I know it is only October, but it is coming close to the end of the year and it is the awards season, so who do you think has been the success, surprise and disappointment of 2010?

 

Successes = There have been a few artists that have been hugely successful in 2010 - Tinie Tempah, B.o.B., Jason DeRulo, and once again, Lady GaGa. I think this year has belonged to one specific person though = David Guetta. I don't think anyone has impacted the charts like Guetta has, inspiring hits for Kelis, Kelly Rowland and Flo-Rida, and having a number one single himself, and arguably one of the songs of the summer.

 

Surprises = I didn't anticipate how much success Tinie Tempah would have this year. With two huge singles already this year, and then scheduled to chart highly this week with "Written In The Stars". I'm quite surprised as to the extent of his success.

 

Disappointment = For me its been Christina Aguilera. Admittedly I do like "Not Myself Tonight", but her return has been very lacklustre. Nothing special. Also, she has made very little impact on the charts as to what I was expecting her to do.

 

So who are they for you?

Surprises - Kylie coming back with her best album for years after two lacklustre efforts, and in my opinion one of the best singles of her entire career. Roll Deep going from one (minor) hit wonders a few years ago to having two #1's! A non English language dance hit crossing over to hit #1 in the UK - We No Speak Americano that is, shame about Stromae :drama: Germany managing to FINALLY win the Eurovision again, and deservedly so seeing as it was by far the best song in the contest. And then the likes of Tinie Tempah and Bruno Mars who weren't being hyped up anywhere and will both have three top 3 hits (and two #1's) to their name each by Sunday. Usher, Eminem and Enrique turning the clock back and remaining as successful as ever, despite them all last being at their most relevant 6-8 years ago, Katy Perry going from two hit wonder to international superstar.

 

Disappointments - Christina's Bionic and terrible lead single, Sugababes turning into a complete and utter joke with trashy generic singles, the continued absence of Girls Aloud, Eurovision being pretty weak this year - 4 or 5 songs aside, the domination of one or two genres in the charts leading to the absence of any sort of variety, the fact that the UK seem completely oblivious to the quality of all of the best songs of the year, all of which have been #1's across Europe, some of the terrible UK #1's, highly personally anticipated albums being letdowns including Sara Bareilles, Corinne Bailey Rae, Sharleen Spiteri, Amy MacDonald, Uffie, M.I.A., Sarah McLachlan, the list goes on...

The disinterest of the buying public in indie, alternative and rock singles.

3 posts and I already agree with everything everyone said

Successes: The success of British 'indie' music (i.e. Florence, Ellie Goulding etc.). A nice change in music. I'm glad about Selena Gomez & The Scene has done. I really do think Christina came back with strong efforts, but the media went anti-her, so :(

Successes: Lady Gaga, Kylie's comeback and Ellie Goulding doing very well :) Germany winning ESC and Lena having a top 40 hit!

 

Surprises: Sweden and Slovakia not making it to a Eurovision final despite having two of the best songs in the contest. Christina Aguilera going from 1 to 28 with her album. "Bionic" is so underrated and I am fearing "You Lost Me" failing to make the top 40!

 

Disappointments: Christina not getting any attention. Flops of the Scissor Sisters, The Hooisers and One Night Only's singles and albums. Urban being very dominant leading to a lack of diversity in the single chart. X-Factor and Simon Cowell related songs getting to #1. We all know we can stop them and we know he buys those #1. Justin Beiber being huge :( Cheryl Cole's stronghold of attention - she's a thug.

Edited October 1, 201014 yr by Joinwithus

Successes: Im going to count only artists that had debuted or returned this year- Mumford and Sons doing well is very pleasing as they are easily my band of the year, Kylie Minogue's most successful comeback in years , Eminem and Usher back in their prime, talented new male singers like Plan B and Tinie Tempah, plus talented females like Eliza Doolittle, Ellie Goulding and Marina and The Diamonds doing so well, also Fireflies really set a landmark in one of the most different and unique number 1s of the year

 

Surprises: Plan b for me, I never thought he would be as successful as he was- also the longevity of certain songs such as Train's 'Hey Soul Sister' (who officially lost their 'one-hit wonder' tag) and Eliza Doolittle's 'Pack Up'

 

Disappointments: Christina is the obvious one, huge flop of an album and single, as tony has said, the lack of indie and rock in the charts and bands such as Manic Street Preachers, Maroon 5 and Linkin Park totally flopping with their comeback singles- Justin Bieber's success is disappointing on the ears, and the fact that JLS and Alex Burke have released rubbish and yet still got to number 1 is quite saddening too

