Posted October 7, 20222 yr Record of the Decade: 2012-2021 - The Final Results Votes have been counted now and we have a winner. To recap the big hitters from last year – The Weeknd entered in top position with 'Blinding Lights', with singles from Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus also entering in the top 5. The bronze medalist came from Lana Del Rey - due to its age 'Video Games' will now be making its exit. Gotye rounded out the top five and will be in contention for the final time this year. Tonight we count down the worst of the best - from #91-100...
October 7, 20222 yr Author Gj5L9SYhoSE 100 134 150 Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel 84-125-134-100- 10th, 2018 | 19th, SF1 Starting out the top 100 this year we have Janelle Monáe. She does actually have two songs in this year, although I forgot to include her in the most represented artist stats mostly because I keep forgetting she's actually featured on a certain other song. Well for this one we got to actually hear her sing more than one line. "Make Me Feel" was inspired by Prince who himself made some contributions to her album before his death. The song only managed a peak of #74 in the chart however it was always rather popular with the critics and the pop loving audience of Buzzjack, where it has maintained a steady run in the contest. It is back in the final for a second time after narrowly missing out on a finalist spot the past two years however it has to settle for last place tonight. 99 266 156 Lana Del Rey - Doin' Time 349-266-99- 17th, 2019 | 21st, SF1 Lana Del Rey has always had a number of fans on Buzzjack and sure enough as her career passes into its second decade, as the much-loved 'Video Games' has to dip out, a more recent track of hers is here to replace it. Enter 'Doin Time', a cover version of the 1997 track by Sublime which samples 'Summertime' by George Gershwin. An odd choice to do a cover version as a single maybe but she clearly made it her own and her biggest hit of the past five years. Lana has two more songs in the running. 98 270 157 Marina & The Diamonds - Primadonna 147-113-166-175-98-114-87-96-270-98-xx 18th, 2012 | 23rd, SF1 Marina, from back when she still had her diamonds, bows out of the competition on somewhat of a high, with 'Primadonna' bouncing back into the final. Having appeared 4 times though with its fanbase remaining fairly limited to the end, she at least proves her position last year was a fluke only. 'Primadonna' remains her most popular song considerably on the forum, even if with thanks to TikTok, 'Bubblegum Bitch' now acts as her most streamed hit. The parent album 'Electra Heart' recently celebrated its 10th birthday and re-entered the album chart from it. So it appears it is now bye bye to Marina, prima donna girl who only ever wanted one last look at the ROTD final, well there you have it. 97 121 167 Billie Eilish - Bury a Friend 176-121-97- 14th, 2019 | 8th, SF2 If appearances in the ROTD final equate to forum popularity, then Billie Eilish has got twice as popular this year. Entering for the first time we have 'Bury a Friend'. A track that perhaps ended up getting overshadowed by 'Bad Guy' following it, it appears time has now been kind to it with it continuing to climb the rankings year on year. The track is a rather unsettling effort (in a good way), perfect for the forthcoming Halloween season. It was perhaps a bit too spooky to get masses of points however and it has to settle for the bottom five. 96 164 187 Miley Cyrus - Malibu 678-x-239-164-96- 10th, 2017 | 25th, SF2 In a section complete with climbers we have Smiley Miley whose 'Malibu' sees the top 100 for the first time, now to join 'Nothing Breaks...' and 'Midnight Sky'. The song marked a distinct change from her previous era which bagged her two #1 hits, neither of which could make it to the final. I did find it rather odd this making it in over those, but clearly it has its fans.
