And the X Factor winner is . . . Leonard Cohen. The mordant songwriter is set for a £1 million windfall after his classic song Hallelujah was chosen as the debut single by tonight’s winner.

The biblical epic, composed in 1984, has survived more than a hundred interpretations from artists including Bob Dylan, k. d. lang and Rufus Wainwright.

The ITV1 show’s three finalists have each recorded their own version of the song, which is expected to become the Christmas No 1, selling one million CDs and downloads. Alexandra Burke, 20, from North London, is the bookies’ favourite, ahead of Eoghan Quigg, 16, from Northern Ireland, and the boyband JLS.

The royalties will be welcomed by Cohen, 74, who returned to the live stage this year after a former manager separated him from his $10 million retirement fund. His first British shows for 15 years were rapturously received and grossed £5 million.

Times Archive, 1985: Leonard Cohen live at Hammersmith

Cohen will survive his present renaissance and a few more besides

BACKGROUND

• Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah: A perfect fit in words and music

• How Leonard Cohen became an X Factor winner

• Hallelujah for Hallelujah

• Hallelujah - a song that outgrew itself

The fight for a Hallelujah Christmas victory

X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah will be No 1 unless outraged Jeff Buckley fans can sabotage it

• Hallelujah: how Leonard Cohen became an X Factor winner without trying

• X Factor's Alexandra Burke breaks Leona Lewis record

• X factor winner Alexandra Burke favourite for Christmas No1

Related Links

• Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah: A perfect fit in words and music

• Who needs the singers with a judge like this?

The Canadian singer distilled Hallelujah, layered with Old Testament imagery, from an original 80 verses to the 6 that form its most popularly performed version.

It has opened a world of lucrative commercial opportunities for Cohen, who previously opted for seclusion as a Zen Buddhist monk. Marty Bandier, the chief executive of Sony/ATV Music, the song’s publisher, said: “We get a host of requests from films and television to use it. But Hallelujah is recognised as one of the greatest songs ever, so it demands a high fee.”

Tonight’s X Factor finalists have an added incentive to win after Simon Cowell said that the recession meant he could not guarantee a record deal for all the runners-up. Only the show’s winner has a guarantee of a £1 million deal with Syco, Cowell’s branch of the music giant Sony BMG. In previous years, at least the second-placed act has also been signed.

Cowell said: “I think under the current climate I would say it was more important to win the show this year than any other. Like every other business the record business is tougher than it was last year.”

X Factor bosses faced embarrassment this week when details of the contracts signed by the show’s finalists were leaked, showing that the much-fêted £1 million winner’s deal translated to a cash advance of £150,000.

Cowell clarified that most of the sum was made up of the costs of recording and marketing the winner’s records. He told a press conference: “It’s £150,000 to the winner and that’s a lot of dosh. Add in the recording costs of between £300,000 and £500,000, videos are £200,000; £250,000 for advertising and £150,000 marketing. We make over a £1 million commitment to the winner.”

All the acts who appeared in the live X Factor finals are contractually bound to take part in a three-month tour of arenas around the United Kingdom before Cowell decides who, other than the winner, will be awarded a record deal.

Even acts who crashed out in the early stages of the live finals, such as the girlband Bad Lashes, will earn tens of thousands of pounds for the tour. Even if they do not get a deal, they can still expect to make tens of thousands more from public appearances.

The X Factor Final starts at 7.10pm on ITV1.

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