British Choir Thwarts Bieber, Snags No. 1 Hit

With his blessing
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 25, 2015 8:52 AM CST
British Choir Thwarts Bieber, Snags No. 1 Hit
In this Nov. 22, 2015 file photo, Justin Bieber arrives at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

It's a merry little Christmas for Britain's National Health Service Choir, which pulled off something of an upset and snagged the nation's No. 1 holiday hit and in so doing denied the top spot to Justin Bieber—with an assist from Bieber himself. The choir's mashup of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Coldplay's "Fix You"—called "A Bridge Over You"—finished 31,000 copies ahead of Bieber's "Love Yourself," after the Canadian pop star asked his 72 million Twitter followers to "do the right thing" and push the charity single to the top spot, reports the BBC.

The choir, made up of NHS workers who finished second in Sing While You Work, had this to say: "We are absolutely overwhelmed and couldn't be any happier. It's a brilliant celebration for the NHS across the country so well done and thank you everyone for downloading and streaming. A massive cheer for the NHS, thank you." (More National Health Service stories.)

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