KATIE MELUA - MELUA'S CHARITY CALL TO TV BOSSES

MELUA'S CHARITY CALL TO TV BOSSES

Singer KATIE MELUA is pleading with bosses of British TV show THE X FACTOR to donate profits from their Christmas single to charity. The 23-year-old star has blasted the talent contest for annually saturating the Christmas singles market with rush-released songs from the series' winners - insisting it's stripping the festive spirit out of the race for U.K. number one. But Melua - who has recorded a duet of What A Wonderful World with late jazz singer Eva Cassidy to raise money for the British Red Cross charity this Yuletide (07) - believes X Factor bigwigs can redeem themselves by donating all sales proceeds to a worthy cause. She says, "In recent years the whole Christmas number one thing hasn't been focused on the Christmas spirit. "I'm not saying What A Wonderful World is a Christmas song, it obviously isn't, but what it's raising money for and awareness for is very much in the Christmas spirit. Maybe this will encourage The X Factor to donate all their money to charity. I think they should. "To me Christmas is about families and giving. It should not just be about giving each other the latest iPods and Nintendo games. The reason why the Christmas number one is such a big deal is because that's the song people buy to give each other presents. So if all that money was to go to charity that would be great." Proceeds from Melua's single will be spent on projects in Britain, including emergency aid after fire and floods. The winner of The X Factor series will release a cover of Mariah Carey's When You Believe after the show ends on 15 December (07).