December 9, 2008 11:09

Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah' in chart battle with 'X Factor' version

Buckley fans protest against the TV talent show's cover of Leonard Cohen's song

Jeff Buckley's version of 'Hallelujah' has re-entered the UK singles chart, just two weeks before the winner of this year's 'X Factor' will release a cover of the song in a bid to get the coveted Christmas Number One.

Although the winner of the TV talent show is yet to be decided, fans of Buckley's version of the song - and Leonard Cohen's, who wrote the song - have been buying his version in protest.

Buckley's 'Hallelujah' - from his 1994 debut 'Grace' - is currently at number 43 in the charts, climbing six places from number 49 last week (November 30). The song has not been re-released physically.

There are several protest groups on social network sites such as Facebook urging fans of the song to buy Buckley's version and boycott the 'X Factor' one.

The winner of 'The X Factor' is set to be decided this weekend (December 13), with three contestants remaining - Alexandra Burke, Eoghan Quigg and boyband JLS.

Ironically, this is not the first time Buckley's version of 'Hallelujah' has benefited from one of Simon Cowell's TV talent shows.

In March 2008, the song reached the top of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart after American Idol contestant Jason Castro performed the song on the show.