The X Factor winner has been announced and Joe McElderry is likely to follow the trend of the last few years by achieving the No 1 single this Christmas. It’s a bummer, especially when McElderry’s song is not even original. The Climb, owned by Sony Music Entertainment, is a country pop song performed by American recording artist and actress Miley Cyrus for the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie. Lameness personified. One of the biggest criticisms of X Factor is the karaoke nature of the show, in which contestants perform renditions of songs by successful pop artists. And a karaoke Christmas single merely confirms this view. That is why, this year, a facebook campaign has been launched by Tracy and Jon Morter, entitled “Rage Against the Machine for Christmas No 1″. (more…)