The X Factor winner Matt Cardle has been crowned king of the pop charts after he soared to the top spot to claim the prized Christmas number one. The 27-year-old left competition from the anti-Simon Cowell camp trailing in his wake as his cover of the Biffy Clyro track When We Collide won pop lovers' hearts. His version of the song by the Mercury Prize-nominated rock trio sold 439,000 copies in the six days following his victory on The X Factor last Sunday, the Official Charts Company said. This represented a record weekly total for a non-charity release this year and gave Cardle a lead of more than 300,000 over Rihanna Ft Drake's What's My Name, which finished in second place. Cardle's planned celebrations involved 'one or two beers'. He said: "I can't believe it. As if winning wasn't enough. I honestly didn't think I'd even make it on to the live shows, let alone win and now be the Christmas number one. "I can't even begin to describe how if feels. It's nuts, crackers and crazy. To think that many people have supported me and bought the record is absolutely mind blowing." While this year saw several contenders battle to keep Cowell's act off the festive top spot, only 1960s US rock act The Trashmen came close. Their song Surfin' Bird made it to number three, selling 70,000 copies after a Facebook campaign to push it to the top of the hit parade. But while it missed out on chart-topping glory, it did become the highest ranked Facebook campaign single of 2010.
