'It's the icing on the cake!' X Factor winner Sam Bailey's debut single Skyscraper is named the Christmas number one

PUBLISHED: 19:00, 22 December 2013 | UPDATED: 20:44, 22 December 2013

Sam Bailey has secured the Christmas number one spot with her debut single Skyscraper.

The X Factor winner outsold her closest competitor, Pharrell Williams and his track Happy, by an astonishing two copies to one.

And, after selling 149,000 copies of her song, Sam is also the proud owner of one of the fastest-selling singles of the year.

She did it! X Factor winner Sam Bailey has been named holder of the Christmas number one with her debut single Skyscraper

Speaking after the news of her number one was announced, Sam told OfficialCharts.com: 'Being Number 1 is absolutely amazing!

'It really is the icing on the cake and it means Great Ormond Street Children's Charity and Together For Short Lives will benefit from the single which makes it extra special.'

Martin Talbot, Chief Executive of the Official Charts Company, added: 'Congratulations to Sam Bailey, the UK's Official 2013 Christmas Number 1!

'X Factor winner one weekend, Christmas Number 1 the next. Life can't get much better than that, especially when you have taken the crown with one of the biggest weekly sales totals of the year.'

Sam clinching the festive top spot marks the first time an X Factor winner has done so since Matt Cardle back in 2010.

The first Christmas number one by an X Factor winner was taken by Shayne Ward's That's My Goal in 2005, followed by Leona Lewis' A Moment Like This, Leon Jackson's When You Believe and Alexandra Burke's Hallelujah for the next three years.

However, in 2009, Rage Against The Machine launched a campaign to stop Joe McElderry getting the Christmas number one, and succeeded in their aim.

The Military Wives and Gareth Malone got the top spot in 2011 with Wherever You Are, beating Little Mix and Cannonball, while The Justice Collective were awarded Christmas number one in 2012 over James Arthur's Impossible.

Meanwhile, Leona Lewis' track One More Sleep found itself in third position in this year's Christmas chart, while Pharrell's Happy was second.

Other notable festive tracks on the chart include The Big Reunion contestants' cover of Wizzard's I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, which charted at number 20, and Kelly Clarkson's Underneath The Tree at number 30.

Over on the album chart, Robbie Williams took the top spot with his record Swings Both Ways - beating both One Direction and Midnight Memories and Take That bandmate Gary Barlow and his album Since I Saw You Last to number one.

All three records have sold more than 116,000 copies in the last week, with Swings Both Ways and Midnight Memories clocking up more than 126,000 sales apiece.

Missing out: Pharrell Williams and Leona Lewis took the second and third spots on the chart with their respective tracks Happy and One More Sleep

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Sunday, 22 December 2013

X Factor winner Sam Bailey's debut single Skyscraper is named the Christmas number one

'It's the icing on the cake!' X Factor winner Sam Bailey's debut single Skyscraper is named the Christmas number one