Christmas Number 1 contenders: East 17 vs Mariah Carey

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 the Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey, and her old chart adversaries East 17. These two acts definitely have Official Charts history because back in 1994, Mariah's shimmering festive original All I Want for Christmas Is You and East 17's yearning ballad Stay Another Day locked horns for the Christmas Number 1 spot. 

Aided by a very cute video in which band members Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, Terry Coldwell and John Hendy wore the cosiest Christmas coats imaginable, Stay Another Day claimed that year's Christmas Number 1 as part of its five-week Official Singles Chart reign. All I Want for Christmas Is You had to settle for a very respectable three weeks at Number 2.

But since then, of course, Mariah's yuletide tune has only got more popular. It finally claimed the Number 1 spot in 2020 and returned to Number 1 again in December 2022, though on both occasions was pipped to the Christmas Number 1 spot by LadBaby.

Stay Another Day hasn't become quite such a prominent Christmas bauble, but it's still returned to the Official Singles Chart every festive season since 2008. And this year, its chances are being boosted by the release of a limited edition 7” vinyl on December 13. For all copies sold via www.stayanotherday.co.uk, London Records will donate £1 to Nordoff and Robbins Music Therapy. 

Stay Another Day will also benefit from a fresh wave of nostalgia thanks to East 17's appearance on the BBC iPlayer documentary Stay Another Day, in which Tony Mortimer discusses the poignant story behind the song, which was inspired by the intense grief he felt after losing his brother to suicide.

Speaking to Official Charts about the Stay Another Day reissue, Tony remembers denying Mariah Christmas Number 1 on the first go-around. "She didn't get what she wanted for Christmas, did she?!"

But it's all love here. "[Mariah] is a legend," Tony tells us. "To be along those names, four little lads from Walthamstow, it's just surreal. People say to me all the time, 'how do you write a Christmas Number 1?' I don't know! I never set out to write one. 

"I just wrote a ballad that I thought would be on the B-side of an album. A really big cat got out of a very big bad. It's a Christmas thing now!"

And does Tony think we could have a repeat of the same chart battle 30 years later?

"[Mariah] is gonna pull out all the stops," he says. "We'll see what happens!"

As for Mariah, she is very much in the mix and leading the race to Number 1 this week following the airing of her Mariah Meets Rylan interview on BBC Two over the weekend. She's also benefiting from the release of new CD, 12” and 7” vinyl variants to mark the song’s 30th anniversary.

So this year, like any year, only a fool would bet against her going all the way. 

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.