It took them long enough.  But after all those weeks stuck behind Rihanna, The X Factor finally gets a number one single again.  Yes, they’ve brought out the big guns – it’s the annual charity single by the finalists.  When Remembrance Sunday came and went without a charity single, I wondered whether they were giving it a miss this year.  Turns out, they’ve just moved on from soldiers.  It’s children this year.  You like children, don’t you?  And to make extra specially sure that it definitely goes to Number 1, the single also features X Factor alumni JLS and One Direction.

The song this year is “Wishing On A Star”.  The video is the same as every year, except with children this time.  In a year’s time, when this shows up on the “every number one of the 2010s” marathons on the music channels, we’ll be able to play “who was that again?”

It goes without saying that it’s not very good – charity singles rarely are – but by the standards of X Factor charity releases, I guess it’s one of the better ones.  Frankly, though, charity singles don’t exist to be bought on merit.  They’re intended as social events.  You buy them as a token of support.  Judging them by conventional standards misses the point.

Thanks to their featured artist credits, this technically gives One Direction their second number 1, and JLS their sixth.  Since both have recent singles out (and One Direction’s debut is also still on the chart), they have four hits this week between them.

“Wishing on a Star” is a bit of a pop standard, judging from the number of people who’ve covered it.  The X Factor finalists are the sixth act to chart with it.  The original version is by Rose Royce from 1978; it failed to chart in America, but reached number 3 in Britain.  In this video, singer Gwen Dickey wonders why she invited Dr Seuss to design her wardrobe.

Less often heard these days is the 1989 version by one-hit wonders Fresh 4 featuring Lizz E, which reached number 10.  As if you couldn’t guess, they were contemporaries of Soul II Soul.  I can’t help thinking this sounded more in tune when it first came out.

In 1992, the Cover Girls had a stab at it.  This version reached number 9 in America, and scraped the chart in Britain, where it peaked at 38.  It’s, well, it’s polished.  And in 1998, Jay-Z did a semi-cover (with Gwen Dickey as featured singer).

Perhaps most improbably, in 2004 it reached number 11 for Paul Weller. That turns out to be a better match than you’d probably expect.

Naturally, nobody is releasing major new singles against the X Factor charity record.  You have to go some way down the chart to find the next new entry, though before we do that, it’s worth mentioning that “Who You Are” by Jessie J has suddenly leapfrogged to 37 to 8.  It’s been out for a while, so I can only assume this is because she performed it on the X Factor results show.

But back to proper new entries.  At number 15, “Fight For You” by Jason DeRulo, which is one of those songs that interpolates the chorus of a better song, and then surrounds it with formula blandness.  Still, at least it means there’s something in his singles to keep you awake.  The source material this time is “Africa” by Toto.

Number 21 is “Daddy” by Emeli Sande, who seems to be slowly turning into Adele crossed with Massive Attack.  Nothing wrong with that.  Her previous single “Heaven” reached number 2, and hopefully this one will go higher, because it certainly deserves to. She’s also on Professor Green’s current single “Read All About It”, which is still on the chart.

It’s the first week of December, so number 23 heralds the now obligatory re-entry for “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring Kirsty McCall.  It’s charted every Christmas since 2005 (and probably would have charted every Christmas before that if only digital downloads had been around).  Seriously, who doesn’t own it yet?  Just behind it, at number 27, is “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey.  It’s charted every year since 2007. Both were significantly lower in the midweeks, so they’re gaining momentum. (Well, obviously.)

Number 28 is Beyonce‘s 80s throwback “Love On Top”.  It’s got six key changes, apparently!  And number 36 is “Midnight Run” by Example.  It’s currently charting as an album track download, and it’ll probably shoot up next week when the single version is released.