15. Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat - 2007

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (5 weeks at #1)

 

The summer of 2007 saw the most surprising #1 single that I can probably recall. Swedish singer Robyn had a top ten hit here in 1998 with the Britney-esque Max Martin penned pop song Show Me Love. She continued releasing music in Sweden but as far as her career in the UK was concerned she was a long gone distant memory. However, in 2007 Robyn finally released her 2005 self titled album in the UK. After a couple of buzz singles she released a glorious song which became one of the year's dance anthems with blanket support from nearly all DJ's due to the nature of Robyn's widespread appeal. Despite being a pop artist, the song was dance and she was written about in indie blogs and publications. I expected the song to be a hit because it's so stunning but I never imagined that it could top the UK charts!!! Beautiful song, easily the classiest noughties dance record to top the charts. It also gave Robyn's career a new lease of life - she has had four further top 40 hits in the two years since!!!

 

14. Flip 'N' Fill feat Kelly Llorenna - True Love Never Dies - 2001

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (10 weeks at #1)

 

In late 2001, after her success on the re-released Set You Free, Kelly Llorenna wasted no time in getting onto as many records as possible. The first to surface was True Love Never Dies. A collaboration with then upcoming dance act Flip 'N' Fill, the song seemed to be obviously based on Rank 1's 2000 instrumental trance hit Airwave. Rumours surfaced that Kylie Minogue had done vocals for a mash up of it but they proved to be false and the official version was released in early 2002. The song became a massive top ten hit in the UK, one of the great original pop-trance singles of the early noughties. The melody, as it was on Airwave, was incredible, but Kelly's vocals and Flip 'N' Fill's excellent production added an extra kick to the track. Fantastic - should have been a much bigger hit than it was!!!

 

 

13. Shakira - Underneath Your Clothes - 2002

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (3 weeks at #1)

 

Having heard the fantastic Whenever, Wherever, I decided that I needed to hear more of Shakira. My sister had bought her album on import and gave it to me - first track I listened to was Underneath Your Clothes. I was absolutely blown away. An absolutely gorgeous ballad, complete with Shakira's typically quirky lyrics and unique vocal style. It went top three in the UK, was huge worldwide and really helped to cement the fact that Shakira could be just as big singing in English as in Spanish. Listening back to the song seven years on, it still sounds incredibly good unlike most of the cheap sounding pop productions around in that year - she had always been ahead of her time and this was no exception.

 

12. Caroldene - Time Is A Healer - 2001

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (8 weeks at #1)

 

And now for a song that nobody will know!!! Now defunct music website Peoplesound.com was relatively popular at the beginning of the decade for championing interesting unsigned acts, some of which went one to bigger things. I found a few very good tracks on the free CD's that the company sent me every few months. By far the best song I ever discovered was a pop/gospel/religious song called Time Is A Healer by a British soul singer called Carol Black, known as Caroldene. I found her voice incredibly nice to listen to, the song was amazingly uplifting and positive and was the soundtrack to the first half of 2001 for me personally despite hardly anyone apart from probably me and Caroldene herself probably knowing the song. She had a few other good songs, all unreleased - Dream On, Hold Me Tight - but nothing came close to this. Still never fails to cheer me up when I listen to it.

 

 

11. Take That - Shine - 2006

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (9 weeks at #1)

 

So, onto the song that just missed the top ten of the decade. Take That, a boyband that were extremely popular in the 1990's, had one of the most incredible comebacks ever seen in the noughties. Having got back together in late 2005 after an ITV documentary, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald, now in their mid 30's started recording Beautiful World. I bought the album on the day of release out of sheer intrigue and due to the strength of lead single Patience but the album really stunned me. Shine sounded like an ELO-pastiche, completely unlike anything they'd ever done before, an ode to music of the past yet incredibly fresh at the same time. It seemed like the obvious second single and it was - becoming a decade defining song, a UK #1 single and the soundtrack to the Morrisons adverts in one fell swoop. An incredibly strong uptempo pop song with the brilliant Mark Owen on lead vocals, this song proved that their comeback was not a one hit wonder - it couldn't be more different to Patience. The melody was great, the video was excellent and the harmonies were as good as ever. Brilliant.

loved and still love True Love Never Dies, I see it as a different song from Airwave personally. I know its a sample but they added a different tone to it. Also love Absolutely Everybody, very europop and upbeat.

loved and still love True Love Never Dies, I see it as a different song from Airwave personally. I know its a sample but they added a different tone to it. Also love Absolutely Everybody, very europop and upbeat.

