Glory, glory as 'Hallelujah' dominates Christmas chart

(YUI MOK/PA)

Hallelujah, "Hallelujah". The X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke won the battle for Christmas No 1 with her cover of Leonard Cohen's song – beating a version by Jeff Buckley, who drowned aged 30 in May 1997, into second place.

For the first time in 51 years the same song is No 1 and 2 in the singles chart. In January 1957 Tommy Steele and Guy Mitchell did it with "Singin' The Blues".

Burke, 20, won a £1m recording contract on the TV talent contest last weekend. Her first single sold 576,000 CDs and downloads, becoming the fastest-selling single by a female solo artist, according to the Official Charts Company. Cohen, who first released the song 24 years ago, made it a triple "Hallelujah" with an entry at No 36.