Christmas number one: Wham! set to top festive charts – at Last!

The festive ‘Last Christmas’ has twice been runner-up but is now 1/50 to be top of the tree on the big day.

Sam Ryder’s ‘You’re Christmas To Me’ is next in the betting at 16/1, but The Pogues’ classic ‘Fairytale Of New York’ has since drifted to 18/1 and rounds off the top three.

Third time lucky for chart-topping eighties classic?

Last Christmas by pop duo Wham!, which consisted of the late George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, was 7/1 to be top of the tree on Christmas Day a couple of weeks ago, but they are top of the current charts and look like the act to beat.

The track was second in the 1984 charts but hardly stood a chance against Live Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ and was denied top spot by LadBaby’s ‘Food Aid’ last year.

Eurovision star Ryder has been working hard to get his hands on top spot, playing 26 shows in six days to promote his new song which appears on Amazon’s Christmas playlists and on the soundtrack of its film Your Christmas or Mine 2.

Punk-folk rockers The Pogues finally seemed destined to land the number one spot following the recent death of chief songwriter Shane MacGowan, but may come up short once more.

Originally released in 1987, The Pogues’ gritty festive track, featuring MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl, has never reached the top spot in the UK charts, peaking at number two and beaten to the Christmas number one spot in the year of its release by the Pet Shop Boys’ Always On My Mind.

After MacGowan died on November 30, there have been calls from his fans and wife Victoria Mary Clarke for the track to finally claim the coveted Christmas number one title on December 22.

Fairytale Of New York was written by MacGowan with fellow Pogues founder Jem Finer and later rerecorded to have MacColl in a duet with the former, which led to the best-known version of the track.

It has returned to the UK Christmas top 40 every year since 2005 and is fourth in the current chart, but never reached the top spot.

Mariah Carey has also been number two twice, in 1994 and 2020 with ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, and the American diva is 50/1 despite being third in the charts. Noah Kahan’s Stick Season is 66/1.

However, UK TikTok collective Creator Universe, odds-on favourites a few weeks ago, appear to have disappeared without a trace for their charity single, a cover of Wizzard’s 1973 classic ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ which is 66/1, down from 80/1 on Thursday afetrnoon.

Ladbrokes’ latest Christmas number one odds: 

Wham! – 1/50
Sam Ryder – 16/1
The Pogues – 18/1
Mariah Carey – 50/1
Cher – 66/1
Creator Universe – 66/1
Noah Kahan – 66/1
80/1 Bar

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication