No complaints about that last placer. Only Phil's I like of that song but even that's not something I love.

'Over and Over' would probably be several spots up but still in the lower half. Not an exciting collab really.

Not heard either of these in 20 years, Nelly's is not bad actually, and a suprise to see Tim McGraw on a country/rap crossover, I always enjoyed his country songs - charted 3 of 'em, but his best is the charted duet with Gwyneth, Me and Tennessee is genuinely a very good track, making my top 20. Over And Over is not nearly as good, but it is pleasant. Steve Brookstein has a soulful-rasp to his vocals which would have worked better on 60's Motown covers rather than yet another pointless re-hash of a song I was not a huge fan of anyway. Better than Mariah & Westlife, I reckon though, and that clip from the show is more of a magic trick to divert attention from the plodding cheap n not that cheerful production. Anyone that signs up with Cowell must have been aware by this time that it's largely all about short-term production-line massive sales and cash-ins, and zero about artistic integrity and development, but as a long term career plan unless you are Showaddywaddy a career in covering old hits isn't a long-term strategy (and they wrote some of their own too). Prob last place for me too, I'm thinking here...!

27.  Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu

#1 for 2 weeks, W/E 10th December-17th December

#28 in EOY

The second single by Burlesque dancers turned kind-of group kind-of lead and many backing singers took the tone down following their attention-grabbing debut to a more slower balladic song suitable for winter, which had now become almost a requirement for all boy and girl groups. It turned out to be another successful outing for them following their monster debut, becoming their second number 1 here and another top 5 in the US. They had several more hits over the latter half of the 2000s, but this would be their last spell at the top of the charts here, following disbandment in 2010 and the inevitable solo career and other ventures for lead singer, Nicole Scherzinger, there wasn't many other places for the group to go and with a planned reunion tour cancelled due to COVID and pretty minimal interest from anyone else involved, it's probably safe to say they're done for now, I'm still not 100% sure I can name another member with Googling.

I've certainly had better Birthday number 1s. One thing I've noticed when ranking is a lot of these number 1s fall under the same bracket and thus I rank them fairly near each other, in this case, it crosses over with my thoughts on Over and Over, an unremarkable slow jam that meanders along and I have absolutely no reason to return to, and even less looking at that godwaful eyesore of a title. I think PCDs at their best, though never sounding like a group in the slightest and pure marketing in conception, had an ample bit of attitude and personality accompanied with slick production, they were distinctive whatever you thought of them, this has absolutely none of that distinction, just pure schmaltz with cheesy, generic lyrics and a bland chorus, almost robotic in it's lack of personality. I didn't hate it at time and I will grant that it's a good showcase for Nicole's vocals which Don't Cha couldn't emphasise as well and the production is fairly decent as you could expect, but it never lifts the song above mediocre. Apparently the wiki page lists that this was meant to make the members more identifiable...how successful it was I think is a good demonstration of how the band could never work long term.

Agree, this is awful.

26. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas?

#1 for 1 week W/E 1st January 2005

I guess to be consistent, I'll continue ranking the runover from last year, just about by the skin of it's teeth in this case as it managed to sneak a week as the year turned, although it was still one of the highest sales weeks recorded in the year before they collapsed for months. I'm not gonna give it too much commentary as John's thoughts in the previous year pretty much echoed mine. I did like this at the time, it was quite cool to see so many modern artists coming together tackling an old song and I do think make a good effort to update the sound to reflect the music landscape like the original did, but time and me being a little more cynical of white saviour outings like this has somewhat dampened my enthusiasm for it, as well as being quite a hollow tradition musically when really the story of the original is the only one that really resonates and was a lightning in a bottle moment that has now rightfully become a classic, it changes too much by going several places at once and changing the tempo that makes the final singalong not hit as hard. I'd still rank it (distant) second behind the original though, as it's not the most pointless (that would be 2 and 30) and as of last year, not the biggest messy racket either (that would be Band Aid 40)

Good picks to put at the bottom; I had a bit of a soft spot for Stickwitu at the time but it's aged badly and is just pretty dull now.

The others are just some of the worst sides of the music industry at this time - talent shows, poor charity attempts and... whatever Over And Over is it's not interesting.

