The Christmas Number One is a British institution, with huge artists from all genres hoping to one day claim the prestigious title.
Wham! finally secured the top spot last Christmas with their 40-year-old track and reignited the dormant chart battle after five years of Ladbaby wins.
The beloved track is in the chart race again but there are plenty of new songs in number one pursuit, mixed in with the classics for the 2024 crown.
The Spice Girls, The Beatles, Leona Lewis, Rage Against the Machine, Girls Aloud, Nicole Kidman, and even Mr Blobby have all had one – so it truly is anyone’s game.
But how are the charts calculated and when will this year’s winner be announced?
How is the Christmas Number One determined?
The official Top 40 chart in the UK is compiled by the Official Charts Company.
While other countries have chart battles, the Christmas number one is a UK tradition not shared by America’s Billboard ranking.
Jar of Hearts icon Christina Perri even confessed to Metro this year that she thought it was ‘made up for Love, Actually’ and ‘not a real thing’.
The Official Chart was first established in 1952 and surveys thousands of retailers and digital services daily to count UK physical sales, digital downloads, audio streams, and video streams.
It remains the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, it captures 99.9% of the total UK singles market.
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The charts operate a Friday to Thursday chart week — with sales counted from 12:01am Friday to 12:00am Thursday each week.
The Top 40 is then counted down every Friday afternoon on BBC Radio 1 and the Official Singles Chart Top 100 is published in full on OfficialCharts.com from 5.45pm.
Information for the number one over Christmas week is collected in the same way, with an announcement on Friday night regardless of when Christmas Day falls.
How has streaming changed the Christmas Number One landscape?
The rise of streaming overhauled this 50-year system and the Official Charts Company first collated streaming information in 2008 with the Official Subscription Plays Chart.
In 2014, this was merged into the core Official Chart with 100 audio streams from major services like Spotify, Apple, and others equating to one single purchase.
In July 2018, video downloads and streams were incorporated for the first time too.
The album chart works similarly, with 1,000 streams counting as one complete album sale.
Rules do dictate that new songs under three years are weighted more heavily than Christmas classics, to give them a fair chance to gain traction.
When will 2024’s Christmas Number One be revealed?
With Christmas Day falling on a Wednesday this year, whoever is number one when the charts are revealed today will have the Christmas Number One.
There is no separate calculation for a specific Christmas winner, although midweek charts next week could paint a different picture in the public’s hearts.
The official Christmas Number One will be announced today: Friday December 20.
The full Christmas Top 40 will be counted down on BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart Show with Jack Saunders from 4pm.
What is currently the favourite? Latest odds
The Christmas competition is being dominated by last year’s winner Wham! however, the omnipresent Mariah Carey is not far behind.
Leading bookmaker Coral makes Wham! and Last Christmas as short as 1-12 in their betting to have the official Christmas Number One single once again this year. Those odds indicate it has an 92% chance of topping the Christmas charts.
If it does, it will break records as the first song to get the Christmas Number One twice (let alone in a row).
Newcomer Tom Grennan is holding onto second place with 16/1 odds after bravely getting a tattoo in a pre-emptive celebration.
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Mariah is in third with 16/1 but she could storm ahead as mid-week charts saw her leap past Tom on Tuesday’s chart update.
The bookies round out the top five with random festive tracks from Big Shaun and the Steel People and Yorkshire Pudding Boy both at 25/1.
The Pogues will likely be held off that elusive top spot once again, coming in at 18/1.
This article was first published on December 23, 2022.
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