Unknown set to pip top pop stars

A newcomer is set to pip a string of top names to the UK number one position with a song which started a record label bidding war.

Sales show Daniel Bedingfield, 21, is expected to oust S Club 7 and stop Hear'Say from notching up a third chart-topper.

Kate Winslet - who was initially being tipped as a possible Christmas number one with What If - is at only number seven in midweek chart predictions.

Bedingfield's track Gotta Get Thru This was championed on the Ayia Napa club scene during the summer and record labels were blown away by the track.

Madonna's company Maverick was among those chasing the star and he is said to have been offered a duet with her if he signed with them.

The singer, who also writes and produces, recorded the track in his bedroom with a computer and a microphone.

Geri Halliwell's new single Calling is expected to be a new entry in this weekend's chart at number eight, according to early sales figures for the Official UK Chart.

Hear'Say, whose first single Pure And Simple sold more than half a million copies in one day, are at number four after one day's sales but they are expected to have shifted up a place by Sunday when the chart is published.