OH YES at Falling being that high!

 

Plenty of really excellent stuff here, the top 40 should be amazing.

And just for a completely useless statistic, because I can, here are all of my EOY #41's from 1997-2013, consider them all very unlucky (especially The Cardigans and Mark Owen);

 

1997 - Mark Owen - Clementine

1998 - The Cardigans - My Favourite Game

1999 - The Cardigans - Hanging Around

2000 - Made In London - Dirty Water

2001 - Maria Rubia - Say It

2002 - Atomic Kitten - It's OK

2003 - Delta Goodrem - In My Own Time

2004 - Girls Aloud - Love Machine

2005 - Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway

2006 - Delta Goodrem - Never Fades Away

2007 - Take That - We All Fall Down

2008 - Agnes - Release Me (although it did top the EOY 2009 chart, so don't feel too sorry for her)

2009 - Alicia Keys - Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart (was in the top 20 for 2010)

2010 - Erik Hassle - Hurtful

2011 - Sak Noel - Loca People

2012 - One Direction - I Would

2013 - State Of Drama - Falling

Hey

 

 

58. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Mary Lambert - Same Love (#4)

57. Avicii feat Salem Al Fakir - You Make Me (#5)

56. Gary Barlow - Let Me Go (#4)

55. Bastille - Of The Night (#5)

54. Eliza Doolittle - Big When I Was Little (#4)

53. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (#4)

52. Kelly Clarkson - Underneath The Tree (#5)

49. Zedd feat Foxes - Clarity (#5)

48. Boyzone - Love Will Save The Day (#3)

47. The Saturdays - What About Us (feat. Sean Paul) (#2)

46. Mutya Keisha Siobhan - Flatline (#2)

44. Lady Gaga - Gypsy (#3)

43. Loreen - We Got The Power (#4)

42. Lily Allen - Somewhere Only We Know (#2)

 

 

Great 60-41 there.

Top 40 singles kicks off now complete with top twenty runs for each single!

 

40. Ralf Gyllenhammar - Bed On Fire (11-1-3-9-16)

 

 

39. Mariah Carey feat Miguel - #Beautiful (18-14-7-9-6-4-6-9-14)

 

 

38. Adelén - Bombo (12-11-OUT-20-7-3-5-5-7-15)

 

 

37. Sara Bareilles - Brave (19-15-9-7-4-3-7-15-18)

 

 

36. Icona Pop feat Charli XCX - I Love It (15-6-8-12-14-OUT-19-11-8-5-3-4-8-13)

 

 

Kicking off the top 40 is a song which reached No.1 in Melodifestivalen season, the rock song Bed On Fire by Ralf Gyllenhammar. Probably even less of my 'thing' than the State Of Drama song but it's pretty amazing, although its chart run doesn't particuarly reflect that. Mariah's gorgeous slow burner #Beautiful was a huge return to chart form, hanging around the UK top 40 for months and reaching No.4 for me, her biggest hit since Touch My Body went to No.1 in 2008. Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix runner up Adelén actually had the biggest hit from that contest in Norway, Bombo being one of the biggest selling songs of the year there. It instantly raced to No.11 for me but was a bit unseasonal in February. When it later appeared on the Absolute Summer Hits compilation in the summer it sounded WAY better to me and belatedly went top three. After a pretty dull second album/era, save for a couple of good singles, UK one hit wonder Sara Bareilles had a decent comeback in the US, with her second biggest hit to date, the inspirational Brave. Another song that took a while to catch on with me, it's only when I got the album that I started to love it but it also went to No.3 in the late summer and provided the inspiration (whole song, whatever) for Katy Perry's Roar. And at No.36, a song that made No.20 for me in May 2012, but which I grew to love a lot more this year, with the holy grail of the UK release (although it went top ten way before that in January), is Icona Pop's attitude packed UK chart topper I Love It!

