As I only really knew Leonard Cohen's original and Simon Ritchie's, I just listened (or struggled through) a whole bunch of other Hallelujahs. I made the acid test "Does the performer actually understand: Love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah"?

John Cale, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright probably do. I was mildly disappointed by k d lang, but maybe it was because she appeared to be performing in some sort of sleazy night club and pitched the performance accordingly. I'm so trying desperately to rid my mind of that execrable X-Factor clip. I'm quite sure that if you asked that "Alexandra" what the song was about all you'd get would be a blank stare.

My order of preference remains Cohen himself, and Simon Ritchie.