Can't...stop...the Rage!

X Factor finalists have been coming out on top in the battle for the UK Christmas No. 1 single as far back as I can remember. Ok, so possibly a little bit of truth-stretching, but that’s what it feels like – Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Leo…I mean Alexandra Burke each of the last 4 years, respectively.

No offence intended to the individuals in question – the public must have liked the singles enough to earn them top-spot after all - but I’m not sure this would have been the case without the twice-weekly, drawn out, dramatic pause-filled promotional exercise undertaken by Simon Cowell and his minions over the years to draw a level of emotional investment in the contestants.

But it’s not happening this year. We hope.

Over 750,000 facebook users have joined the “Rage Against the Machine for Christmas No. 1" group campaigning against yet another X Factor Winner Christmas No. 1, although the number of members seems to be fluctuating and the group sporadically disappearing amidst claims of sabotage. The group urges members to purchase an aptly chosen alternative: Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine.

The campaign affectionately known as “Rage Against The X Factor” has succeeded in propelling a song released more than 15 years ago to number 1 in the iTunes chart at the time of writing – ahead of this year’s X Factor winner Joe McElderry at number 2 – to the delight, I’m sure, of Sony BMG who happen to be the label behind both tracks.

Whether or not it’s a clever publicity stunt – the British music-buying public seem to be split and, as a result, sales of both tracks have sky-rocketed as proponents of each firmly root themselves in one camp or the other.

It's far from decided, and all sales until 23:59 19 December will be counted as long as they are deemed to be "genuine"...so don't try and buy 50 copies.

The last time I was genuinely excited about the result (aside from the Band Aid charitable element) was Gary Jules in 2003.

This is bigger.

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