Record of the Decade: 2014-2023 - The Final Results

 

Votes have been counted and we have a clear winner.

 

I will reveal the results of ten songs per evening until we are left with the final ten titles, so let's get predictions going.

The voting seemed a bit more mixed this year so could be anyone's. Of the newbies I think Loreen and Kylie will have done well. Fka Twigs is my dark horse for doing better than usual.

 

100 128 78 Billie Eilish - Bury a Friend

176-121-97-128-100- | 4th, 2019

 

99 161 129 Elton John & Dua Lipa - Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)

119-161-99- | 4th, 2021

 

98 NE 133 Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club

xx-xx-xx-98- | 15th, 2020; 25th, SF2

 

97 82 139 Billie Eilish - When the Party's Over

388-510-155-124-82-97- | 5th, 2018

 

96 213 146 Katy Perry (feat. Juicy J) - Dark Horse

117-99-123-98-92-127-275-223-213-96-xx | 19th, 2014; 24th, SF2

 

95 NE 151 Miley Cyrus - Flowers

95- | 15th, 2023; 18th, SF1

 

94 158 156 Charli XCX - Good Ones

272-158-94- | 6th, 2021; 22nd SF2

 

93 429 158 ABBA - Don’t Shut Me Down

137-429-93- | 14th, 2021; 20th SF2

 

92 132 160 Sam Ryder - Space Man

132-92- | 4th, 2022

 

91 NE 169 Tate McRae - Greedy

91- | 14th, 2023; 19th SF2

 

 

Starting off proceedings we have Billie Eilish - she has six entries in the list however two of these are right near the bottom end. 'Bury a Friend' lost quite a lot of ground from the 2019 round where it now falls well short of 100 points, with perhaps her other efforts proving too much competition for it. One of her first breakthrough hits 'When the Party's Over' likewise places at 97th. I rate it higher than some of her bigger hits here but oh well. She placed in the top five with 'Everything I Wanted' last year so perhaps that could be in with a shot again.

 

Dua Lipa is the year's most represented artist with eight entries so perhaps unsurprisingly one of those is also in the bottom section. This year actually marks 'Cold Heart's first appearance in the final 100 however, so we can't be too disappointed that it finishes second-from last. The song of course marked the brief revival of Elton John's chart career where he scored three UK #1 hits in the span of a few months (by collaborating with popular modern artists and LadBaby, but still).

 

2024 marked Chappell Roan's breakout year with 'Pink Pony Club' being one of the handful of her older songs that grew in popularity - originally put out in 2020 but went largely unnoticed by the forum (even failing to bypass the semi-finals of the Buzzjack Song Contest). However she now makes her first appearance at 98th (curiously the bigger hit 'Hot To Go' fell out in the semis). It would be fair to assume 'Good Luck Babe' will do a fair bit better in next year's poll though.

 

One of Katy Perry's last hurrahs in the contest; 'Dark Horse' completes its decade by topping out at 96th. It is the song's fourth appearance in the grand finale however it has never managed to get past the bottom ten. It became her all-time biggest streaming hit following the also-huge lead single 'Roar'. Whilst unlikely that any of her 2024 releases will feature here next year, the opposite could be said for Charli XCX whose star has risen considerably - she has three songs in the running with 'Good Ones' the first of these and making the final for its first appearance.

 

The biggest year-on-year climb comes from what was the very long-awaited comeback release from Swedish pop sensations Abba, a quite literal last hurrah here as it led what will most certainly be their final album. 'Don't Shut Me Down' places one below another performer who got his break at Eurovision - Sam Ryder climbs into the top 100 with what was the UK's biggest and best performance at the contest in over a decade (and judging off our performance in the two years since, maybe another decade to come).

 

The first of our 2023 hits making an impact; Miley Cyrus' huge 'Flowers' was the biggest hit within the calendar year although it was never quite as loved by the forum as last year's RotD winner 'Midnight Sky'. I did still expect it to do better than bottom ten but I'm not complaining either. Meanwhile Tate McRae landed her biggest hit to date with 'Greedy', a song I expect I'd enjoy more if it wasn't her singing it but hey ho.

Yay ABBA and Sam :yahoo: 2 chart-toppers for me and great tracks from Elton/Dua, Miley, Katy Perry.

No big losses for me in the first 10. ABBA, Spaceman and Bury A Friend made my minor points places. Glad Greedy didn't get any further, find it very grating.

Love "Greedy", a pop classic imo :wub: glad it made Top 100!

