Christmas number one: Who will top the festive chart?

By Steve Holden
Newsbeat entertainment reporter Little Mix, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and choir conductor Gareth Malone

For five of the previous six years, the winner of The X Factor has grabbed the coveted Christmas number one slot.

This year Little Mix are hoping to join Matt Cardle, Alexandra Burke and Leona Lewis by continuing that trend.

But the band could have some genuine competition this year. Take a look at some of the runners and riders for Christmas 2011.

Little Mix - Cannonball

Jesy, Leigh-Anne, Jade and Perri have already made history by becoming the first ever group to win The X Factor.

Cannonball, a cover of Damien Rice's most famous track, is unlikely to be the sound of Little Mix in the future but it's still gone to number one.

It may have sold 210,000 copies in its first week but that's considerably lower than previous X Factor winners.

Speaking to Newsbeat, Perrie from Little Mix said: "We're praying that we will be number one. Imagine, it'll be amazing having a number one at Christmas. It would just be incredible."

Latest odds: 33/1

Military Wives Choir - Wherever You Are

The X Factor's closest competition is likely to come from the Military Wives Choir.

The women from Devon were put together for a TV show and are led by conductor Gareth Malone. Their track, Wherever You Are, is inspired by letters to and from their soldier husbands.

The choir's lead singer Samantha Stevenson said: "I'm trying not to feel the pressure of Christmas number one because it's anybody's game.

"Fair enough we are the favourites at the bookies but you can't always listen to what they've got to say. It's a proper song for Christmas."

Latest odds: 1/12 (favourite)

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

In 2009, Rage Against The Machine took X Factor winner Joe McElderry's thunder to become Christmas number one with the distinctly non-festive Killing In The Name Of. That campaign was led by Jon Morter.

He is now trying to do it again by getting Nirvana's classic to the top spot. Released 20 years ago, it originally got to number seven in November 1991.

Latest odds: 16/1

Alex Day - Forever Yours

Alex Day is a 22-year-old singer from Essex who claims to be the biggest independent UK solo artist on YouTube.

He's unsigned but he has 470,000 subscribers, while his videos have been viewed more than 66 million times.

His signature track is the simple but effective pop track Forever Yours.

There are currently nine versions of the song in the iTunes Top 100.

Latest odds: 80/1

Lou Monte - Dominick The Donkey

The song was originally recorded in 1960. Lou Monte was an Italian-American who made a series of novelty records.

The track's been played by the Chris Moyles team on BBC Radio 1 since 2005 and this is likely to be the first time the song - about a Christmas donkey - has ever charted in the UK.

Latest odds: 10/1

Stacey Solomon - Driving Home For Christmas

Stacey Solomon finished in third place behind Joe McElderry and Olly Murs in the 2009 X Factor final.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is her first single release since then, a cover of Chris Rea's Christmas classic.

After her time on the X Factor she was crowned Queen of the jungle on 2010's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Latest odds: 100/1

The cast of The Only Way Is Essex - Last Christmas

TOWIE's had an impressive year. The show won the audience award at the TV Baftas in May and one of its stars, Mark Wright, was runner up on ITV1's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Now the whole cast, including Nanny Pat, have covered Wham's Last Christmas.

It's a standard karaoke version but is definitely the only contender this year to feature the lyric - "I can't wait to get my Christmas vajazzle."

Latest odds: 100/1

Odds courtesy of William Hill as of 19/12/11