The race for Christmas number one hots up with Jo Cox MP tribute song and Clean Bandit leading the way against X Factor’s Matt Terry
X Factor's Matt Terry may well miss out on the festive top spot despite pop megastar Ed Sheeran penning winner's single
AND they’re off. The contenders for the Christmas No1 are out of the blocks – and the race is wide open.
Tipped for glory is a charity single of the Rolling Stones classic You Can’t Always Get What You Want, in memory of murdered MP Jo Cox.
But chart insiders fear it could lose out to Clean Bandit’s Rockabye if their hit stays put for what would be an eighth week at the top.
The field is certainly mixed, with songs from adverts competing against old faves, the X Factor winner, two ex-One Directioners and an unusual assortment of Jeremy Corbyn supporters.
Last year saw one of the greatest chart battles ever, when one surprise supportive tweet from chart rival Justin Bieber got The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir’s charity single A Bridge Over You to No1 after a week-long tussle that went right down to the wire.
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This year streaming will be particularly important. The Official Charts Company brought in new combined sales and streams rules in February 2015, meaning 100 streams are equivalent to one paid-for download or physical sale.
To hit No1, a single has to sell around 100,000 copies, though last year the NHS Choir shifted more than 127,000.
All will be revealed by Radio 1 DJ Greg James on December 23.
Meanwhile, here Bizarre’s NICOLA FAHEY lists the frontrunners, together with their odds from Sun Bets.
Friends of Jo Cox - You Can't Always Get What You Want
Odds: Evens
Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson, KT Tunstall, Cockney Rebel’s Steve Harley and David Gray joined MPs to cover the Rolling Stones song, produced in the name of the murdered MP.
Writers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards waived their royalties, so all profits go to the Jo Cox Foundation.
Clean Bandit - Rockabye
Odds: 9/2
The electro group’s collaboration with rapper Sean Paul and Brit star Anne-Marie bagged a sixth consecutive week at No1 in the Official Charts yesterday with a comfortable lead of 15,000 combined sales ahead of its nearest rival.
Music industry insiders reckon it will be hard to budge, due to its support among the streaming generation.
Matt Terry - When Christmas Comes Around
Odds: 5/1
This year The X Factor is expected to miss out on the top spot for a second year running, despite the show’s bosses hiring hitmaker Ed Sheeran to pen the winner’s traditional Christmas song.
Matt Terry’s offering entered the charts at No3 yesterday, based on just five days’ sales and streams.
The London Hospice Choir - The Living Years
Odds: 8/1
The newly-formed London Hospices Choir, made up of 300 patients, family members, staff and volunteers from 18 hospices, have joined forces with rock singer Paul Carrack to release a new recording of Mike and the Mechanics’ 1988 hit single The Living Years.
All profits will go to future treatments and services.
Louis Tomlinson and Steve Aokl - Just Hold On
Odds: 14/1
The One Direction star’s debut solo record, made with US electro house producer Steve, made a strong debut at No2 yesterday, following Louis’s emotional premiere of the song on The X Factor final at Wembley Arena last weekend.
It came a day after he lost his mum Johannah to leukaemia aged just 43.
Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik
Odds: 20/1
Taken from the soundtrack of the forthcoming 50 Shades Darker movie, this surprise collaboration by former One Direction heart-throb Zayn Malik and American pop princess Taylor Swift debuted at No16 yesterday.
Perfect for those who are looking for some extra spice over the Christmas period.
Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas...
Odds: 25/1
The perennial festive belter, which first saw the light of day back in 1994, genuinely has a chance of taking the top spot for the first time this year after long being known as the best Christmas No2 ever created – all thanks to streaming.
It has shot up the charts and will continue to gain momentum right up to the big day.
Cruz Beckham - If Every Day Was Christmas
Odds: 40/1
His mum Victoria had three consecutive Christmas No1s with the Spice Girls in the Nineties.
Two decades later, Posh Spice Junior will be hoping to follow in his mum’s footsteps with his debut single, aged just 11.
Yesterday he released a music video starring siblings Brooklyn, Romeo and Harper.
Military Wives Choirs - Home For Christmas
Odds: 50/1
Made up of wives, partners and widows of British military personnel, as well as service women and veterans, the singers were brought together by Gareth Malone in 2010 for his TV show The Choir.
They had the Christmas top spot in 2011 with Wherever You Are and are back this December for a repeat performance.
Vaults - One Day I'll Fly Away
Odds: 50/1
Department store John Lewis hired this relatively unknown London electro band to sing the soundtrack to its annual atmospheric Christmas TV advertising extravaganza – but it will probably be Bounce the boxer dog and his performance on the trampoline which plays a bigger part in aiding this one up the charts.