Simon Cowell set for double chart top spot
SIMON Cowell is poised for a record-breaking double triumph – taking the No 1 spots in the singles and albums charts this Christmas.
If this year’s X Factor winner does not steal the top spot from The X Factor finalists’s charity single, then the 2006 winner Leona Lewis could grab it.
Failing that, it could easily be snatched by Britain’s Got Talent phenomenon Susan Boyle. She is also a contender to top the album charts. Her opposition? Um, Leona Lewis and last year’s X Factor runners-up JLS.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s going to be a very merry, and seriously lucrative, festive season for Simon Cowell.
Bookmakers William Hill are offering odds of 5-1 on artists linked to Cowell occupying the top four places in the singles chart this Christmas.
As far as the albums charts are concerned, his odds are 3-1.
Gennaro Castaldo, of the HMV record chain, said: “We could be looking at a bit of a Simon Cowell lock-out come Christmas week. It’s unprecedented for an individual to have such a powerful hold on the UK charts.”
The X Factor winner is 1-10 odds on to be the Christmas No 1.
“It’s a 99.99 per cent certainty,” said William Hill spokesperson Rupert Adams. The song is likely to be a closely guarded secret until December 10.HMV’s spokesman went further. “We could also be looking at a Simon Cowell-inspired top five,” said Mr Castaldo.
“The charity cover of Michael Jackson’s You Are Not Alone from The X Factor finalists is likely to remain in the top spot until it hands over to the SDHp winner, and will remain among the best-sellers right up to Christmas.”
Both face competition from Leona Lewis. On December 15 she will release I See You, the theme tune to James Cameron’s 3D film Avatar, written and produced by the producer of Celine Dion’s worldwide hit My Heart Will Go On.
Susan Boyle’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses, which she performs on The X Factor tonight, is another strong contender for No 1. In the album charts, her debut, I Dreamed A Dream, is up against Lewis’s Echo and the eponymous debut from boyband JLS.
Last year’s X Factor winner Alexandra Burke is also riding high with her debut album, Overcome.
Even the other big-name artists in contention whose careers are not masterminded by Cowell have a connection to the impresario.
Robbie Williams, Whitney Houston, Michael Bublé and Westlife, have all promoted their new songs on the ITV show, while the last contender, Cheryl Cole, is a judge on The X Factor.
