Jamie Whitehead
Live page editor

Image source, Getty Images

“I’d had enough of X Factor always being Christmas Number One,” Jon Morter tells me.

Quite a lot of people had. Simon Cowell’s talent show juggernaut had held the top spot four years in a row by 2009 - but Jon did something about it.

“I played around a lot on social media a lot and I thought I could take them on,” he says.

“It started as a silly idea,” he says now when asked if the choice of song - which contains a not insignificant number of swearwords towards the end - helped the campaign.

“Brits like to have a go at the Big Man. And he (Cowell) was trying to take over a Christmas tradition. So we started a group, it grew organically”.

Back in 2009, there was a loophole on Facebook which allowed you take over the admin of another group, so Morter sent the Get Rage to Number One group to journalists, before cloning it into another RATM fan group and sending another email a few hours later saying “look, there’s 4,000 more now”.

Once the band, who are from California, got wind of what was happening, they did all they could to help - even promising to play a free show in London if they got the coveted top spot.

“I knew it was happening when they played the song live on Radio 5 Live,” Morter says.

Sadly, Jon didn’t actually get to hear the moment all his hard work paid off.

“I was on my to the BBC in a car that didn’t have a working radio,” he recounts “But my phone would not stop pinging so I knew we’d done it.

“It was insane. It was such a unique thing that happened.”

RATM kept their word on the free show, playing London’s Finsbury Park the following summer.

And is Jon still on Rage Against the Machine’s Christmas card list?

“I speak to (guitarist) Tom Morello a lot,” he says. “I always get a message when the band are in the UK and we hang out".

Lilah Parsons
Journalist

Before the official chart gets underway at 16:00 GMT, I'll be hosting a special programme where I'll be interviewing host Jack Saunders up in the Radio 1 studio.

First I'll be speaking to Martin Talbot, head of the Official Charts Company, who will tell us how to create a festive hit.

Just press Watch Live at the top of this page.

Jordan Kenny
BBC Newsbeat

Image source, Gett

Tom Grennan’s first festive single It Can't be Christmas joins familiar favourites of Wham!, Mariah Carey, and Brenda Lee in the race for top spot.

"I honestly think it's the pinnacle. Every artist wants a Christmas number one," he tells BBC Newsbeat.

"I got told Christmas songs are the hardest songs to write and when you write one, it feels magical," he says.

Tom wants his Christmas song to create happy memories for people.

"Whether you like me or not, I believe the song is a real standalone great song. We all need a new Christmas number one. That's what I believe."

"You just hope that people love it, and it sticks around whether it goes to number one or not."

Jamie Whitehead
Live page editor

Image source, Getty Images

“It began to take on a life of its own when students started singing it,” Paul Joyce says as we sit down to talk about his festive chart topper - Can We Fix It by Bob the Builder.

Paul wrote the now cult-classic in three days, hoping that anyone who picked up a guitar would be able to play it.

“It had to be simple,” he says. “But there was nothing that rhymes with builder. So that’s where ‘Can we fix it, yes we can’ came from.”

Paul admits now he didn’t think the song would do as well as it did. “Expectation is not realisation,” he says, adding that when the song was released, the odds of it being number one were very long

“Of course I bet on myself,” he laughs. “It was weird, but wonderful”.

Paul says that he loves solving puzzles - and after being commissioned to write the Bob the Builder theme, he says there were a lot of puzzles to solve.

“The song had to encapsulate a feeling to young boys and and girls of ‘yes we can’, it had to have a nostalgic element, it had to have a call that when children heard if from the next room they had to run in to watch it.”

On the night of 24 December 2000 when it was confirmed Bob was the festive chart topper - beating Baha Men, S Club 7, Eminem and Westlife in the process - he was at a friend’s house and people knocked on the door singing the song.

And how does he look back on it now? “It’ll be on my tombstone. And I’m delighted to say that. I get introduced to people as Bob the Builder.”

Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent

The advent of streaming means that the old classics tend to crowd out newcomers.

Perennial favourites like Last Christmas and Fairytale Of New York are streamed in such massive numbers that they eclipse everything else.

That’s despite the fact the chart formula penalises older songs, which they need to be streamed 300 times to count as one “sale”, whereas new songs only need 100 streams.

That said, there are a few newbies in the mix this year, led by Tom Grennan’s It Can't Be Christmas - a jazzy waltz about missing a loved one on Christmas Day.

It’s been commissioned by Amazon Music, who promote it heavily in their default “Christmas songs” playlist.

Amazon are also behind the big band song Christmas Magic - sung by Icelandic star Laufey - which is currently sitting just outside the Top 10.

Ed Sheeran, a two-time Christmas number one victor, has also released a new song, Under The Tree - but, with scant promotion, it has failed to crack the charts.

Paul Glynn
Entertainment & arts reporter

Last year, Wham! classic Last Christmas topped the yuletide singles chart - and, remarkably, for the first time too: it was kept off the number one spot when it was released in 1984 by Band Aid.

