McElderry trails Rage in Xmas No.1 battle

Joe McElderry is behind Rage Against The Machine in the battle for the Christmas number one spot, the Official Chart Company has revealed.

The US rock band's 1993 hit 'Killing In The Name' has opened up a 10% lead over McElderry's winner's single - a cover of Miley Cyrus's 'The Climb' - according to initial sales figures from Sunday and Monday.

However, McElderry's track is expected to receive a significant boost tomorrow when it is released on CD single.

"This is shaping up to be a very exciting battle between two different records which have captured the nation's imagination," said OCC managing director Martin Talbot. "But although Rage Against The Machine have started off in front, according to our initial sales estimates, there is no doubt that this tussle is far from over."

'Killing In The Name' peaked at number 25 on its original release in February 1993, but has recently become the focus of a Facebook campaign to prevent the X Factor winner's single from topping the Christmas singles chart for the fifth successive year.

Last week, Simon Cowell dubbed the campaign "stupid", claiming it was "aimed directly" at him, while McElderry admitted yesterday that he would be "gutted" if he failed to make number one on Sunday.

Of the five previous X Factor champions, only Steve Brookstein failed to enter the UK charts at pole position with his winner's single. However, his cover of Phil Collins's 'Against All Odds' succeeded in climbing to the number one spot in its second week of release.