'when the party's over' is far too low :'( (and I'd say I'm surprised 'bury a friend' was a distant last place but it's still a song I always forget about compared to her other big hits so makes sense if people were overlooking it when there were so many other songs from her on the list). Also voted for 'greedy' and 'SPACE MAN'.

 

90 95 172 Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa - One Kiss

64-54-73-92-95-90- | 2nd, 2018

 

89 166 190 Charli XCX & Troye Sivan - 1999

181-94-279-306-166-89- | 4th, 2018

 

88 NE 195 Dua Lipa - Houdini

88- | 5th, 2023

 

87 91 199 Weeknd (feat. Daft Punk) - I Feel It Coming

67-137-238-121-105-89-91-87- | 5th, 2016

 

86 50 200 Taylor Swift - Out of The Woods

xx-xx-247-299-157-104-207-61-50-86-xx | 11th, 2014; 23rd, SF2

 

85 80 201 Ariana Grande - God Is A Woman

73-49-103-88-80-85- | 7th, 2018; 10th, SF2

 

84 61 201 LF System - Afraid To Feel

61-84- | 5th, 2022

 

83 376 208 MGMT - Little Dark Age

869-xx-630-534-502-376-83- | 12th, 2017; 21st, SF2

 

82 167 208 Rihanna - Kiss It Better

287-216-184-173-117-295-167-82- | 10th, 2016; 8th, SF1

 

81 130 209 Mr. Probz - Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)

193-381-208-212-72-60-49-69-130-81-xx | 14th, 2014; 24th, SF1

 

 

Dua Lipa has two more of her eight entries appear in the second section; firstly 'One Kiss' continues its run of making it into the final but then underperforming once it gets there - it has yet to surpass the bottom half of the final rundown. 2018 has historically been considered a fairly weak year in the contest however so it perhaps has an easier ride autoqualifying than songs in other years. Not to worry for Calvin Harris either however, as he has two songs left in contention including a new entry from 2023. Speaking of which, Dua's own effort from last year 'Houdini' is also here, a bit lower than I'd have expected or liked really - it's another great song from her and was easily the stand out of her most recent album.

 

Sandwiched between Dua in at #89 is Charli & Troye who recently went on tour together. '1999' gains a new peak on its second final appearance. Both performers have one song left in contention. With Ariana's 'God Is A Woman' also dropping in this section, that now leaves only three songs remaining from 2018 in the running (one other of Ariana's seven entries included). The first of four entries for The Weeknd, 'I Feel It Coming' remains rather stable in the bottom area of the final ranking, with now only two remaining shots to out-do its first year #67 peak. With 'Get Lucky' now having ran its course, their two Weeknd collabs are the last remaining chances for Daft Punk to feature.

 

Rihanna has this very week hinted at finally admitting she's retired from music so perhaps 'Kiss It Better' will be her last hurrah here. Having been a bit of a sleeper hit with Buzzjack, the song finally cracked the final this year. Released as the second single from 'Anti' it wasn't a huge hit by her standards however it was praised for its genre blending of synth-rock and R&B and Rih's vocal performance. The song was co-written by Teddy Sinclair aka Natalia Kills becoming the biggest hit she had a credit on.

 

The biggest surprise of the section comes from MGMT who have a sudden surge of supporters for their 2017 comeback release 'Little Dark Age'. The song became their biggest hit since their trio of breakout hits in 2008 - praised for its 80s-inspired synthpop production and gothic influences. The song's title refers to the so-called 'dark age' of history relating it to the writer's depression.

 

LF System had one of the biggest dance hits of the 2020s so far with 'Afraid To Feel', which unfortunately has a bit of a second-year decline though it could perhaps end up ageing very well and eventually crack the upper regions. Another massive dance hit that won't have any more such chances however, we say a farewell to my personal favourite of the finalists 'Waves'. The song just about managed to get one last final shot at the final having slipped out in the prior year and shows up at a respectable 81st to complete half of its decade in the top 100.

Houdini feels MUCH lower down than expected. I have a sneaky feeling that if the album campaign had felt like more of a moment, then it MAY be a bit more celebrated here but hey, top 100 is still nothing to turn your nose up at. And it's still a 10/10 song for me, adore it.

Shame Out Of The Woods has finished on a drop, it's in my top 3 favourite Taylor Swift songs. Wow at MGMT, hope that bodes well for some of the indie stuff still to come.

Edited November 13, 2024Nov 13 by rio309

Some surprises so far from when I browsed the voting thread!

 

Good to see 1999 have a new peak!

 

Good work though Dan! Sorry I couldn’t help with the back end of the things.

Surprised this is KIB's peak, it sounds like a forum favourite!

