Justin Bieber teams up with NHS choir for Christmas number one race

The NHS Choir recorded their half of the duet at Abbey Road Studios

Justin Bieber has teamed up with a choir of nurses, doctors and other NHS staff to record a Christmas single.

The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS choir have added their voices to a remix of the star's single Holy, which reached number seven in October.

The charity collaboration comes five years after the two acts were locked in a battle for the Christmas number one.

Bieber eventually threw his weight behind the choir's efforts, leading them to clinch the festive top spot.

Afterwards, Bieber said: "I was honoured to meet everyone from the choir and I'm really happy that they got their number one."

Their new charity single is also aiming for Christmas number one, with proceeds to be split between NHS Charities Together, which represents more than 230 NHS charities, and the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Charity.

Bieber said he was "humbled to team up" with the singers.

Bieber presented the choir with their sales award after A Bridge Over You topped the charts in 2015

Choir member Pamela Lutalo, who worked on a 30-bed Covid ward this year, said Holy was "a song of appreciation to families, friends, colleagues and community who have provided encouragement and support to people during the pandemic".

Mike Corr, a former immunisation clinical co-ordinator, added: "The message that holding someone is such a special thing that it's almost a holy experience is so resonant with current difficulties and personal challenges.

"There are some special people I miss terribly and I hear them say, 'Hold me, hold me,' when all this is over."

Holy is not the only song vying for this year's UK Christmas number one, which will be unveiled on BBC Radio 1 on Christmas Day. Here are some of the other contenders:

• LadBaby - Don't Stop Me Eatin'. YouTuber LadBaby has announced he's aiming for a third consecutive Christmas number one with this comedy cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believing. The single will raise money for the Trussell Trust, which has seen a huge surge in demand for food parcels during the pandemic.

• Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You. The star's festive classic topped the UK chart for the first time last week, after being streamed 10.8 million times. It could easily hold on to the number one position until Christmas.

• Liam Gallagher - All You're Dreaming Of. Billed as "Imagine meets Wonderful Life", Gallagher's tender ballad is raising money for children's charity Action For Children. Gallagher has described the song as "perfect for this time of year, considering the year that we've all had".

• Robbie Williams - Can't Stop Christmas. Robbie and Nicole Kidman topped the festive chart with a cover of Somethin' Stupid in 2001. Can he do it again with this cheeky ode to the impact of Covid on Christmas? Lyrics include: "Santa's on his sleigh, but now he's two metres away."

• Gemma Collins and Darren Day - Baby It's Cold Outside. GC teamed up with her Celebrity Big Brother co-star Darren Day for this charity duet, saying she wanted to "cheer the nation up" during the pandemic. Bookmakers have it as an 8/1 contender for number one.

• Taylor Swift - Willow. The star surprise-released a new album on Friday, and three songs are set to enter the top 40 this week, with Willow currently the frontrunner, according to the Official Charts Company. If her streams increase over the next two weeks, she could be a contender.

• Jess Glynne - This Christmas. Glynne has recorded a cover of Donny Hathaway's This Christmas as part of Amazon's Originals series. It entered the chart at 13 last week, based on streams from Amazon's Christmas playlists alone. CD and vinyl singles become available next week, just in time to give it a boost for the Christmas countdown.