With LadBaby having bowed out of the race after a record-breaking run, the UK is set to have a new act at the top of this year’s Christmas chart for the first time in five years.
On Friday 22 December, we’ll find out who is the latest act to sit atop the festive chart throne.
The question is, who’s going to get the Christmas number one title in 2023…?
Well, it’s probably going to be Wham!’s Last Christmas
Oh. Alright then.
While the Official Charts Company revealed earlier this week that the gap between frontrunners Wham! and the number two song was just 47 copies, this now appears to have widened, with Last Christmas now charging ahead according to the outlet.
Nothing against Wham!, of course, but we can’t help feeling like for the first new Christmas number one in five whole years, it might have been nice for it to be a song, we dunno, released in the last 30 years, maybe?
On the other hand, this would mark Last Christmas’ first time ever being number one over actual Christmas, after peaking at number two in the festive chart behind Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas when it was released back in 1984.
And let’s be honest, you can never have too much George Michael, can you?
Meanwhile, Eurovision favourite Sam Ryder looks set to have another hit on his hands with his original song You’re Christmas To Me.
Hold on, I’ve never even heard this Sam Ryder song
Well, there’s a reason for that – it’s an Amazon Music original, meaning it’s not available to stream on Spotify or Apple Music.
If you’re wondering how it’s doing so well in the charts, it’s probably because so many people are asking their Alexas to “play some Christmas music”, and Amazon is pushing one of its originals to the top of its festive playlists (similarly, Ellie Goulding previously topped the charts in 2020 with her cover of Joni Mitchell’s River, which was also an Amazon exclusive).
Give it a listen for yourself below:
Sam previously peaked at number two with his song Space Man, which gave the UK its highest finish at Eurovision in almost a quarter of a century back in 2022.
And where’s Mariah Carey in all of this?
According to Official Charts Company, Mariah Carey is on track to peak at number three, while Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s duet Merry Christmas is a place behind them.
Completing the top five at this early stage is The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York. However, this could rise as the group recently released the song on vinyl in memory of singer Shane MacGowan, who died last month at the age of 65.