Singer Damien Rice is in line for a lucrative Christmas bonus after 'X Factor' winners Little Mix blasted to the top of the charts with his hit song 'Cannonball'.

The four-piece girlband from the television talent contest notched up the biggest first-week sales for a single so far this year when they sold more than 210,000 in seven days -- propelling them to the No1 position in the UK and Ireland.

Mr Rice, a folk singer and songwriter, also found himself back in the UK and Ireland charts as his original 'Cannonball' -- which peaked at 32 when first released in 2003 -- re-entered the singles chart at number 19.

It was re-released and surged to number nine in October after it featured on the 'X Factor'.

Now the musician is feeling the knock-on effect of the talent show due to the popularity of Little Mix's cover.

Mr Rice (38), from Kildare, recently responded to fans' queries about the 'X Factor' cover, as the singer could receive hundreds of thousands of euro when all the royalties from the Little Mix version are totted up.

"Some people asking about 'Cannonball'. Once a song is released, anyone can record /release a version without approval, upon certain condition," he tweeted.

This would appear to indicate it may not have been within his power to stop an 'X Factor' contestant recording a version of his song. He could not be contacted last night.

Meanwhile, Canadian crooner Michael Buble has secured the top spot in the album charts with his festive album 'Christmas' for the second week.

Festive shopping fever took hold last week as more than 269,000 copies of Mr Buble's album sold in the last seven days, with all top six albums recording sales of more than 100,000.