Christmas Number 1 Contenders 2024: Laufey - Christmas Magic

As the UK's biggest chart race – the Official Christmas Number 1 – inches ever closer, Official Charts is shining a big string of festive fairy lights on this year's key players.

Next up is Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter Laufey, who actually has two festive tunes in the running. The first is her seasonal original Christmas Magic, which features in Red One, a holiday-themed action film starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans and Lucy Liu. 

Co-written by jazz-pop artist Laufey – a classically trained musician who plays cello, violin and piano – Christmas Magic is a big ritzy festive number that conjures up images of cosy holiday seasons from a bygone era.

"Writing an original Christmas song was such a fun challenge," Laufey says. "My fans know I love the holiday season, and I wanted to give them something special this year to thank them for all of their support. Then having an original in the film Red One was a pleasure, combining the two was the perfect gift!"

Like fellow Christmas Number 1 contender Tom Grennan, Laurey has released Christmas Magic as an Amazon Music Original, which is sure to boost her chances of pushing hard until the end.

In recent years, several Amazon Music Originals have performed very impressively during Christmas Number 1 week. Just last year, Eurovision hero Sam Ryder soared all the way to Number 2 with his own Amazon Music Original, You're Christmas To Me. He was only pipped to the post by WHAM!'s perennial festive favourite Last Christmas, but he did end up ahead of the Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey.

MORE: Christmas Number 1 2024 contenders revealed

Laufey's second Christmas Number 1 contender is her thoroughly classy cover of Winter Wonderland, which is a Spotify Singles exclusive. So far, Laufey's Winter Wonderland has climbed to Number 24 on the Official Singles Chart, while Christmas Magic is a small way behind at Number 39.

They're already Laufey's first ever Top 40 singles, though she made her Official Albums Chart breakthrough in May when Bewitched, originally released in September 2023, re-entered at a new peak of Number 13. 

Could one – or both – of her festive offerings crack the Top Ten? Laufey's momentum is definitely building at the right time, so watch this space.

When will the 2024 Christmas Number 1 be revealed?

This year's Official Christmas Number 1 race 2024 kicks off Friday December 13 with sales and streams counting up until midnight (11.59pm) on Thursday, December 19.   

Tune in to The Official Chart on BBC Radio 1 on Friday December 20 from 4pm to hear the Christmas Top 40 countdown and the exclusive reveal of the Official Christmas Number 1 2024. 

The full Top 100 Official Christmas Singles Chart and Albums Chart will be published on OfficialCharts.com from 5.45pm. 

Join the conversation now using the hashtag #XmasNo1. Follow @OfficialCharts on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. For all the latest race updates join the Official Charts mailing list for Breaking News on this year’s race and beyond.