Sorry just getting to this now. My feelings on the top 5 are fairly mixed - Not a fan of If I Were a Boy, pretty boring song which comes across as a bit shallow lyrically, American Boy suffered a lot from overplay at the time which did make it tire on me, but I can appreciate the production and fantastic verse from Kanye a lot more now.

Not a fan of Leona's Run at all, I adore Snow Patrol's original so that comes into it, but I still think that manages to be an epic, emotional anthem without the need for choirs and vocal acrobatics. I much prefer her stripped back version in the Live Lounge which is much more subtle in its approach. The Promise isn't up there with their very best and they have much better songs which missed out (like The Loving Kind, Call The Shots and Untouchable from around the same time), but it does still have some quite charming retro production and the Xenomania eclectic song structure with each of them getting a vocal moment is quite a nice touch.

Thankfully, I'm much more positive about your number 1, that was my other favourite I was referring to and I'm thrilled to see it triumph here - I never expected it at the time, I first heard Great DJ from them and thought they were just another one of those indie-pop Radio 1 bands that stayed under the radar so seeing something this unique and adventurous get to number 1 was great to see, nowadays I do prefer Shut Up & Let Me Go and Great DJ (which I so wish would've become a hit), but it's energy and quirkiness is still really standout in the 2008 number 1s.

This was a great read even if we have quite differing tastes! This would be my top 10 of the year roughly

1. Coldplay - Viva la Vida

2. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

3. Mint Royale - Singin' In The Rain

4. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire

5. Dizzee Rascal feat. Calvin Harris and Chrome - Dance Wiv Me

6. Estelle feat, Kanye West - American Boy

7. Girls Aloud - The Promise

8. Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake - 4 Minutes

9. Basshunter - Now You're Gone

10. Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl (Oops, I don't actually like many of these x)

and my two-penn'orth taken from my top 100 of 2008 (position in brackets):

1. Viva La Vida (2)

2. Mercy (3)

3. Four Minutes (5)

4. So What (18)

5. The Promise (19)

6. That's Not My Name (23)

7. American Boy (29)

8. Sex On Fire (51)

9. Greatest Day (55)

10. I Kissed A Girl (83)

On 22/03/2026 at 06:10, Herbs said:

If I was a guessing man I’d say Ting Tings is the one you liked & GA is the one you’re neutral on.

Super late but correct so hooray that The Ting Tings did get the #1 here (was definitely expecting it to be the other way round) - 'The Promise' is a song I admire for being quite out there as far as pop song structures go but I don't particularly love any of the parts of it, Girls Aloud have plenty of songs I like a lot but most of their #1s are not among that list ('Sound Of The Underground' the obvious exception).

I see we're onto the next edition of this so I have a bit of catching up to do again xx Thanks for all your efforts with this thread Herbs!

My 2008 top 10-

1.      Estelle ft Kanye West - American Boy

2.      Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris & Chrome - Dance Wiv Me

3.      Madonna ft Justin Timberlake - 4 Minutes

4.      Girls Aloud - The Promise

5.      Coldplay - Viva La Vida

6.      Ne-Yo - Closer

7.      Leona Lewis - Run

8.      The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

9.      Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl

10. Kings of Leon - Sex On Fire

I’ve really loved stumbling across these from months ago and just wish I seen them at the time!

2008 has some great #1s but the Ting Tings track is genuinely amongst my worst songs ever 😆. Duffy takes the crown for me on this chart year (and Warwick Avenue also deserved #1 too. Rockferry is a stellar album and still an album I love in its whole now.

I’m torn between Coldplay, Girls Aloud and Leona for my other favourite #1 here! I did absolutely love So What at the time but prefer much of the Funhouse album now and think P!nk has far stronger what didn’t top the chart but this was her first solo US #1 at least!

Run is one of my favourite ballads and I love both versions although Leonas just edges it like what a vocal and when she did it live I still remember it now both on X Factor and Live Lounge surely still the best ever live lounge performance.