35. Ellie Goulding - How Long Will I Love You (18-10-11-OUT-3-3-6-13-15-16)

 

 

34. Calvin Harris feat Tinie Tempah - Drinking from the Bottle (13-4-3-2-2-6-14)

 

 

33. Bastille - Pompeii (17-15-17-OUT-4-2-5-11-15)

 

 

32. Ellie Goulding - Figure 8 (10-2-2-4-8-16)

 

 

31. Nadine - I Will Be Strong (1-3-6-7-5-2-7-7-12)

 

 

Two Ellie Goulding songs in this section as the gorgeous ballad How Long Will I Love You kicks off at No.35. Originally part of the soundtrack for About Time, the bonus track from Halcyon Days was an instant favourite of mine, going top ten quickly. When made the Children In Need single it flew back into my chart at No.3 and remains in my top 20 now. Some call it bland, I think it's beautiful. On the other end of the spectrum however is the blistering leftfield electro of Figure 8, which spent two weeks at No.2 for me right at the start of the year and ends the year at No.32, a place below its horrifyingly unjust weekly UK peak position. Calvin Harris' early year two week No.2 is also in this section, the Tinie Tempah collaboration Drinking From The Bottle being one of my highlights from 18 Months, having originally finished low down in my top 100 of 2012 as an album track. UK indie-pop act Bastille's breakthrough hit Pompeii reached No.2 officially and in my chart and finds itself comfortably top 40 and the section is rounded off by the song that was at No.40 in my EOY 2012 chart, my first BJSC entry of the year, I Will Be Strong by South African singer Nádine. Originally a glorious string laden ballad, it was Agnesfied and turned into a brilliant Scandipop/dance sounding song that somehow didn't DNQ!

Will comment on the whole lot when you finished but woo for How long will I love you and pompeii here :wub: the former isn't very high on my countdown but I want to put much higher :( so beautiful :wub:

Edited December 23, 201311 yr by Rob Rudolph

30. Jógvan Hansen and Stefanía Svavarsdóttir - Til þín (10-3-1-4-8-20)

 

 

29. Robin Thicke feat T.I. & Pharrell - Blurred Lines (20-5-4-9-20-17-14-7-2-6-11)

 

 

28. Leona Lewis - One More Sleep (18-18-19-16-15-12-2-1)

 

 

27. Anouk - Birds (11-9-10-7-4-5-9-10-16-6-8-12)

 

 

26. Avicii - Hey Brother (13-10-11-11-5-3-6-10-17-13-13-6-3-6)

 

 

25. Stafford Brothers feat Lil Wayne & Christina Milian - Hello (8-2-4-7-9-7-4-6-13-20)

 

 

24. Emmelie de Forest - Only Teardrops (8-11-15-OUT-19-15-11-7-3-5-2-4-8-11-17)

 

 

23. Will.I.Am feat Britney Spears - Scream & Shout (5-3-1-2-3-4-12-18)

 

 

22. Tove Lo - Out of Mind (4-1-1-2-5-11)

 

 

21. Zlata Ognevich - Gravity (16-8-4-3-6-8-10-6-4-7-9)

 

 

Onto the ten songs that missed the top 20 then and the top 30 kicks off with the string drenched duet from Iceland, Til þín by Jógvan Hansen and Stefanía Svavarsdóttir. It sadly made a minimal impact in the Icelandic national final despite ticking all of the Eurovision boxes. Shame, as I'd have loved to have heard it in English. No.29 is the biggest selling single of the year, Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell. I knew it would be pretty huge first time I heard it and indeed made the thread for it on Buzzjack way before it was tipped for success. It's almost hard to explain its effortless joy, the Prince-esque vocals, the production and backing track recycled by Pharrell from Madonna's Give It 2 Me, which he also produced. It's just such an undeniable anthem although even I didn't see it being THIS huge. After a few years of irrelevance, X Factor 2006 winner Leona Lewis finally bagged herself another smash hit with her Christmas hit One More Sleep, the new festive anthem that the country has been unknowingly crying out for. My current personal chart, and Xmas No.1, it's such a joyful throwback to the Phil Spector sound with the effective lyrical countdown mechanism. I also saw Leona live this year on my birthday, she was incredible.

