My predictions:

1st - Dua Lipa - Physical

2nd - Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso

3rd - Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To Cry

4th - JADE - Angel Of My Dreams

5th - Rita Ora - Anywhere

Meh results in general, but I wouldn’t mind “No Tears Left To Cry” getting a win after all this time. A “Physical” repeat is more likely though.

I expect physical to win

Is Rita normally this high?

Previous years' finishes for 'Anywhere': 13-05-05-18-20-29-20, so it will at least repeak. It seems to be one that people are always surprised to see do well, although it clearly has a lot of voters each time.

That and 'Physical' made top 10 in my final votes and 'no tears left to cry' just missed my final 40. The other two I'm not yet convinced will be long term contenders, and I'm surprised they both outdid 'Good Luck, Babe!' from 2024 - I can only assume the latter has suffered more from overplay continuing into this year.

On 14/12/2025 at 12:27, rio309 said:

Kelly Clarkson's done a version of Happier Than Ever?!

Yeah as part of her Kelly Clarkson show she does a feature called kellyoke, she released an Ep of some of the songs, HTE is much better with Kelly's voice

Hmm, better voices or not I can barely think of an obvious cover version that I rate as highly as the original*, even when I don't love the original.

Since a cover isn't original, it's going to have to be better in pretty much every aspect to surpass the original in my estimation!

And since I love Happier Than Ever, there's no chance any cover could ever lay a finger on it for me.

*Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah is the only one that immediately comes to mind.

Chapell with 2 top 10s PPC and GLB 🙌🙌🙌

As long as AOMD finishes top all the big drops will be forgiven 🤣🤣🤣 I'd allow Espresso as the alternative winner 🤣🤣

2 hours ago, jimwatts said:

Previous years' finishes for 'Anywhere': 13-05-05-18-20-29-20, so it will at least repeak. It seems to be one that people are always surprised to see do well, although it clearly has a lot of voters each time.

I like ‘Anywhere’ but still I’m surprised at it being so popular.

Yeah ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ is my favourite of the remaining 5, Ariana’s best in my opinion. A gorgeous song and given the extra poignancy after the Manchester bombing, should really have been a number 1.

The breakout solo star of Little Mix has been Jade Thirlwall whose album this year has been very well-received by pop fans. It was preceded in 2024 with 'Angel Of My Dreams' which now becomes the second-highest entry here in at fifth place. Whilst not a big fave of mine it was a bold choice for debut single with its tempo changes and lyrics addressing her relationship with the music industry.

With 'Lonely Together' having received a new peak this year, it is perhaps not surprising that the surge of Rita Ora support also extends to her other release of 2017 'Anywhere'. Having spent two years in the top five previously, it now re-peaks making its way into 4th. It is the highest song here with EDM involvement with Alesso listed as one of its producers, and is my personal favourite of the top five.

Meanwhile, we are guaranteed a new winner here as Dua Lipa slips back into 3rd place with 'Physical', impressively now completing the first half of its decade within the top three. Passing the 600 point mark however means she's actually scored more points this year so just shows how strong the competition is this time around.

Ariana Grande or Sabrina Carpenter will be revealed tonight as your Record of the Decade.

05 ** 541 JADE - Angel Of My Dreams 

05- // 3rd, 2024

 

04 20 563 Rita Ora - Anywhere

13-05-05-18-20-29-20-04- // 1st, 2017

 

03 01 603 Dua Lipa - Physical

02-02-03-01-03- // 1st, 2020

Rita Ora getting a new peak in 2025!

 

Hoping for Sabrina at #1.

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Paddington James

It always amazes me how well Anywhere does. It has aged wonderfully but still feels mildly rogue somehow.

Actually really surprised Espresso is top 2 aswell! Loooove Sabrina but all of her other songs missing top 100 made me assume she wasn’t a huge fave here yet. Whichever song wins will make a great winner but I’m rooting for No Tears Left To Cry by a hair.

Physical ❤️ still my favourite song of the decade (though Midnight Sun is probably running that close now) and I’ll never be mad to see it win, but it’s always nice to see new winners so #3 seems fair. Flawless pop song though, no faults.

“Espresso” is a great retro laced track and one of the only Sabrina songs I really like, but “No Tears Left To Cry” is another level of brilliance.

I’m guessing there were extra ‘pop only’ voters this time seeing the higher than usual points at the top end, which might explain the indie bloodbath.

'Espresso' is easily the best Sabrina song I've heard, so not mad about that doing so well, but I agree that 'no tears left to cry' is another level. A perfectly pitched, ethereal comeback after devastating tragedy. I'd love to see that as a new winner.

Elsewhere, I'm pleased 'Physical' kept up its top 3 streak <3 that was a needed moment of joy for me during lockdown before the '80s synth trend got a bit more saturated. It remains a thrilling moment in pop 5 years on.

Jade only at 5 is a travesty, hopefully sabrina is number 1 at least

Sabrina Carpenter debuting at #1 will be legendary x

I’m REALLY not a fan of anything Rita Ora has put out into the universe, but Anywhere is definitely one of her more stand out efforts. That being said, top 5 and a noticeable climb is quite shocking.

Great top 2 to be honest, wonder if Espresso just gets it based on recency bias.

Spending a second year in at 2nd place is 'No tears left to cry'. It is the fifth year Ariana has placed in the runner-up position, across three different songs, without ever having won. The song remains a highlight of Ari's output, and had won the yearly round of 2018 very convincingly with a 100+ point lead. Credit should also be given to super producer Max Martin who was behind four of Ariana's five top entries in the rundown. It also remains one of her most commercially successful songs as well as critically successful, surpassing 1.5bn Spotistreams making it her 10th-biggest on the platform.

That means we have a brand new winner. It is congratulations to the undisputed breakout star of 2024, Sabrina Carpenter. Having already had some success in the ten years she'd already been actively releasing music (whilst also being an actress), it was this winning song 'Espresso' that made her one of the main pop girls of the day leading her 'Short n Sweet' album that across its three singles gave her 21 weeks at UK #1 in the year (a record for a female artist). Whilst none of her other singles impacted the top 100 here, 'Espresso' wins with considerable ease with a margin of 73 points, and with the most supporters behind it (thirty). The song also now sits on 2.7bn Spotistreams placing it in the all-time top 100.

So Buzzjack, enjoy your shot of espresso as your Record of the Decade!

02 02 618 Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To Cry

03-04-16-09-10-02-02- // 1st, 2018

 

01 ** 691 Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso

01- // 1st, 2024

Actually surprised Espresso won… but it’s a bop and it’s good to see a new song take the win!

I was expecting Jade to nab it actually.

Well done Dan for running it - and solo this time - always fun!

Have a good Christmas all!!

The better song won, ariana one isn't bad but sabrinas is just so much better