X Factor Winner Sam Bailey Beats Pharrell To Score Christmas No.1

X Factor winner Sam Bailey has scored a Christmas No.1, hitting the UK singles top spot with her cover version of Demi Lovato's US hit, 'Skyscraper'.

The 36-year-old mum of two and former prison officer has beaten off competition from the likes of Leon Lewis, Pharrell Williams and AC/DC to claim the top spot, with all proceeds from the single split between Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Together For Short Lives. Chancellor George Osborne has also agreed to waive VAT on the release.

"Being Number 1 is absolutely amazing!" Sam told OfficialCharts.com. "It really is the icing on the cake and it means Great Ormond Street Children's Charity and Together For Short Lives will benefit from the single which makes it extra special."

 Martin Talbot, Chief Executive of the Official Charts Company added: "Congratulations to Sam Bailey, the UK's Official 2013 Christmas Number 1! X Factor winner one weekend, Christmas Number 1 the next. Life can't get much better than that, especially when you have taken the crown with one of the biggest weekly sales totals of the year."

Watch: Sam Bailey sings Skyscraper - Live Final Week 

Pharrell comes in at No.2 with his amazing single 'Happy', while Leona Lewis finds herself at No.3 with 'One More Sleep' and a Facebook campaign has seen AC/DC land at No.4 with 'Highway to Hell'. Avicii completes the top five with 'Hey Brother'. 

Elsewhere in the album charts, Robbie Williams is at No.1 with Swings Both Ways, One Direction are at No.2 with Midnight Memories, Gary Barlow comes in at No.3 with Since I Saw You Last and Olly Murs is at No.4 with Right Place Right Time. Beyonce completes the top five with her surprise self-titled fifth album. 

X Factor Judge Nicole Scherzinger Lining-Up Own Fashion Range

Nicole Scherzinger is known for her bold style choices on The X Factor, so it is no surprise that she has been snapped up to front a fashion campaign.

The 'Boomerang' singer has reportedly been lined up to be the face of British brand Missguided and potentially create on her own collection.

“Missguided think she could be great for the brand and fashion is something she wants to get into," a source close to the star tells The Mirror.

“It’s a great opportunity for Nicole to venture into new areas," they added.

The 35-year-old wore the brand during The X Factor live shows a number of times, so she is clearly a fan of them. This series, she wore some very revealing pieces so perhaps she will recreate those for her collection.

“Expect a lot of sexy, tight-fitting dresses and plenty of sparkles in the range. She wants to really put her stamp on it and make it Schermazing," the source added. Will we look as 'schermazing' as Nicole in those pieces though? Probably not.

Nicole has headed back to LA following The X Factor final last weekend. She blew the audience away by singing 'And I'm Telling You' with Sam Bailey during the live show with viewers on Twitter surprised to discover she had an amazing voice, especially when compared to Katy Perry's out-of-tune performance later that night.

Meanwhile it has been rumoured that she will be seeing her on/off boyfriend, Lewis Hamilton, over the holidays to try for a reconciliation.

Selena Gomez Performs ‘Slow Down’ On ‘The X Factor’ — Video

Selena’s pre-recorded performance finally aired Nov. 14, and we loved it! Was it everything you hoped it would be?

Selenators, your patience has paid off! Selena Gomez‘s performance of “Slow Down” on The X Factor – which was actually recorded last week, but was rescheduled due to the show’s unexpected voting glitch — finally aired during the Nov. 14 results show, and it was just spectacular.

Dressed in a slinky black outfit, with black boots to match, Selena surrounded herself with back-up dancers for an electrifying performance of her chart-topping smash. With her energy and stage presence, we’re thinking Selena could teach the current crop of contestants a thing or two about having the “x” factor.

Selena Gomez Hangs With Mario Lopez At ‘X Factor’

Before filming her performance Nov. 7, Selena spent some quality time with X Factor host Mario Lopez, who couldn’t resist tweeting about the encounter.

“Backstage with my girl @SelenaGomez!” Mario tweeted. “Such a sweetheart… She reminds me of a grown up Gia.” (He was referring to his daughter, Gia, and he’s totally right!)

Once Selena hit the stage, Mario shared more kind words: “@SelenaGomez killin it on stage.”

That Mario, such a nice guy.

Watch: Selena Gomez Performs ‘Slow Down’ On ‘The X Factor

‘The X Factor’ : Final 6 Acts Revealed After Shocking Elimination

Was the right acts eliminated this week? Drop a comment with your thoughts on the shocking results.

