Mariah Carey back in play for Christmas Number 1 2023 with All I Want for Christmas is You

Official Charts can confirm that Mariah Carey is now back in play for the Official Christmas Number 1 single 2023, setting her up for a big battle with WHAM! and Sam Ryder as we edge towards the final 24 hours of the race. 

Profiting from an uplift of almost 5,000 UK chart units overnight, Mariah's 1994 classic All I Want for Christmas is You holds steady at Number 3 in today's chart update. If such growth continues into Thursday, we could see her aiming to dislodge Sam Ryder from his current expected new peak of Number 2, with Amazon Music Original You're Christmas to Me. 

Mariah is no stranger to festive success on the Official Singles Chart, of course. All I Want for Christmas is You is already a UK Number 1 hit, having initially broken a chart record in 2020, when it reached Number 1 26 years after its release.

This record for the longest time a song has taken to reach Number 1 from its release to chart-topping success was then broken last year by Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill, which reigned atop the Official Singles Chart for three non-consecutive weeks in total. 

Mariah has already been denied a return to Number 1 twice this year; first denied by Jack Harlow's Lovin On Me, then the current two-week reign of WHAM!'s Last Christmas. 

MORE: See the full list of contenders for Christmas Number 1 2023

One of the most surprising contenders for Christmas Number 1 this year is Noah Kahan's Stick Season. The folk-pop lament about the melancholy of living at home is expected to rise once more - potentially lifting two places to Number 4. Last week, Noah reclaimed his peak of Number 2 in the UK. If it holds on to its popularity post-Christmas, could we be looking at a future Number 1 single?

As we approach the final 24 hours of the 2023 Christmas Number 1 race, every single purchase, download and stream counts. 

Who will get the most important Number 1 of the year? As ever, that's up to you!

When will 2023's Official Christmas Number 1 single be announced?

The Official Christmas Number 1 race 2023 kicked off Friday December 15, the final cut-off for sales and streams to count is midnight (11.59pm) on Thursday, December 21. So whoever you're backing, get behind your favourites before then.

Tune in to The Official Chart on BBC Radio 1 on Friday December 22 from 4pm to hear the Christmas Top 40 countdown and the exclusive reveal of the Official Christmas Number 1 2023.

The full Top 100 Official Christmas Singles Chart and Albums Chart will be published on OfficialCharts.com from 5.45pm.

Join the Official Charts mailing list and opt in to Breaking News alerts, we'll keep you tipped on the Christmas Number 1 race and music's biggest breaking stories as they happen! 

Keep up with all our Christmas Number 1 news and features here and join the conversation over on social media now using the hashtag #XmasNo1. Follow @OfficialCharts on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.