In the name of all that is decent – don’t let X-Factor steal the Christmas Number One!

Just watched Alexandra Burke’s massacre of Hallelujah on YouTube. What a travesty of a debacle. Is it too much to ask to have just a handful of songs not rendered into lowest common denominator soul pop pap? Why does everything have to be Mariah Careyised? Good gracious. This is how it should be done:

If there is any justice in the world, Burke will be denied the Christmas number one. Now, I’ve looked into this, and apparently you don’t rig the singles chart these days by charting an expedition down to Woolies any more (good thing too, all things considered); you do it through use of teh wireless interwebs. And at 79p a time, its like rummaging through the remaindered singles in Woolies but with a reasonable expectation that you can get something rather better than Doop.

The only question is, which record? Personally I will be limiting myself to two, taking part in the predictable Rickroll (go with the Zeitgeist) and helping to support the effort to get Jeff Buckley in the top spot. I figure it can’t hurt to back a couple of horses – getting X-Factor down to number three would be soooo sweet.

You have your instructions – hop to it!

8 comments

  1. I actually caught some of it while flicking through channels last night, and the one consolation is that her version is better than the insipid boyband one. But still, even though they seem to have dropped the third verse, what part of ‘it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah’ did they not understand?

  2. No, I’m a big fan of the Jeff version, but (to my surprise) thought that Alexandra brought an impressive gospel element to it. Agree that the “cold and broken” bit is essential to it though.

  3. Jeff version? X Factor version? You mean Leonard Cohen’s version isn’t the only one?

    What are these “Charts” of which you write?

  4. But, James, whichever version of Hallelujah is around, it seems that Simon Cowell and his cronies reap the benefits as they own the rights to the Buckley and Cohen versions.

    I agree that the Buckley version is more stirring, but the song is beautiful and why shouldn’t such a melody be brought to the attention of a new generation via Alexandra?

  5. I really don’t care if Simon Cowell is making money out of it or not; I just hate that awful X-Factor version.

    Nonetheless, if it has opened up Jeff Buckley to a new audience, that is of course a good thing.

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