 

I'm not sure that it was an official sample - Rank 1's names aren't in the writing credits of True Love Never Dies - I think it was just a rip off which they luckily didn't get sued for :lol: agree that it's much better though :wub:

 

Absolutely Everybody is fantastic, so uplifting and happy :D

Take That's Shine is one of the worst songs from 2006. I'm sick to death of hearing it. It was $h!t to begin with and then having that poxy chorus rammed down my throat every bloody shift at least 15times is enough to make me murderous when someone plays it.

 

 

39. Delta Goodrem - Not Me, Not I - 2003

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 6 weeks)

 

After a 60 song drought, finally another song from the musical monstrosity that was 2003. Australian singer Delta Goodrem's fourth single Not Me, Not I was her classiest single yet. Mind you it had good pedigree - it was co-written by Gary Barlow!!! The video was iconic in that Delta filmed it just before beginning chemotherapy for her cancer treatment. The video and song were both absolutely beautiful - it was a shame it could only reach #18 in the UK charts but it was yet another #1 in Australia and deservedly so. A soaring string ballad that Gary is of course well known for, Delta's vocals made it perfect, and this song and the b-side, her gorgeous cover of Happy Xmas (War Is Over) rounded 2003 off excellently musically for me.

 

38. ATC - Around The World (La La La La La) - 2002

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 6 weeks)

 

First released across Europe in 2000, it was supposed to come out in the UK too at that point (they even appeared in Smash Hits at the time!) but Europop act ATC, who were based in Germany but hailed from the UK, Italy, New Zealand and Australia, finally released the song in the UK in summer 2002. It had a slightly updated remix and got some airplay but still could only reach #15, much lower than it had got across Europe. But then again it probably would have done better in 2000 because the 'sound' was more popular than in 2002 when cheesy Europop was being replaced with Pop Idol rejects pop. Still, I was obsessed with this group, although only this one song...everything else was so samey that I didn't bother with it. I recall writing a GCSE English essay about the band in fact haha!

 

Delta = :wub: as always

 

That ATC track i was in love with in 2002. :heart:

 

 

no videos for this batch, they are all well known :P

 

35. Fragma - Toca's Miracle - 2000

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 3 weeks)

 

One of the earliest, most influential, and biggest selling dance hits of the noughties. German danct act Fragma combined their 1999 #11 hit Toca Me with British singer Coco's minor 1997 top 40 hit I Need A Miracle and the result was the dance mash-up Toca's Miracle. The two songs fit together absolutely perfectly, the chillout Toca Me being livened up by Coco's brilliant vocals; her original had always been a bit weak due to the cheap sounding production. The two songs were fine on their own but together they were sensational and helped to kick start a craze of dance mash up's which has gone on throughout the decade. A deserved UK #1 single, out of the 42 UK #1's in 2000, it was one of only a few to manage more than a solitary week at No.1!!! Showing it's enduring popularity, an electro remix of the song was released in 2008 and returned the song to the UK top 20!!!

 

34. KT Tunstall - Other Side Of The World - 2005

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

Early 2005 was probably the worst three or four months for music of the entire decade. However, in February 2005, I decided to take a chance on Scottish singer KT Tunstall's debut album, Eye To The Telescope, having heard about her in various places. First time I listened to the album, I was instantly impressed by a number of songs but none more so than the gorgeous ballad Other Side Of The World. It went on to become a top 15 hit here, and launch her album to the top three where it deserved to be, but I still think that this song is hugely underrated. In a year when James Blunt's You're Beautiful got five weeks at #1, how come this beautiful song couldn't even make the top ten!?! Great singer, and this is her finest moment.

