Summary

  • Wham! beats Sam Ryder to top the Christmas charts for the first time – 39 years after Last Christmas was first released

  • The song was first released in 1984, but was held off the top spot by Do They Know It’s Christmas?

  • Ryder’s new song, You’re Christmas To Me, came in at number two with Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas in third

  • The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York charts at number six – the song has held every position in the UK top 20 apart from number one

  • The Rolling Stones have the Christmas number one album with Hackney Diamonds

  • YouTubers LadBaby have been Christmas number one for the past five years, but decided not to enter the 2023 race

Live Reporting

Edited by Jamie Whitehead and Laura Gozzi

  1. You’ve heard what the experts think, but what about big music fans?

    Andrew Rogers
    BBC Newsbeat

    Shaun Kitchener

    Shaun Kitchener, DJ and pop music lover, says between Wham! and Sam Ryder he really “can’t pick one, I just don’t know”.

    “It kind of does feel like a much more open field this year, because there's no charity song that's stood out head and shoulders above the others,” he tells BBC Newsbeat.

    “There's sort of old songs and new songs that are kind of competing. So it's quite thrilling.”

    Shaun thinks the Christmas number one race “generates the most hype” as people who “don’t even keep an eye on the chart for most of the year” tend to pay attention.

    “I think everyone [listeners and artists] just seem to be sort of upping their game a bit.”

  2. TikTok, streaming and the Christmas number one

    Manish Pandey
    Newsbeat reporter

    Jack Saunders

    So does the Christmas number one still hold significance in an age of streaming, TikTok and personalised playlists?

    For Radio 1 presenter Jack Saunders, the answer is definitely yes.

    He says hosting the Official Chart show is “the pinnacle of radio broadcasting”.

    “People do have the ability to stream and listen to whatever they want around Christmas time,” Jack tells Newsbeat. “But here we are in 2023 with a race between Christmas tracks for number one and I think that tells you everything you need to know.”

    Jack says we’ve previously seen people power influence the top spot, with the likes of Rage Against the Machine knocking off “what would normally be the usual number one”.

    But this year, he feels whichever of the contenders with actual Christmas songs ends up with the top spot later “just feels right” for the festive number one.

  3. The history of the Christmas charts…

    Mark Savage
    BBC Music correspondent

    SladeGetty Images

    The Christmas chart has always marked the sales peak of the year for the music industry – with songs like Slade’s Merry Christmas Everybody selling over a million copies to claim the top spot.

    Al Martino’s ballad Here In My Heart was the first Christmas number one in 1952 (it was also the first ever number one, as the charts only launched that November).

    It wasn’t until 1955 that a festive song claimed the title – Dickie Valentine’s Christmas Alphabet. Since then, tracks by The Beatles, the Spice Girls and Ed Sheeran have all reached the top of the tree.

    Charity singles, reality show winners and novelty songs have generally proved popular, with Mr Blobby topping the chart in 1993, and LadBaby notching up five consecutive number ones from 2018 to 2022.

    The advent of streaming changed things completely. Suddenly, Christmas songs that were only previously available on compilation albums or radio stations were available 24/7.

    When the charts incorporated streams in 2014, all the classics started to crowd out newer, less familiar hits.

    In other words: Whamageddon.

  4. No more sausage rolls, no LadBaby single release this year

    LAdBaby and Martin Lewis

    LadBaby’s five-year Christmas number one streak will end today - the internet sensations have not released a festive single this year.

    LadBaby’s love of sausage rolls is well-documented, releasing charity versions of popular songs reworked to pay tribute to their favourite snack.

    A run from 2018 to 2021 saw the couple from Nottingham hit the top of the festive charts with We Built This City on Sausage Rolls (Starship’s We Built This City), I Love Sausage Rolls (I Love Rock n’ Roll and Don’t Stop Me Eatin’ (Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing).

    In 2021 they roped in Elton John and Ed Sheeran for Sausage Rolls for Everyone, based on the two British singers’ 2021 hit Merry Christmas.

    And last year it was Food Aid, a rewritten version of Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas - done so with permission from Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.

    LadBaby hold the record for most consecutive UK Christmas number ones, beating the record of four set by The Beatles between 1964 and 1967.

  5. The contenders

    WhamSony
    • Last Christmas by Wham! is the favourite - it originally reached number two in 1984 and has been number one twice in the past three years, but never in Christmas week itself
    • You're Christmas To Me by Sam Ryder is an Amazon exclusive and is being heavily promoted by the company including on its Christmas music playlists and the soundtrack of its film Your Christmas Or Mine 2
    • All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey was a number two in 1994 but like Last Christmas has been denied the Christmas number one spot in recent years by LadBaby
    • Fairytale of New York by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl has never been number one but has gained support following the death of Pogues singer Shane MacGowan last month
    • Merry Christmas by Ed Sheeran & Sir Elton John was number one before and after Christmas when it was released in 2021, but was denied the actual Christmas number one that year by - you guessed it - LadBaby

  6. Christmas chart battle ‘most exciting in years’

    Wham!'s 1984 classic Last Christmas is the favourite to clinch the number one slot, after topping the midweek chart.

    Sam Ryder's You're Christmas To Me is the top new release.

    Thursday was the final day for streams and sales to count before the Christmas chart is revealed later today.

    And the 2023 Christmas chart battle "feels much more exciting than it has done for a few years", according to Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company.

    Talbot says there is "a much more open field" this year.

  7. IT’S CHRIIIIIISTMAS!

    Jamie Whitehead
    Live reporter

    Santa and Mariah CareyGetty Images

    You read that in Noddy Holder’s voice, didn’t you?

    Welcome to our live coverage as our colleagues on the eighth floor here at London’s Broadcasting House count us down to reveal this year’s Christmas number one.

    Slade’s classic Merry Xmas Everybody isn’t in the running this year but several old classics are, including All I Want for Christmas Is You. Elton John has two chances of being top of the tree with Step into Christmas and his collaboration with Ed Sheeran - Merry Christmas.

    And then of course there’s Fairytale of New York. Just three weeks after Pogues’ singer Shane MacGowan’s death, will his Christmas classic make it to number one?

    His widow, Victoria Mary Clarke, says she hopes it will be at the top on Christmas Day, which would have been Shane’s 66th birthday.

    So it’s the last afternoon of the last day of work, get yourself a mince pie and let’s find out who will be 2023’s Christmas number one

    Oh and if you’re playing Whamaggedon - the game where players try to get all the way through to Christmas Day without hearing Wham’s Last Christmas - don’t tune into the stream… it’s the favourite to claim the number one spot this year.