Christmas number one has disappeared and I said that it was now the race for Christmas number two. One of the quintessential parts of Christmas and the music industry has been killed by reality TV shows automatically claiming that most elusive of spots, no matter the quality of the singer or song. So I thought it would be interesting to investigate the history of the Christmas number one since the conception of X Factor and the songs that have failed where they maybe should’ve succeeded.
So here we go, last year we had at number one –
Leon Jackson – When You Believe. The Winner of X Factor 2007 was Leon Jackson and his number one was a cover of Mariah Carey and Witney Houston’s collaboration on When You Believe. The song was released for download from midnight after the show and the physical version of the single was rush released on 19th December, in time to make Christmas number one. It was the 4th fastest selling single of 2007 with sales of over 275,000
In second place we had –
Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love. First reaching number one on 28th October of that year and stealing the number one spot until 16th December of that year, a massive seven weeks in a row, Leona would have gained her second Christmas number one in a row if it were not for the highly forgettable Leon Jackson. This of course neatly leads us on to...
2006 Christmas Number One
Leona Lewis – Moment Like This. The deserved winner of X Factor who’s actually gone on to do rather well for herself, Leona Lewis stormed the charts and the nation’s hearts with her single Moment Like This, selling an astonishing 571,253 copies in one week. Impressive.
Trailing behind was –
Take That – Patience. One of Britain’s greatest pop exports (arguably), Take That gained the Christmas number two spot after being at Number One for the previous four weeks with their comeback single. Interestingly Leona Lewis sold 700,069 copies in 2 weeks with Take That selling 282,423 in 6 weeks, make of that what you will.
2005 Christmas Number One
Shayne Ward – That’s My Goal. X Factor’s first Christmas number one was provided by Shayne Ward with a week’s worth of sales totalling 742,180.
Second place was awarded to
Nizlopi – JCB Song. The wonderfully cute animated video was accompanied by a catchy tune with a beautifully delicate theme. Intentionally released before X Factor to gain number one status, JCB Song was the song that should’ve been for 2005. Loved by young and old, it stood no chance as the X Factor train gained momentum. Just so you know, JCB Song sold 81,660 copies the week it went to number one so never stood a chance.
2004 was the first year of X Factor and the only so far that did not produce a Christmas number one. Hardly suprising when you hear why. Christmas number one that year rightly went to
Band Aid 20 – Do They Know It’s Christmas. Featuring an astounding array of Artists from Thom Yorke, Sir Paul McCartney, Justin Hawkins and Robbie Williams, the song was at number one for 4 weeks in a row, amassing total sales of 2,094,000.
And just so you know, Christmas number two that year was X Factor winner Steve Brookstein with his cover of Against All Odds. Which the week later knocked Band Aid off the number one spot, something I’m sure he’s proud of as he now (no joke) is the entertainer on P&O’s cruises between Portsmouth and Portugal. Nice.
Also, just so you don’t think this is a recent thing, 2002’s Christmas number one was the winner of Popstars: The Rivals were a boy band and Girl Band were formed with the sole intention of reaching Christmas Number One. Luckily, they formed a pop behemoth in the form of Girls Aloud and the Christmas number one that year was Sound of the Underground so it’s not the end of the world!
So we have four years of X Factor behind us and three Christmas number one’s to forget about. Despite its relevant infancy, X Factor has dominated those Christmas sales and it’s fascinating that only one thing can encourage people to go and buy singles anymore and that is Reality TV. How many people do you think ripped that CD and put it straight on their iPod? Would the charts have read the same if downloads were not included in chart positions for all of those years? These are all of course hypothetical questions but before X Factor, there were stellar pop tracks such as Gary Jules cover of Mad World, Bob the Builder and Can We Fix It? and the playful duet between Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman singing Something Stupid, all reaching Christmas number one. True these tracks are gimmicky and cheesy but they were fun and put up a fight for the Christmas number one, not written in the knowledge they would become Christmas number one like the X Factor songs are.
So my complaint is this. Can all these incredible songwriters and musicians please write a song that is going to compete with an X Factor penned single? As bookies are now taking bets on Christmas number two as the number one spot is seemingly predetermined, I would love a pop gem to appear and capture our nation’s fickle hearts once more, able to encourage consumers to overturn the tirany of X Factor. Come on people, rise up! In the words of Bob the Builder, “Can we fix it? Yes we can”.
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