Would have both of those a little higher up but can't say 'Stickwitu' is too essential compared to their other singles but it's a fine enough ballad.

Both are a little too low for me personally. I’d have them both above all the Elvis #1’s.

There was a time where I loved Stickwitu. I don’t go back it much anymore though.

I said before I do have a soft spot for Band Aid 20. I think it did have a quintessential ‘00s charm to it. But happy to see “Stickwitu” so low - I find it really ghastly for the reasons you set out.

I still listen to Band Aid 20 as I said in the other thread, less often than the original but I still think it's an interesting and memorable version and does bring back college memories.

Stickwitu is a nice enough track for me, I don't love it and it would be below midtable I expect but it was an immediate swerve I didn't expect from them after Don't Cha. I thought they'd either be a one hit wonder, or just carry on with songs in a similar vein (and they did resume that sound after this single!), but a ballad I didn't expect, it's not a classic but I find it pleasant.

Stickwitu I havent heard since it waved cheerio to the charts - and I find it rather nice! It's about a decade late in terms of sound, more mid-90's smooth r'n'b, but it ticks my boxes. Melody? Nice. production? Nice. Vocal? Nice. Exciting? Not at all. Old-fashioned overly-sweet soul chugger, and I can't dislike it as I like Nice. Nice.

Even though I wasn't a fan of The Pussycat Dolls and 'Stickwitu' is not a song that I rave about, I look back on it now and it makes me feel nostalgic. It has that warmth and innocence you don't get in pop songs any more.

Edited October 24Oct 24 by montyj

25. Westlife - You Raise Me Up

#1 for 2 weeks, W/E 5th November-W/E 12th November

#9 in EOY

Westlife as was then tradition picked a song that had already been covered many times or the history behind it. Originally by Norwegian-Irish string band Secret Garden with additional vocals from Brian Kennedy based on an instrumental string piece called Silent Story composed in 2001, the original singer was due to be Johnny Logan, but they wanted it to be distanced from Eurovision and they wished for a serious song given it was played at the composer's mother's funeral. It was included on their 2002 album and though it did sell well in their native countries, the song was not initially a big hit anywhere else, missing the top 100 in the UK. It picked up the attention of many adult contemporatry names, most notably Josh Groban whose version was popular in the US, but didn't make a lot of waves over here until Westlife's version. Westlife first performed this with Secret Garden at the Nobel Peace Prize concert, they didn't initially want to release it, saying it was a church song and wouldn't be successful, that proved to be quite the opposite and it was their biggest hit in years, though they were generally on the decline and this would be their penultimate number 1, it was enough to show we (somehow) hadn't quite tired of them yet.

There was also a recent plagiarism lawsuit filed for this song by Icelandic composer, Jóhann Helgason who claimed that the song infringed copyright of his work Söknuður (Into The Light) by Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, stating the composer, Rolf Løvland would've heard it while he lived in Iceland. It never went anywhere as the US court ruled in his favour stating that the two are similar enough, but not enough that it was literally Helgason's work. Listening to it now, hmmm there's something there definitely, judge for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq9tphh6Apw

Anyway, I'm talking about that as it's probably more interesting than this version...honestly, I don't rank this as one of Westlife's worst, I feel it does at least suit them well (in that, it's nothing special in the first place) and a decent one to ironically tick off the Westlife checklist like the 'up from stools' moment and the faux-sombreness of the lads in the video (now sans Brian McFadden ofc.) is at least amusing, there's a nice string section as a callback to the original, but Westlife's best is not saying a lot and for all the drama and emotion it goes for, it's very empty and bereft of substance. I took a listen to the Groban cover (that's a lot of You Raise Me Ups to listen to, I hope you appreciate my sacrifice x) and it is stunning how they literally do beat for beat what he does with it barely changing a thing, it's note for note the same with the added caveats of less powerful vocals, just like they would do with Daughtry a few years later. It really highlights how utterly lacking in creativity and soul they are and even if this one of their better ones, I can't rank it much higher.

I remember when the mids came in that week I was genuinely shocked by how much it was set to sell, as Westlife felt like a spent force. Yet this single for some reason rejuvenated them, and even finished in the top ten of the year!

