James Arthur heading towards half a million sales of debut single

X Factor winner James Arthur set for huge selling Number 1 on Sunday’s Official Singles Chart.

According to the latest Official Charts Company sales data, X Factor winner James Arthur is still on course to be Number 1 on this weekend’s Official Singles Chart. Arthur’s debut release, Impossible, has sold 379,000 copies up to midnight last night, and looks set to break the half a million copies sales barrier by Sunday.

By the end of today, Impossible will have already eclipsed the opening week sales of 2010 winner Matt Cardle’s When We Collide, which sold 439,000 copies week one.

Arthur’s single has already beaten the opening week tallies of 2011 winners Little Mix's Cannonball (210,000), 2007’s winner Leon Jackson’s When You Believe (275,000) and inaugural winner Steve Brookstein’s Against All Odds (127,000).

In related news, Shontelle’s original version of Impossible looks set to re-enter the Official Singles Chart Top 20 on Sunday. The track originally peaked at Number 9 upon its release in 2010, and is at Number 20 on today’s sales flash.