Little Mix reach No.1 on Official Singles Chart... but it's the worst first week of sales for an X Factor winner since 2004

By Andrea Magrath

Last updated at 2:27 PM on 19th December 2011

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Little Mix have blasted to the top of the Official Singles Chart with their debut release of Damien Rice's Cannonball.
But the victory is bittersweet as the single has achieved the worst first week of sales for an X Factor victor's winning song since 2004, figures show.
Despite the huge exposure of the group with more than 15 million viewers tuning in to watch the show reach its climax, the track sold just 210,000 copies in its first week.

We're number one! Little Mix were tonight celebrating reach number one on the Official Singles Chart with their single Cannonball

That's less than half of last year's winner Matt Cardle's first week tally of 439,000.

And its sales are dwarfed by the success of past winners such as 2005 champion Shayne Ward whose That's My Goal sold 742,180.

 

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Little Mix even finished behind 2007's little-remembered winner Leon Jackson who shifted nearly 276,000 copies of his debut When You Believe in the first week.

Celebration: The X Factor winners tweeted that it was 'such a great feeling' as they left Radio 1 tonight

Bright future: The girls' song achieved the biggest first week sales for a single so far this year

The only past winner which the all-female quartet have outsold is Steve Brookstein who triumphed in 2004, when The X Factor was in its infancy. Brookstein sold almost 128,000 copies of his single Against All Odds in aweek.

However Little Mix can take some comfort from the fact their single achieved the biggest first week sales for a single so far this year. Andit outsold the rest of this week's Official Singles Chart top five combined.
Single releases are usually timed to coincide with the week of the Christmas number one, but this year programme bosses released the track a week earlier.

Competition: But Little Mix are expected to be knocked off the top spot for next week's Christmas number one by The Military Wives choir

Admitting defeat already? Simon Cowell tweeted congratulating both Little Mix and Military Wives, despite the Christmas number one not being announced for another week

Early congratulations: The girls were presented with a cake last night in anticipation of the news

Irish folk-singer Rice had the talent show to thank too this week.
Cannonball - which peaked at 32 when first released in 2003 - was re-released and reached number 9 in October after featuring on X Factor.
Today it re-entered the singles chart at number 19 thanks to Little Mix's cover.
EnVogue's Don't Let Go also received a boost this week courtesy of LittleMix's performance of the track on X Factor final night, climbing to number 27 from last week's 89.
But Little Mix shouldn't get too comfortable at the top just yet. Bookies have placed The Military Wives choir ahead of the girl band for the coveted Christmas number one next weekend.

Stars: The group performed at G-A-Y last night to a sell-out crowd

Influential: Little Mix's cover of En Vogue's Don't Let Go has also seen the original climb the charts

William Hill have Gareth Malone's choir at 1/8, with the X Factor winners trailing behind at 11/2, based on the pre-orders for The Military Wives' Wherever You Are breaking Amazon records.
'X Factor will have lost a week's sales by the time the Christmas number one is counted,' said a William Hill spokesperson.
'It looks like the Military Wives can't be beaten.'
There was just one new entry in this week's Top 10 - Leona Lewis, herself an X Factor winner back in 2006, crashed straight in at number 8 with her cover of Hurt, a song written by Nine Inch Nails but made famous by the legendary Johnny Cash.
Inthe albums chart, Grammy winning Canadian superstar Michael Bublé's festive album Christmas scored the biggest weekly sales of any album this year so far.
More than 269,000 copies were sold in the last seven days, a week-on-week sales increase of over 42%.
It is the second week that Christmas has spent at top spot, having previously peaked at Number 1 in November.

Wild thing: Both Jade (far left) and Jesy went for leopard-print in a FM Boutique T-shirt and leggings respectively

Perks of fame: The girls arrived back at their hotel tonight with some nice swag wheeled in by a doorman

The record has not been out of the Top 5 since entering the chart at number 3 in October.
Bublé, who has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, has scored six Official Albums Chart Top 10 hits in his career.
This week festive fever really took hold with the Official Albums Chart Top 6 all recording sales over 100,000.
Coldplay record the biggest percentage increase in week-on-week sales (113%) as Mylo Xyloto climbed to number 4 from last week's number 8.
While there were no new entries in the Top 10, Westlife saw their Greatest Hits collection re-enter at number 9, up from last week's 11, having previously peaked at number 4 in November.
The official Christmas single and album number ones will be announced on Christmas Day.