Star backs anti-X Factor war

A campaign to ensure that the X Factor misses the Xmas No 1...

17:51 16 December 2009

The guitarist of seminal rock group Rage Against The Machine, Tom Morello, has backed the campaign to propel their anti-establishment anthem 'Killing in the Name' into the Christmas No 1 slot to offset the X Factor's efforts to top the chart.

Rocker Morello said that beating the X Factor single to Christmas No 1 would be a "wonderful dose of anarchy".

A Facebook group, which now boasts over 750,000 followers, was recently launched with the intent of resurrecting the band's 1992 hit.

Recent figures show that the song has sold 175,000 copies, compared to 110,000 for McElderry's single, 'The Climb'.

Morello told BBC 6 Music, the support for his song was "heart warming" and that their "rebel anthem song will transcend the Christmas holidays".

He went on to say: "The one thing about the X Factor show, much like our own American Idol, is if you're a viewer of the show you get to vote for one contestant or the other, but you don't really get to vote against the show itself until now.

"It's this machinery that puts forward a particular type of music which represents a particular kind of listener.

"There are a lot of people who don't feel represented by it and this Christmas in the UK they're having their say."

The guitarist said that he plans to donate some of the proceeds to a charity which helps children progress their musical careers in the UK.

Morello said: "My hope is that one of the results of this whole Christmas season is there'll be a new generation of rockers who will take on the establishment with the music they write."

X Factor mogul Simon Cowell was recently interviewed for music magazine NME, claiming that the ITV1 show had injected some life to the festive charts.

Cowell said: "I think we were getting to a point where [the Christmas chart] was all becoming like The Millennium Prayer, and I just didn't like that song.

"I think we all have this belief that the Christmas No 1 was just amazing, a real special occasion, but actually when you look at them over recent years, it was Bob the Builder one year, Mr BlobbyÂ…there's a tradition of quite horrible songs.

"I think I've done everyone a favour.

"Shows like Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor have actually got people more interested in music again, and are sending more people into record stores. We haven't seen this kind of uplift in years."

McElderry's single has been available to download since Monday, with physical copies going on sale from Wednesday. These physical units are expected to give the X Factor track a big boost in the chart race.

In recent years, winners of The X Factor have won their way to the top of the Christmas chart in landslide victories.

Last year's winner, Alexandra Burke, scored the biggest-selling single of 2008 with her cover version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'.

A similar internet campaign atthe time vowed to bring Jeff Buckley's own cover of the song into the coveted top spot.

In the end, three versions (Burke's, Buckley's and Cohen's original) charted in the top 40.