'X Factor' winner beats Rage Against the Machine in second UK chart battle

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A week after losing out to Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" as the UK's top Christmas single, Joe McElderry, winner of the UK TV show The X Factor, earned the New Year's number one single with "The Climb." As of December 27, his song had outsold "Killing in the Name" by 130,000 copies over the course of the week, according to the Official Charts Company.

Earlier in December, a rock fan from Essex founded a Facebook group encouraging people to download the 1992 RATM song, intending to prevent the winner of The X Factor from taking the number one spot on the coveted Christmas UK Singles Chart for the fifth consecutive year. The band supported the effort, promising British fans a free concert if "Killing" hit number one. On December 20, the Rage single took the top position.

Since that victory, "The Climb" has gone on to surpass "Killing," having sold 196,000 units in the week leading up to December 27. While having the number one spot on the New Year's chart is less prestigious, McElderry's current sales (more than 650,000) make him a contender for the best-selling UK single of the year, so far putting him in sixth place behind La Roux's "In For The Kill." Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" leads with sales of about 870,000.