I don't really mind the track compared to a lot of their other mid 00s material, it's bit 'made for X Factor montage', but if they hadn't had a hit with it then someone else would, it's just one of those timeless sounding songs. So much so that the song that Scooch famously beat to victory in the UK Eurovision national final 18 months later sounded exactly the same.

Edited Monday at 20:535 days by gooddelta

I have a bit of a soft spot for You Raise Me Up. My sister was a big Westlife fan so I was familiar with most of their music.

I can also recall them performing this on Dancing With The Stars in 2006. It subsequently sent the song to #3 and the album to #1 in Australia.

Hate 'You Raise Me Up' so much, it's no better than a lot of the other dross they churned out for me.

'Stickwitu' is objectively cheesy and naff, but I have a soft spot for it. It really nostalgically reminds me of that winter.

You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban's was better if one was going to opt for the song - and he was very entertaining on TV of the time. Westlife's version was a bit Paint By Numbers for me.

You Raise Me Up is great sit up from your stool at the chord change fodder!

I can't listen to Westlife without getting a little sick in my mouth. 🤢

Edited Wednesday at 16:063 days by montyj

24. Shayne Ward - That's My Goal

#1 for 4 weeks W/E 31st December 2005 - 21st January 2006

#2 in EOY

The second series of the X Factor was where the juggernaut began to form, the ratings rose, the drama continued and the show was starting to feel like must-watch television, while I wasn't quite there yet until next year, I definitely remember the contestants making their mark. While it was still tame compared to how it would turn out, Cowell was clearly seeing what was working. There was drama related to judge's choice of act progressing when Maria Lawson was eliminated in favour of the Conway Sisters, a result that not only was controversial in terms of singing ability between the two, but also an act that happened to be Irish and that judge Louis Walsh happened to save, the headlines wrote themselves. Lawson would be a rare case of an act eliminated early to get a blink and you miss it record deal and a chart hit (and still a favourite of my mum's x), so to did runner-up Andy Abraham, third placed group Journey South and arguably X Factor's first 'novelty' act, Chico Slimani, I'll let my successor tell you about him x

There was no arguing with the winner though, Shayne Ward was bookies and audience favourite from the first live shows and though he only narrowly beat Andy Abraham in the final, this was clearly more in line with someone Cowell could work with - a young, attractive singer with wide appeal that could potentially go past the 'pub singer does an album of covers' model and engage with the younger audiences and adapt to the changing times where 'adult contemporary' acts were losing relevance in the digital age. Additionally, his age meant a lack of experience that would make challenging his output less likely. And tbf, Shayne certainly did better than Steve, if minimally so compared to later acts, tapping into that R&B/soul sound to get a few hits, but he never achieved another number 1. He managed two album cycles, but by the time of his third, he couldn't quite keep up with the many other fresh-faced stars that Cowell had to focus on, limping back with a Nickelback cover of all things and his album missing the top 10. He was dropped in 2011 and moved to acting in Coronation Street from 2015 until 2018, he still has a few recent roles according to wiki so seems to have done alright for himself considering x

That's My Goal was a rarity in X Factor winners as it was an original song, something that wouldn't happen again until 2016 with Matt Terry's When Christmas Comes Around (lol), but it certainly turned out to be quite a success, despite not being released until Wednesday, it sold over 450,000 copies to easily achieve the conveted Christmas number 1 (something that the show would rent out for a while now), selling enough in the year to be as high as second place in the EOY, only behind Amarillo. It remains the third highest selling winners single of all time and fastest selling. I do think this song certainly has its merits and is probably above average for an X Factor's winners single, and you can see how it established so many after it - he sings it well, it's fairly decently paced and has suitably gradiose production and the 'Shayne!' moment with the key change and choir sets a precedent for many winners singles to come and I ironically enjoyed it every time, it's a world away from Against All Odds for sure, there's only so much praise you can put on these calculated, formulaic winners singles though, it's still got trite lyrics, a predictable, boring structure and a lack of any sort of distinction, emotion or substance that can allow you to see through the pound signs, this clearly was all they had to give as an original song and they went back to covers after this where the formula would get worse and worse. It's not particualrly unlikeable as a song, but what it inspired makes it so.