And then there were six! The X Factor said goodbye to two more acts on the Nov. 28 episode of the Fox hit competition show, making this a less-than-happy Thanksgiving for two contestants. Following a powerful performance by Demi Lovato, this season’s final six acts were officially revealed.

Josh Levi & Lillie McCloud Eliminated From ‘The X Factor’

Yes, you read that right. After a nail-biting sing-off between Josh Levi and fellow last-placer Rion Paige – which ended in a tie, as if things couldn’t get any more dramatic — America chose to send Josh home. Earlier in the night votes made it aware to all that Lillie McCloud was also on the chopping block. Two great contestants who left to early, but that is definitely the nature of the beast!

It seems his last-ditch performance of Bruno Mars‘ “When I Was Your Man” just couldn’t compete with Rion’s rendition of Pink‘s “Perfect.”

Adding to the tragedy, HollywoodLife.com spoke with Josh on Nov. 27, and he told us it would be “the best Thanksgiving ever” if Simon Cowell pardoned all eight contestants for the holiday.

Sadly, especially for Josh & Lillie, Simon wasn’t so generous.

Demi Lovato Performs ‘Neon Lights’

Fortunately, the episode wasn’t totally dominated by tears and goodbyes. The bright spot of the night came from Demi Lovato, whose performance of her new single proved she has the “X factor” herself.

Dressed in a sexy-yet-classy ensemble, the judge took the stage for a killer live performance of “Neon Lights.”

‘The X Factor’ : Season 3 Top 40 Acts Revealed

Did your favorites make it into one of the final four groups? See who’s sailing through to the next round and weigh in!

With just one week until “The Four-Chair Challenge” — you know, that thing that sounds suspiciously like something you might see on The Voice – the judges were under a lot of pressure to narrow down the competition on the Sept. 26 episode of The X Factor. And narrow they did! Simon Cowell and the gang hand-picked 10 contestants to be in each of the show’s four categories, but as we saw, making those decisions was no easy task.

Girl (Group) Power

The evening kicked off with Glamour, a trio of tweens that decided to sing the National Anthem for some ungodly reason. The girls’ voices were good, and they made it through, but seriously… the National Anthem? That was one performance I did not salute.

A second female trio followed, and while the song choice was better — the girls took on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis‘ “Thrift Shop” — the talent was not. Still, the ladies of Girls United managed to squeak by as well. (Am I crazy, or have the judges completely given up at this point?)

Victoria Carriger Delivers ‘Extraordinary’ Performance

The next stand-out performer of the night was 41-year-old mom Victoria Carriger, who didn’t exactly have the judges’ confidence when she first stepped onto the stage. In fact, she didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in herself, either. But as she got further into her song — an emotional rendition of Kelly Clarkson‘s “Because Of You” — everything changed. Simon even called her audition “extraordinary!”

Keith Beukelaer Returns For Revenge

As for the weirdest audition of the night, that title definitely goes to Keith Beukelaer, 29, who you might remember as “The ‘Like A Virgin’ Guy” from the second season of American Idol. I say you “might” remember because there’s a good chance you’re too young, or you had a lobotomy to forget how awful it was.

Anyway, Keith performed “Baby Got Back” — and I use the term “performed” loosely — and it was a hot mess from start to finish. Yet somehow, perhaps because Keith sold his soul to the Devil moments before stepping onto The X Factor stage, the judges sent him through!

‘X Factor’ Season 3 — The Top 40 Revealed

The moment of truth, or rather the montage of truth, finally arrived towards the end of the episode, as the judges took all the “yes’s” and narrowed them down to four solid groups. Here’s who we’ll be seeing in the Four-Chair Challenge:

GIRLS: Khaya Cohen, Bree Randall, Jamie Pineda, Simone Torres, Rion Paige, Danielle Geimer, Rylie Brown, Primrose Martin, Ellona Santiago and Ashly Williams

BOYS: Carlito Olivero, Chase Goehring, Timmy Thames, Isaiah Alston, Tom Olstad, Al Calderon, Josh Levi, Isaac Tauaefa, Carlos Guevara and Stone Martin

GROUPS: Glamour, Good News, Yellow House Canyon, Alex and Sierra, Roxxy Montana, Wild Thingz and Girls United (with three more potential groups still to be formed)

OVER 25s: Lillie McCloud, Jeff Brinkman, Rachel Potter, Kristine Mirelle, Victoria Carriger, James Kenney, Allison Davis, Denny Smith, Lorie Moore and Jeff Gutt

Source: Hollywoodlife