 

The Netherlands shocked us all at Eurovision this year by actually qualifying for the final! To do so they literally had to find the classiest song that had been entered to the contest for decades. The lovely Anouk's absolutely stunning Birds did the job perfectly and returned them to the top ten in the contest with a memorable performance from the centre stage. It spent over two months in my top ten, peaking at No.4. The first of four Avicii songs in the top 30, the infectious country-techno sounds of Hey Brother have been a permanent fixture in my top 20 since the album was released, peaking twice at No.3. And onto a song which probably could have been a huge summer hit here with a push, and one which was indeed a top five smash in Australia is the long awaited return of Christina Milian alongside prodution duo Stafford Brothers and the awful Lil Wayne, whose part on this track is 'so bad it's good'. And who can deny that euphoric main riff, this song ruled my summer.

 

Eurovision winners either tend to be big No.1's on my chart (Loreen, Alexander Rybak, Lena, Ruslana, Helena Paparizou, Tanel Padar/Dave Benton) or never even chart at all (Marie N, Sertab, Lordi, Marija Serifovic, Dima Bilan). Emmelie De Forest achieved the unique feat of actually becoming a big hit in my chart without ever topping it. As much as I love the folk-pop track from Denmark, I always felt like it didn't particularly feel like a Eurovision winner, but lack of any particular competition meant that the charming Danish singer stormed to victory, and to be fair gave a very accomplished performance, even if it didn't get the cheers that I expected in the arena. And a top 15 peak in the UK was pretty respectable too! will.i.am and Britney's mega UK No.1 Scream & Shout made it to the top of my chart right at the start of the year, and as tacky as it is, I can't help but adore it so here it is at No.23, the only Britney song in the top 100 (soz Work Bitch). Overhyped Swedish singer Tove Lo FINALLY delivered a song worthy of the hype late in the year with the storming Scandipop monster Out Of Mind. A mega chorus, a blistering middle eight, astounding production, it's just so good. And just outside the top 20 is one of my Eurovision favourites of the year, the brilliant Gravity by Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich. A huge return to form for a recently faltering nation, the ballad, its video and its performance had typically high production values and it somehow came 3rd in the final, despite the hype having evaporated around it in the weeks leading up to the contest. Little buzz in the arena for this but I was screaming loud for the gorgeous Zlata and her giant, what a stunning song.

ZLATA! 'Gravity' was such a grower for me and I was really surprised by how powerful a vocalist she is. 'Bombo' was another grower, like you over the summer it really clicked for me and it's fantastic. <3

 

Great countdown so far Rich, looking foward to the rest. And unlike last year I can't predict who'll be number 1.

And with all the mystery of a CD:UK Saturday chart recap, here's #10-4 in my album chart of the year before two stunners nominated for the Album of the Year at the Grammys take on the debut album by a Swedish superstar in the top three.

 

10. Delta Goodrem - Innocent Eyes (Ten Year Anniversary Acoustic Edition) (1-1-2)

 

Key tracks: In My Own Time, This Is Not Me, Will You Fall For Me, Innocent Eyes

 

http://heartbeatmusik.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/delta-goodrem-innocent-eyes-ten-year-anniversary-acoustic-edition-2013-1200x1200-300x300.png

 

9. Tom Odell - Long Way Down (1-1-1-1-2-5-7-5-7-7-10-13-13-20-17)

 

Key tracks: Can't Pretend, Grow Old With Me, Another Love, I Know

 

http://www.musicomh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/tom-odell-300x300.jpg

 

8. Zedd - Clarity (1-1-1-2-2-4-5-6-7-9-8-12-10-12-14-18-20)

 

Key tracks: Follow You Down, Clarity, Spectrum, Stache

 

http://www.tapthathouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/zedd-clarity-300x300.jpeg