 

 

 

 

Successes: Mumford & Sons' success surprised me a LOT, I heard most of their singles (all of them bar Winter Winds in fact) in 2008 IIRC and remember thinking 'this band are amazing, shame they'll never be big'. So so glad they became (relatively) big, and they even broke America with Little Lion Man making the Billboard Hot 100 :o

 

Disappointments: I suppose a #1 album and #4, #29 and #41 singles isn't bad at all, but the Immersion era hasn't been as big as I thought it would be for Pendulum. As for actual musical disappointment, Linkin Park's comeback was pretty poor (The Catalyst has grown on me a bit though) and... uh... I guess I'm disappointed The Wombats have released anotehr song that sounds exactly like all their other songs?

 

Surprises: The xx's success. Wasn't surprising at all after they were nommed for Mercury and it became instantly obvious they'd win, but prior to that I'd never have thought their album would go top 3 and sell so much! Also, I guess it's surprising Eminem/Rihanna look like they might well get the highest selling single of the year (especially as it didn't even get #1)

Edited October 1, 201014 yr by ~ braysephone ~

Successes: Mumford & Sons' success surprised me a LOT, I heard most of their singles (all of them bar Winter Winds in fact) in 2008 IIRC and remember thinking 'this band are amazing, shame they'll never be big'. So so glad they became (relatively) big, and they even broke America with Little Lion Man making the Billboard Hot 100 :o

 

Disappointments: I suppose a #1 album and #4, #29 and #41 singles isn't bad at all, but the Immersion era hasn't been as big as I thought it would be for Pendulum. As for actual musical disappointment, Linkin Park's comeback was pretty poor (The Catalyst has grown on me a bit though) and... uh... I guess I'm disappointed The Wombats have released anotehr song that sounds exactly like all their other songs?

 

Surprises: The xx's success. Wasn't surprising at all after they were nommed for Mercury and it became instantly obvious they'd win, but prior to that I'd never have thought their album would go top 3 and sell so much! Also, I guess it's surprising Eminem/Rihanna look like they might well get the highest selling single of the year (especially as it didn't even get #1)

 

 

I agree with the pendulum comment, their first 2 albums were great, and although I haven't minded the singles off this one I can barely recall what they sound like now a few months later - not m,emorable and very samey, so much so that they can pass you by!!

 

I would say something will beat eminem/rihanna to the biggest seller of 2010 once the xfactor saturday performances start - remember cheryl cole etc last autumn selling 200k in their first week!!

I agree with the pendulum comment, their first 2 albums were great, and although I haven't minded the singles off this one I can barely recall what they sound like now a few months later - not m,emorable and very samey, so much so that they can pass you by!!

 

While it isn't the best of their 3 albums, I wasn't disappointed with it musically, I just thought that it'd be a more successful era for them is all. Watercolour should have gone top 3, Witchcraft and The Island should both have peaked much higher and the album should have stuck in the top 10 for longer then 3 weeks...

Mumford and Sons have been one of the biggest hightlights for me this year in terms of new music, i have also loved all of Ash;s releases shame they didnt do better but in terms of how they were released they did ok.

 

Kylie;s comeback was of course a huge thing for me and aphrodite was a fantastic return and her best album by a mile since fever. All the lovers is in my opinion one of her strongest singles ever so i really enjoyed that.

 

Im not a big Eminem fan but i have really enjoyed the recovery era and for the first time evr i was excited about buying his album.

Brandon Flowers debut solo album has also been a huge highlight for me and i am delighted with his solo material and its performance.

Surprises - Roll Deep hitting high which I thought they will be obscure for like forever. Mumford & Sons still selling albums well. Dubstep music from Magnetic Man and Katy B hitting the Top 10 (the latter still has to leave the Top 10).

 

Disappointments - Christina Aguilera in general (weak lead single, #1 album plummetting and so on...). Two Sub Focus singles peaking at #41. Corinne Bailey Rae and Amy MacDonald (and few more that could be mentioned) could've done better for their follow-ups.

 

Can't say much about successes. And many others have been mentioned already like Tinie, Pendulum and GaGa so I don't have to repeat them really.

Edited October 1, 201014 yr by FM11

Successes - The open-mindedness that is beginning to sprout in the commercial music scene. We've seen PROPER electro finally make it to the music market and in large quantities, grime's doing amazing now and dubstep is the new in thing so I couldn't be more pleased <3 I know that with the likes of electro / dubstep / grime it does sound a couple of years behind but it means that it's no longer just for those that know about it, it's more accessible etc.

