by Renee Israel
After a major upset over the Christmas No. 1 song placing, Joe McElderry
showed the UK what he's made of by winning the second song battle, the UK New
Year No. 1.
The Christmas battle saw the X Factor winner wage a battle on the
charts against Rage Against the Machine's, Killing in the Name, following an
intense Facebook campaign.
The move to put Killing in the Name at the top of the charts was done to
protest Simon Cowell's domination of the music scene over the Christmas season
for four years running.
The Christmas coup dealt a blow to UK bookies who saw the teenaged McElderry
as a clear winner right until the last minute.
However, intense last minute downloads of Killing in the Name saw the
American rock group take home the Christmas title.
McElderry's New Year win saw him bounce back as the darling of the UK song
scene.
His X Factor song, "The Climb", sold nearly 200,000 copies in its second
week, compared with only 69,000 of Killing in the Name.
"I am so happy that the single is No. 1," said an ecstatic
McElderry. "Thank
you so much to everyone that has supported me - this has been the best Christmas
ever and I want to wish everyone a very happy new year."
"The race for Christmas No. 1 was the most exciting many of us can remember,"
said the MD of the official Charts Company, Martin Talbot. "But having secured
his own No. 1, Joe can top off his year with another honour and has an excellent
chance of making the year end top five by next year."
Watch bookies such as Ladbrokes and William Hill for the latest UK music
odds.
