Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Adele compete for number one at Christmas this year

SEVEN decades after the first Christmas of No1, the battle for the coveted spot is as fierce as ever.

Al Martino was the first to claim the honor in 1952 with Here In My Heart – and since then a host of A-listers have joined the club.

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The Beatles boasted four during the ’60s, while Paul McCartney regained the crown in 1977 with Wings’ Mull Of Kintyre.

More recently, The Spice Girls, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams and Whitney Houston beat the carnival contest.

A series of novelty acts saw Mr Blobby take the top spot in 1993 and then Bob The Builder, before the X Factor’s television dominance saw Leona Lewis, Shayne Ward, Alexandra Burke, Matt Cardle, Sam Bailey, Leon Jackson and Ben Haenow won.

A publicity campaign that saw Rage Against The Machine break took place in 2009 – and similar campaigns have seen action novelist LadBaby take over the final three seasons.

This year sees strong contenders Ed Sheeran and Elton John while running with Abba, Adele – and the Church of England.

Here, we take a look at the front runners, along with their odds of winning.

ELTON AND ED SHEERAN – 11/10

The superstar duo is loved by many bookmakers during Christmas No1.

In a recent interview in the Sun, Ed played a preview of the duet, simply titled Merry. Christmas, revealing sleigh bells and a catchy chorus introducing his gift to a board worm.

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A video shows the pair parodying another series of Christmas pop videos and is released tomorrow, along with the single.

It’s hard to see them beaten.

Breastfeeding – 4/6

IF anyone can challenge Ed and Elton for Christmas No1, that’s the winner of the past three years – about the same as the Spice Girls.

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LadBaby – real name Mark Hoyle – is a British YouTube star whose first Christmas was We Built This City in 2018’s first Christmas, We Built This City, about the joy of sausage rolls.

His 2021 endeavor is yet to be revealed but bookies have him as a favorite – with Mark saying: “Never rule out a sausage roll for Christmas.”

CHURCH OF ENGLAND – 25/1

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In a surprising new push for populism, the Church of England has released its first single for the festival, featuring the St Martin’s Voices choir performing In The Bleak Midwinter.

Royalties from the record will go to charity, and the single will form the theme song for this year’s Church of England Christmas campaign, a series of social media ads highlighting the hardships many people face. to go through at this time of year.

ABBA – 18/1

Returning icon THE Sweden will enter the Christmas race for the first time tomorrow with the release of their latest single, Little Things – which has never won the festival top spot before.

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The track, which reflects the joys of Christmas morning, was released on CD, with the band hoping to capitalize on their success with sales of their recent comeback album, Voyage.

A festival music video will also be released to accompany the song.

GEORGE EZRA – 50/1

INDIE singer-songwriter George remade Charles Brown’s 1960 single Please Come Home For Christmas for this year’s Amazon Music festival streaming service.

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After This Christmas by Jess Glynne and Ellie Goulding’s River, the singer hopes the forgotten song can be revived unexpectedly.

The song last appeared on the Official Singles Chart in 1994, when Bon Jovi’s cover hit No7.

ADELE – 10/1

SEVERAL the songs from Adele’s new album 30 have proven to be hugely popular on the Official Charts – and bookies think one of them could go all the way to the top of Christmas. .

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As well as the No1 lead single Easy On Me, the songs from the albums Oh My God and I Drink Wine are doing well – and now a fresh round of promotion around a new single is expected soon. .

THE LATHUMS – 16/1

This year’s anti-Christmas effort comes from Wigan-based indie rockers, The Lathums – who topped the charts with their debut album earlier this year.

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Titled Krampus, the new single depicts the end of the world and the cancellation of Christmas – and has received strong support from social media users looking to rebel against the cheesy chart top regular milk.

GARY BARLOW AND SHERIDAN SMITH – January 25th

ANOTHER A-list couple, Gary and West End star Sheridan, sang their new single How Christmas Is Supposed To Be on Jonathan Ross last week – with a quick festival number one hit increase.

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But while it ticks off a lot of classic Christmas singles, it may just prove too sweet for some.