Leon set for Christmas number one

The 18-year-old Scot is currently number one in the mid-week chart with his debut track, When You Believe, according to industry paper Music Week.

Katie Melua and the late Eva Cassidy are set to be number two spot with What A Wonderful World, while Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love is in third place.

The Pogues' Fairytale Of New York has also seen a sales surge this week.

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo told the BBC that download sales for the 1987 track had increased following Radio 1's decision to censor its lyrics.

'Momentum'

"It's one of those songs where, as people realise it's available to buy, they'll pick up on it and start downloading which is why momentum is growing for it," he said.

"It's not enough to beat the X Factor winner, but probably enough to propel it into the top three."

Radio 1 initially bleeped out the word "faggot" from the duet between Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan and the late Kirsty MacColl in case it offended listeners but changed its mind after complaints.

Castaldo added that it did not seem that Leon's song would sell as well as last year's Christmas number one by previous X Factor winner, Leona Lewis.

"It won't be quite as phenomenal as Leona," he said. "She sold 500,000 copies in four days.

"But he's still selling three to four times the amount of his closest rival."

Daniel Himsworth, a spokesman for Woolworths, said that copies of Leon's single were selling at the rate of 40-per-minute at the chain.

"There are definitely no challengers. If it continues this way he'll sell 350,000 in a week," he said.

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