i've never heard the bowie original so don't have a point of reference to compare the x factor finalists against.but as charity singles go i wasn't throwing my cd player out of the window when i played it. on the contrary it drives along quite nicely. obviously some of the vocalists are better than others, cher & katie stand out of the crowd on the track. nice bit of electric guitar going on as well in the background. initially i was only going to buy it for the charity element, it's grown on me though.