 

7. Bastille - Bad Blood (4-1-1-1-3-4-2-4-3-5-9-12-14-16-17-20-19-20-OUT-19-19-20-OUT-7-16)

 

Key tracks: Pompeii, Flaws, Oblivion, Things We Lost In The Fire, Icarus (and Of The Night and The Draw from All This Bad Blood)

 

http://nvivo-media-3.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Bastille_BadBlood-300x300.jpg

 

6. Lady Gaga - ARTPOP (1-1-1-3-5-7-9)

 

Key tracks: Applause, Gypsy, Do What U Want, Aura, Artpop, Dope

 

http://www.musicomh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/lady-gaga-artpop-300x300.jpg

 

5. Disclosure - Settle (8-3-7-5-7-10-7-4-4-2-2-2-5-7-10-10-10-15-18)

 

Key tracks: F For You, Latch, Help Me Lose My Mind, White Noise, When A Fire Starts To Burn, Voices, You & Me, Confess To Me

 

http://www.musicomh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/disclosure-settle-300x300.jpg

 

4. Ellie Goulding - Halcyon Days (14-2-1-2-2-2-3-4-7-10-14-16-18-OUT-16-2-1-1-6-8-13)

 

Key tracks: Figure 8, How Long Will I Love You, Anything Could Happen, My Blood, Burn, Under Control, You My Everything

 

http://www.ccmag.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Ellie-Goulding-Halcyon-Days-Deluxe-Version-2013-1200x1200-1-300x300.png

 

Kicking off the top ten albums of the year is Delta Goodrem who creeps in at the last minute (poor Army Of Lovers etc...) with her reworked version of my favourite album of all time, Innocent Eyes. Mostly done in an acoustic style, some with added elements like Choir's, some of the previous 'filler' tracks come to life and all of the singles sound as classic as ever to my ears. BRITs Critics Choice winner Tom Odell is at No.9 with his accomplished debut album Long Way Down. Looking like a long lost Hanson brother I wasn't expecting too much from him and thought that he wouldn't live up to the hype but it's actually a brilliant debut which spent its first four weeks at the top of my chart. German producer Zedd's 2012 debut album Clarity belatedly made my chart in 2013 and it proved to be an instant classic for me. The brilliant title track was one of many highlights but the whole album was cohesive and enjoyable. Bastille's debut album comes in at No.7 featuring a handful of brilliant singles and album tracks whilst the recent deluxe edition added some covers from their Other People's Heartache mixtapes as well as some b-sides. Certainly one of the finer debut albums of the year.

 

With The Fame Monster sitting pretty in my top ten albums EVER and Born This Way in the top 40, my anticipation for Lady Gaga's ARTPOP was sky high. Whilst perhaps not featuring as many killer tracks as either of those, and dare I say it, a few fillers towards the end which would have sounded more at home on The Fame, it's largely a stunning pop album with great pop melodies and a lot brighter a sound than that of her previous two albums and I thoroughly enjoy it. Not to mention that the three highs for me (Gypsy/Applause/Do What U Want) are higher than those of Born This Way, although that was more enjoyable as a whole. And at No.5 is the only album in the top ten not to top my weekly chart. Getting stuck for weeks behind an album that's still to come in the top three, is Disclosure's debut album Settle. The young British duo are extraordinarily talented and there's hardly any point listing highlights from the album as it's all so good. I absolutely love the garage throwback sound that runs throughout it and Settle soundtracked my summer. And just missing out on the top three, having only just made my EOY top 40 last year as Halcyon, is Ellie Goulding's Halcyon Days. In fact Halcyon as a standalone album grew on me hugely and would have been top ten anyway but the addition of Halcyon Days - much criticised but I love most of the new more commercial tracks - boosts it into my EOY top five, just as Bright Lights did so well in my EOY 2010 chart for Ellie. She seems to slowly be becoming one of my favourite British pop stars, without me even really noticing. All that she's missing is a No.1 single in my chart, having scored a brace of top five's but no chart topper so far...

