This year’s x factor winner James Arthur has now beaten Alexandra Burke to have the fastest selling X Factor winner’s single since the show began. The song was released online almost immediately after he was announced as the winner. Just 24 hours later, the track had been downloaded over 187,000 times, The Independent reports. That’s a pretty impressive increase on the previous title holder; Burke’s version of ‘Hallelujah’ sold 147,000 in the same space of time back in 2008.

This year’s X Factor single is James Arthur’s ‘Impossible,’ a cover of the song by Shontelle. Comparing Arthur’s popularity to other recent years, Leona Lewis’ ‘A Moment Like This’ sold 101,000 and Matt Cardle sold 112,000. Out of the list of previous winners, of course, Cardle is the one to whom James Arthur should pay the most heed. Leona and Alexandra may have gone on to have successful careers but Cardle serves as a stark reminder that even with a huge PR machine behind them, X Factor winners can quite easily sink without trace once the initial hype has drifted away.

Keen to keep the fans that he does have on side, James was quick to show his gratitude on Twitter once the news of the sales figures broke. “Wow just seen the figures for the single sales and it’s blowing my mind! Thank you all for buying it on iTunes.” He’ll have to wait until the end of the week to see if he can keep up the momentum and beat Shayne Ward’s first week sales of 742,000. 

Watch James Arthur perform 'Impossible':