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Artist News
X-Factor Joe favourite for Christmas number one, though RATM currently leading iTunes charts
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 14 December 2009
So, we now know that it will be Joe McElderry who will take on Rage Against The Machine in the battle for Christmas number one. If he wants anything nearing a credible music career, he should come out in support of ‘Killing In The Name’ for the festive top spot.
McElderry beat fellow finalist Olly Murs to become this year’s winner of ITV talent show ‘X-Factor’ last night, the two having seen off competition from third placer Stacey Soloman the night before. He’s now set to reach the dizzy heights of pop stardom previously only seen by the likes of Steve Brookstein and Leon Jackson.
But before all that excitement there’s the business of this week’s Christmas chart, which, if only because of tradition, McElderry is now the bookies’ favourite to top. So, sorted. Except, of course, for the Facebook campaign to get Rage Against The Machine’s sweary ‘Killing In The Name’ into the festive top spot instead, mainly to bloody the nose of the Cowell machine, even though the song is released and published by his business partners Sony Music.
The bet takers still reckon McElderry is most likely to get the Christmas number one, like the preceding ‘X-Factor’ winners, but with 718,648 people signed up to the anti-X Facebook group (as I write), I’m becoming less cynical about this campaign’s chances of succeeding.
While it’s true that RATM had a headstart, because McElderry’s cover of Miley Cyrus tune ‘The Climb’ only went on sale after last night’s ‘X-Factor’ show, and while he, unlike RATM, will benefit from CD sales as of this morning, the fuck song is currently number one in the iTunes Top 10, while the ‘X-Factor’ tune is trailing at number ten.
Last year’s ‘X-Factor’ champ Alexandra Burke topped the Christmas chart by selling 576,000 units. Beating those kinds of sales would rely on a relatively high number of those signed up to the Facebook group coming good on their promise to buy the RATM single. But, while ‘X-Factor’ is as popular as ever, remember that Burke had the advantage of being given a great song to sing.
While we might not have all appreciated her version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, it is a classic rousing number, with a Christmassy name, if not lyrics. McElderry has been handed a song so dull, you’d struggle to even say anything negative about it.
How many people bought ‘Hallelujah’ because they were ‘X-Factor’ fans, and how many because they liked the tune? I reckon sales of ‘The Climb’ could be a lot less than 576,000, which, coupled with the passion with which thousands of people have embraced the RATM campaign, means I don’t think McElderry is as assured his Christmas number one as some bookies reckon. Either way, I think we’ll all be watching this week’s midweek chart reports more closely than usual.
With the RATM campaign getting so much press, now loads more anti-commercial bands with records to flog are proclaiming themselves as the best ‘X-Factor’ antidote. If I didn’t think the RATM project had a chance of actually winning the Christmas number one battle I’d support the campaign to get the wonderful Tim Minchin to number one, but given the way things are going, I think anyone wanting to kick it to the man should stick with Zach and co.
In sort of related news, Miley Cyrus’s version of ‘The Climb’ has been taken off the shortlist for the Best Film Song Grammy. Though not because it’s so tedious a song it sent all the Grammy judges to sleep, but because the song, although appearing in the ‘Hannah Montana’ film, wasn’t specifically written for the movie, so is not actually eligible for the prize. Why it was shortlisted before anyone noticed I don’t know.
