What songs did you think were going to be big hits… but weren’t?

For me, I still think people are sleeping on James Bay’s Pink Lemonade 8 years later!

Perhaps it was a few years ahead of its time, it would fit right in with the likes of Djo, Sam Fender & Sombr in the charts.

I was sure this was going to be at least a top 10 hit after ‘My Life…’ went to #1. It had the same sound that was working for Pink and Katy at the time but somehow just scraped the top 40.

I would also put ‘Already Gone’ here but maybe less unexpected after IDNKU’s underperformance. Still, it was a typical Tedder ballad which was very on-trend at the time so should’ve been up there with Battlefield and Halo in the charts.

Grace Davies - Super Love Me

Superinfectious - come on TikTokers invent some dance to it and make it famous. So much deserved!!! Such a great vid too.

I really thought this would be a top five hit. It was following up No.2 hit Let Me Go, it had an X Factor final performance and it was a collab between two big stars, and it charted at No.69 eventually in May 2014, only going as far as No.80 after the X Factor performance in December 2013.

I like it a lot more now than I did at the time, but I remember lots here expecting this song to be huge like it was in other European countries:

I'm shocked this was never a UK hit:

It felt huge at the time (maybe just in my circles), was bang on trend and was even prominently featured in Moonlight which was one of the biggest films that year.

One from 2010 I thought would be big off the back of a #1. Both Diana’s debut single and album entered at #1 and this follow-up wasn’t bad by any means so I’m not sure what went on there. The hype seemed to dry up very quickly between Once and this.

I genuinely thought this was going to be Top 5, if not a new No.1 for Ari. Very surprised it only went Top 20. She was really blowing up around this time and it's crazy it didn't get any higher than No.14.

Though granted, the chart was incredibly stagnant around that time.

The 2016 music charts were the pits. 😭 Ari’s DW era deserved better as a whole.

I feel like the fact 'Into You' is 3x platinum and was the 46th best seller of the year negates its peak position.

I thought this would be pretty big at the time, like perhaps a top 10 hit. It had a lot of hype and strong support on the Radio 1 playlist, I have a feeling something went wrong with the release of it on iTunes although I can't remember what?

Also this i thought was destined to be a top 5 hit before its release, and I think their record label must have thought the same as when it charted at #19 they were never heard of again

Echo is a certified bop. I thought with Radio 1's backing it would do well but it didn't.

Shakira releasing a song with Dizzee Rascal in a year that Dizzee already had two #1s? Could've been massive in Q4 of 2010 even with minimal effort. Instead, if I remember correctly the UK release was cancelled entirely.

It will forever amuse me that this was Dizzee's first and only chart appearance in the US and it never even charted in the UK!

Pretty sure it was someone on here who referred to Girls Can't Catch as Girls Can't Chart 😆

This I thought would be the first #1 of 2010, it got a lot of music channel airplay back when that was still relevant, so for it to just sneak in at #20 felt like a disappointment. Annoyingly the radio/CD edit of the song cut all the best bits out of the video edit below:

Going further back to 2005, I was totally ready for this to be a huge smash and it peaked just outside top 40:

I was CONVINCED Echo would be huge, I also really thought Eva Simons - Silly Boy would be a #1 smash but it stalled at like #156

I remember this song playing on the music channels a lot and thought it would be a hit but didn't even make top 200 I don't think.

VV Brown I was SURE it was going to be an absolute massive top 5 smash. So seeing it peak at #34...! I was gobsmacked tbh.

Similarly to Lady Sovereign. 'So Human' was a HUGE shift in sound for her and I was certain it was gonna be a big top 10 hit. Seeing it peak at #38 (for 2 weeks?) hurt!

Paris' follow up top 5 hit 'Stars Are Blind'... I don't understand how this wasn't a big top 10 follow up tbh. It missing top 40 altogether is an absolute CRIME!

I saw both of these Esmée Denters songs on the music channels in 2010 and assumed both would do well, the former off the back of 'Outta Here' going top 10 and the latter with a Justin Timberlake feature, but 'Admit It' only made #56 and 'Love Dealer' did even worse at #68.

In retrospect I can see why 'Admit It' was a misfire musically but the latter still surprises me, especially after 'Until You Were Gone' had got her name back out there

Sticking to top 40 misses from around the same time, I remember Dionne Bromfield being heavily pushed as Amy Winehouse was her godmother, with Amy performing this 1960s cover alongside her on Strictly. However, it stalled at #43 in the chart, which surprised me off the back of the hype. In retrospect, while it worked for Amy, a retro identity for a 13-year-old was probably quite confusing marketing.

At least she got a top 40 a couple of years later with the cooler 'Yeah Right'. I've just discovered that FKA twigs is one of the dancers in that video upon rewatch, omg!

Just combined my last two posts so I'm not spamming this thread too much, sorry last one - the Kelly Clarkson mention has just reminded me of this!

I think I initially discovered 'According To You' from watching Billboard Hot 100 videos, so it did well in the U.S. and I assumed it would follow suit here, but it missed the top 100 entirely! I actually bought the CD single at the time so it had a full release in the U.K. and everything. I'm pretty sure I remember it on the music channels but maybe it didn't have radio support. Very Kelly / Avril Lavigne-esque. I also recall reading that she was supposed to tour with Michael Jackson until he passed away.

I was sure Silly Boy would be massive too. I remember the rumours at the time it leaked. People were saying it was Rihanna ft Lady Gaga!