Bookies suspend betting on Christmas No.1

Despite 17 million fans watching Joe McElderry triumph on the X Factor on Sunday night, the Gateshead born singer looks set to miss out on this year’s Christmas Number One. Bookies have taken the unusual step of suspending betting on the customary chase for the festive chart topper, following a surge in sales of new favourite Rage Against The Machine’s Killing in the Name, which is championed by an anti-X Factor Facebook campaign sure to infuriate Pop mogul Simon Cowell.
 
McElderry’s single ‘The Climb’ is being outsold by Rage on the Amazon download chart, with the former shifting 110,000 this week, compared to Rage’s 1750,000 for the same period.
 
Bookmakers William Hill yesterday suspended betting on the Christmas No.1 after a flurry of best made the chart battle ‘unviable’.
 
A William Hill spokesman suggested as much as 98% of the bets were for Rage and therefore they had to adjust their odds until it became clear favourite.
 
A Ladbrokes spokesman intimated Rage were on the cusp of a ‘landmark’ occasion, given X Factor’s customary dominance of the annual Christmas battle.
 
Nick Weinberg, told the Daily Mail: “Joe’s loss of favouritism is a landmark moment in Christmas number one betting.”
 
“It was inconceivable just a few days ago, but the gamble on Rage Against The Machine has taken us completely by surprise.”
 
“For so long the battle for festive supremacy has been a procession for the X Factor. Not anymore.”
 
The Facebook campaign now has 725,000 members.