LONDON, UK (BBC) -
Robbie Williams and
Nicole Kidman's cover of the Sinatra classic Somethin' Stupid is on course to enter the charts at number one this Sunday, midweek sales figures suggest. If he achieve this, Williams will have a double number one, as his Swing When You're Winning album is still soaring and looks set to remain at number one for a fourth consecutive week.
But despite the indicators, HMV is predicting that
Gordon Haskell, with his gentle ballad, How Wonderful You Are, might just jump in and steal the Christmas crown.
Current sales at HMV and other stores suggest Somethin' Stupid will sell in excess of 100,000 copies this week to comfortably overtake Daniel Bedingfield's Gotta Get Thru This. Newcomer Bedingfield has so far topped the charts for the last fortnight.
HMV top 5 Christmas Predictions (Singles):
1. Gordon Haskell / How Wonderful You Are
2. Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman / Somethin' Stupid
3. Daniel Bedingfield / Gotta Get Thru This
4. Sophie Ellis Bextor / Murder on the Dancefloor
5. Stereophonics / Handbags and Gladrags
Sales of the rest of the top five are very close and difficult to predict, but Sophie Ellis Bextor (Murder on the Dancefloor), Ian Van Dahl (Will I) and Stereophonics (Handbags & Gladrags) are likely to make up the rest of the top five on Sunday.
With just 10 days to go before the Christmas chart is announced, the big question is whether Williams and Kidman can hang on to claim the number one.
Real challenge
Unexpected competition could come from Gordon Haskell, after some 250,000 pre-orders of his single were placed by retailers.
The single has been popularised primarily by BBC Radio 2, who have made it their record of the week. A spokesman for HMV said: "We know from previous experience that anything is possible when it comes to the Christmas number one.
"However, HMV will stick its neck out and plump for Gordon Haskell - just. "If this virtual unknown does pull it off to deny Robbie, it will be one of the biggest upsets in charts history."
