A lot of Heroes in our city - Legion; POP: Delight in Brum as X Factor finalists top pounds 1m with hit single.

Byline: By Paul Suart

THE Royal British Legion in Birmingham has praised X Factor finalists whose song Heroes has now raised more than pounds 1 million.

More than 500,000 copies of the track, a cover of Mariah Carey's 1993 hit featuring all 12 solo and group finalists from the ITV talent show, have been sold since its release three weeks ago, making it the fastest selling charity record of the decade.

All proceeds will be distributed between the Royal British Legion and the Help for Heroes charities, which both support the welfare of armed forces personnel and their families.

Jo Trezise, community fund-raiser for the RBL in Birmingham, said the song's overwhelming success reflected what had been a very well supported 2008 Poppy Appeal in Birmingham.

"It's absolutely fantastic," she said.

"It's a great song which is very relevant and it's brilliant of X Factor to engage with the cross-section of people who watch the show.

"Locally, we are hoping for good results from this year's appeal and the indicators seem encouraging.

"The whole city has really got behind the appeal.

"I've seen people of all ages buying poppies ghis year, which is extremely heart-warming.

"There's a lot of heroes in the city."

The song, which has been at No.1 in the pop charts for two weeks and is the fastest selling single of 2008, is expected to raise close to pounds 2 million eventually.

Stuart Gendall, director of corporate communications for the Royal British Legion, said: "This is just great for the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan and it's great for us - so many, many thanks to Simon Cowell and the X Factor team!

"It's done an enormous amount to raise the profile of our combat wounded, particularly among young people."

CAPTION(S):

Big voice... finalist Daniel Evans.; Singing from the heart... X Factor's Ruth Lorenzo.