Nothing like a bit of sacrilege at Christmas

Maybe it's a sign of progress that I haven't felt sufficiently sure of my opinions over the past few months to feel comfortable setting them out in written article format and broadcasting them to anyone who'll read.

Indeed, the last half of 2008 was a period of rethinking some of my established views, such as my staunchly europhile position, but that will be for another entry, but also re-evaluating myself, to a certain extent. New context - new light. These things take up time, energy and mind-space, it turns out.

But the blogging I did before was useful, as a means of processing the immense amount of information around me, the various discourses shovelled around by the media and politicians, trying to keep a critical eye on matters and explore some of the current questions which drew my attention and provoked me to ponder. This is why I'd like to make the effort to re-activate and sustain this blog, in order to keep a record of some of the themes we've been dealing here at the Circolo Culturale Africa, in Ancona, where I'm currently working.

But first - to begin with something more light-hearted, than talk of detention centres and racially-aggravated murders.

This christmas was dominated by a great controversy the likes of which has not been seen this side of the 20th century. No, not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the great Hallelujah debacle of '08.

For those who may not be aware (that is, anyone living outside of the UK or Ireland), for the past 5 or so years now the christmas number 1 in the UK pop charts has been hijacked by the annual winner of a music "talent" programme called the X-factor.

The final show is timed in just such a way that immediately after the winner is chosen, the new record is released and crateloads of copies are shipped into every highstreet music/book/media shop, strategically placed near all the check-outs, with row upon row stacked in the shop windows, so that enough people will buy it in order to get the lucky winner to number one, for christmas. Cynical, I know. This sort of shameless commodification of dreams can be tolerated for one year, but by now the routine is beginning to get tiresome.

Subsequently, the winner is never heard of again, with one exception - Leona Lewis, who appears to be rather good at milking her 15 minutes of fame for all they're worth and thus hasn't quite sunken into obscurity just yet. Unfortunately.

Anyway, this year the song released by the incumbent winner, Alexandra Burke, is the controversial choice of Hallelujah, first written and recorded by Leonard Cohen somewhere back in the 80s, and has been covered and re-covered umpteen times since in a myriad of different styles.

Cue outrage and indignation from music aficionados everwhere, especially Jeff Buckley fans who launched a reactionary campaign to try to get his version to number 1. Unfortunately, it came runner-up to the X-factor version, at number 2. While Cohen's original lagged behind, way down in the 30s somewhere. Probably because the only thing that version has going for it is the fact that it is the original.

Others who've recorded the song include Rufus wainwright, Allison Kraus, K.D. Lang, John Cale, Imogen Heap, etc.

It's almost too banal to call Buckley's my favourite, because that seems to be the general consensus. At least listening to it again brought me to discover Buckley's album, Grace. Which contains some stuff that borders on being too complex and heartfelt to be listened to at all. "Lover you should've come over" is a gem, mainly for its entrancing and raw nerve lyrics. All very understated. I would recommend.

I have to say I'm also a big fan of the Imogen Heap version, because its so melancholic, and not too polished or sing-songy. Although I felt it was used very inappropriately in that final episode of the O.C. as Mischa Barton lay dying in a pool of blood on the tarmac (Clearly THAT was the moment to use "Forever Young"). As is my beloved who insisted on listening to it on loop for a week after selecting it as his favourite from a choice of 3 - hers, Buckley's, or k.d. Lang's, which is nice but, well, just nice.

But you're not meant to listen to it too often because it's a "classic", apparently. In any case, Buckley's can be listened to forever, whereas Alexandra's I couldn't stick even till the end of the first play. I think it had something to do with the fact that she herself alledgedly confessed to not being too keen on the song. I wouldn't like to think of myself as a pretentious music appreciator but there are some things even I cannot accept.

Money-spinning exploitation of young & innocent/stupid talent aside though, nothing was quite so annoying as hearing Fearne Cotton repeatedly pronouncing the word without its first letter - 'Allelujah, while the chart was announced. Now there is a massacre.