 

33. All Saints - Rock Steady - 2006

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 7 weeks)

 

Talking of underrated, nothing was more underrated than the Studio 1, the fantastic 2006 comeback album of late 90's 'edgy' girl group All Saints. Lead single, Rock Steady, was thankfully a massive hit and the only thing that went well in their comeback campaign. Although considering it was beaten to #1 by Westlife's horrendous slaughtering of The Rose and U2 and Green Day's tragic take on The Saints Are Coming, maybe it wasn't such an achievement after all. A brilliant pop song, instantly catchy, giving all of the girls a chance to shine - particularly the brilliant Shaznay and Melanie Blatt. A brilliant typically fiesty video, it was like they'd never been away and I just wish it had been a much bigger hit!!!

 

31. Ian Van Dahl - Castles In The Sky - 2001

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

Summer 2001 saw the release of Belgian dance act Ian Van Dahl's debut UK single, Castles In The Sky. It featured guest singer Marsha rather than usual singer Annemie so was rather confusing when Will I came out to find out that curly dark haired Marsha was not in fact the lead singer!!! The song was an instant hit and became bigger throughout the summer climbing as high as #3 in the UK and quickly becoming a favourite of mine. Just an absolutely brilliant dance song, and undoubtedly one of the defining dance classics of the decade. It was absolutely everywhere at the time and I still hear it now.

Another 4 epic tracks

 

 

30. Shakira - Whenever, Wherever - 2002

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

A huge star across the world since the mid 1990's singing in Spanish, Colombian singer Shakira finally launched in the UK in 2002 with her first English album Laundry Service, although it still included a handful of Spanish language tracks. The fantastic Whenever, Wherever was the first taste of the album and the memorable video instantly became a hit making it seem like the song was a shoe-in for #1. Except she released it on the same week as Will Young's Evergreen, the biggest selling single of the decade. Nevertheless it's probably one of the defining #2 singles of the noughties and certainly one of Shakira's most popular singles. I still hear it daily on the radio!!! A fantastic pan-pipe dominated ode to distance in love with the quirky lyrics that we have come to love from the superstar. 'lucky that my breasts are small and humble, so you don't confuse them with mountains' was my favourite line!!!

 

29. Delta Goodrem - A Year Ago Today - 2003

 

Personal chart peak: #2

 

The second Delta Goodrem album track to make an appearance, this song actually had a video filmed for it when Delta was 15 with her voice sounding incredibly different and a lot more high pitched. The ballad was revamped for the Innocent Eyes album and instantly became a favourite of mine, not least because I bought the album the same week as she was diagnosed with cancer, making this song seem all the more poignant and emotional. I think the lyrics are something that everybody can relate to. A moving ballad that becomes very uplifting in the last minute. I personally think this would have been a fantastic single but many fans criminally saw it as 'filler' so that wouldn't have happened. Beautiful song.

 

 

26. Delta Goodrem - Born To Try - 2003

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 4 weeks)

 

The first 3 months of 2003, as I've said, were generally terrible. I genuinely thought that music had died. However, in April 2003 I heard a song that literally took me over - a beautiful piano ballad by somebody with an incredible voice. I found that the song was by a girl called Delta Goodrem who played Nina Tucker in Neighbours. I was astonished - from that point onwards I started watching Neighbours just to see this girl. It wasn't long until she became my favourite singer, and the sole saviour of 2003 musically. Her vocals on this song, considering she was 16 when she recorded it, are sensational, particularly after the key change. The song was a surprise top 3 hit in the UK and launched her as a successful artist for the next couple of years...I only wish that the success had continued...The song was rumoured to be in contention for the X Factor winner's single last year but it never happened...if only Simon had chosen it over The Climb this year instead :(

Double Delta :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub:

 

I like that Shakira song, one of very few i like.

