Rolf Harris and the Quo unite for Christmas song

Rolf Harris has teamed up with Status Quo in a bid for his first Christmas chart-topper in 40 years. The 79-year-old star last topped the charts with Two Little Boys in 1969, but he hopes his new song Christmas In The Sun can frustrate Simon Cowell's X Factor winner for the coveted festive No 1 spot. Rolf said: "It's all about my childhood. The Christmases that I remember when the temperature was like 104 degrees in the shade, and we didn't have heavy turkey and pudding - you'd go down to the beach with a barbecue." Relaxing on a deckchair in a studio mock-up of Bondi beach and sporting a Santa hat and Hawaiian shirt, the Australian entertainer said he was not concerned about the threat from Cowell - whose X Factor winner is hotly tipped to take the Christmas No 1. He said: "Is he still involved in X Factor? Perhaps people have had enough of that - they're getting it every weekend." Rolf rocks out alongside Status Quo's guitarist, Rick Parfitt, in the light-hearted video. Rick said: "Forget rock 'n' roll, this is Rick 'n' Rolf. I've been a fan of him all my life." Rolf, who presented Animal Hospital for the BBC, confessed he has always been a big fan of the British rockers and took his chance to get them on board when he bumped into the band at the Variety Club Awards. With the help of Rick's Fender Telecaster, Rolf has given his old song a boogie-rock makeover and even included a snatch from one of Quo's best-loved songs, Whatever You Want. Christmas In The Sun will be released on December 7 and is featured on Status Quo's compilation album It's Christmas Time, out on November 23.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.