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I don't like Alex for a start but i don't like these kind of songs either so i will not be helping it get to #1, i am almost tempted to buy Geraldine McQueen just to raise the chances of Alex not getting it, and that is saying something because that song is cack to but it is more my kind of thing than this (oh and i don't really like Peter Kay much either - but still better than Alex)
Alexandra Burke has broken another record with her debut single 'Hallelujah'.
The X Factor winner has sold more downloads of her debut single in two days than the previous record set by Leona Lewis in a week.
The song was downloaded a total of 149,546 times in its first two days of release compared with Leona Lewis's previous record, which saw 139,000 copies of 'A Moment Like This' snapped up in seven days.
"Alexandra Burke has got off to a quite spectacular start with her recording of 'Hallelujah'," said The Official Chart Company's Mark Talbot.
"Every year's X Factor winner is battling to live up to the huge expectations raised by previous winners, and this year Alexandra is close to surpassing all of those expectations.
The song previously had the fastest ever one-day downloads across Europe.
"After just two days, she has already set another new landmark - selling more downloads in a week than anyone else on history - and could be on her way to breaking more records."
Burke's winning single 'Hallelujah' will be available physically in record shops from today.
I love her version of this and I currently have it on loop. Brilliant news for Alexandra over the downloads - I really hope it's a sign of the kind of success she will have in the future.
The history of hallelujah (Didn't see much point in opening a new topic for it...?)
When Alexandra Burke sang 'Hallejujah' on Saturday's X Factor final, she joined an impressive list of artists who have covered Leonard Cohen's 1984 classic. Bon Jovi brought their overblown stadium rock sound to the song, Bono gave it a bizarre trip-hop reworking and The Velvet Underground's John Cale performed a moving rendition for a 1991 Cohen tribute record.
However, the most famous - and, according to Cohen, definitive - version of 'Hallelujah' is by the late Jeff Buckley. Appearing on his only complete studio album, Grace, it ditched Cohen's chintzy eighties production and replaced it with sparse, ethereal-sounding guitar work and Buckley's angelic, idiosyncratic vocals. It wasn't the American's finest moment, but it is his best-remembered.
Consequently, it wasn't surprising that followers of the Californian were up in arms when they heard Simon Cowell had picked the track for his latest X Factor victor. Although the line "you don't really care for music, do you?" may seem strangely appropriate for the reality show judge, many fans declared it musical blasphemy that the likes of Eoghan Quigg could end up releasing a song which Buckley believed to be about the "hallelujah of an orgasm".
Alexandra Burke, for her part, thinks the song is about "love" rather than "sexual positions". She may have trouble justifying that when she's singing the line about being tied "to her kitchen chair", but her rendition is nowhere near as awful as it could have been. Its choir-heavy crescendo may grate on those who prefer their ballads with a modicum of subtlety, but perhaps the reason the song has become uch a modern classic is its malleability. Whether you think it's about sex, romance, triumph, failure or something else entirely, the track's hymnal beauty remains constant.
While the Facebook campaigners and Buckley obsessives may not succeed in trumping Burke for the Christmas number one spot, they shouldn't consider their efforts a total failure. Cowell Towers may have won the chart battle, but it is Cohen and the late Buckley who are the real winners, with millions of young fans hearing a great song performed by a great singer for the very first time.
I love the Rufus Wainwright version of this, it is one of my all time favourites. Her version is pretty good though, although it loses some of the emotion i think.
ha ha. two fingers to all them Jerff Buckley supporters out there that tried to sabotage Alexandra's number 1.
So pleased she got to the top spot, well deserved!
:cheer: whoooo number 1 :D
Number 1 at Christmas for the next 123595000 years....X factor! :lol:
Well done on Jeff Buckley getting number 2!! :D
X Factor champion Alexandra Burke has topped the Christmas singles chart with her version of 'Hallelujah'.
Burke's recording of the Leonard Cohen classic sold 576,000 copies last week, outselling the rest of the top 20 combined.
Its sales tally makes it the fastest-selling single by a female artist in UK chart history, beating the previous record held by Leona Lewis and 'A Moment Like This'.
"This is absolutely crazy, I can't believe it. It's been the best week of my life," Burke said. "Thank you so much to everyone that has supported me and bought the single. I'm bursting with excitement right now, it's incredible!"
Jeff Buckley's interpretation of 'Hallelujah' - taken from the late singer's 1994 album Grace - sold 81,000 copies to chart in second place, while Leona Lewis sold 72,000 copies of 'Run' to claim third position.
They're awful in my opinion. I hate it, parts of it are slightly annoying and that's as good as it gets. I think this song's like Marmite; you either love it or you hate it.Quote:
Originally Posted by A Christmas Carol