November is coming to a close and December is fast approaching which can only mean one thing, the race for Christmas number one. The fight for this year’s UK Christmas number one single will officially begin on Friday 17th December. The competition for streams and sales will continue until 11:59 pm on Thursday 23rd December 2021. OfficialCharts.com took to Instagram to announce a first look at this year’s contenders.
The annual festive race sees artists from all genres of music duke it out to be crowned Christmas number one. Contenders from all avenues of the entertainment industry have competed for the prize. With the rise of social media, a new form of public figure can now enter the festive competition. Last year saw YouTuber Mark Hoyle claim the top spot for the third year, otherwise known as LadBaby the husband and father won with his single “Don’t Stop Me Eatin”.
The contenders for this year’s Christmas number One includes a varied list of legendary artists and rising stars. It was reported earlier this year that Sir Elton John had joined forces with Ed Sheeran to compete. Both have experienced festive chart success before, Sheeran scored a Christmas number one in 2017 with “Perfect” and Sir John placed at number eight in 1973 with “Step Into Christmas”. The single has remained a festive favourite and has re-entered the charts this year.
This year has seen a comeback for Disco icons ABBA, the “Dancing Queen” singers scored a number one this year with their album Voyages. They are also hoping to claim another hit with their upcoming track “Little Things”. The track is their first Christmas single and will be released on 3rd December 2021 accompanied by a music video. This year has also seen Adele dominate the charts, certain tracks from her newly released album 30 are being tipped as this year’s number one.
A reimagined version of the 1960 Charles Brown single, “Come on Home For Christmas” has also joined the race. The new version has been recorded by English singer-songwriter George Ezra and has been released alongside Amazon Music. Much like previous years, a celebrity duet has also been released to compete. Former Take That member Gary Barlow and actress Sheridan Smith have teamed up to release the single “How Christmas Is Supposed To Be”.
British rockers The Lathums have also released a festive single , the track entitled “Krampus” was released on 12th November 2021. The track serves as an anti-Christmas track and is named after a festive folklore figure. Often depicted as the evil counterpoint as Santa Claus, Krampus is shown in popular culture as a villain. Another Christmas contender is Olivia Dean, the up-and-coming artist is set to storm the charts with her cover of the Nat King Cole standard “The Christmas Song”.
Other artists who have thrown their hat in the ring include Gypsy Pistoleros and the controversial act The K**ts. The results will be published by The Official Chart via an announcement on BBC Radio 1 on Christmas Eve from 4 pm. The show will not just announce this year’s Christmas number one single but will also reveal the official Christmas top 40. Music fans will also be able to catch the countdown on Top Of The Pops broadcasted on Christmas Day on BBC One. The full official top 100 Official Christmas Singles and Albums chart will be published via OfficialCharts.com.