 

The top three albums of the year and the top twenty singles will be revealed tomorrow...

Great albums rundown so far! Especially love Halcyon Days, ARTPOP and Settle from the top 10.

Expecting True to be your no.1 album. Yay to see Only Teardrop top 30 & Hey Brother too :wub:

Hey rich :)

58. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Mary Lambert - Same Love (#4)

57. Avicii feat Salem Al Fakir - You Make Me (#5)

56. Gary Barlow - Let Me Go (#4)

55. Bastille - Of The Night (#5)

53. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (#4)

52. Kelly Clarkson - Underneath The Tree (#5)

51. Matt Cardle & Melanie C - Loving You (#3)

49. Zedd feat Foxes - Clarity (#5)

47. The Saturdays - What About Us (feat. Sean Paul) (#2)

46. Mutya Keisha Siobhan - Flatline (#2)

45. Delta Goodrem - Heart Hypnotic (#1 for 1 week)

44. Lady Gaga - Gypsy (#3)

42. Lily Allen - Somewhere Only We Know (#2)

 

Hey :) Took me a while to like same lice :o

 

Underneath the Tree so high :o

 

what about us :D love it!!

 

Thanks James, One More Sleep even higher! What About Us clicked with me eventually :D

 

Rocking The Ride YESSSSSS

 

State of Drama NOOOOOOO EWWWWWW VOMMMMMMM

 

Both SOOO good!

 

OH YES at Falling being that high! <3 I expect we're like the only two fans on here though.

 

Plenty of really excellent stuff here, the top 40 should be amazing.

 

It's such an anthem, it's a shame it never caught on with many people. I hope their entry next year is similarly great but for some reason I get the feeling it will be a major step down and they'll crash out quickly.

 

Hey

58. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Mary Lambert - Same Love (#4)

57. Avicii feat Salem Al Fakir - You Make Me (#5)

56. Gary Barlow - Let Me Go (#4)

55. Bastille - Of The Night (#5)

54. Eliza Doolittle - Big When I Was Little (#4)

53. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (#4)

52. Kelly Clarkson - Underneath The Tree (#5)

49. Zedd feat Foxes - Clarity (#5)

48. Boyzone - Love Will Save The Day (#3)

47. The Saturdays - What About Us (feat. Sean Paul) (#2)

46. Mutya Keisha Siobhan - Flatline (#2)

44. Lady Gaga - Gypsy (#3)

43. Loreen - We Got The Power (#4)

42. Lily Allen - Somewhere Only We Know (#2)

Great 60-41 there.

 

Thanks Mack :D

 

Will comment on the whole lot when you finished but woo for How long will I love you and pompeii here :wub: the former isn't very high on my countdown but I want to put much higher :( so beautiful :wub:

 

Cheers Rob, aww push Ellie higher, it's a beautiful song!

 

ZLATA! 'Gravity' was such a grower for me and I was really surprised by how powerful a vocalist she is. 'Bombo' was another grower, like you over the summer it really clicked for me and it's fantastic. <3

 

Great countdown so far Rich, looking foward to the rest. And unlike last year I can't predict who'll be number 1.

 

It was pretty instant for me in the live version that we heard and then the studio made it perfect, she's amazing! Bombo just sounded wrong coming from Norway, and in February :lol: Thankfully, in the summer it all made so much more sense!

 

Great albums rundown so far! Especially love Halcyon Days, ARTPOP and Settle from the top 10.

 

Cheers Liam :D

 

Expecting True to be your no.1 album. Yay to see Only Teardrop top 30 & Hey Brother too :wub:

 

We shall see!