 

25. Delta Goodrem - Mistaken Identity - 2004

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

Late November 2004 and I rushed out of college in my lunch break to buy probably my most anticipated album of all time - Delta Goodrem's Mistaken Identity. Promised to be a maturer and darker album, due to her personal life, which indeed it was, I still fell in love with it straight away. No track was more instant for me than the excellent Mistaken Identity. Referring to the Delta of old 'the girl in the chair with the long golden hair', the lyrics were harsh, honest and cutting and the song was seen as a huge risk in Australia where it was released as a single. It reached #7 there, a huge step down after her first six releases had all gone to #1!!! Risk or not, musically the song is one of Delta's finest moments - like Tori Amos at her most emphatic - and it even fits in a brilliantly executed key change and ad libs at the end!!!

 

 

24. Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong - 2008

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 3 weeks)

 

So onto the highest Eurovision song on the countdown and of course it's back over to Norway who have been on fire the last few years, easily the most dominant Western country. Norway have a way of getting classy pop songs into the top five despite having only one neighbouring country, and the excellent Maria Haukaas Storeng returned the country to the top five in 2008. Instantly a favourite of mine when I first heard it in 2008, the song fit in perfectly with the soul-pop sound of 2008. With the best opening line of any song ever - 'love can be hard sometimes, yes it can catch you off guard like bad crimes'!?! Maria's live vocal was spot on and having been planning to vote for Sweden (Charlotte Perrelli - Hero), my support isntantly went to Norway after her flawless contest closing performance and Maria became one of my favourite artists. Stunning pop song and I still really can't understand why she wasn't launched here in 2008. Hold On Be Strong and Mine All Mine were so accessible and commercial that they would have been easy top ten hits with promotion...

 

 

21. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance - 2009

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 6 weeks)

 

Onto THE song of the moment, I only first heard it less than three months ago but it's practically ruled my life ever since. To launch The Fame Monster, GaGa's own special way of doing a deluxe album repackage which featured eight brand new songs, she teamed up with RedOne again to make a song that can only be described as absolutely sensational. A killer chorus, the video of the decade, subtle nods to Poker Face throughout, the excellent 'ra ra ah a ah a GaGa ooh la la' singalong elements. The song has already been a huge worldwide hit and is still growing!!! Perfect pop song - this could well end up as one of my favourite songs of all time - but it was released just that tiny bit too late to quite catch up with the top 20 of the decade...

Mistaken Identity :wub: first track after Believe Again i fell in love with. So unbelievably instant. LOVE it to bits. Stunning live too.

 

Bad Romance is obviously amazing.

 

 

Believe Again ftw :cheer:

18. Vanessa Amorosi - Absolutely Everybody - 2000

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 1 week)

 

2000 was indeed an amazing year for dance music, but my favourite song of the year was an out and out pop song. Australian teenager Vanessa Amorosi emerged out of nowhere just after summer 2000. She had no airplay or particular promotion that I can recall, only fairly regular spins on music video channels. This was enough to launch her into the UK top ten at #7 with her debut single. Absolutely Everybody is probably one of the most uplifting songs of the decade. A feel good singalong chorus with a positive message, brilliant verses but nothing was more incredible than Vanessa's absolutely sensational vocals. For a girl who was that young, the power that she expressed on this song blew me away. It's a real shame that she was a one hit wonder in the UK because she really does have some brilliant music besides this song in her back catalogue that never saw the light of day here.

 

 

17. Anna Abreu - Music Everywhere - 2009

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 4 weeks)

 

Onto something from this year, Finnish Idols winner Anna Abreu has had a couple of songs that impressed me in the past but Music Everywhere completely transformed my opinion of the girl. First time I heard it I knew it was special and with each listen I just loved it more and more, to the point that by the third listen I knew every word. Ridiculously tacky lyrics, it doesn't matter - the pulsating electro pop beat is as fresh as music like this gets - if this song had been given to Miley Cyrus is would be her biggest hit. Yes, it's Disney sounding and immature but it's absolutely one of my favourite uptempo pop songs of the decade. According to iTunes I've listened to it 200 times, and I've definitely listened to it on youtube and on my CD player a further hundred times at least. Yet still I love it as much as I do when I first heard it. She sings with such attitude and power - this song is so unbelievably commercial that it would be hard not to be a smash hit if promoted properly - here's to Anna domination in 2010!!!

