One month from now it will be Christmas Eve. You’ll be wrapping presents and gently sliding them under a perfectly decorated tree. Or maybe frantically trying to buy last minute gifts, the slow realisation dawning on you that your significant other is going to receive a bag of charcoal from the petrol station. Did you learn nothing from last year? At least one thing will be certain - we’ll know who has won the race to Christmas number one.
Earlier this week, LadBaby counted themselves out of that race, announcing that they’d sit at least this year out, having been at number one for Christmas Day for the last five years. So that means it’s all to play for. Who could make it to the top? Well, the Official Charts Company has put out a long list of contenders, including Christmas classics, worthy charity singles and puppets.
"Yes, it is that time of year again”, says Official Charts Company boss Martin Talbot. “You can always tell when we are in the final run up to Christmas”.
“Festive lights switching on in high streets across the country”, he muses on, “chocolate tubs appearing in all of our supermarkets, the arrival of Xmas channels appearing on our TVs… and, of course, the starting pistol firing on the Christmas number one race. And, with LadBaby stepping back after five years as winners, this year’s race looks as open as ever”.
Having supported food bank charity The Trussell Trust with all five of their songs, LadBaby said they wanted to give other charities the chance to receive the sort of exposure a Christmas chart-topper brings. And in that domain there are plenty of hopefuls.
They include Nala The Station Cat - a TikTok-famous cat raising money for the RSPCA and Stevenage homelessness charity Feed Up Warm Up with the song ‘Check Meowt’. Yes, a cat singing a song might sound implausible. Although it seems more likely than famously silent puppet Sooty warbling something out. But still, he is releasing a cover of The Nolans’ ‘I’m In The Mood For Dancing’ in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Among the other charity singles on offer, they’re up against Sleaford Mods, whose cover of the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls’ is raising money for Shelter. Will the absence of cats or puppets on that track help or hinder them? We’ll have to wait and see.
Of course, doing things for a good cause is nice, but you know what people also like at Christmas? That’s right, Christmas songs. As ever, Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ and Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ are likely to put in a strong showing in the Christmas chart. But one of the favourites this year is Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, which has been re-released in Dolby Atmos to mark its 50th anniversary. What drives consumer demand like a Dolby Atmos mix? Very little that I can think of.
Sooty isn’t the only puppet going for the top spot. He will have to fend off The Krackpots for the title of highest-charting hand puppet. “The identity of the band behind The Krackpots, a mystery group with several top ten hits and millions of streams, is a closely guarded secret, and an intriguing mystery, a bit like Banksy”, says the official website for their single ‘Proper Christmas’. The puppets do look a lot like members of The Kunts though.
Check out the Official Charts Company’s full list of Christmas number one contenders here.