Each year, record companies compete for the Christmas number one single spot on the British charts. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music This is a list of the number one hits in the UK Singles Chart, from its inception in 1952 to the present The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC on behalf of the British record industry Having the UK Christmas number one is very prestigious and leads to a lot of media coverage. Since people are buying gifts for the Christmas period, single sales are extremely high in the week before Christmas, and since the Christmas number one is the single with the highest sales, record companies can make sizable profit from trying to get their single to Number One. Many people place bets at a bookmaker's on who will be Christmas number one. A bookmaker, bookie or turf accountant, is an organization or a person that takes bets and pays winnings depending upon results and depending on the nature
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the subject of the Christmas number one began to excite significant media coverage. However some believe it dates back to 1973, when two of the most successful bands of the day - Slade and Wizzard - both released Christmas-related singles ("Merry Xmas Everybody" and "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" respectively) in an attempt to clinch the festive chart-topper, with Slade ultimately coming out on top. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Slade are an English Glam rock band Slade were one of the most recognizable acts of the glam rock movement and were at their peak the most commercially popular Wizzard were a Birmingham -based band formed by Roy Wood, former member of The Move and co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra "Merry Xmas Everybody" is a single by the English Glam-rock band Slade. "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" is a popular Christmas song in the UK, first released in 1973 by Wizzard, when it reached #4
The definition of the Christmas number one single is the entry at the top of the official UK singles chart released on the Sunday before Christmas Day, or Christmas Day itself if it falls on a Sunday. (The weekly charts are announced on Sundays covering the sales from the previous week. ) Therefore, if Christmas Day falls at the end of the week, records bought in the last few days before Christmas do not play a part in determining the "Christmas Number One".
The Christmas number one formerly went most often to sentimental, Christmas-related or novelty songs - a fact parodied in the plot of the movie Love Actually - although this has become rarer in recent years, not least because of reality television shows such as The X Factor and Popstars: The Rivals. A novelty song is a silly or nonsensical Song, performed principally for its comical effect. Love Actually is a 2003 British Romantic comedy Film written and directed by Richard Curtis.
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The Reality TV monopoly of the Christmas number 1
The race for the Christmas number-one of 2002 was focused on by the British ITV television programme Popstars: the Rivals, a reality TV show that formed an all-male and an all-female pop group - One True Voice and Girls Aloud respectively - and made them compete for the Christmas number-one spot. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent Popstars is an international Reality television program and a precursor to the Idol series One True Voice were a British Boyband created on the ITV television series Popstars The Rivals, which also produced Girl group Girls Aloud are a British Girl group created by ITV1 Talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002 Girls Aloud, a band that still achieves huge success in the UK today, obtained the spot with their single "Sound of the Underground" and therefore ultimately won the contest. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Sound of the Underground is the first Studio album by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud.
This has been further continued with The X Factor, also broadcast on ITV in the UK, in which the winner's single is released the week before Christmas in order to contend the number one spot. For versions in other countries see The X Factor (TV series. The X Factor is a British Television Many have criticised this and its proponents, such as Simon Cowell, for hijacking the charts and eliminating any element of surprise in awaiting for the number one single. } Simon Phillip Cowell (born October 7 1959 is an English artist-and-repertoire ("A&R" executive and Television personality / producer Also, many of these songs do not revolve around Christmas at all. This has continued into 2007, with the fourth series of The X Factor ending on 15 December 2007. Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
As a result, UK bookmakers have began to open books, and indeed pay out, on the song that makes Christmas number 2 as if it is number 1, given that since 2005, the number 1 song has been by the winner of The X Factor.
See also List of Christmas number one singles. This is a list of Christmas number one singles in the United Kingdom.
UK Christmas number twos
Examples of songs which reached number two in the Christmas chart include "Last Christmas" by Wham!, that lost out to Band Aid but still became the best-selling single in the UK that failed to reach the top spot; "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues, kept off by Pet Shop Boys' cover of "Always on My Mind"; "JCB Song" by Nizlopi, which was kept off the top spot by reality TV star Shayne Ward's "That's My Goal" and "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" by The Darkness, kept off once again by a cover version, this time Gary Jules' rendition of Tears for Fears' "Mad World". Every year in the UK Singles Chart, there is a highly publicised race for the Christmas Number One spot " Last Christmas " is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1984 on a double A-side with " Everything She "Wham" redirects here For other uses see Wham (disambiguation. Band Aid was a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise money " Fairytale of New York " is a popular Christmas song by Irish Folk-rock group The Pogues, and featuring the English The Pogues are a band of mixed Irish and English background playing Traditional Irish music with influences from Punk rock, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane The capitalisation of song titles in this article is disputed " Always on My Mind " is a song originally recorded by Brenda Lee and released on June 12, 1972, with music and lyrics by Johnny Christopher " JCB " (or " JCB Song " is the second single from Nizlopi 's first album Half These Songs Are About You. Nizlopi (nɪzlɔpi is a two-piece band Luke Concannon (vocals guitar and Bodhran) and John Parker ( Double bass, Human beatbox and backing Shayne Thomas Ward (born October 16, 1984) is an English pop singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom and Ireland " That's My Goal " is a popular song released as the first single by the second United Kingdom X Factor winner Shayne Ward. The Darkness were a multi- BRIT Award -winning British Hard rock / Glam rock band Gary Jules (born March 19 1969 in Fresno California as Gary Jules Aguirre) is an American Singer-songwriter, best Tears for Fears (sometimes informally abbreviated to TFF are " Mad World " is a song by the British band Tears for Fears. Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" also only reached number two, however is still popular twelve years later entering the UK download chart weeks prior to Christmas. " All I Want for Christmas Is You " is a song by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and recorded for Carey's fifth album Merry
The Christmas Number Two is set to become more important than the Christmas Number One because of The X Factor's monopoly and, from 2007, bookies began taking bets on the Christmas Number Two. For versions in other countries see The X Factor (TV series. The X Factor is a British Television