Christmas Chart 2008

Alexandria Burke sold a massive 576,000 copies of of the Leonard Cohen classic 'Hallelujah' to become this years christmas number 1.

Its sales tally makes it the fastest-selling single by a female artist in UK chart history, beating the previous record held by Leona Lewis and 'A Moment Like This'.

Jeff Buckley's interpretation of 'Hallelujah' - taken from the late singer's 1994 album Grace - sold 81,000 copies to chart in second place, while Leona Lewis sold 72,000 copies of 'Run' to claim third position.

Meanwhile, Beyoncé places two singles in the festive top ten, climbing to four with 'If I Were A Boy' and zooming to eight with 'Listen', the Dream girls ballad she sang with Burke on last week's X Factor final.

In the album chart Take That sell a further 382,000 this week with The Circus which takes its three-week sales tally to 1.133m. The second biggest selling album of the year behind Duffys Rockaferry.

Leona Lewis charts at two with 165,000 sales of Spirit, while Kings of Leon climb to three after selling 153,000 copies of Only By The Night.

Meanwhile, Girls Aloud bounce back to five with Out of Control following last week's ITV1 special The Girls Aloud Party.

Beyoncé climbs to a new peak of nine with I Am... Sasha Fierce, while Fall Out Boy score the highest new entry of the week, debuting at 39 with Folie A Deux



Singles:

01 Alexandra Burke 576,046
02 Jeff Buckley 80,883
03 Leona Lewis 72,417
04 Beyonce 47,092
05 Geraldine 42,541
06 James Morrison/Nelly Furtado 36,021
07 Kings Of Leon 29,821
08 Beyonce 28,913
09 Take That 24,174
10 Britney Spears 22,722


Albums:


01 Take That 382,000
02 Leona Lewis 165,000
03 Kings of Leon 153,000