Noah Kahan's Stick Season a contender for 2023's Official Christmas Number 1 single?

Could Stick Season's endurance see it take the top spot?

Sam Ryder isn't the only silky-haired singer-songwriter fella in the running for 2023's Official Christmas Number 1 single, as Noah Kahan's Stick Season shows its endurance over the festive period.

The Vermont-born musician's breakthrough UK chart hit, and title track of his third studio album Stick Season, the song is one of the main non-festive contenders in this year's race.

While Wham!'s Last Christmas and Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You look set to chart at Number 1 and Number 2 respectively tomorrow (December 15), Noah closes the gap on Jack Harlow's Lovin On Me; currently predicted to remain at Number 3 for a second week.

As it stands, less than 350 UK chart units currently separate Stick Season from the Top 3 and, with the Christmas Number 1 chart battle commencing on December 15, it'd be rather ridiculous to rule it out.

MORE: The 2023 Official Christmas Number 1 single contenders

Currently in its 11th on the UK's Official Singles Chart, it seems Stick Season boasts the staying power to be considered a viable Christmas Number 1 possibility. At Number 5 on last week's chart, the song looks set to climb to Number 3 this week.

Stick Season has earned a peak of Number 2 in the UK so far.

If Noah claims the most important chart-topper of the year, he'd be the first male solo artist to manage it since 2017; when Ed Sheeran's Perfect took the Christmas Number 1 title.

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Already a huge chart success in the UK, Stick Season received an early boost thanks to Maisie Peters and Olivia Rodrigo.

A gender-subverted rewrite of the track by Maisie went viral on TikTok earlier this year; catching the attention of Olivia in the process. Olivia then went on to cover Stick Season in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge while promoting her Official Number 1 album, GUTS.

Noah Kahan's Stick Season is out now via Mercury Records.

When will 2023's Official Christmas Number 1 single be announced?

The Official Christmas Number 1 race 2023 kicks off Friday December 15 with sales and streams counting up until midnight (11.59pm) on Thursday, December 21.

Tune in to The Official Chart on BBC Radio 1 on Friday December 22 from 4pm to hear the Christmas Top 40 countdown and the exclusive reveal of the Official Christmas Number 1 2023.

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. To be the first to hear who's leading the race to Christmas Number 1, join the Official Charts mailing list and opt in to Breaking News alerts. And keep up with all our Christmas Number 1 news and features here.