Gennaro Castaldo Watch: Christmas is cancelled this year

With the rather dispiriting news that William Hill are so convinced that whatever flesh-creation the X Factor spits out this year will be the Christmas number one that they're betting without and only taking wagers on the Christmas number two, who can we turn to but Gennaro Castaldo, voice of the now-defunct HMV record shops, to sum up the nation's mood at this difficult time:

Gennaro Castaldo of HMV said: “The way music is being consumed may be changing, but we Brits still love the race for the Christmas number one. It’s part of our tradition now.

“It would be great to see a genuine contest again rather than the X-Factor shoo-in that it has become, and what better song to reclaim the Christmas number one for the British public than the timeless White Christmas – surely the ultimate Christmas single.”

Yes, Castaldo is throwing his weight behind Blake, the supposed "Facebook" band who are offering up a cover of Bing's Christmas standard as their bulwark against the X-Factor, although we'd have hoped that rather than try and flog some singles, Castaldo might have pointed out that there's bugger all point in taking bets on the Christmas Number Two. It's like running a book on if it'll snow the day after Boxing Day: yes, you can make the bet, but who really cares about the outcome?