 

Loved Absolutely Everybody, remember seeing it all over the TV :lol:

 

 

#17 is the reason this one deserves it's own special post.

 

 

Utterly stunning song, i seriously can't get enough of this track. From it's catchyness to it's trashy but fabulous lyrics to her vocals this song is just the best none Sugababes song of 2009 for me. Probably taking 2nd after Thank You For The Heartbreak for the year. It's one of those songs i'm not going to tire of and just have to keep listening to in a decades time :lol: There is no justice in the world if this gets snubbed by UK radio. It's the Release Me of 2009 with imo the potential to do just that little bit better.

22. Kim Lukas - All I Really Want - 2000

 

Personal chart peak: #3 (for 1 weeks)

 

The oldest song in the countdown, rewinding right back to early 2000 and I was on holiday in Tenerife. I turned on the radio and British singer Kim Lukas' All I Really Want, something of a Europop hit on the continent, came on - I recorded the song on tape and quickly became obsessed with it listening to the radio non-stop to try and find out what it was. When I got back from holiday I typed some of the lyrics into a search engine and found out, and from that moment on it became one of my favourite pop songs of all time. Nothing groundbreaking, but a cheerful pop song with a very sweet partly animated video, the song was produced by Eiffel 65 and you can hear it, the background of the song is practically identical to Blue (Da Ba Dee). It's a shame that this never got a UK release as it could have done big things.

 

:cheer: :wub: :w00t:

 

Actually it did get a UK release (along with Let It Be The Night) and both flopped HARD :snif:

23. Shapeshifters - Lola's Theme - 2004

22. Kim Lukas - All I Really Want - 2000 :wub: :cheer:

21. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance - 2009

 

I LOVE All I Really Want - great tune. Shame it didn't get released over here. Like you said, it could have been massive :D

 

 

18. Vanessa Amorousi - Absolutely Everybody - 2000

15. Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat - 2007 :wub:

14. Flip 'N' Fill feat Kelly Llorenna - True Love Never Dies - 2001

13. Shakira - Underneath Your Clothes - 2002

11. Take That - Shine - 2006

 

Lovin the countdown so far :D

Counting down in two's now - these ten songs in one way or another have absolutely defined the noughties for me. Incredibly, three of these songs were all out at the same time - I hadn't quite realised quite how brilliant late 2007 was until now!!!

 

10. Take That - Rule The World - 2007

 

Personal chart peak: #2 (:o - halted by a song still to come!)

 

Patience was a brilliant comeback single from Take That - an instant classic. Shine the same for different reasons. Then came third single I'd Wait For Life - which wasn't so great. However like many acts, Take That released a repackaged version of their album a year after the original release featuring three new tracks. One of the new tracks was Rule The World, written specially for the film Stardust. I rarely use the word epic but it can be used in this case. Easily, by a mile, the best song of their career - and one of the greatest original pop songs of the decade, if not of all time. It quickly became a favourite of mine and I still can't stop listening to it two years on, despite how horrendously over exposed it's been in the past 25 months. Unfortunately, it was released on the same week as Leona Lewis' equally decade defining song Bleeding Love and therefore only peaked at #2, albeit for 4 weeks, although it is easily the band's biggest selling single since fellow classic, 1995's Back For Good. It's hard to see how the band can ever better this song, but I would have said the same after Patience and Shine, or even after Back For Good. One of the greatest boybands of the 1990's genuinely are even more popular, and deservedly so, second time around. They put counterparts Westlife to absolute shame. Rule The World will go down as an all time classic - a brilliant melody, breathtaking production, amazing lead vocals from Gary and Howard on the chorus, and brilliant harmonies from Jason and Mark towards the end. Who would have thought that a band would come out with their best single almost 20 years into their career, particularly not one who had broken the hearts of millions of girls after splitting up in 1996!!!

