Little Mix have lowest-selling winner's single since 2004

The X Factor winners Little Mix have topped the chart with Cannonball, but the single's first-week sales were the lowest of any of the ITV1 show's top acts since Steve Brookstein in 2004.

Little Mix sold 210,000 copies of Cannonball, making it the fastest-selling single of the year so far and outselling the rest of the Official Singles Chart top five combined.


But the girl band fell far behind the sales heights hit by previous winners of the Simon Cowell talent show including last year's winner, Matt Cardle, who sold 439,007 copies of his single When We Collide in its first week.

The show's 2005 winner Shayne Ward recorded the most first-week sales, shifting 742,180 copies of his debut, That's My Goal.

Little Mix only manage seventh place out of the eight winners to date, ahead of Brookstein's 127,701 for his Phil Collins cover Against All Odds in 2004, but behind Leon Jackson's 275,742 for When You Believe in 2007.

Indeed, Ward sold more copies of That's My Goal in its first day on release than Little Mix did in a week.

But the latest The X Factor winners face tough competition if they are to remain on top and claim the much-cherished Christmas No 1.

Bookmakers have made the Military Wives Choir, a 100-strong choir led by BBC2 star Gareth Malone and featuring the spouses of servicemen in Afghanistan, the odds-on favourite to take the festive top spot.

After several years of uninterrupted growth, the audience for this year's X Factor final was down 25% on 2010. The final Sunday night show pulled in 13 million viewers, down from 17.2 million last year.

Critics blamed the slump on "finals fatigue", with the final stretched over four hours on a Saturday and Sunday night.

It was also the first UK edition of the show not to feature Cowell on the judging panel after he left to focus on the US launch of his show.

It remained, however, a big ratings and revenue driver for ITV1. The broadcaster said it averaged 11 million viewers over the course of its 17-week run, making it the third most successful series in The X Factor's eight-year history.

Little Mix's Cannonball is a cover of a Damien Rice song first released in 2003.

The Irish folk singer benefited from the X Factor publicity, with his original version of the song climbing to number 19 in this week's chart. It previously reached number 32 in 2003 and 19 when it was re-released a year later.

The X Factor winners – the top first-week sellers

1. Shayne Ward – That's My Goal 742,180 (2005)
2. Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah 576,046 (2008)
3. Leona Lewis – A Moment Like This 571,253 (2006)
4. Joe McElderry – The Climb 450,838 (2009)
5. Matt Cardle – When We Collide 439,007 (2010)
6. Leon Jackson – When You Believe 275,742 (2007)
7. Little Mix – Cannonball 210,000 (2011)
8. Steve Brookstein – Against All Odds 127,701 (2004)