Richard Osman names the Christmas Song World Cup winner
Pointless star and now World Cup of Everything organiser Richard Osman has taken it upon himself to take another hotly-contested topic through its paces.
Osman has spent the week urging his Twitter followers to take part in his World Cup of Christmas Songs to name the most popular festive song out there.
Some pretty familiar titles were all picked for the qualifying stages, with the early rounds being dominated by the likes of Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas is You' and Slade's 'Merry Christmas Everybody'.
But, after a couple of really close categories we were down to the final vote: Wham's 'Last Christmas' or The Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York'.
Well it’s time for the big one, the Grand Final of the World Cup Of Christmas Songs, and I think it is too close to call. Voting is only open for 3 hours, and we will have our winner just after #Strictly. Are you ready everyone? #wcocs
- Richard Osman (@richardosman) December 16, 2017
Three hours and some frantic voting later, the suspense was finally over and the winner had been declared – and the official public opinion names 'Fairytale of New York' the ultimate winner.
Congratulations to the winner of the World Cup Of Christmas Songs...
FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK!
Thank you all so much for taking part and for raising so much money for @childsi. You are all amazing. Every penny greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas! https://t.co/9wyRDqlAt5- Richard Osman (@richardosman) December 16, 2017
It was a close call, with The Pogues taking 51% of the vote and securing their victory with a 2-point margin to Wham's 49%, and over 17,000 people voted in the final round.
So, unsurprisingly, people were torn between the two throughout the voting period:
Pogues! Best Christmas song EVER. No contest!
- Confuzzled Bev (@Confuzzledom) December 16, 2017
It has to be “Fairytale of New York”
- Sally (@manicrose1984) December 16, 2017
Gotta be Wham. Gorgeous George. https://t.co/8KRDt34hLR
- Denise Jackson (@MmeAudubon) December 16, 2017