SHUNNED X Factor star Caitlyn Vanbeck is hoping to beat the show’s winner to Christmas number one, with a new single released today.
Vanbeck, from Tranent, East Lothian was amongst the favourites to win the talent show after her audition earlier this year but was sent home at the Judges’ Houses stage of the ITV show.
Now, the 19-year-old has released a single with fellow X Factor contestant Nate Simpson, which her record label believe can “challenge” the winner of the show for the coveted Christmas number one slot.
The winner of the X-Factor has gone on to have the number one christmas single on all but two occasions since 2005 and bookies currently have the show favourite to take the top spot again.
But Caitlyn and Nate, performing under the name of The Underdogs, are hoping to cause an upset.
Their track Retro Soul (So Hot) has been recorded by legendary producer Pete Hammond, who has previously worked with Kylie Minogue and Take That.
Speaking about Caitlyn’s chances of ousting her rejectors, a spokesman for the track’s distributors, Nova Distribution said: “There was a lot of press coverage this year about the best singers not getting through to the live shows on the X-Factor.
“Caitlyn got together with Nate to challenge the X-Factor.”
Asked if he believed the record could become Christmas number one, he said: “With these things, you never know. Ladbrokes have listed it, and if it gets coverage you just don’t know!”
Caitlyn herself said: “Coming off the X Factor was quite a blow but having the opportunity to work with the legendary Pete Hammond and of course Nate has just been incredible.”
Asked about her chances of beating the X Factor winner to christmas top spot, she added: “Nate and I did the track for the opportunity to work with Pete Hammond because he is a legend.
“Our aim was to have fun and release a feel good song. Whatever happens chart wise is a bonus!”
In December 2009, DJ Jon Morter and his wife Tracy launched a Facebook campaign to get metal band Rage Against the Machine to Christmas number one, in order to stop the X Factor from gaining the slot in the United Kingdom for the fifth year running.
The campaign was successful, with the tune selling more than 500,000 copies and being the first exclusively download-only single to be Christmas number one.
Last year, the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir beat X Factor winner Louisa Johnson to number one with their song A Bridge over You.
The track was a mashup of Coldplay’s Fix You, and Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water.
