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Music

23rd Dec 2021

Ranking all the Christmas number ones of the 2010’s

Hugh Carr

christmas number ones

We’re making a list, and checking it twice…

Christmas is just around the corner, and along with it comes the announcement of this year’s Christmas number one single.

While its importance has died down a bit in the age of streaming, it’s still a huge claim to make that your song was top of the pops at year’s end.

But which songs were best in show? What is going to be a part of your yearly rotation each year?

Here’s JOE’s rankings of every Christmas number one from 2010 to 2020.

11. Sam Bailey ‘Skyscraper’ (2013)

The X Factor had such a stranglehold on the Irish Christmas charts when it was on our screens, which means there have been a few real stinkers at the top of the charts each year. I had totally forgotten about this song, and listening back to it, I can see why.

Incredibly generic pop fare, with that one quiet bit after the bridge followed by a key change so that the music video can have that bit where they announce the winner.

10. Little Mix ‘Cannonball’ (2011)

We hope Damien Rice got paid for this butchery.

Another victim of the X Factor-ification of music, this song is full of bad MIDI strings, autotuned harmonies, and what sounds like a dubstep drop before each chorus.

9. Matt Cardle ‘When We Collide’ (2010)

First of all, this song is not an original; rather, it’s “Many of Horror” by Biffy Clyro. I guess that title wasn’t as sexy for a Christmas song.

At least they didn’t completely remix the song here. Nowhere near as offensive as previous attempts.

8. Ava Max ‘Sweet but Psycho’ (2018)

This seems like an odd choice to have been Christmas number one, but this song was everywhere in 2018.

This is an earworm, and not in a good way. The lyrics are questionable, and the music video was certainly… interesting.

7. James Arthur ‘Impossible’ (2012)

James Arthur walked so that Lewis Capaldi could run (more on him later…).

While the man himself is a bit of a dose, at least it was a bit different from other X Factor winners. A more rugged vocal performance, and a half decent production save this from being just a Simon Cowell creation.

6. Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie ‘Rockabye’ (2016)

Sean Paul seems to appear everywhere, so it’s no surprise that he has a Christmas number one here.

This song screams teenage disco, but at least Clean Bandit produce a pretty good dance track every now and then.

5. Ed Sheeran ‘Perfect’ (2017)

Love him or hate him, Ed is a juggernaut of songwriting, with multiple Christmas number ones under his belt, with a possible one this year with Elton John.

You’re probably going to be hearing this song at every wedding for the next few years, so luckily it’s not too annoying.

4. Justin Bieber ‘Love Yourself’ (2015)

Speaking of Ed, his writing is all over this track from Biebs.

This song marked the change from teenage heartthrob Bieber to cool, tatted Justin. At least the chorus is a bit of craic to sing on a night out.

3. Lewis Capaldi ‘Before You Go’ (2019)

Lewis Capaldi ran because James Arthur walked (see what I did there?).

The Scot had a dynamite year in 2019, so it’s nice to see the chap get a Christmas number one here. It helps that it’s one of his better tracks.

2. Dermot Kennedy ‘Giants’ (2020)

Fun fact – Dermot was the first Irish person to grab the number one spot at Christmas since Gift Grub’s version of “Leave Right Now” about Roy Keane leaving Man U in 2005. Ah, the early 2000’s.

A great pop song, and his performance of the track with Michael on the Late Late Toy Show was a great feel-good moment of 2020.

1. Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) ‘Uptown Funk’ (2014)

How could any other song be number one?

In one sense, it’s hard to believe that this song was the Christmas number one, but then again, it was absolutely everywhere for a long long time.

You’d be hard pressed to find a better pop song on any list than this one, and it also led to collaborations with the likes of Anderson .Paak and Bootsy Collins.

A real Christmas miracle.