The top three albums of 2013:

 

3. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (3-1-1-2-4-4-5-5-5-6-6-6-5-6-9-12-14-19-20)

 

http://nbhap.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads//2013/03/Daft-Punk-Random-Access-Memories-300x300.jpg

 

Key tracks: Get Lucky, Giorgio By Moroder, Instant Crush, Give Life Back To Music, Touch, Contact

 

One of 2013's most brilliant comebacks, French house duo Daft Punk had had success in my chart on and off over the years, reaching No.1 with Digital Love in 2001 from the incredible Discovery album. Their 2005 album Human After All was a major letdown aside from maybe three decent songs, so I don't think anybody was expecting them to come back with anything amazing. But the hype started to build, and in April they unleashed the fantastic Get Lucky which virtually went straight to No.1 worldwide. Random Access Memories is better listened to as a whole than as individual tracks I find but there are some gorgeous disco throwbacks on here. Instant Crush, Touch and the entrancing Giorgio By Moroder are at least as good as anything they've come up with in the past.

2. Sara Bareilles - The Blessed Unrest (1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-4-5-7-10-11-14-16-17-17-19-20)

 

http://www.loveispop.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Sara-Bareilles-The-Blessed-Unrest-album-cover-art-300x300.jpg

 

Key tracks: Chasing The Sun, Brave, Manhattan, Hercules, Little Black Dress, Satellite Call, Cassiopeia, Eden

 

Californian singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles finished 2nd in my EOY 2008 chart with her stunning debut album Little Voice, just behind Alphabeat's debut. In 2010, second album Kaleidoscope Heart failed to reach my EOY top 40 after I regarded it to be a poor follow up overall and wrote her off as a one album wonder. Fast forward five years however and Sara scores a second No.2 on my EOY countdowns, with the most surprisingly good album of the year. The songwriting was so much improved, the melodies had returned and variety was the key. Power-pop anthems like Brave and Little Black Dress are instantly infecious, there's the mid-tempo brilliant of Chasing The Sun, Hercules and Eden and then the gorgeous piano balladry of Manhattan (up there with City and Gravity) and the haunting Satellite Call. It's a fantastic album from Sara and it's criminal that she continues to be written off as a one hit wonder here when Brave is practically screaming to be a UK hit. It's been deservedly nominated for the Album of the Year at the Grammys and it was the longest running #1 album in my chart for six years with seven weeks on top. It takes a lot for an album to hold my attention for that long!

1. Avicii - True (3-4-4-1-1-1-1-1-2-3-5-7-8-8-10-12-13-12)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/Avicii_-_True_(Album).png

 

Key tracks: Wake Me Up, Hey Brother, You Make Me, Always On The Run, Dear Boy, Addicted To You, Liar Liar, Lay Me Down, Edom

 

In an incredible year for dance music, it's only fair that a dance album tops my end of year chart. And when you consider his existing hits that are missing from the debut studio album of Sweden's super producer Avicii - I Could Be The One, Levels, Fade Into Darkness/Collide, Silhouettes, My Feelings For You - it's astonishing that it still manages to be this good. After years of lowest common denominator chart dance from David Guetta (although he's had a couple of incredible tracks natually), it's good to see a chart dance force who manages to put out thoughtful and innovative dance music, whilst using vocals from lesser known acts such as Dan Tyminski, Aloe Blacc, Salem Al Fakir and Audra Mae on this album. He also worked with a couple of big names though, most notably veteran of the year Nile Rodgers on Lay Me Down. True is one of those joyful albums that packs in smash after smash - the huge hits Wake Me Up and Hey Brother, the oddball excellence of You Make Me and Dear Boy, the euphoria of Edom and the beauty of bonus track Always On The Run. It's one of the best dance albums I've heard in many years and Avicii truly deserves all of his success. And had he included his aformentioned hits on it too, it could have comfortably become one of my favourite albums of all time.

