Yeh not a huge fan of G4U but she deserves to be artist of the year!

Number 2 – 396 points

 

Elton John and Dua Lipa

 

Cold Heart (Pnau remix)

 

 

Sales to the end of 2021: 799,700

 

Chart Run: NE (26/08/2021) | 33-35-23-11-4-2-2-2-1-2-2-5-4-8-12-15-22-29-44-45-...

 

Highest ratings:

+12 x8 (Dan G, Chapman, detonate, marcinjaro, steve201, bluemonday, Riser, JulianT)

 

Lowest ratings:

+2 x2 (Dobbo, LiamSime)

0 x1 (Dircadirca)

 

Our runner up is Pnau’s mash-up of the Elton John songs “Rocket Man”, “Sacrifice”, “Kiss the Bride” and “Where’s the Shoorah?” When it entered at #33 many of us said that it was lovely that Elton John had managed to get a Top 40 in 2021 even though it obviously wasn’t going to go much further. However this turned out to be just the beginning of its 9 week rise to the very top. It was Elton’s first Number One for 16 years and Dua’s first for 3.5 years after “Future Nostalgia” did not yield any chart toppers despite its huge overall success.

 

This was never really in contention to win – in fact it was in 5th place with 10 voters to go but powered into 2nd at the last minute.

 

 

Biography

 

Dua Lipa

There’s purpose in Dua Lipa’s euphoric pop. “For me, it’s about championing women and putting ourselves in the position of power,” the singer told Apple Music in 2020, ahead of the release of her second album, Future Nostalgia. “I have been inspired by the female alphas that have shown me that we can do it. And that we can wear the pants, you know? We need more of that in music.” Forcing the world to get a little more comfortable with female alphas has been a mission statement for Lipa (born in London to Kosovar Albanian parents in 1995) since her 2017 self-titled debut. It housed the triumphant breakup smash “New Rules”, the self-love anthem “IDGAF” and the assured “Hotter Than Hell”—songs which made it clear that this was no ingénue, but rather an outspoken, effortlessly cool face of pop’s future. Indeed, that status was cemented a year later when Lipa made history as the first female solo artist to receive five BRIT Award nominations. She won two and, in 2019, added two Grammys to her mantelpiece.

 

Despite the success of her debut, Lipa wasn’t interested in recreating its hits. “People always say, ‘The second album is really scary,’ but for me, it’s more scary to go back into the studio and try to create something like ‘New Rules’ or ‘IDGAF’ over and over again,” she said. “I feel like I’d end up in a vicious cycle of trying to get somewhere but never being able to mature as an artist.” And so, to move forward, she pivoted to the past, drawing on disco and funk—and filtering it through her ahead-of-its-time pop—to arrive at Future Nostalgia. Decadent and every bit as empowering as those early hits, it brought Lipa her first Mercury Prize nod, multiple Grammy nominations and a rightful place in pop’s upper echelons. And with it, too, came Lipa’s new purpose. Released just as the world went into lockdown amid the coronavirus crisis, Future Nostalgia became an urgent tonic for tough times—danced to in living rooms across the world. Yet Lipa wasn’t done there: Five months later, she unveiled Club Future Nostalgia, a thrilling remixed version on which the singer teamed up with club queen The Blessed Madonna, and guests including Madonna, Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani and Mark Ronson, to bring lockdown-fatigued listeners another dose of escapism. “I didn’t think I’d be putting albums out during a global pandemic,” added Lipa. “But it’s just about creating experiences for everyone at home. That’s the most important thing for me now.”

 

All of this, of course, is only just the beginning. “I really feel like I’m finding my feet,” said Lipa. “I feel so proud of Future Nostalgia as a whole and the most confident and the most myself making it. But I’m already planning the next move.” - Apple Music

 

Number 1 – 450 points

 

Olivia Rodrigo

 

Good 4 U

 

 

Sales to the end of 2021: 1,394,300

 

Chart Run: NE (27/05/2021) | 2-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-12-15-16-17-16-18-22-26-29-27-29-28-32-36-32-37-43-57-61-75-73-71-77-100-...

 

Highest ratings:

+12 x12 (Bjork, Boymetworld91, Roba, LiamSime, chrissmith276, n4yr, oof, Grandwicky, Conorw, xajnipi, Ansel, alby)

 

Lowest ratings:

+3 x1 (CJK)

+2 x1 (Jester)

+1 x1 (Dan G)

 

And so this number, described by Wikipedia as an “electro-tinged rock, pop-punk, pop rock, grunge teen pop and emo song”, is your winner. It was the third single from “Sour”, and brought more stratospheric streaming success for the teenage star, both slightly beating the peak of “Drivers License” and achieving greater longevity than the earlier hit.

 

And so in the end positions 2 to 6 in this poll were very close but it was a comfortable victory for “Good 4 u”, though Little Mix were virtually neck and neck with it until they faded in the later stages. This received twelve maximum scores which was the highest number, but it was its consistent high ratings that really won the day. Over half the voters placed it in their Top 3 and only three ranked it in their bottom 4. As for Olivia’s battle against herself, 35 of 54 voters ranked “Good 4 U” above “Drivers License”.

 

 

So there we have it! Thanks for participating. Who will be joining Gayle and Encanto for next year’s contest?

 

01 450 Olivia Rodrigo – Good 4 U

02 396 Elton John and Dua Lipa – Cold Heart (Pnau remix)

03 384 Little Mix – Sweet Melody

04 382 Adele – Easy On Me

05 372 Lil Nas X – Montero (Call Me By Your Name)

06 364 Olivia Rodrigo – Drivers License

07 336 Ed Sheeran – Shivers

08 287 Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits

09 237 Nathan Evans, 220 Kid and Billen Ted – Wellerman

10 185 Russ Millions and Tion Wayne – Body

11 182 Ed Sheeran and Elton John – Merry Christmas

12 43 LadBaby featuring Ed Sheeran and Elton John – Sausage Rolls For Everyone

 

Well deserved winner!

Great result, it was my favourite out of the last 3. Wonder if Good 4 U can go on to replicate the success of Blinding Lights on its RotD debut later this year? (I doubt it, but it should do well.) Thanks for running this Julian!

Can't argue with that winner at all

Great winner! I really appreciated that guitar revival in the charts when we had the likes of 'good 4 u', 't r a n s p a r e n t s o u l' and the Måneskin songs in the top 40 amongst others :heart:

 

Thanks very much for running this!

Definitely cannot argue with that winner even if I do still slightly prefer Olivia's other #1, 'good 4 u' is still a banger and it was great to have such a strongly rock influenced song be such a huge hit.

 

Thanks for running this this year Julian!

Yeah Good 4 U is a decent track so i'm happy with that winning even if I preferred some of the others. It did take a bit of time to click with me, maybe because i'd already seen everyone raving about Drivers License and then it doing absolutely nothing for me earlier in the year but I definitely got on board with Good 4 U and its pop-punk vibes in time.

 

Thanks for running the contest Julian! Hopefully there's a few more than 12 #1s to choose from next year! :lol:

the correct winner!!!!