Curses

I've just heard that the choice for this year's X Factor winner's victory song - the one all three finalists have to sing in the last show before the victor is decided, the song that will then sail to Christmas number one and break all sorts of UK chart records - is Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, a near-perfect record that I first heard sung by Jeff Buckley. In fact, forget 'near-perfect', it IS perfect. The song's only flaw is that it ends. What were the producers thinking? It was painful enough when Hallelujah was covered by Buckley's close friend, Rufus Wainwright, who I normally love - but the idea of some squeaky teen belting it out is absolutely appalling. Diana has already yodelled her way through it once this series, but just thinking of Alexandra singing it a la Whitney Houston makes my teeth feel like they are going to spontaneously jump out of my mouth. As my friend Donald said, it'll be like watching someone smash a stained glass window.

It's weird and I'm aware that I'm probably (yes, not for the first time) being vaguely hypocritical. After all, I love the song and I love The X Factor: surely I should be pleased? But I have always been selfish and childishly possessive about music, squirrelling away the songs I love, becoming annoyed or angered when they become popular, whether it's just amongst my friends or among the populus at large. There are few things more infuriating than hearing the middle eight of a tune I adore being played as background music to Goal of the Month on Match of the Day, or noticing that the catchy intro from a much-loved album track is accompanying an ident on Channel 5 (looks with resigned disappointment at Boy Least Likely To, while understanding the appeal of fat cheques). I don't know why I want to keep something as wonderful as a magical song to myself; I guess it's some desire to be special, to have a secret from the others - but it's wrong and, although I'm apologetic, I doubt I'll change.

On another note, I am reading a book about meditation and inner peace at the moment, and it said that as we walk along, we should imagine our feet are kissing the earth. I liked that. That, I will share.