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[ThePensmith]

Hello everyone. Firstly apologies for the delay, but owing to a personal bereavement over the weekend, my personal top 20 is up slightly later than planned. But it's here now, and it's the most important chart of the year as we find out who takes the Christmas number one on my chart this year. Is it gonna be Little Mix? Peppa Pig? Ellie Goulding? Here's your answer...

THEPENSMITH'S TOP 20 SINGLES CHART
Week ending 20th December 2019
© AM LIMITED 2019

1. (2) PEPPA PIG - Bing Bong Zoo
2. (1) LITTLE MIX - One I've Been Missing
3. (HNE) ELLIE GOULDING - River
4. (4) DUA LIPA - Don't Start Now
5. (NE) CAMILA CABELLO - Easy
6. (3) NIALL HORAN - Put A Little Love On Me
7. (5) NOW UNITED - Legends
8. (6) JODIE WHITTAKER - Yellow
9. (12) KYLIE MINOGUE - Every Day's Like Christmas
10. (14) THE POGUES & KIRSTY MACCOLL - Fairytale of New York

11. (8) EMMA BUNTON - Coming Home for Christmas
12. (9) BASTILLE - Can't Fight This Feeling
13. (10) ENDOR - Pump It Up
14. (16) MICHAEL BUBLÉ - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
15. (15) JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
16. (11) ROBBIE WILLIAMS - Time For Change
17. (13) THE SCRIPT - Run Through Walls
18. (NE) WALTHAM FOREST YOUTH CHOIR FEAT. TONY MORTIMER - Stay Another Day
19. (RE) CHRIS REA - Driving Home For Christmas
20. (18) THE SHIRES - New Year


Compiled from my own personal listening in the last seven days across streaming, digital and physical formats.

KEY

(1) - last week's position
(HNE) - highest new entry
(NE) - new entry
(RE) - re-entry

CHART COMMENTARY



10 years after 'Banned' of St Trinian's took our Christmas number one in 2009, it is a pleasure to report that the festive top spot on our chart this year is not taken by the biggest pop act of the moment, or even a last minute contender, but instead by a full blown novelty. In its third week on the chart, 'Bing Bong Zoo' by Peppa Pig overcomes its deficit to Little Mix and claims our personal chart's 21st Christmas number one single.



Peppa - voiced by Harley Bird, who seems to have been the forgotten star in all of this - is thus the second non sentient act to have a number one on my chart, but the first to have the Christmas chart topper in my chart history. Bob the Builder of course did have two number ones, but he was stuck behind S Club 7 for the festive runner up slot in 2000 with 'Can We Fix It', only ascending to the top for the final chart of that year.

The performance of 'Bing Bong Zoo' and the Little Mix single 'One I've Been Missing' - which drops a place to #2, thus denying the girls the opportunity to replicate Girls Aloud's feat in the 00s of two Christmas number ones - are such that both are now among the 10 biggest singles of the year on our chart. Where exactly they place? You'll have to join us on New Year's Eve on the End of Chart forum to find out.

Back to the Christmas chart for now though, and the highest new hit for the festive season lands at #3 for Ellie Goulding. 'River' is her cover of the Joni Mitchell classic, and thus becomes her best performing single since 'Still Falling for You' made #2 in September 2016. After most of the year off this year to get married, her fourth studio album is finally in the can for 2020 - exactly a decade on from her debut.



One artist who has very much not been missing in action this year is Camila Cabello, the former Fifth Harmony star having topped the charts for four weeks in August with Mark Ronson on 'Find U Again', and having huge #2 hits with Shawn Mendes on his 'Senõrita' and her own 'Liar'. 'Easy', the second single from her second solo album 'Romance', gives her her fourth top 5 hit of the year, entering at #5.



Kylie Minogue rounds off a stellar 2019, climbing three places to #9 with 'Every Day's Like Christmas', whilst The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl return for the fourteenth consecutive year to our festive top 10 at #10 with 'Fairytale of New York'. That is five places lower than it was in the Christmas chart last year, however it's worth noting that our festive top 20 doesn't include Christmas week itself this year, hence the slightly lower rankings for the festive evergreens than usually would be the case and which will undoubtedly be higher seven days hence. See also the current positions of Michael Bublé ('It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas', up two to #14), John Lennon and Yoko Ono ('Happy Xmas (War Is Over)', non-mover at #15) and Chris Rea ('Driving Home for Christmas', up six to #19).



This year marks the 25th anniversary of 'Stay Another Day', the million selling UK chart topper for Christmas 1994 from Walthamstow's bad boy lad band East 17. To mark the occasion, the band's main singer and songwriter Tony Mortimer, who wrote the song about the passing of his brother Ollie to suicide, has leant his hand to a new version recorded with the Waltham Forest Youth Choir, to raise money for the charity CALM, or Campaign Against Living Miserably for short. It takes the track back into my chart at #18 in this new version, although the East 17 original recharted as recently as 2010 when it peaked at #37.



And so that was the festive chart for 2019. All that remains for me is to wish you a Merry Christmas whatever you may be up to, and however you may be celebrating. See you back here next week for the last chart of the year.

FLASHBACK TOP 10
Your chance to see how my personal top 10 was looking on this week in the last 20 years. This week in 2002: Girls Aloud see off their Popstars rivals One True Voice to take that year's Christmas number one, plus classic hits from Blue with Elton John and Eminem



1. (HNE) GIRLS ALOUD - Sound of the Underground



2. (NE) ONE TRUE VOICE - Sacred Trust / After You're Gone
3. (1) BLUE FEAT. ELTON JOHN - Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word
4. (2) EMINEM - Lose Yourself
5. (4) DANIEL BEDINGFIELD - If You're Not The One
6. (3) HOLLY VALANCE - Naughty Girl
7. (NE) LOVE INC - You're A Superstar
8. (NE) AVRIL LAVIGNE - Sk8er Boi
9. (5) THE CHEEKY GIRLS - The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)
10. (6) LIBERTY X - Holding on for You