 

 

9. Alcazar - Stay The Night - 2009

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 8 weeks)

 

I'd never been a particular fan of Alcazar's UK hit singles Sexual Guarantee and Crying At The Discotheque but their Melodifestivalen songs, Not A Sinner Nor A Saint and Alcastar were much more to my taste, particularly the latter. I heard that they were returning to Melodifestivalen in 2009 and was looking forward to it but hardly incredibly excited. As always I watched the first semi final online, in which they performed, and the song was the easy standout. An emphatic energetic pop song, far better than anything they'd done before. A colourful, joyful song sung by three of the nicest people. You could tell that it meant everything for them to be there. I went to see the Melodifestivalen final live in Stockholm and was by this point incredibly excited to see them, the song having quickly become a favourite of mine. They exceeded my expectations with a perfect performance which brought great energy after a lacklustre performance from fellow former UK chart star Emilia. The reception in the arena was absolutely amazing - every single person must have loved them. I've been even more addicted to the song ever since - unfortunately they only came 5th in Melodifestivalen but THIS is the best Eurovision related song I have ever heard, and reminds me why I follow the contest. Pop gold.

 

Take That's Shine is one of the worst songs from 2006. I'm sick to death of hearing it. It was $h!t to begin with and then having that poxy chorus rammed down my throat every bloody shift at least 15times is enough to make me murderous when someone plays it.

Delta = :wub: as always

 

That ATC track i was in love with in 2002. :heart:

Another 4 epic tracks

Double Delta :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub:

 

I like that Shakira song, one of very few i like.

 

Mistaken Identity :wub: first track after Believe Again i fell in love with. So unbelievably instant. LOVE it to bits. Stunning live too.

 

Bad Romance is obviously amazing.

Believe Again ftw :cheer:

 

thanks Phil, I disagree about Shine :kink: if I worked in Morrisons I'd be sick of it though - just like I grew to loathe Mousse T's Is It Cos I'm Cool (which was a #1 in my chart!) when Asda started using it in every advert

 

glad you like the rest :wub: completely agree about MI being instant!

 

#17 is the reason this one deserves it's own special post.

 

Utterly stunning song, i seriously can't get enough of this track. From it's catchyness to it's trashy but fabulous lyrics to her vocals this song is just the best none Sugababes song of 2009 for me. Probably taking 2nd after Thank You For The Heartbreak for the year. It's one of those songs i'm not going to tire of and just have to keep listening to in a decades time :lol: There is no justice in the world if this gets snubbed by UK radio. It's the Release Me of 2009 with imo the potential to do just that little bit better.

 

first time I heard it I instantly knew that you would love it - I knew it had to be top 20 in my chart of the decade :wub: stuff the haters, I've listened to it more than any other song in the past 2 years - and there's a reason for that - it's bloody incredible :heart: completely agree that it could be a huge hit here

:cheer: :wub: :w00t:

 

Actually it did get a UK release (along with Let It Be The Night) and both flopped HARD :snif:

 

did it :o how come I never saw it in the shops :snif: I ordered the CD on import from Canada back in 2000 - first time I'd EVER used eBay :lol: those were the days!

23. Shapeshifters - Lola's Theme - 2004

22. Kim Lukas - All I Really Want - 2000

21. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance - 2009

 

I LOVE All I Really Want - great tune. Shame it didn't get released over here. Like you said, it could have been massive

 

18. Vanessa Amorousi - Absolutely Everybody - 2000

15. Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat - 2007 :wub:

14. Flip 'N' Fill feat Kelly Llorenna - True Love Never Dies - 2001

13. Shakira - Underneath Your Clothes - 2002

11. Take That - Shine - 2006

 

Lovin the countdown so far :D

 

thanks AH Gold :D glad there's some Kim love on the forum :wub:

:o WOW! Take That in the top 10 :P (Although I do remember you saying you found it excellent)

 

Not surprised about Alcazar though :P

Edited December 12, 200915 yr by nickthenoodle

indeed, both amazing songs :wub: the top 8 will be tomorrow I reckon and then I'll do the albums :D

did it :o how come I never saw it in the shops :snif: I ordered the CD on import from Canada back in 2000 - first time I'd EVER used eBay :lol: those were the days!

