Children’s doctor Katie Rogerson (left) and children’s physiotherapist Caroline Smith of Britain's NHS choir with the Official Christmas No 1 award for charity single A Bridge Over You, beating out Justin Bieber.
The National Health Service Choir has beaten Canadian chart-topping heartthrob Justin Bieber to win Britain's official Christmas number one song.
The Canadian pop star's "Love Yourself'" was inching ahead in sales but then Bieber offered his own Christmas gift to the NHS Choir.
He tweeted that he wanted fans to "do the right thing'' and boost the choir’s single to the top of the charts.
The choir's mash-up “A Bridge Over You'' on Friday finished almost 31,000 copies ahead of the Biebs in the singles competition.
The motivation for producing the Christmas single was boosting NHS staff morale.
NHS Choir member – and pediatrician – Kate Rogerson says that the NHS has been going through some rough times lately.
“This has been a challenging year for the National Healthcare System,” she says, “in these times of austerity, there’s been lots of cuts […] and I think people are quite fearful about the future of the NHS.”
That's why, she adds, the latest news about the choir topping the charts is much welcomed. And she appreciated the boost by Bieber.
“I’ve got a whole new street cred from my little nephews and my niece, ‘I’m like, yeah oh Bieber just tweeted me…whatever,’” she says with a chuckle.
Meanwhile, all proceeds from the NHS Choir's single will go to a selection of health-related charities. And there were still plenty of gifts under the tree for Justin Bieber — he still holds three of the UK’s top five spots.