‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the charts, several artists were stirring, to be in the number one spot.
Some festive classics are battling it out with more modern hits in the most competitive Christmas chart in years.
After LadBaby dropped out of the running after five years at the top at Christmas, it is all to play for.
Whoever is number one in the Official Singles Court on Friday will join some British musical icons who have previously secured the festive top spot, including The Beatles and the Spice Girls– as well asmore unlikely chart-toppers such as Mr Blobby and Bob the Builder.
Here, Sky News looks at this year’s contenders.
Wham! – Last Christmas
Image: Wham! in 1984
The 1984 hit was number one in last week’s chart – securing the top spot for the second week in a row.
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s melancholy tale of a scorned lover is one of the favourites for the Christmas crown.
If it succeeds, it will be the first time it has been Christmas number one – it was famously kept off the top spot in 1984 by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?.
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Last Christmas has hit the top of the charts several times previously – but not as Christmas number one – in 2021, 2022 and January 2023.
Creator Universe – I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
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Creator Universe – a collection of more than 30 TikTok stars – is in the race for Christmas number one with a cover of Wizzard’s 1973 track I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.
The song was only released on 15 December, with profits from the single to be donated to The Trussell Trust, which runs around 1,200 food banks across the UK.
Some of the online influencers who recorded the cover at London’s Abbey Road Studios were Rosie McClelland, The Famileigh and Amy-Jo Simpson.
Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas
Image: Mariah Carey in 2014
The US superstar missed out on Christmas number one to East 17’s Stay Another Day when both songs were released in 1994.
But Careyis in with a shot this year, charting at number three in last week’s chart.
The song broke UK chart records when it hit number one in December 2020 – 26 years after its release.
It has been in the top 40 for the festive season every year since 2007.
MacGowan’s wife Victoria Mary Clarke said previously the song “should be the Christmas number one, it absolutely should. I’m very much in favour of that”.
She added: “I don’t think [getting to number one] was ever that important to him, because I think that he really appreciated the fact that so many people love it and it means so much to so many people, and being number one isn’t really all about being appreciated.”
MacGowan’s partner on the song, Kirsty MacColl, died in a boating accident in Mexico in December 2000.
Jack Harlow – Lovin On Me
Image: Jack Harlow at the 2023 Grammys
The first non-festive contender is US rapper Jack Harlow’s Lovin On Me.
It is the 25-year-old’s fourth top five single in the UK.
The song was previously in the number one spot for three consecutive weeks in November and December – making it Harlow’s first chart-topping song in the UK.
A snippet of the song went viral on TikTok before its release.
Noah Kahan – Stick Season
Image: Noah Kahan performing in 2019. Pic: AP
The US singer’s breakthrough UK hit climbed to the second place position on last week’s chart after 11 weeks in the chart.
The popularity of the 26-year-old’s song was boosted by a cover performed by pop star Olivia Rodrigo.
Kahan, from Vermont, first hit the charts in October, and has been in the second spot for two non-consecutive weeks.
Merry Christmas – Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John
Image: Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran in 2021 when they secured the number one spot on the charts
Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John‘s 2021 offering was pipped in the Christmas charts that year by a remix of itself – LadBaby‘s Sausage Rolls For Everyone.
However, it was number one for three non-consecutive weeks that year, and reached a high of number three on last year’s Christmas charts.
An outside contender for 2023, it was in sixth position in last week’s chart.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and sexual assault – which reportedly took place on the set of EastEnders.
The alleged incident happened on the set of the BBC soap at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, according to The Sun newspaper.
Hertfordshire Police confirmed a man in his 50s was arrested after the report in Eldon Avenue, Borehamwood, on 7 May.
The man is accused of sexual assault and common assault in relation to two victims, the force said.
The suspect is on bail while inquiries continue, police added.
EastEnders said in a statement: “While we would never comment on individuals, EastEnders has on-site security and well-established procedures in place to safeguard the safety and welfare of everyone who works on the show.”
BST Hyde Park festival has cancelled its final night after Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra pulled out of the headline slot.
Lynne, 77, was due to play alongside his band on Sunday but has been forced to withdraw from the event following a “systemic infection”.
The London show was supposed to be a “final goodbye” from ELO following their farewell US tour.
Organisers said on Saturday that Lynne was “heartbroken” at being unable to perform.
A statement read: “Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule.
“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”
They later confirmed the whole of Sunday’s event would be cancelled.
“Ticket holders will be refunded and contacted directly by their ticket agent with further details,” another statement said.
Stevie Wonder played the festival on Saturday – now its final event of 2025.
US rock band The Doobie Brothers and blues rock singer Steve Winwood were among those who had been due to perform to before ELO’s headline performance.
The cancellation comes after the band, best known for their hit Mr Blue Sky, pulled out of a performance due to take place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on Thursday.
ELO was formed in Birmingham in 1970 by Lynne, multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan.
They first split in 1986, before frontman Lynne resurrected the band in 2014.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Image: Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”