22 December 2023 , 17:34
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The official Christmas Number One of 2023 has been announced!
This year, several names have been thrown into the hat, including some of the biggest names in music. BBC Radio 1 star Jack Saunders announced the news on the Official Charts show, having counted down from number 40.
Over the past few weeks, Cher has been dominating the TV and radio shows with her hit DJ Play A Christmas Song while a group of TikTok creators gathered to form Creator Universe and covered I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. But classics such as Wham! hit Last Christmas and The Pogues' Fairytale Of New York had also been tipped to hit the top spot.
Sharing the news, Jack announced Wham!'s Last Christmas had made it to the top spot, 39 years after it was first released. The DJ made the announcement with singer Sam Ryder on the line as he said: "Sam it is time to find out if you bagged number one or two on the chart. I can tell you number two is Sam Ryder, You're Christmas to Me."
Sam Ryder had been out across the UK attempting to bag more fans to stream his track (Getty Images)Previously, the likes of Ed Sheeran, Ben Haenow, Matt Cardle, Sam Bailey and other X Factor alumni had secured the spot just days after winning the show. Meanwhile, Girls Aloud bagged their first number one with Sound Of The Underground at Christmas in 2002.
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In the lead-up, Wham! were priced at 4/7 for the top spot, while The Pogues were at 5/2, according to Alex Apati of Ladbrokes LIVE. Creator Universe, with I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday was placed at 7/1 while Sam Ryder was 8/1 with You're Christmas To Me. Profits from the Creator Universe track will go to The Trussell Trust, which works to prevent hunger and poverty in the UK.
Other contenders included US rapper Jack Harlow with Lovin On Me, while Noah Kahan's Stick Season was seen racing up the charts having already been at Number Two. But the festive hit, Merry Christmas from Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John was in sixth position for last week's charts and could have easily snuck up.
Attempting to land himself on top, Sam Ryder was seen visiting every corner of the country with his Sam-ta Grotto bus, before an exclusive gig in Shoreditch last week. The official race for the Christmas Number One spot kicked off on Friday, December 15, with the cut-off for sales and streams closing on December 21, at 11.59pm.
The Rolling Stones took home the Christmas Album number one spot with their new album Hackney Diamonds. It was released back in October and was the first album of original material by the band since 2005's A Bigger Bang and their first since the death of drummer Charlie Watts.