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It’s December 1. Yes, it’s officially Christmas, starting from today. For some of you that means festive adverts, the Christmas light shows, and a pilgrimage to Winter Wonderland. To others it means one thing and one thing only: Whamageddon.
For those who are new to Whamageddon, the game appeared on an internet forum a decade ago but became official via the creation of a Facebook group in 2016. The rules are simple: between December 1 and midnight on December 24, players have to try and avoid hearing ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham!.
As you might suspect, this does pose a significant challenge. Cafes, shopping centres and Christmas parties become perilous zones, where any moment you may be ‘Whambushed’.
The competition has seen its fair share of dastardly behaviour. Friendships have been destroyed as competitors have stood outside one another’s houses playing ‘Last Christmas’ or sending clips of the song to each other online.
Those who fail must post #Whamageddon immediately on their social media, and will be sent to ‘Whamhalla’ until next year. Bear in mind, only the original version of the song counts. Feel free to subject yourself to Taylor Swift’s cover as often as you like.
If ‘Last Christmas’ is actually one of your favourite Christmas songs, but you like the idea of this legitimate excuse not to leave the house over the next couple of weeks, there are other versions of the game you can adopt instead.
After George Michael’s death in 2016, some players transitioned to using Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’; this version of the game has been given the name ‘ApoCareypse’. In New Zealand ‘Snoopy’s Christmas’ is used instead, while in the USA ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ Challenge – arguably the most extreme iteration of this song-avoidance series – asks participants to avoid all covers of the tune, and lasts from thanksgiving through until Christmas Eve.
So if you are feeling competitive and dedicated, focused and courageous, get ready because Whamageddon starts today. In fact, it starts right... now.