This year's Christmas #1 is unfortunately a no-brainer. For the second year in a row, reality television has hijacked what should be a nail-biting contest to see what big name artist can come out on top with something really great. Think of 2003's holiday comedy Love Actually, which perfectly immortalizes the annual contest. Instead, a lot of the big names have cleared out of the way, releasing their singles in November or January so that The X Factor can claim Christmas #1.
Last year it was Shayne Ward with "That's My Goal," a mediocre Westlife-ish single. He followed it with slightly more decent "No Promises" before landing outside the top 10 with third single "Stand By Me."
This year the winner will either be 18-year old Raymond Quinn or 21-year old Leona Lewis. The winner will be announced this weekend, and their debut single will be in shops Monday. Of course, we also know what song it is, a remake of Kelly Clarkson's debut single, "A Moment Like This," which wasn't released in the UK. How boring can it get?
Reality TV has had its Christmas setbacks though. In 2003, the Pop Idol Finalists' remake of "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" looked like a shoo-in for #1, but was beaten by melancholy ballad "Mad World" by Gary Jules. Actually, at #5, it was also beaten by The Darkness ("Christmas Time, Don't Let the Bells End"), the previous week's #1 (Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne's "Changes") and Bo Selecta's "Proper Crimbo." Take that! First season X Factor winner Steve Brookstein had to endure the humiliation of having his debut single, "Against All Odds" released a week after Christmas to get out of the way of the mega-selling charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas 2004" by Band Aid 20.
Who's duked it out for Christmas #1 the last few years? Here's a rundown:
1996: Spice Girls beat Madonna landing at #1 with "2 Become 1" to her "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" at #3.
1997: It's the Spice Girls again with "Too Much," beating out the "Perfect Day" charity single and the Teletubbies.
1998: Three years in a row at Christmas #1 for the Spice Girls, who topped this year with "Goodbye" beating South Park's Chef's "Chocolate Salty Balls" at #2 and Denise and Johnny's remake of Kylie and Jason's "Especially For You" at #3.
1999: In a really competitive Christmas week, newcomer boyband Westlife was #1 with their remake of ABBA's "I Have a Dream," beating Cliff Richard's "Millennium Prayer" (#2), a re-release of John Legend's "Imagine" (#3), the Cuban Boys' "Cognoscenti Vs Intelligentsia" (#4), S Club 7's "You're My Number One" (#5), and Steps' "Say You'll Be Mine"/"Better the Devil You Know" (#7).
2000: In his second week on the chart Bob the Builder's "Can We Fix It" beats Eminem and Dido's "Stan" for #1. New entries for Robbie Williams ("Supreme," #4) and Kylie Minogue ("Please Stay," #19) also make the top 10.
2001: In their second week at #1 it's Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman's festive remake of "Somethin' Stupid," my personal favorite Christmas #1 in recent years. Gordon Haskell's "How Wonderful You Are" is #2 while Daniel Bedingfield's hot debut single "Gotta Get Thru This" is #3.
2002: Reality TV's first year of chart influence finds Popstars winners Girls Aloud at #1 with their first single "The Sound of the Underground" beating the show's other finalists, boyband One True Voice with their debut, "Sacred Trust."
2003: Perhaps the most surprisingly Christmas #1 is Donnie Darko soundtrack single "Mad World" by Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules. Goofy rockers The Darkness are #2 with "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)," while Pop Idol finalists are relegated down to #5 with their remake of "Happy Xmas." Atomic Kitten and Sugababes are also in the top 10.
2004: Far and away it's Band Aid 20's "Do They Know It's Christmas."
2005: X Factor winner Shayne Ward's "That's My Goal." Blah.
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