Pete:
I'm not really sure how I feel about it all. This may be because I'm horribly hungover but still. I think the arrangement is pretty lame, a key change that doesn't work for me and grandiose instrumentation that wreaks of the same production team that worked on Leona Lewis' cover of Run. Then again, that's a pretty great cover in my opinion and they are of course both under the genius of Simon Cowell so similarity is to be expected.
I guess I'm having trouble seeing the necessity to make a delicate song so ridiculously extravagant. It's just a tad too much for a song that works so perfectly stripped back. Though after my comments about interpretation being so important to music, it would be wrong of me to say that Burke's cover should be similar to Cohen's or Buckley's. So I'll leave the X Factor one alone for the moment, good effort but not quite the right thing for me.

In regards to the Buckley stuff, I completely understand why people are getting behind Buckley so much as it is one of those songs that people hold dear and it does deserve attention. Again, I just wonder if the thousands of people that have already downloaded it actually care about the songs origins, its various incarnations and even the songs meaning. It is a powerful recording by an artist that they have watched develop and win a talent show and they are buying the single to reward her with what she wanted I guess, that coveted Christmas number one.
However, this is making the sweeping assumption that people that watch X Factor have no musical knowledge and do not care about any music that hasn't been manufactured in the last ten years. Which is of course horribly wrong. They might well know and love any or all of the other incarnations and just happen to love this one as well.

And one more thing, it is Rufus Wainright's superb piano version that Buckley based his cover on, not Cohen. This really is the town bike of songs. The question is, whose version is Burke's based on? The guitars at the beginning would indicate Buckley but who knows what from anywhere else.


So after a very windy and unconstructive post, what I'm trying to say is:
It is clear that Burke will get number one, that was never contested I guess. And fair play to people for trying to resurrect a much loved classic cover of a simply beautiful song. It will do well and that will posthomously bring a lot of renewed attention in an interesting artist. And anything to promote people buying music is a great thing. I just have a horrible sinking feeling that one of the world's best songwriters (Leonard Cohen) will be forgotten in the chain and it will be a case of "Have you heard that X Factor cover of Jeff Buckley" as opposed to Cohen. I suppose only time will tell and so what if this does happen? People should be free to discover who they want, like what they want and respect it any way they want.

Fantastic non-commital answer there alex