 

I had a killer local shop that got in literally ALL the new releases, and often got promos too. It's possible that it could have been a promo, but I had it, definitely. It was on Pepper Records, which also gave us The Tamperer and Supercar - Tonight :wub:

 

:heart: @ your #9 btw :kink: Since I just got a job in London, I'm thinking again about if I could get to Melodifestivalen, but it would only be worth it for me if Alcazar were guaranteed to make the final :cheer:

9. Alcazar - Stay The Night - 2009

 

Personal chart peak: #1 (for 8 weeks)

 

I'd never been a particular fan of Alcazar's UK hit singles Sexual Guarantee and Crying At The Discotheque but their Melodifestivalen songs, Not A Sinner Nor A Saint and Alcastar were much more to my taste, particularly the latter. I heard that they were returning to Melodifestivalen in 2009 and was looking forward to it but hardly incredibly excited. As always I watched the first semi final online, in which they performed, and the song was the easy standout. An emphatic energetic pop song, far better than anything they'd done before. A colourful, joyful song sung by three of the nicest people. You could tell that it meant everything for them to be there. I went to see the Melodifestivalen final live in Stockholm and was by this point incredibly excited to see them, the song having quickly become a favourite of mine. They exceeded my expectations with a perfect performance which brought great energy after a lacklustre performance from fellow former UK chart star Emilia. The reception in the arena was absolutely amazing - every single person must have loved them. I've been even more addicted to the song ever since - unfortunately they only came 5th in Melodifestivalen but THIS is the best Eurovision related song I have ever heard, and reminds me why I follow the contest. Pop gold.

 

I take it Bleeding Dull is still to come -_-

 

 

:cheer: Amazing for Alcazar. I love it so much. I played it a load when it first got entered into BJSC, then the other day in the car my best mate put it on because she loved it and had had it in her head all day :wub:

 

first time I heard it I instantly knew that you would love it - I knew it had to be top 20 in my chart of the decade :wub: stuff the haters, I've listened to it more than any other song in the past 2 years - and there's a reason for that - it's bloody incredible :heart: completely agree that it could be a huge hit here

The haters are all wrong imo :kink: It's just an amazing song, and i think one that you have listened to more than me :lol: I had it on all the way to work yesterday morning at half 6 :heehee: Delta was on all the way home!

 

I had a killer local shop that got in literally ALL the new releases, and often got promos too. It's possible that it could have been a promo, but I had it, definitely. It was on Pepper Records, which also gave us The Tamperer and Supercar - Tonight :wub:

 

:heart: @ your #9 btw :kink: Since I just got a job in London, I'm thinking again about if I could get to Melodifestivalen, but it would only be worth it for me if Alcazar were guaranteed to make the final :cheer:

 

wow, sounds great :o rather oddly, I have Kim's music video on an actual VHS video tape of pop promos that came free on an episode of Smash Hits once - that was her sole UK promotion I think :lol:

 

that would be great if you could get tickets still :w00t: I love Alcazar but I figure that I LOVED 7 of this years 11 finalists so if a similar ratio make it to this year's final I'll be happy regardless

 

I take it Bleeding Dull is still to come -_-

:cheer: Amazing for Alcazar. I love it so much. I played it a load when it first got entered into BJSC, then the other day in the car my best mate put it on because she loved it and had had it in her head all day :wub:

 

The haters are all wrong imo :kink: It's just an amazing song, and i think one that you have listened to more than me :lol: I had it on all the way to work yesterday morning at half 6 :heehee: Delta was on all the way home!

