Chart commentary by gooddelta

Posted December 23, 200717 yr

X Factor takes the Xmas No.1 once again as Leon scores the year’s fastest seller

X Factor 2007 winner Leon Jackson has debuted at the top spot and has become the 3rd consecutive Christmas No.1 related to the ITV1 reality show following Shayne Ward (2005) and Leona Lewis (2006), both of who join Leon in this week’s festive chart.

Leon’s debut single, When You Believe, is a cover of the 1998 No.4 hit from Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. The uplifting ballad shares the ‘I’ve been on a journey’ sentiment of the manufactured reality show winning songs we have come to expect. Other examples of this include Will Young’s Anything Is Possible, Shayne Ward’s That’s My Goal and Kelly Clarkson/Leona Lewis’ A Moment Like This. Leon has also broken Leona’s record as the fastest selling single of 2007, shifting over quarter of a million copies in one week, though this is nowhere near the sales of the last two winners who both passed half a million in their first week.

The Christmas No.2 goes to Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua whose Tesco-only cover of What A Wonderful World drops back a place from last weeks No.1 spot where it was a rather surprising chart topper last week. The single’s sales have held up well for a few reasons this week, the most obvious one being the added word of mouth from the fact that it is now a bona-fide UK chart topping single. After a close battle for the Xmas No.3 single it’s Leona Lewis’ 7 week chart topper Bleeding Love that finishes in front. The single is down a place on its 9th consecutive week in the UK top 3.

The Pogues annual success continues this week and the ageless Fairytale Of New York sounds surprisingly fresh to this day. It reached No.2 in 1987, No.3 in 2005, No.6 in 2006 and No.4 this year. The late Kirsty MacColl would have been proud. Rounding off the top 5 is Soulja Boy’s Crank That which is down a couple of places to No.5. Why they went with the US mix for commercial radio and TV channels over here when the Travis Barker rock remix (which is played on Radio 1) is far superior is beyond me.

Mariah Carey returned to the top 5 for the first time since its 1994 release last week but this week the festive favourite All I Want For Christmas Is You slides a couple of places to No.6. A few of the Christmas singles, including this one, appeared to peak chart wise last week even though the sales are higher this week than they were seven days ago. Take That continue their incredible success with Rule The World which is a non-mover at No.7 after nine weeks in the UK top 10. Despite being one of the 1990’s biggest acts, they weren’t often known for their chart longevity with many of their hits disappearing in a matter of weeks. Patience, Shine and Rule The World have all had huge staying power in the last 12 months though.

Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse return to the top 10 in time for Christmas with their cover of The Zutons’ Valerie back up three places to No.8 this week. It reached No.2 a couple of months ago. Girls Aloud spend a fifth week in the top 10 with Call The Shots which is down four places to No.9. It is their first single to spend five consecutive weeks in the top 10 since 2004’s No.1 single I’ll Stand By You. Last year’s hit single Something Kinda Ooooh did however manage five non-consecutive weeks in the top 10. Rounding off the Christmas top 10 is Timbaland’s Apologize. The single which features rock act One Republic have now clocked up ten weeks in the top 10. Timbaland’s other two 2007 singles Give It To Me and The Way I Are also passed the ten week barrier of top ten longevity. This is the first instance in this decade that any artist has managed three singles in a row with such impressive longevity.

T2 and Cascada leave the top 10 this week which will be disappointing for their record label All Around The World though they will be happy with Cascada’s album Perfect Day bouncing back to its peak of No.12 this week and getting its highest weekly sale yet. Sugababes’ new single Change moves up 13 places to No.13 after a physical release. Though this is a rather disappointing new position for the trio whose last single to miss the top 10 was last year's Follow Me Home. Since then they have been involved in two UK No.1 singles. The group's former No.1 single About You Now stays in the top 20 for a 13th week but is down slightly to No.19. The likelihood is though that as the New Year release drought starts and the Christmas songs fall away both singles could have a chance of climbing.

Like Mariah earlier a few of the other Christmas songs are on the slide this week. Wham are down to No.16 while Wizzard are down two places to No.18. Slade do however return to the top 20 this week with their 1973 Christmas No.1 single Merry Xmas Everybody. Andy Williams isn’t going anywhere at No.21 while Shakin’ Stevens is up a place to a new 2007 peak of No.22 with Merry Xmas Everybody. Band Aid are up to No.24 with Do They Know It’s Xmas with Chris Rea and The Killers completing the festive songs in the top 40 at No.33 and No.34 respectively, both new peaks for those singles.

With few new singles daring to compete with X Factor and ‘the Xmas effect’ the chart has a fairly stagnant feel to it with only a few new songs filtering in to the top 40. Malcolm Middleton’s alternative festive offering We’re All Going To Die is in at No.31 after being tipped by some as a possible Christmas No.1 while Kylie Minogue’s Wow becomes the second hit from X after a performance on X Factor lat weekend. The song will undoubtedly go higher when released but for the moment is her first single of this decade not to reach the top 10. It is more vintage Kylie than the experimental 2 Hearts and is not too far removed from her 2002 hit single Love At First Sight.

Two other songs squeeze in at the end of the top 40 this week. Dance act Filo & Peri have chosen the wrong time of the year to release classy The Anthem which can only make No.39 after a physical release. Kate Nash scores her third top 40 hit of 2007 but after its physical release Pumpkin Soup can only reach No.40. It could of course go higher as all the Christmas songs start to filter out but for now it ends up as her smallest hit.

It’s the biggest week of the year for album sales and the victor for an impressive sixth time is Spirit by Leona Lewis. She mirrors the success of Take That who led the way up to Christmas this time last year. The Christmas No.2 album goes to Irish boyband Westlife whose Back Home stays at No.2 yet again this wee with a massive hike in sales following ITV1’s ‘The Westlife Show’ last weekend. Michael Buble rounds off the Christmas top 3 with Call Me Irresponsible. Andrea Bocelli climbs to a new peak of No.4 with Vivere while The Eagles stay at No.5 with Long Road Out Of Eden. Led Zeppelin are down a couple with Mothership at No.6 while Shayne Ward and Take That are non-movers at No.7 and No.8 with Breathless and last year’s Xmas No.1 album Beautiful World respectively. An oddity comes at No.9 and No.10 this week. Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black is the best selling album of 2007 so far and while the original version slides a place to No.10, the new deluxe edition, which has now lost its fancy packaging and as a result come down in price, soars to No.9. If the sales of these two albums were combined, Amy would be in the top 3 with Leona and Westlife but this unique feat is almost an even better Xmas present for the troubled singer with a top 10 single and effectively two top 10 albums for Christmas.

No major new singles are released for a couple of weeks now with only Booty Luv and Mika due for any sort of success and neither looking likely to be huge. Bearing in mind Sunday, Monday and Tuesday’s sales will be before and during Xmas, sales will be high again and the Xmas songs might not go very far. However as the week progresses they will undoubtedly move down and perhaps allow T2, Cascada, Sugababes or Alicia Keys to rejoin the top 10. As lucky people receive MP3 players as Xmas presents we can also expect some of 2007’s biggest hits to make a return or significant climbs so don’t be surprised to see Umbrella make a large jump next week. However it should be the same story at No.1 as Leon has sold a sufficient amount of copies to see off any competition for a short while now with Leona, Eva and Katie and Soulja Boy battling it out for the runners up spot in the last chart of 2007.