Rage against the X Factor machine

There was once a simple mathematic equation, it read like this: X Factor winner + Christmas = Number one hit.

No more though, as thanks to a fevered Facebook campaign and personal appearances from Rage Against the Machine the most unlikely of number ones was crowned on Sunday.

Killing in the Name outsold Joe McElderry – the X Factor winner – by around 50,000 and has been described as one of the biggest chart upsets ever.

Proper music was the clear winner here, with McElderry’s cover of a Hannah Montanna song losing to one of the most inventive and powerful songs of recent decades.

Charity was also a winner, with Shelter receiving a percentage of all sales.