 

Bleeding Love was all the way down at #87 :P this chart is not the typical 'Bleeding Love/Umbrella/Can't Get You Out Of My Head' type decade chart, I don't care about sales or length of time at #1, hence Bleeding Love is about 80 places lower than it might be in other people's charts :lol:

 

shame you missed out on hearing Stay The Night when I had it at #1 for 8 weeks! you could have discovered the joy 6 months earlier :w00t: amazing pop song though!

 

completely agree with you about Anna, it's a great wake up song - it only takes me 12 minutes to work (3 songs) so I have to choose wisely what I play to gear me up for the day!

8. Delta Goodrem - Innocent Eyes - 2003

 

Personal chart top 5 run: 2-1-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-3-3-4-4-5

 

Even at 16 years old Delta Goodrem was making incredibly mature music. The title track of her debut album Innocent Eyes was easily the standout on a brilliant collection. Like a young Tori Amos, the jaunty piano track was a lot different to the more downtempo first two singles, Innocent Eyes was a lot more dramatic and showed a different side to Delta. It was refreshing to have a popstar like this back in 2003 - somebody so young with so much talent who had written these songs. An excellent piano breakdown two thirds of the way into the song shows the maturity and talent of Delta even at this age, and the lyrics were a lot darker than you would expect from somebody on their debut album, let alone a song released as a single. The song topped the charts in Australia and gave her a third straight top ten hit in the UK. It's probably a bit forgotten to the general public now in comparison to the likes of Lost Without You but this song and that album absolutely ruled my summer in 2003 - bridging the short gap but big change that was leaving high school and starting my first job and college all within the space of four months.

 

 

7. Sara Bareilles - Love Song - 2007

 

Personal chart top 5 run: 3-2-3-4-3-2-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-2-4-5-OUT-5-OUT-3-1-2-3-4

 

Amidst my obsession in late 2007 with Rule The World, Bleeding Love and one other song yet to come, a promising demo found its way onto my iPod. Love Song by Californian singer Sara Bareilles was an excellent pop song, a tongue in cheek ode to the irony of a record company looking for that 'hit single' to launch an album with - Sara went to write a song about not wanting to be forced into writing an album seller and voila this song was made. About two weeks after listening repeatedly to the demo, I finally heard the proper album version and I was instantly extremely impressed. I began to rave about Sara Bareilles to anyone that would listen from about November 2007 onwards. About two months later I heard that the song had become a hit in the US. However, I was shocked when it entered the UK charts in the summer of 2008 and gradually made its way up to the top five. I was suddenly hearing people in the street singing a song that I was championing as a demo over half a year before. It was odd indeed, but it was well and truly deserved. One hit wonder singer-songwriters come and go into the UK top ten; Vanessa Carlton, Daniel Powter, Sara Bareilles - but none of them had songs quite as joyful and deserving of success than Love Song - which along with being one of my favourites of late 2007, then became my most listened to song of 2008.

 

 

6. Delta Goodrem - Extraordinary Day - 2004

 

Personal chart top 5 run: 2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-3-5-OUT-5

 

By far the highest 'album track' to make this countdown and with good reason - it's the only album track that I can recall hearing in this decade which absolutely blows me away every time I hear it - even five years on. Tucked away towards the end of the Mistaken Identity album, Extraordinary Day is easily the most personal song that Delta had ever written, focusing on the day that she heard that she had cancer - July 8th 2003. A horrible day for all involved, in particular Delta, and it was incredibly brave and surprising that she decided to put it into a song, which is by far and away the darkest song she has ever written. Ridiculously, most Delta fans saw this song as 'album filler', one of the worst on the album etc...So fine, if I'm the only huge fan of this song then that's fine because it is truly beyond stunning melodically. Delta's vocals are on top form, the background harmonies are incredible. Everything about this song reminds me of late 2004 - the second year of college in particular. Never has a non-single affected me so much as this song - describing the cancer as her 'defining story' really got to me. This song truly cemented Delta Goodrem as my favourite artist of the noughties, if not of all time.