SAM SMITH

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Capitol Records

With over a million record sales of his debut album In The Lonely Hour, 22-year-old Sam Smith has unquestionably been the breakthrough star of 2014, scoring six nominations at next month's Grammys. The guy has a superb voice. No question. Yet like a bloated 1970s lead guitarist, he seems to have nothing much to declare beyond his own technical virtuosity. This Christmas single is a case in point. It's a boring song we've heard a billion times before and he brings nothing original to it, beyond a lot of in-tune warbling.

MARK RONSON ft. BRUNO MARS

Uptown Funk

RCA ****

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars have already made it to the number-one spot and are the bookies' second favourite to be there for Christmas – after whatever duff standard Simon Cowell decrees X Factor winner Ben Haenow will cover. But Ronson and Mars have got to be the people's choice. Cheesy? Yes. Derivative? Hell, yes. But impossible to resist.

TALLIA STORM

Silent Nightxx

Virgin Records

Back in Christmas 1914, Silent Night was the carol heard sung across the trenches along the Western Front. And possibly, not since then, has a rendition of the song so vividly evoked images of suffering and human misery, as it does on this new version by Tallia Storm. Her version is either a pitch perfect send up of your average, deluded X Factor wannabe. Or. . . Well, let's not speculate beyond that.

SILE SEOIGE & FRIENDS

Maybe This Christmas

Finally, the leading Irish contender for the Christmas number one is TV presenter Síle Seoige, who is joined here by a galaxy of celebrity pals including Fair City actress Rachel Pilkington, race walker Rob Heffernan and tiddlywinks champion Roddy "The Disc" O'Driscoll. All proceeds go the ISPCC and the Make a Wish Foundation