Last year, for her tilt at the becoming the 3rd (or was it 4th? I neither remember nor give much of a fuck) X Factor winner to reach #1 in the UK Charts at Christmas, Alexandra Burke recorded a version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah so mind-numbingly bad that fans of the song organised a campaign to prevent the single from reaching top spot. To this end they utilised social networking sites in order to exhort the record-buying public to purchase the late Jeff Buckley’s vastly superior cover of the song instead, and enjoyed some success in this regard. The mainstream media took notice, and although the underdog campaign was ultimately unsuccessful in its primary aim, it did result in Buckley’s Hallelujah being propelled to #2 in time for Christmas.

Inspired by this, and equally annoyed by the prospect of another X Factor winning gliding unstoppably to Christmas #1, a few Rage Against The Machine fans decided to act in a similar vein. Starting by setting up a facebook group, the Rage Against The X Factor campaign was launched with the objective of getting Rage’s Killing In The Name to top spot instead of whatever monumental cack act X Factor shits out this year. Already it has been astonishingly successful, racing to almost 450,000 members by 12:30am on the 9th of December.

Reflecting the chart dominance of X Factor in recent years, bookmakers have taken to closing the books on betting for #1, instead choosing to offer bets on ‘Christmas without X Factor’, such is the certainty that the show’s winner will inevitably claim #1. However, the success of Rage Against The X Factor has meant that bookies such as Paddy Power have shortened the odds to such an extent that RATM are odds-on favourites to win the ‘Christmas without X Factor’ and has even forced them to reopen the books on betting for Christmas #1. X Factor is still the runaway fave at 1/8, but Rage are at 9/2 and seemingly shortening with every passing day.

Plenty of the great and the good have already thrown their weight behind the campaign, with figures like Bill Bailey, Phill Jupitus, Zane Lowe, John Lydon, Ross Noble and Lenny Henry all voicing their support. The organisers have been at pains to emphasise that the campaign is not about taking on the record labels or making a stand against corporate music – they are as aware as anyone that Rage Against The Machine are signed to Sony, the same label as X Factor – but is purely designed to forcefully demonstrate the frustration many music-lovers feel at the annual victory procession of yet another banal Simon Cowell disciple with neglible musical ability and non-existant personal character.

In any case, those who are cynical as to the motives behind the operation must at the very least admit that it is bloody lovely that, for the first time in, ooooooh ages, we actually have a proper race for the Chrimbo #1 spot on our hands. Embrace the Battle of Christmas 2009, and just think how fucking hilarious it would be to hear Radio 1 announce on a fine Christmas morn that Rage Against The Machine are at numero uno in the charts!

 - Sebastian Clare