Alexa, can you make a Christmas No 1? As this year’s battle for the most played and bought track of the festive season reaches its climax, Amazon is continuing its push to dominate the Christmas charts.
With the results of the race to be announced on Friday, the bookies’ favourite, Last Christmas by Wham!, remains in the lead, but hot on its heels is Tom Grennan’s It Can’t Be Christmas, a track commissioned by Amazon and exclusive to the company’s streaming platform.
While George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s festive classic is No 1 in the midweek charts and seeking two wins in a row after scooping last year’s top spot, Grennan’s song has leaped to second in the charts after a strong week of streams and sales, the metrics by which the Christmas No 1 is calculated.
Chart analysts believe that the streaming numbers of Amazon Original songs such as Grennan’s are boosted by being placed on Alexa devices’ go-to festive playlists. When users ask their smart speakers to play Christmas songs, they are some of the first tunes to cue.
The jazz-inspired pop singer Laufey has also seen her Amazon Original track Christmas Magic jump from No 20 to No 11 this week, and previous years have also seen strong showings for the e-commerce company.
Last year, Sam Ryder’s You’re Christmas to Me finished at No 2 in the Top 10, narrowly missing out to Wham!’s long-awaited first win. In 2021, George Ezra reached No 10 in the Christmas charts with Come on Home for Christmas, and 2020’s Top 10 saw Jess Glynne’s This Christmas make No 4. All of these songs were Amazon tie-ins.
“It makes a lot of sense for those on both sides of the equation,” said the Official Charts chief executive, Martin Talbot, discussing Amazon Music’s advent gameplan. “Amazon gets access to exclusive content, while the artists receive the support of an influential streaming service. The strategy has also played a part in helping put new music into the December market, Christmas repertoire and standard material too.”
While Grennan has a pop titan to defeat to break through to the No 1 spot, he’s still willing to bet on it. Last week, the singer-songwriter posted a video on social media of him getting a tattoo reading “Christmas No 1 is …” on his right thigh, but leaving the sentence incomplete.
“I’m gonna let you lot decide what goes on my leg,” Grennan said in the video. “It’s up to you. Stream it, buy the vinyl, we’ll see what happens. You lot, do not let this flop.”
Another song campaigning for the No 1 spot is Freezing This Christmas, a political parody of Mud’s 1974 hit Lonely This Christmas. The song, written by Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers, mocks Labour’s decision to cut the winter fuel payment, and is aiming to raise thousands in charity for pensioners.
“It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home / It’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer’s warm / It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas,” croons singer Dean Ager in the song, No 85 in the charts.
The Christmas No 1 will be announced on Friday. Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You is at No 3, No 4 is the non-Christmas themed That’s So True by Gracie Abrams, and Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree is at No 5. APT by Rosé and Bruno Mars, another non-Christmas song, sits at No 6.
Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms and Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl are No 7 and No 8, with Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath the Tree at No 9. Rounding off the Top 10 is Ariana Grande’s 2014 Christmas offering Santa Tell Me.