October 7, 20222 yr Great to see 'Doin' Time' and 'bury a friend' cracking the top 100 this year! Both were #1s in my personal chart :heart:
October 7, 20222 yr Author O4-6Y_91v5I 95 168 188 Lorde - Perfect Places 179-125-111-168-95- 8th, 2017 | 17th, SF2 Well it was only a matter of time before Lorde's sizeable Buzzjack fanbase got her in the final with one of her "non-hits" - which I put in double quote marks, because the song does have 200m+ on Spotify, so it's hardly an obscure song despite a lowly #95 UK chart peak, which coincidentally is where the song ends up in this here final. Perhaps not the perfect place for Lorde to be, but as she says what the f*** are those anyway? At least you can say it's deserved after its first 4 years being in the 101-200 zone. It's not a song I'm overly familiar with as I don't fall into this fanbase but having just reminded myself of how it goes I can see how it's a fan fave. 94 ** 206 Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow - Industry Baby 94- 7th, 2021 | 14th, SF1 2021 was a great year to be Lil Nas X, not only proving the doubters wrong by getting a second huge hit, he managed a third one as well in 'Industry Baby'. Both of his 2021 tracks were big with Buzzjack too and appear in this ranking, this being the first to drop out as you may have expected. The track musically felt like a big victory lap for Lil Nas X with the horns and the brag lyrics. It wasn't really to my taste though at least it packed more punch to it than many other recent rap hits which must have helped it be one of the few the forum could really get behind. 93 116 207 Florence & The Machine - Spectrum (Original / Calvin Harris Remix) 84-81-154-133-151-106-208-67-116-93-xx 5th, 2012 Florence and her machine made it to the final for what will perhaps be the final time with 'Spectrum' once more gaining instant qualification. However it doesn't fare as well as hoped and ends up the lowest AQ here. 'Spectrum' gained her an unlikely #1 hit single with thanks to Calvin Harris on the remix - the remix version remains the more popular of the two with Calvin's piano house complimenting the vocal better than you'd have expected on paper. This ended up being one of the big dance anthems from the year that will surely be missed from next year going forward in the contest. 92 73 209 Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa - One Kiss 64-54-73-92- 4th, 2018 Sadly for Calvin Harris, both of his entries this year can only end up in the bottom 10 of the final. 'One Kiss' had a lengthy run at #1 in 2018, becoming the biggest of the year and perhaps of Calvin's entire career. With a silky smooth house groove and a catchy as all hell vocal hook, it stands the test of time to remain a certified Bop. Despite its continued popularity, a lack of taste leads for it to register another decline in these rankings, and also acts as the lowest-ranked of seven entries for Dua Lipa. As a sure future dance classic, one can only hope it gets some more votes next time. 91 62 210 xx - On Hold 101-51-37-38-62-91- 8th, 2016 | 12th, SF1 Well if falling 38 places in two years was bad enough for us Calvin Harris fans, well the xx have had an even bigger decline after having made it two years in the top 40. 'On Hold' remains the indie band's finest work and sure is deserving of a finalist place however with the quality of the final being very good again I couldn't find any room for this in my votes. It led their most recent album 'I See You', and yes this is still their most recent album - their fans must be as impatient as Rihanna's by now..
October 7, 20222 yr Oh no I'm not here for this continued The xx descension :( I hope it'll climb again when they eventually release new music :P Happy with that debut for 'INDUSTRY BABY' and great to see 'Perfect Places' hitting a new peak, hearing that live this year was euphoric.
October 7, 20222 yr Happy enough with that being the bottom 10, would have liked Perfect Places and particularly Bury A Friend to be higher, but none of main faves have fallen yet. Hadn't heard Doing Time til I checked it out for this year's rate, but not one of Lana's best in my opinion. Edited October 7, 20222 yr by rio309
October 7, 20222 yr "Doin' Time" is such a weird one that I think is spoiled for me by being exceedingly familiar with the original (via a slightly niche video game soundtrack). I can't even say it's bad (it's probably an improvement) but the thrill of discovery is gone and it just becomes this odd thing sitting in the middle of an otherwise really good album that becomes the last thing on it I wanna go back to. It's like a really crucial plot twist getting spoiled before you see it so you never get to experience it like everyone else and you get totally estranged from the experience. Maybe I'd have been really into it???
October 7, 20222 yr I agree that I'd rather have any track from NFR other than Doin' Time, but I've warmed to it a bit and gave it points in the final. I nominated Malibu two years ago from nowhere the year before, and its progress from AQ then to semis last year and the final this year has been a delight - I think it's gone as far as it can though. One Kiss is an odd one as many wouldn't rate it as either artist's best, but there's less competition for Calvin here now, and Dua owns the performance on it well compared to her recent collabs, so I hope it gets some resurgence. On Hold may be suffering from being The xx's last big song for so long, I agree new music from them might help.
