COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Sir Cliff Richard has admitted that he would like to have another Christmas number one single.



The musician has topped the charts on four separate occasions at Christmas, including twice as a solo artist. Speaking in a video recorded for the Official Charts Company, he suggested that his previous Christmas singles have blended spiritual aspects with a more commercial sense of the festive spirit.

Richard said: "For me, the important thing about a Christmas single though - for me as a believer... what I loved about 'Mistletoe and Wine' [was that] it had a kind of Christmas aspect and a spiritual aspect to it, 'Saviour's Day' very definitely, 'The Millennium Prayer' was in fact the Lord's Prayer put to 'Auld Lang Syne' - so if I could find another song that had those elements, I would have another attempt, I would make another attempt for a Christmas number one. Why not?"

He also explained that the draw of a Christmas number one appeals to most musicians due to higher sales figures in the last quarter of the year.

"It's not just me, I'm not the only one that puts out their records at Christmas - everybody tries to get a piece of that pie, and of course that's what we're here for," he explained. "We're recording artists, there's no point in making a record and releasing it when [you know] the sales... would be down. It's much better to release it when the sales are up."

Richard told Digital Spy earlier this month that he thinks The X Factor has taken the excitement out of the battle to be Christmas number one, as "everybody is waiting for that song, from that winner".

The official Christmas number one will be revealed on Radio 1 later today (Christmas Day), with Gareth Malone's Military Wives choir and X Factor winners Little Mix among those hoping to top the charts.