This is 'Whamageddon' — the game where you avoid a certain Christmas song

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

Now for Whamageddon. It's a game that's played from December 1 through December 24 in some parts of the world, but especially in Britain.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

You play by not listening to a certain Christmas song by the '80s pop duo Wham!

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LAST CHRISTMAS")

LEA MICHELE: (Singing) Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. But the very next day...

SUMMERS: Now, you may notice this is not the voice of lead singer George Michael. And that's because the way it works is once you recognize the original song, game over. You're done. But remixes and covers - they're just fine.

THOMAS MERTZ: The very moment you have that oh, no feeling in your brain, that's the moment you're out.

SHAPIRO: That's Thomas Mertz from Copenhagen. He and a few friends created the game almost two decades ago. Mertz says back then, you pretty much couldn't go anywhere without hearing that song.

MERTZ: We were thinking, like, it's frustrating, and it's getting to the point of being annoying. But rather than becoming upset about it, we turned it into a game.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LAST CHRISTMAS")

ARIANA GRANDE: (Singing) This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special.

SUMMERS: It's all for fun. There are no prizes. And if you get whammed, you just drop out.

SHAPIRO: But people still take it really seriously. A DJ had to apologize after playing "Last Christmas" during a soccer match earlier this month.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LAST CHRISTMAS")

JIMMY EAT WORLD: (Singing) A face on a lover with a fire in his heart.

SUMMERS: Don't worry listeners, we're not going to wham you, but instead we'll leave you with this version of the song...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LAST CHRISTMAS")

JIMMY EAT WORLD: (Singing) Now I've found you'll never fool me again. A face on a lover with a fire in his heart. A man under cover, but you tore me apart. Now I found... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.