Here then, in full, are my top 40 albums of 2013;

 

1. Avicii - True

2. Sara Bareilles - The Blessed Unrest

3. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

4. Ellie Goulding - Halcyon Days

5. Disclosure - Settle

6. Lady Gaga - ARTPOP

7. Bastille - Bad Blood

8. Zedd - Clarity

9. Tom Odell - Long Way Down

10. Delta Goodrem - Innocent Eyes (Ten Year Anniversary Acoustic Edition)

11. Army Of Lovers - Big Battle Of Egos

12. Caro Emerald - The Shocking Miss Emerald

13. Katy Perry - Prism

14. Lorde - Pure Heroine

15. Calvin Harris - 18 Months

16. The Saturdays - Living For The Weekend

17. Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain

18. Emmelie De Forest - Only Teardrops

19. Agnetha Faltskog - A

20. Pet Shop Boys - Electric

21. Beyoncé - BEYONCÉ

22. Icona Pop - This Is...Icona Pop

23. Gary Barlow - Since I Saw You Last

24. Boyzone - BZ20

25. Little Mix - Salute

26. London Grammar - If You Wait

27. Britney Spears - Britney Jean

28. Imagine Dragons - Night Visions

29. Nádine - Eindeloos

30. Taylor Swift - Red

31. Bastille - Other People's Heartache Pt. 1 & 2

32. Krista Siegfrids - Ding Dong!

33. Leona Lewis - Christmas, With Love

34. Kelly Clarkson - Wrapped In Red

35. Cascada - Acoustic Sessions

36. Rudimental - Home

37. will.i.am - #willpower

38. Céline Dion - Loved Me Back To Life

39. Haim - Days Are Gone

40. Hurts - Exile

Surprised to see One More Sleep so high up for you! I do really like it though, I hope it goes down as a Christmas classic and is a regular feature in future Christmas charts from now on.

And onto the singles top 20!

 

20. Frida Sundemo - Snow (1-1-1-3-6-9-17)

 

 

19. The Arrows - Entropy (3-1-1-2-6-14-19)

 

 

18. Gary Barlow & Elton John - Face To Face (1-1-1-2)

 

 

17. Daft Punk feat Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky (12-3-2-1-8-6-9-13-20)

 

 

16. Sara Bareilles - Chasing The Sun (19-5-1-2-2-5-8-12-16)

 

 

15. Anton Ewald - Begging (28-10-4-3-1-1-3-5-8-13)

 

 

14. Katy Perry - Roar (19-7-2-2-2-1-4-7-13-20)

 

 

13. Margaret Berger - I Feed You My Love (4-2-3-7-14-19-18-18-14-10-10-6-8-7-6-4-7-13)

 

 

12. Hozier - Take Me To Church (4-3-2-1-2-4-7-14)

 

 

11. Lady Gaga - Applause (5-1-1-1-2-5-9-12-19)

 

 

Kicking off my top 20 of the year is a song which instantly topped the charts right towards the beginning of the year. Coming along at a perfect time of freezing cold weather was Frida Sundemo's electropop beauty Snow, which was actually far warmer than its title would suggest. The chord progression right at the end of the chorus, and right at the end of the song is one of the most gorgeous musical sounds of the year. I'd heard of South African duo The Arrows briefly in 2010 but never thought to check out their album, which was a huge oversight on my part because tucked away as the second track was the oddball political pop anthem Entropy. Discussing the problems faced by young people in South Africa, it sounded like a broken Disney song with the bizarre chord structure. There's no particular chorus but plenty of great bridges and a stunning middle eight that always have me coming back to it. The most recent song to appear in the top 20 is Face To Face, the what looks to be major flop duet by Gary Barlow and Elton John. With a pairing like that, I expected a rather dull piano ballad but what I found was a jaunty typically British piano pop anthem that sounded like the long lost follow up to Take That's Shine. It has just finished a three week run atop my chart but I absolutely love it and it gave Elton his first No.1 single and Gary his second, after Shame in 2010.

