Should the unthinkable happen, and a grassroots campaign by Jeff Buckley fans disrupt Simon Cowell's efforts to again secure a Christmas number one, BBC Radio 1 will be forced to deal with a tricky issue of protocol. Normally, the station interviews chart-topping artists before playing their winning song (even when Bob the Builder won, Neil Morrissey stood in). But Buckley would be sadly unavailable for selection.

The supremely gifted singer, whose haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" has reignited public interest in the pop charts, died in a swimming accident on 29 May, 1997. He had completed just one studio album, and was on the verge of major celebrity when his life was cut short.