October 7, 20222 yr Disappointing that On Hold has dropped so much again this year! Other than that, decent results so far.
October 8, 20222 yr I can attest to the impatience as a fan of The xx :kink: (though we have at least had the occasional crumbs of solo material). Shame 'On Hold' seems to be losing stock here but 5 straight years in the final is still good going for a low top 40 hit. Nice to see 'Spectrum (Say My Name)' having a decent enough result to see it out, same for 'Primadonna' though I didn't vote for that (I kind of tuned out of Marina's releases beyond the debut with a handful of exceptions but that one is quite good as far as her poppier stuff goes, certainly much moreso than 'Radioactive' at least). Would have hoped for 'INDUSTRY BABY' to make a slightly higher debut than that but I guess you're right that it's done well for a rap song (speaking of, Jay & Kanye avoiding the bottom 10 we love to see!) I am a recent convert from 'Perfect Places is really quite overrated and one of the weakest songs on Melodrama' to... I mean I still think that but it's grown on me enough that I gave it a few points this year :basil: so hooray for it finally cracking the top 100. 'bury a friend' is such a weird case for me because I always forget that it exists in Billie's discog, I don't think it's even because of it being overshadowed by 'bad guy' as I like it more than that! But it's still great whenever I listen to it. Narrowly missed my votes though. 'Doin' Time' didn't make my votes either but still quite pleased to see that giving Lana a new finalist. I don't think I knew that Janelle Monáe song charted at all tbh!
October 8, 20222 yr Doin'Time is a weird one within NFR, Venice Bitch should be there instead, the jewel of the album and the best Lana song besides Video Games Nice to see Perfect Places in, well deserved. On Hold is not my favourite XX song but still great, they really need to make a comeback, any day now :D
October 9, 20222 yr I absolutely loved One Kiss when it came out but the love has very slightly dwindled over time. I think it’s been weakened by overexposure (it always seems to be one of those picks for sporting events) and Dua returning with a such a massive era. So glad at Perfect Places making the final though, absolutely adore it and it’s chart performance was so undeserved.
October 9, 20222 yr I thought that about 'One Kiss' too but my love for it has been revived a bit after seeing Dua perform it live (nonetheless still think 'Promises' aged a little better from that Calvin 'era').
October 10, 20222 yr qFLhGq0060w 90 327 211 Katy Perry – Never Really Over 63-327-90- 6th, 2019 | 12th, SF2 Kicking off the top 90 is a group of songs which didn’t make the final rounds last year. At 90 ‘Never Really Over’ returns to the top 100 after a blip last year where it dropped to 327. In its debut year it reached 63rd place which is currently its best ranking to date. ‘Never Really Over’ is the soul Katy Perry song in this years final, she is someone who used to dominate ROTD, however most of her big hitters have long since gone. 'Never Really Over' is a pop banger and its good to see Katy Perry still managing to get songs through to the final round. 89 105 217 Weeknd (feat. Daft Punk) – I Feel it Coming 67-137-238-121-105-89- 6th, 2016 | 7th, SF2 At 89 ‘I Feel It Coming’ climbs 16 places and reaches the finals for just the second time. In its debut year it reached a high of 67th place but then tumbled down to a low of 238th. However over the last 3 years it has taken a series of climbs and this year reaches 89th place. ‘I Feel It Coming’ is the first of 6 tracks by The Weeknd which made the finals this year. The song sees The Weeknd teaming up with Daft Punk for a second time, it remains behind 'Starboy' in the Daft Punk collaboration standings. 88 103 220 Ariana Grade – God is a Woman 73-49-103-88- 5th, 2018 88 sees the first of 5 (6 including ‘Save Your Tears’) songs by Ariana Grande in this years final, the song recovers after its drop last year where it missed the final, however is a far cry from its peak position of 49th place a couple of years ago. The song had a direct route to the final by finishing in 5th place in the 2018 votes, however, is surpassed by a number of songs which had to take the long route round. To me this is one of Ariana's weakest singles, but from a time when Ariana was pretty much untouchable in terms of everything she released. 87 229 221 Jay Z & Kanye West – N****s in Paris xx-227-180-251-306-207-216-442-229-87-xx 15th, 2012 | 16th, SF2 Meanwhile at 87. ‘N****s in Paris’ climbs to its highest position ever in its last year as part of Record of the Decade. The song has never even managed to reach higher than 180th place which was in its 2nd year of trying. Last year it made it to 229th place however this year goes out with a bang. The song finished in 15th place in the 2012 and 16th in its semi-final. 86 ** 222 Ava Max – My Heart & My Heart 86- 11th, 2021 | 18th, SF1 And at 86, ‘My Head & My Heart’ is the 2nd of 9 new entries this year in the top 100. This is the first of 2 songs by Ava Max to reach the final round. The song finished in 11th place in the 2021 heat and then 18th place in its semi-final. In the final vote it gained 13 votes in total.
