Despite being A&R for The X Factor and one of the show’s vocal coaches, I’ve decided to rival Simon Cowell in the race for the Christmas #1 slot with my new singing partner, Simon Bradshaw. Admittedly, we’re an unlikely pair, I’ve worked with the likes of Sigala, Rudimental, Nicole Scherzinger, Craig David, Alesha Dixon, James Arthur, whilst Simon has the much more worthy role of being a primary school teacher in Leeds. But that’s the whole point; it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, Christmas always seems to end up being the same for most of us – we all seem to have the same ‘normal’ Christmas. So we decided to whip-up an alternative Christmas song that’ll make you all smile. Under our stage names of WeatheredMan Featuring Miss Stakes, our new festive track The Normalist Christmas peeps inside the homes of the nation and reveals the true and ‘normal’ meaning of Christmas.

As cinemas across the UK plan to stage festive showings of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, we all flock to immerse ourselves into that wonderful romantic time of Christmas. However, whilst Hollywood movies depict the perfection of Christmas, our radios are booming festively with Christmas songs portraying a very different message; most wishing that their loved ones would be with them for Christmas.

That got us thinking. What is a ‘normal’ Christmas for the majority of us? Neither of us have ever woken up to silent blankets of snow on Christmas morning, and that cute crimson robin seems to always arrive wearing a dirty pigeon costume on our windowsills. It’s as if we indulge in a romantic dream in the run-up to Christmas, then wake up on the big day just to unwrap a glorious chunk of reality.

So, we felt it was time to enjoy Christmas for what it really is – normal. We decided to write a Christmas song that shared the same spirit with everyone. Doesn’t mean that normal isn’t exciting or magical, it just means that Christmas is the same for most of us across the nation; and just because it’s not snow flecked or sprinkled with fairy dust, normal can be simply amazing.

Welcome to our world of ‘normal’. A time when the kids wake before you’ve barely had time to drift off to sleep... but it’s Christmas, the one day of the year where you can’t bark orders for the little ones to go back to bed. You’ve gotta embrace the family piling onto your bed, fight your way out of the duvet and race off to the Christmas tree to check out if Santa’s paid a visit. Then comes the chaos, that jungle of discarded wrapping paper (that cost a fortune to buy), flying in all directions and re-decorating your living room with mini reindeers and elves. Beaming with pride, you wonder why your other half isn’t overjoyed that, the tiny box that you lovingly wrapped with a gorgeous bow, actually contains a battery charger. She’s said all year that she needs one, it doesn’t make sense that she’s now stomping around like the Grinch now that she owns one –that’s Christmas!

But the Christmas spirit is there, so you pull on your santa suit and the day begins. Who cares that nobody likes sprouts, that the oven’s too small to fit the turkey, that you notice the jar of cranberry sauce sitting in the cupboard ‘after’ everyone’s finished the meal, that you forgot to take the price tags off... who cares! It’s Christmas, that’s what Christmas is about right? This is the true meaning of Christmas; being together, not being perfect, but trying your best.

And that’s what a ‘Normalist Christmas’ is. Lap up the romantic vision dished out by Hollywood (cos we love a slice of that too), but enjoy being normal at home. In nearly every house across the nation, everyone’s having the same fantastic ‘normal’ Christmas as you our. Dive in and enjoy it. Happy Christmas!

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