 

For the top spot, could see Billie up there - unless the Barbie song splits her support?

Happier Than Ever also gets a good chunk of her vote. Cumulatively across all her songs, she'll do great in this rate. But I'm not sure she has one specific song enough people get behind to actually win it.

Happier Than Ever also gets a good chunk of her vote. Cumulatively across all her songs, she'll do great in this rate. But I'm not sure she has one specific song enough people get behind to actually win it.

 

Kind of what happened previously with Ariana... and also Taylor in previous years. The vote tends to be split when it gets to the final, so nothing manages to cut through and win overall.

Edited November 13, 2024Nov 13 by ElectroBoy

 

80 19 219 Go_A - Shum

67-19-80- | 15th, 2021; 20th, SF1

 

79 65 219 Weeknd (feat. Daft Punk) - Starboy

86-62-74-81-55-55-65-79- | 4th, 2016

 

78 66 220 Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero

66-78- | 2nd, 2022

 

77 69 220 Kiesza - Hideaway

173-63-136-75-95-56-110-120-69-77-xx | 3rd, 2014

 

76 98 222 Little Mix - Touch

55-31-71-253-101-98-76- | 7th, 2017; 1st, SF1

 

75 15 223 Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams

474-125-148-101-46-213-34-15-75- | 9th, 2015; 11th, SF1

 

74 NE 224 Troye Sivan - Rush

74- | 9th, 2023; 12th, SF1

 

73 NE 224 Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For?

73- | 7th, 2023; 4th, SF1

 

72 178 226 Joel Corry (feat. MNEK) - Head & Heart

126-176-178-72- | 18th, 2020; 23rd, SF1

 

71 NE 227 P!nk - Trustfall

71- | 12th, 2023; 11th, SF2

 

 

Taking the biggest dive within the top 100 we have Go_A's folktronica hit 'Shum' down to #80. Quite bizarrely the track finished in the top five of its year and top 20 overall when the contest was last run, however it lost a fair chunk of its fanbase this time around although it did very well to even make it this far into its third year. Perhaps its voter base has moved on to a certain other foreign language hit but we'll see later.

 

Also dropping quite considerably is Taylor Swift; 'Wildest Dreams' had been assisted in recent years by the re-release of her '1989' album however it seems to have lost a fair chunk of its hype after she moved on to promoting newer material again and drops 60 places to #75. Her most recent release in the rankings, 'Anti-Hero' takes slightly less of a hit down to #78. Not to worry for her however as she still has three songs left to feature.

 

The Weeknd has in recent years been a staple of the top end of this contest with 'Blinding Lights' and 'Save Your Tears', time will tell if they hold up again this year however he continues to struggle relatively with both of his Daft Punk collabs. 'Starboy' is the highest placing of the two again dropping to #79. Due to exit next year, Kiesza completes six years within the top 100 with her breakthrough hit 'Hideaway', one of the biggest dance hits of the first half of the 2010s and it still remains an excellent track.

 

Some fresh songs incoming to replace it; continuing the dance theme we have Joel Corry's Covid summer party anthem 'Head & Heart' which just made it out of the semi-finals for the first time. Troye Sivan's take on summery dancepop 'Rush' led his most recent album and became a considerably sized hit - instantly out-doing '1999' here to be his highest-placed entry in the rundown.

 

P!nk had never really lost any relevance over the years however 'Trustfall' which led into her most recent album of the same title was widely considered a return to form for her amongst the forum assisted by Fred Again on production duty. Sandwiched between all this is the opposite of dancey with Billie Eilish's soundtrack hit from the huge box office grossing "Barbie" which proved to be more loved on the forum than the one she penned for the Bond film which has never done particularly well in the contest.

Disappointed to see Shum fall so sharply as it's brilliant. But taking a step back, still amazing to see it so high overall! I gave a fair chunk of points to What Was I Made For and Trustfall, thought they both might have made it to the Top 50.

Yeah, would love to see Shum higher, but still happy to see it top 100 for three years in a row and remain a durable classic :wub:

Excellent to see Rush in the Top75!

 

Nice big climb for Head and Heart too!

Aw at the Go_A fanbase not showing up so much this year but at least they still made the final again. Also a bit of a disappointingly low debut for 'What Was I Made For?' but yeah I guess the vote for the Billie songs cannibalised itself a bit.

 

RIP to 'Hideaway' but it had a good run x

'Little Dark Age' showing a bunch of longevity is really cool to see, I wouldn't have called it making into the ROTD final at any point before it did this year but it is holding up well culturally (in part due to online edits with... mixed... origins) for something that wasn't a big hit initially.