Christmas Number 1: Sam Ryder and Wham! Battle to the wire for festive chart top spot - betting odds

Today is the last day to get those Christmas streams in as the race for 2023 Christmas Number 1 enters its final day. UK Eurovision hero Sam Ryder, who gave the country its highest finish at the famous song competition in 24 years at the 2022 contest, is hoping his original song 'You're Christmas To Me' is able to get over the line and beat festive juggernaut 'Last Christmas' by Wham!

Thursday (December 21) is the final day for streams to count towards the race with the big announcement from the Official Charts Company due on Friday (December 22). Sam's Christmas hit is only available to stream via Amazon Music, with the singer-songwriter penning the song for the company's festive film 'Your Christmas or Mine 2' starring Asa Butterfield.

The midweek chart update released by the Official Charts Company showed Sam's song was the only new festive hit in the top 10, and the closest to beating the iconic Wham! hit. On December 17, the company revealed that the 1984 song was only 42 chart units ahead of Sam, who has performed 26 shows in only six days in the last push for Christmas number 1.

Other songs mentioned in the race for the top spot include Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' and 'Fairytale of New York' by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. The latter picked up speed after the death of Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan earlier this month.

According to Oddschecker, the latest bookies' favourites for Christmas Number 1, 2023 are:

• Wham! - Last Christmas 1/25
• Sam Ryder - You're Christmas To Me 12/1
• The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacCall - Fairytale of New York 25/1
• Cher - DJ Play A Christmas Song 40/1
• Creator Universe - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday 40/1

The Christmas chart is due to be announced at 4pm on Friday December 22. If Wham! do defeat Sam in the race to the top, it will be the second time to iconic hit has reached number one in the UK after it claimed the 2020 title.