Sir Cliff Richard hasn't been at his most cheerful over the last few weeks, something largely caused by the banning of his tracks from Absolute Radio 60s. Now the recording artist has hit out at the 'X Factor', claiming that the hugely successful show has "killed" anyone else's chance of achieving a Christmas number one in the UK. Among the singer's many achievements during a career which has seen him sell more than 250 million records worldwide, has been his continual success during the festive season firstly thanks to his 1960 hit 'I Love You', then perhaps his most famous rendition of 'Mistletoe & Wine' which initially made it as Christmas Number One in 1988. 'The Millennium Prayer', released in 1999 was a week away from topping the chart at Christmas having held on to top spot for the preceding two weeks but was pipped by Westlife's 'I Have A Dream'.
Speaking to Digital Spy, Richard said "The X Factor kind of killed everybody else's chance of being number one at Christmas as their show runs for 26 weeks and culminated one week before. So everybody is waiting for that song, from that winner. It's almost impossible to compete as they always were at number one."
However, the artist still reckoned that he might be able to top the Christmas chart again given "the right song"; reflecting on his previous successes he mooted, "when I listen to them I think, 'I was so lucky to get given those things to sing".