TV talent show winner Ben Haenow lands Britain's Christmas No.1

[December 22, 2014]  LONDON (Reuters) - The winner of Britain's "X-factor" TV talent show, 29-year-old Ben Haenow, claimed the coveted Christmas number one spot in the British singles chart on Sunday, the Official Charts Company said.

Haenow's "Something I Need" became the second fastest-selling single of the year, shifting 214,000 copies to knock last week's chart topper "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars into second place.

Haenow is the seventh X-Factor winner to claim a Christmas number one in the past 10 years.

Ed Sheeran took third place in the chart with "Thinking Out Loud", while "Up" by Olly Murs rose to number four. Fifth spot was taken by the Wealdstone Raider with "Got no Fans", a charity single that benefited from an Internet campaign to break the dominance of X-Factor winners in the Christmas charts battle.

Ed Sheeran's album "X" racked up its 11th week at the top of the album charts, coming in ahead of Sam Smith's "In the Lonely Hour". Olly Murs charted in third place with "Never Been Better" as the top three remained unchanged from the previous week.

"Wanted on Voyage" by George Ezra was in fourth spot, with pop veterans Take That rising one place to fifth with "III".

(Reporting by William James; Editing by Alison Williams)

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