October 10, 20222 yr Happy with that for Jay & Ye, hooray for going out on a high. Glad 'God is a woman' was back in the final this year even if it's still not done as well as it did in its first two years. Didn't vote for the other 3, they're all decent though (although I never got into 'I Feel It Coming' anywhere close to as much as 'Starboy', similar to 'Can't Feel My Face'/'The Hills' for me)
October 10, 20222 yr WqxE-zppu30 85 342 225 G.R.L – Ugly Heart 96-62-99-158-105-276-342-85- 14th, 2014 | 15th, SF1 After a 4 year absence from the top 100, Ugly Heart climbs a massive 257 places this year to reach its 2nd highest ever ranking on ROTD. The first 3 years the song managed to get to the final and reached a peak in its 2nd year at 62. Last year however it bombed down to its lowest ever position at 342, however this year it is back with a vengeance. It is the first of 11 songs from 2014 to reach the finals and it managed to gain 11 votes in total. 84 108 227 HAIM – If I Could Change Your Mind 233-333-193-393-240-141-108-84- 12th, 2014 | 17th, SF1 Another 2014 song next as ‘If I Could Change Your Mind’ climbs 24 places to hit an all-time high ranking. The song has never really set the tournament alight, however last year it just missed out on the top 100; finishing at 108, this year however it finished in 17th place in its semi-final to qualify for the final for the first time. This is also the first and only HAIM song in the final, so is their highest ranked song this year. 83 125 228 Wolf Alice – Don’t Delete The Kisses 637-636-296-125-83- 16th, 2017 | 22nd, SF2 The first of 2 appearances by Wolf Alice in the final as ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ climbs 42 places to hit the top 100 for the first time. The first 2 years the song sat in the 600’s, however should be noted with each passing ROTD it has climbed higher and higher. For me one the best songs in the final round and the song I gave 2nd place to – a great song and its good to see it finally make the final round. It is the highest ranked song to gain under 10 votes, however the majority of its votes were extremely high. Considering it finished only 22nd in its semi-final, its done well to beat songs that had a direct route to the final. 82 74 229 Clean Bandit (feat. Zara Larsson) - Symphony 22-62-77-74-82- 3rd, 2017 At 82 ‘Symphony’ drops 8 places to hit an all-time low position. The Clean Bandit song had a high debut at 22, however has never managed to replicate that success. It dropped out of the top 50 the following year and barring last year has continued to drop down the rankings. It has however reached the final each year and even finished in 3rd place in the 2017 heat. In the final though it is the 5th highest ranked song from that year, it managed to gain 14 votes in total. 81 87 230 Sigala & Becky Hill – Wish You Well 162-87-81- 8th, 2019 | 20th, SF2 Lastly here ‘Wish You Well’ continues to climb and this year reaches a new peak at 81. The song debuted at 162 back in 2020 and managed to make it to the final for the first time last year, this year it replicates that success. The song is an absolute bop, it managed to gain 11 votes in the final round and is the only song to feature Becky Hill that made it through to the finals.
October 10, 20222 yr Didn't realise this was the first time 'If I Could Change Your Mind' was in the final! Not a bad showing for that, still my favourite HAIM song :heart:
October 10, 20222 yr Happy to see If I Could Change Your Mind do well for HAIM, it was a clear standout of the previously unreleased tracks when their debut came out.
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