Leonard Cohen makes it big from X Factor

Alexandra Burke may have triumphed in ITV's The X Factor at the weekend, but Leonard Cohen (pictured), the composer of the finalist's song Hallelujah, which will now become the 20-year-old singer's debut single and is widely tipped to be the Christmas No 1, has even more reason to celebrate.

It is expected that Burke's cover version – already the most downloaded X Factor single ever - will sell a million CDs and downloads. Based on the usual 10 per cent royalty, this will make 74-year-old Cohen £250,000 while, according to a leaked X Factor contract, Burke will receive only £150,000 of her £1m prize contract, the rest going on recording costs, videos and promotion. (There are, of course, other bonuses: the makers of the Mini have already given her a pink one as a gift.)

This is welcome news for Cohen who has spent the past year trying to raise income after his former manager allegedly siphoned off most of his $10m retirement fund. To remedy this, Cohen was forced to go back on the road, playing a number of well received concerts which reportedly have made him as much as $5m. In the end, 2008 has turned out to be a boom year, topped off by the sales from an exhibition of his art currently on show in Vancouver, which is flying off the walls at close to $8,000 a pop.

As to Hallelujah, it has been a definite slow burn. It took Cohen two years to write and when it appeared on his 1984 album Various Positions it was not reckoned to be one of his best efforts. Since then, however, it has been covered by more than 100 artists, including Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi and Rufus Wainwright and was used in the blockbuster movie Shrek.

Paul Gambaccini, the veteran DJ and co-founder of The Guinness Book of Hit Singles, welcomes its arrival in the Christmas chart, saying: "There are worse scenarios than having a Leonard Cohen song at number one."