X Factor’s Sam Bailey crowned 2013 Official Christmas Number 1

"Being the 2013 Christmas Number 1 is absolutely amazing!" says X Factor winner Sam Bailey as Skyscraper claims the UK's festive top spot.

She’s done it again! A week after winning this year’s X Factor, former prison officer Sam Bailey has gone on to score the 2013 Official Christmas Number 1!

The 36-year-old mum of two’s debut single, Skyscraper, has towered above the competition all week long. With sales of 149,000, Sam outstrips Pharrell Williams' Happy (Number 2) by more than two copies to one to become one of the fastest selling singles of the year.

All proceeds from Sam’s single will be split between Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Together For Short Lives, and the Chancellor, George Osborne, has agreed to waive VAT on the release.

"Being Number 1 is absolutely amazing!” Sam told OfficialCharts.com. “It really is the icing on the cake and it means Great Ormond Street Children's Charity and Together For Short Lives will benefit from the single which makes it extra special."

Martin Talbot, Chief Executive of the Official Charts Company comments:

“Congratulations to Sam Bailey, the UK's Official 2013 Christmas Number 1! X Factor winner one weekend, Christmas Number 1 the next. Life can't get much better than that, especially when you have taken the crown with one of the biggest weekly sales totals of the year.”

Pharrell Williams climbs two places to Number 2 today Happy, while Leona Lewis is a non-mover at Number 3 with her Christmas-themed single, One More Sleep.

Meanwhile, AC/DC have scored their first ever UK Top 10 single today with Highway To Hell (Number 4). Despite having several Top 10 albums here (including three Number 1s) the veteran rockers’ previous best was Number 12 in 1988 with Heatseeker. Originally released in 1979, Highway To Hell has returned to the Official Singles Chart this week as part of a fan-led social media campaign to try to keep this year’s X Factor winner off the festive top spot. The final tally for AC/DC stands at just over 43,000 copies.

This week’s Top 5 is completed by Hey Brother by Avicii.

New Entries And High Climbers

The cast of ITV’s other reality music TV show, The Big Reunion, are new in at Number 20 with their cover of Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. The pop supergroup, which is made up of members of 5ive, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, Blue, The Honeyz and Liberty X, released the track to raise money for the Text Santa charity.

90s rave outfit Altern 8 return to the Top 40 today for the first time in over 22 years with Activ 8 (Come With Me) (33). The Staffordshire duo’s 1991 hit has been the subject of a Facebook campaign to challenge for this year’s Christmas Number 1.

Ed Sheeran climbs 27 places to Number 20 with I See Fire. The single is taken from the soundtrack to the second instalment of Peter Jackson’s big screen adaptation of The Hobbit, The Desolation Of Smaug. Mr Brightside by The Killers (29) re-enters the Top 40 after the band performed it on last Sunday’s X Factor, while American Idol star Kelly Clarkson climbs 16 places to Number 30 today with her festive track, Underneath The Tree.

Spurred on by Sam Bailey’s cover, the original version of Skyscraper by Demi Lovato is at Number 37 today, while Little Mix are up 12 places to Number 39 with their new single, Little Me.

The Official Singles Chart Top 10 is as follows. Click here to see the Official Singles Chart Top 100 in full after 7pm.

© 2013 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Christmas Number 1 Contenders Round-up

Here’s a round up of this year’s Christmas Number 1 contenders in today’s Official Singles Chart Top 200 revealing where they finished in this year’s race:

© 2013 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.