A common complaint I often hear in the run up to Christmas is that it seems to begin earlier every year. This became evident on October 17th 2011 when "Mistletoe" by Justin Bieber was released. It was still in the Top 40 by Christmas time but got no higher than number 21.
Stacey Solomon who had previously been an X Factor contestant with no Top 40 hits did a cover of "Driving Home For Christmas" for the Iceland adverts. It was then released as a single due to popular demand. Quite where the demand was coming from I don't know as it only reached 27, but it gave Stacey Solomon her only Top 40 hit to date.
Another Christmas cover came from the Cast Of The Only Way Is Essex with "Last Christmas" which made number 33.
The most successful Christmas record of the year from a chart perspective was "Dominick The Donkey" by Lou Monte. Originally recorded in 1960, this charted for the first time in 2011 thanks to a campaign by Chris Moyles to make it Christmas number one. It didn't quite make it though, it peaked at number 3.
The Christmas number one campaigns were to prevent the X Factor winner getting Christmas number one. However X Factor winners Little Mix topped the charts the week prior to Christmas and were knocked off by "Wherever You Are" by Military Wives ft Gareth Malone.
There were also of course several old Christmas records that re-entered the Top 40. These were:
Pogues ft Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York
Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
Wham - Last Christmas
Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody
Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas
Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas
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