The top of the pop charts stays very much the same at Christmastime in the United States. Regardless of whether you've topped the charts as of Veteran's Day or Christmas Day, you've topped the charts. It's not the same in Britain however, where possession of the top spot on Christmas is a more venerated thing. If this is a new concept for you, consider the side storyline from Love Actually where an aging rock star beats out a boy band for the spot with an aggressive campaign of questionable behavior.
The spot is one traditionally dominated by the winner of that year's season of the UK X Factor series. However, those tired of the populist pap have fired up a social media campaign to encourage listeners to buy a different single in the week leading up to Christmas: AC/DC's "Highway To Hell." A Facebook group promoting the campaign got more than 100,000 likes during its first four days.
Those who followed our Mercury Prize coverage are also aware that gambling on such competitions is a larger part of music coverage in the U.K. than it is here. Bookmaker Paddy Power has listed the odds of an AC/DC victory at 3/1, which puts it second in the running at this point. The favorite is still the X Factor champ, who hasn't been decided yet, at 11/8. It will be the first time in two years that the show has had someone in the running however.
A similar campaign was carried out during 2009, when Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name" prevented the expected victory of Joe McElderry and his cover of Miley Cyrus's "The Climb." McElderry was the first victor from the show not to take the top spot.
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