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Leon grabs Christmas No 1

23/12/2007

X Factor winner Leon Jackson has grabbed the UK Christmas number one spot with his debut single.

The Scottish crooner's debut single When You Believe flew off the shelves this week, knocking What a Wonderful World, Katie Melua's duet with the late Eva Cassidy, into second place.

And as well as scooping a £1 million record contract after his win on the ITV1 talent show, the 18-year-old sold a massive 276,000 copies of When You Believe, the highest weekly total for any track released in 2007.

"It's been a great ending to a fantastic year and it's just the best Christmas present I could ever wish for," Jackson told BBC Radio 1's chart show.

Though a third consecutive X Factor Christmas number one was widely predicted, the recent furore surrounding the Pogues' 1987 classic Fairytale of New York saw the song make a late charge for the top spot.

BBC Radio 1 attempted to censor the song this week only to be forced into an embarrassing climb-down after thousands of people complained.

And it climbed to fourth in the UK charts, pushing entries from Soulja Boy and Mariah Carey down the charts.

But Leon held on to mark the third Christmas number one in a row from an X Factor winner.

Leon's cover of When You Believe - the 1998 Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston duet - was only officially released in stores on Monday, but fans were able to download the ballad since his unexpected victory was announced last weekend.

Top ten UK singles: (last week's position)

1 Leon Jackson - When You Believe (new entry)
2 What A Wonderful World - Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua (1)
3 Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis (2)
4 Fairytale of New York - The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl (8)
5 Crank That – Soulja Boy (3)
6 All I Want for Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey (4)
7 Rule the World – Take That (7)
8 Valerie - Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse (11)
9 Call the Shots - Girls Aloud (5)
10 Apologise – Timbaland featuring One Republic (6)

Top five UK albums:

1 Spirit – Leona Lewis (1)
2 Back Home – Westlife (2)
3 Call Me Irresponsible – Michael Buble (3)
4 Vivere: The best of - Andrea Bocelli (6)
5 Long Road out of Eden – Eagles (5)