At time of writing, a stocking full of artists - naughty and nice - are hoping to top the list.

The Wham! hit is the frontrunner after reclaiming the top spot in the last chart before the Christmas one, as people streamed it to get into the festive spirit. It has also been reissued on CD and 12-inch vinyl for its 40th anniversary for the final week of the chart race, giving it a further boost.

Another seasonal staple, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas, is not far behind.Also in this year's mix are Brenda Lee's golden oldie Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and the latest incarnation of Band Aid.

They're joined by a new festive tune by Tom Grennan, while songs by Ariana Grande and Kelly Clarkson have established themselves as returning Christmas classics.

The chart crown could go to something non-Christmassy - like recent hits by Gracie Abrams who is hoping to take the top spot with her song That's So True, Rose and Bruno Mars, or the fast-rising Lola Young.

And just like with buying gifts, the key for any artists involved now, according to Official Chart Company boss Martin Talbot, is to step into Christmas with confidence and a strategy, and to go early.

Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent

It’s one of the greatest festive tunes ever, but Wham’s Last Christmas didn’t make it to the top of the charts when it was first released in 1984.

There was a good reason, though. Band Aid’s blockbusting charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas came out at the same time, and rightfully claimed the pole position on Christmas Day.

Wham were content to be runners-up. George Michael, a man who did more good deeds than Santa himself, even donated the proceeds from Last Christmas to Band Aid, further bolstering its famine relief efforts.

But the song endured.

It’s been in the Top 40 every year since 2007, shortly after downloads started counting towards the official charts’ data.

From 2018 to 2022, it was only denied the number one position by the charity act LadBaby, whose sausage-roll themed hits raised money for UK foodbanks.

When LadBaby finally (thankfully) gave up last year, the path was clear for Last Christmas to take the top spot. "It's marvellous and humbling to have got there," Wham’s Andrew Ridgeley told the BBC. "Top of the pile is a great place to be."

Adam Goldsmith
On his way to Radio 1

I’m leaving Jamie in the BBC Newsroom basement to head eight floors up to the Radio 1 studios.

There might not be quite as much expectation as during those X-Factor-contested golden years, but there’s still history to be made as another Christmas number one is crowned - taking its place in pub quiz lore.

Reggie Yates was the charts guru while I was growing up, but today it’s new music aficionado Jack Saunders who’ll take us through the list for 2024.

The Christmas chart show is a tightly-planned affair, with each second accounted for, so I’ll try not to interrupt the team’s flow too much.

But, from my position in the studio, I’ll be sure to bring you all the behind the scenes action from this festive countdown as buttons are pushed and legends are made.

So stick with us as we bring you the rundown - you’ll thank us at pub quizzes in years to come.

Lilah Parsons
Journalist

Good afternoon - I’m very excited to be bringing you our countdown to the Christmas number one coverage this year.

BBC News has teamed up with Radio 1 again to bring you the Official Chart with Jack Saunders, which kicks off at 16:00GMT

Before that, I’ll be bringing you some behind-the-scenes action on the stream, including interviews with some of the top contenders for this year’s top spot.

I’ll be chatting to the boss of the Official Charts Company about what it takes to create a festive hit, and Jack is giving me a sneak peek around the studio ahead of the show.

It all starts at 15:40, so do tune in.

Growing up, I remember all sorts of songs making it to Christmas number one —charity singles, X Factor winners, and even novelty hits like Bob the Builder.

But I’m hoping a Christmas classic takes the crown this year.

Jack Saunders
Presenter, the Official Chart on Radio 1

Hello and welcome to the Official Chart with me Jack Saunders.

This is where I’m going to be counting down the 40 biggest songs that you’ve all been streaming, downloading, and buying for one final time this year.

This week’s show is the biggest moment of them all: the Christmas number one.

We are going to find out who tops the Christmas chart very, very shortly here on the page, and you can watch along for the whole two hours by clicking above.

We love having you here - the show is starting really soon so stick around.

Jamie Whitehead
Live page editor

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the biggest chart of the year. It’s time to find out what is Christmas number one.

This may be the last day at work for many of you, so if you’re packing up for the year, getting the final bits ready with the kids, or braving the Frantic Friday trip home, welcome along - we’re delighted you’re here.

Wham!'s Last Christmas is battling against seasonal staple Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas, with a new festive tune by Tom Grennan and non-Christmassy number from Gracie Abrams also in the running.

Jack Saunders will be kicking off the countdown on BBC Radio 1 at 16:00. Hit watch live above to follow along.

Before that, my colleague Lilah Parsons will be bringing the festive vibes in a special programme - also above.

I’m sat down in the basement of our central London newsroom but we’ve sent our reporter Adam Goldsmith over to our colleagues at Radio 1 for behind-the-scenes updates.

So grab a mince pie, and let’s see who's top of the tree this year.