James Arthur, the winner of the
ninth series of
The X Factor, released a cover version of "Impossible"
digitally on 9 December 2012, immediately after winning the show. The CD single was released on 12 December 2012. Profits from each download were expected to be at least £0.25 and all profits from CD and download sales were to be donated to the charity
Together for Short Lives. The charity works with "children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions." The song also peaked at number one in Ireland, number two in both Australia and Switzerland, and number one in Slovakia. As of 2023, the single has sold over 2 million copies in the UK, becoming the biggest-selling single by an X Factor winner.
Critical reception Robert Copsey of
Digital Spy gave the song a positive review stating, "of course, making such a decision based on his victory single – a cover of Shontelle's 2010 hit 'Impossible' – is a futile exercise. The track, which was once sidelined for former finalist
Cher Lloyd, has been drained of its R&B sassiness and re-worked into a swooping ballad, saved only by Arthur's quivering and gutsy vocal. Fortunately for him, at this stage that's the only bit that matters." He gave the song three out of five stars. The song was nominated for "British Single of the Year" at the
2013 BRIT Awards, but lost out to "
Skyfall" by
Adele.
Chart performance and sales In the
United Kingdom, "Impossible" sold over 187,000 downloads during its first 24 hours on sale; making Arthur the fastest-selling winner in
X Factor history. By the end of the week, the track had sold over 490,000 copies, enough to debut at number-one on the
UK Singles Chart; achieving the largest first week sales of the year. After eleven days, "Impossible" had become the seventh biggest-selling debut single from any
X Factor contestant, with sales of over 622,000; enough to overtake the lifetime sales of the debut singles of
series 8 winners
Little Mix ("
Cannonball"),
series 5 runners-up
JLS ("
Beat Again") and
series 4 winner
Leon Jackson ("
When You Believe"). In its second charting week, sales of "Impossible" fell to 233,770 copies as it dropped to number two behind "
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" from
The Justice Collective, the Christmas number one single of 2012. In its third charting week, "Impossible" reclaimed the number-one position; with sales of 183,660 copies. On 31 December, it was announced that the track had finished 2012 as the fifth highest-selling single. In 2015, it overtook
Alexandra Burke's "Hallelujah" to become the best-selling winners single ever. Arthur's version of "Impossible" was also the best-selling single of 2012 in the Republic of Ireland, where it became the 2012 Christmas number one, with "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" peaking at number four. The track also became a huge success worldwide, topping the charts in the Czech Republic, Greece, Luxembourg and Slovakia. It also reached number two in Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland, number three in Belgium, number four in Austria, number five in Germany and number six in France and Hungary.
Track listing Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts Certifications Release history ==References==