Is Australia falling out of love with The First Noel? Early results from this year’s Carols Countdown, which asks Australians to vote for their favourite Christmas carols, suggest one of Christmas’s most enduring standards may be losing some of its festive sparkle. The First Noel currently sits at number 19 — a fairly dramatic fall for a carol that ranked 7th in 2023 and slipped to 12th in 2024. And if that trajectory continues, one of the great traditional carols could find itself facing the musical equivalent of Christmas relegation.

“It would be hard to justify including it in the line-up based on the results we’re seeing,” Carols in the Domain Executive Producer Michael McKay commented “You never want to write off a Christmas classic, but Australians appear to be telling us pretty clearly that The First Noel isn’t the first Noel they want to hear anymore.”

It isn’t the only traditional favourite showing signs of movement. Away in a Manger currently sits outside the Top 10, having ranked 8th in 2023, the inaugural year of the Carols Countdown. But before anyone declares Australia has lost its Christmas religion, the results suggest something rather different. Traditional religious carols remain strongly represented, with O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard on High and O Come, All Ye Faithful continuing to rank among Australia’s favourites. So perhaps Australians aren’t turning away from traditional carols at all. They may simply be becoming a little more discerning about which ones make their Christmas playlist. And The First Noel still has time for a Christmas miracle. Voting in the 2026 Carols Countdown remains open until this Sunday, with the final results — and Australia’s favourite Christmas carols — to be revealed at The Salvation Army’s Carols in the Domain on Saturday, December 19.

• Established in 1983, Carols in the Domain is Australia’s largest annual Christmas concert and one of the nation’s most beloved festive traditions. Now in its 44th year, the event brings generations of Australians together to celebrate the magic of Christmas through music, entertainment and community.