 

Daft Punk's storming disco comeback single Get Lucky comes in at No.17. An absolute anthem, it was the perfect return for all acts involved and a joy to listen to. It's bizarre 1-8 fall from No.1 was due to it getting in the way of Eurovision week, as opposed to me suddenly tiring of it. From the incredible Sara Bareilles album The Blessed Unrest, my highlight was mid-tempo piano anthem Chasing The Sun. For my money her best song since Love Song, with a fantastic soaring chorus, subtle strings and a brilliant melody. And at No.15 is emerging Swedish male popstar Anton Ewald. Despite some commentators calling it weak for a Frederik Kempe song, I quickly fell in love with the brilliant Begging and would have quite happily seen it won over Robin Stjernberg, seeing as both acts made it to the final from Andra Chansen. A blistering pop chorus and middle eight breakdown, it's Swedish pop very near its best. Late summer saw two mammoth female superstars releasing singles at exactly the same time - Lady Gaga's Applause and Katy Perry's Roar were both, for my money, absolutely stellar pop tracks. Roar, quite obviously heavily inspired lyrically and musically by Sara Bareilles' Brave was a fierce comeback from the more 'generic' Katy and it eventually became her second No.1 in my chart after hovering at No.2 behind Gaga for three weeks.

 

The only song not to reach No.1 in my chart to make my end of year top 20 is Margaret Berger's I Feed You My Love. Having first made my top five in 2008 with the BJSC classic Will You Remember Me Tomorrow, I was quite intrigued to hear of her MGP participation. But I really didn't expect her to deliver one of the most credible and haunting electro tracks of the year. Certainly not the usual Eurovision fare with the crunching bite of the intro leading to an absolutely stellar chorus, it's always struck me as the song that tATu probably should have sent to Eurovision in 2003, it certainly would have won for them. She managed to win MGP despite not being the biggest domestic hit from it, and did herself proud in Eurovision, coming 4th and delivering Norway's best result since Fairytale ran away with the victory in 2009. It was a permanent fixture in my top 20 for almost half a year but only peaked at No.2, for a week.

 

Onto BJSC now and one of the finest entries I sent this year, and one of the few non dance entries, was Hozier's affecting and beautiful gospel tinged indie anthem Take Me To Church. A major hit in Ireland now, having been top ten since just after I sent it, I really really hope it can breakthrough internationally next year, I can see Radio 1 supporting it certainly. The video is also by far the best of the year, absolutely epic despite the events and scenarios that it depicts. Sadly it couldn't even finish top ten in BJSC in my very floppy year, finishing 11th. I'll be watching you ALL if it pops up high in your personal charts next year and you gave it nul points, because this melodic beast should have been a winner. And just missing out on the top ten is the song that came off worst in the Roarplause battle, Lady Gaga's long awaited comeback single Applause. Much criticsed for being boring/generic, I don't get the hate for it AT ALL, the quirky and intriguing Bowie-esque verses leading to a pretty poptastic chorus and complete with brilliant production. My favourite Gaga single since Bad Romance, and it didn't exactly disgrace itself with decent success worldwide, just not perhaps the success she might have been expected to have with it.

Oh, so I'm not the only person in whose chart Berger was unlucky enough to have stalled at #2! 3 weeks in mine though :drama: DAMN YOU THE KNIFE! Easily the best Eurovision-related track this year too.

Surprised to see One More Sleep so high up for you! I do really like it though, I hope it goes down as a Christmas classic and is a regular feature in future Christmas charts from now on.

 

It's such a feelgood and cute song, I'll happily listen to it year after year!

 

Oh, so I'm not the only person in whose chart Berger was unlucky enough to have stalled at #2! 3 weeks in mine though :drama: DAMN YOU THE KNIFE! Easily the best Eurovision-related track this year too.

 

Poor cow, such a great entry and flawless performance. At least she's done well here in my EOY chart, beating 13 songs that reached #1! She deserved top five and probably second place to be honest, Azerbaijan came 2nd thanks to a brilliant gimmick/stage show and avergae song, whilst I'm not quite sure where Zlata's position came from with the lack of hype around her (despite it being a brilliant song). Margaret got a great reception on the other hand.