‘Hallelujah’ Alexandra Burke

Meet Alexandra Burke. She’s the newest winner of the British TV show called ‘The X Factor’ and has recently released the hottest Christmas song on the UK charts, Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah.’ Read more about her below, see photos and watch a video.

Alexandra Burke

The song ‘Hallelujah’ written by Leonard Cohen and sung by British sensational Alexandra Burke, has made it to the top of the music charts. Her version became the fastest-selling single by a female solo artist. But the song is also #2 on the charts in what appears to be a protest at the manufactured music industry - shows like American Idol and The X Factor. It seems fans of American musician Jeff Buckley kicked off an Internet campaign to get his classic version to number one instead of #2, through downloads.

The song ‘Hallelujah’ has been covered numerous times, but Jeff Buckley’s haunting version is widely considered the best - it’s certainly my favorite although I also like Bon Jovi’s version. And frankly, the song itself remains strongly associated with Jeff Buckley, who drowned in Memphis in May 1997 at the aged 30.

You can listen and decide for yourself which version you like best after the jump.

Alexandra Burke Biography

Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewan Burke was born on August 25, 1988 in London, England so she is 20 years old.

Alexandra is a British soul/pop singer and winner of the fifth season of British television talent show called The X Factor. Some say it is similar to American Idol. Simon Cowell is also a judge on this show and the winner receives a recording contract with his label, Syco, whose parent company is Sony BMG.

Alexandra is the daughter of ex-Soul II Soul singer Melissa Bell. She began singing when she was just 5 years old, and prior to The X Factor had no professional vocal training. Interestingly at age 12, Alexandra entered a TV show singing competition called ‘Star for a Night’ where she was the youngest person to compete. She was beaten to the number one spot by Joss Stone!

Alexandra tried out for The X Factor in 2005, but did not make it to the final four because producers thought she was too young (she was only 16 at the time). However, in the 2008 competition, she won, singing a duet with Beyonce for the final - which she considered a personal dream.

As of December 15, 2008, Alexandra became the current European record holder for single sales over a period of 24 hours, selling 105,000 copies of her debut single, ‘Hallelujah’, in one day. It is currently the #1 Christmas song on the UK charts for 2008.