 

Surprises - Musically, definitely Crystal Castles (oh. my. god, they are a total FORCE NOW), who came back with one of the best albums in yeaaaaars IMO, and of course the likes of DJ Fresh, Katy B, Tinie Tempah, Pendulum and Sub Focus taking off this year (just to name a few, what big surprises etc.). Also Europop really surprised me, I really didn't see it coming whatsoever but I'm glad. Now that Stromae's been, I hope that Maika P makes it over here <3

 

Disappointments - Scissor Sisters / Christina / Scouting For Girls (but it was expected, and I don't like them anyways so, same applies to Wombats) / Alesha Dixon / Saturdays and all the people who some thought would be big and weren't.

Successes

 

Tinie Tempah, Bruno Mars and Roll Deep. All have scored big hits this year and successfully managed to avoid the typical big first hit, not so big second hit, flop third hit (I'll be surprised if Roll Deep's new track with Alesha Dixon isn't a big hit). Kudos to them all. :D

 

Eminem featuring Rihanna 'Love The Way You Lie' - currently the years biggest selling single and continuing to sell roughly 20k per week yet never had one week at no. 1 during its time on the chart. This is definitely one of those #1s that never were even if you hate this song, you have to admire its longevity.

 

Surprises

 

Plan B for moving away from his tragic grime material in 2005 to actually releasing, imo, one of the years best albums. Still think 'She Said' is an excellent track but accept this won't appeal to many people on here.

 

On the other hand Yolanda Be Cool going to no. 1 with 'We No Speak Americano' was genius. If only Stromae could've scored a bigger hit but we should be thankful 'Alors On Danse' even peaked at no. 25 to be fair.

 

Disappointments

 

The list of UK #1s that went straight in at the top only to plummet out of the top 3 the following week whilst other singles released the same week and peaking at #2 or #3 sustaining their sales over a longer period of time and ultimately outselling many of the years UK #1 singles.

 

Will also list Lemar, Gabriella Cilmi, Travie McCoy for releasing great lead singles imo ('The Way Love Goes', 'On A Mission' and 'Billionaire' respectively) but for some bizzare reason the record company choosing a hidiously crap track to release as the second single. Record company FAIL... :manson:

Successess-Pendulum, Eliza Doolittle,Bruno Mars, B.O.B.Really pleased how well Black British artists have done hitting the top spot so often this year hope the BRITS reflects that more.Tinnie, Dizzee, Tinchy, Roll Deep, Chipmunk and Labrinth have had an amazing 2010.Pleased also for the X-factor 2008 crew Alexandra, JLS and Diana have managed to build on the show and continue doing well.

 

Surprises-Have really enjoyed comebacks from Kylie, Kelis, Scissor Sisters, Eninem.Shontelle,ROX,Bashy,Melanie Fiona have all released good material hope 2011 is huge for them.Glee has had a huge amount of success worldwide.

 

Disappointments-Christina she should have come back with something Gaga cannot do well a huge, strong vocally challenging ballad her comeback has been a let down and an embarrassment.Kate Nash, Gabrielle Climi and Linkin Park have had poor comebacks that seemed really half hearted.Alesha and Drummer Boy and Joe and Sometimes what happened there.

I'm going to focus on the surprises;

 

The sudden interest in Dubstep this year has been a shocker. Never thought it would go mainstream it's been underground for years. Acts like DJ Fresh, Katy B and Magnetic Man I didn't even think they would get hits with tracks like theirs.

 

Maybe a Dubstep revolution will happen in 2011. :unsure:

Edited October 2, 201014 yr by Kieran.

I'm surprised Alicia Keys hasn't been mentioned yet - she's had a FANTASTIC year. For the best part of a decade she was always JUST on the verge of really making it big, and it only now seems to be that she's finally fulfilling her potential.

Kylie Minogue and Brandon Flowers are Successes in my eyes. Both got top 10 (top 3 for Kylie) singles and a #1 album :cheer:

 

Surprises - Alesha Dixon, Drummer Boy was unexpected but still pleasent. Shame it has flopped somewhat.

 

Disappointments - Katie Melua - The material is good, The Flood is top 10 quality but it stalled outside the top 40 and the album fell like a stone. :(

I thought The Flood DID go top 40? Just.

So it did :lol: #35. Still, it was too low.