Simon Cowell has secured the UK’s Christmas Number One slot despite brave efforts from Corey Taylor and Biffy Clyro fans.

The X-Factor boss spent an extra £1 mln on making sure he won this year’s race, after losing out to Rage Against The Machine last year.

And by allowing gameshow winner Matt Cardle to cover a Biffy Clyro song, he managed to divide and conquer fans of real music, who were forced to choose between backing Biffy’s original version of Many Of Horror and Corey’s track XM@$.

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Many Of Horror reached No10 while XM@$ hit No37 – which is still a significant result for a metal artist like Taylor.

And it wasn’t all bad news – XM@$ has raised money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, while in another bid to win friends, Cowell let Cardle announce some of the money made from his single would go to cancer charities too.

A music industry insider tells RockAAA: “It wasn’t about the money for Simon this year – it was all about his reputation. He’s a clever man and he knew what it would take to avoid being beaten this year. Everything he did was planned and executed to perfection.

“He was even smart enough not to slag off the competition – that played right into his enemies’ hands last year.”

Corey – who no longer has to keep his number-one bargain by filming himself swimming with sharks - says: “Number 37 is brilliant, especially after only seven days on sale. The main thing is the Teenager Cancer Trust will benefit from the money, and the publicity. That’s what really matters here. Thank you to all who purchased XM@$.”