I throw my skittles in the air sometimes, saying a-yo, taste the rainbow

Could never abide Dynamite. The lyrics are naff af. 🫢

Dynamite is decent I guess.

"I throw my sandwich in the air sometimes, saying ayo I ordered mayo".

Dynamite is ace - what a BOP - definitely top 10 if not top 5 for me.

Ah I like Dynamite, very catchy energetic and difficult to dislike

Oh I loved Dynamite when it came out - one of the songs I was obsessed with at the time! It was one of the songs I recorded myself singing on my first phone (even though I knew basically none of the actual verse lyrics beyond 'I came to dance' )

Dynamite has aged surprisingly well for what is quite a naff track lyrically (but then, the whole Club Banger era was), I still hear it out and on the radio all the time.

Very infectious melody and production on it. I wouldn't be surprised to see it get a second chart life at some point.

Dynamite is quite good but I prefer the 2011-12 Club Banger era songs with the euphoric synths.

Dynamite is a fun pop tune, still memorable - where I've half-forgotten a lot of chart-toppers from this year, this one sounds like it was a hit just a few years ago. It's nothing ground-breaking but remains an upbeat choon for a party or club, and that sort of appeal should never be under-estimated: they often have legs in the long run! I know this one way more than the 3 Cruz tracks that went top 5 for me - this peaked at 19 - so that must say something even though it's not one I would necessarily put on by choice. 😮

14. Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are

2 weeks at #1 (entered 26^th September): 01-02-04-02-01-03-05-08-11-14-17-20-16-14-17-17-18-19-24-24-28-32-29-29-40-43-45-44-55-61-53-48-53-52-56-67-70-76-75-85-74-74-74-79-89-77-87-89-87-96-94-90-94-84-80-73-59-85-84-98

Kept off #1: The Wanted – Heart Vacancy

EOY #3

Sometimes, especially in an era of fast turnover, #1s come and go with little fanfare, barely hearing them as they plummet out of the top 40 in favour of far more consistent, often radio-friendly, sellers. Many of the songs in this thread so far have been like that.

‘Just The Way You Are (Amazing)’, to give it its full UK release title at the time, was not one of those. When I came upon it in the chart, even as a new chart-watcher, I could tell that this was a song that would last. And last. And last. And last. Good luck existing anywhere on the planet with a radio connection, and certainly the UK in the latter half of 2010, while avoiding hearing this.

I don’t think that it’s an exaggeration to say that if this song had appeared on the scene in a slower chart era like today, particularly any that involved streaming, it would be #1 for weeks and weeks. Maybe it would have even had a shot at beating the record for most weeks at #1. If I can add some figures to back up my vague assertions, it’s the highest certified single in history for the USA, based on their current system of streaming numbers, recently going 'double diamond', which means 20 times platinum (actually it's now 21 at time of writing) which means 20,000,000 x 150 streams of the song, though this also includes sales. It sold absolutely bucketloads in the UK too, for 2010 it sold nearly three-quarters of a million sales in the download era, which places it as a solid third for the year overall. It's also, given how many #1s there were this year, the only song to be #1 on two or more non-consecutive weeks in 2010, the second time keeping The Wanted's second, decent boyband effort off the top (though worth saying I thought at the time that 'Heart Vacancy' was far more boring than this, and still consider it worse, but I've slightly warmed to it over time).

So after strongly alluding to Bruno Mars' warm-up to starting his very successful solo career, with 'Nothin' On You' and 'Billionaire' strongly featuring his voice on the chorus, we come to the payoff for Mr Mars, or Mr Hernandez, whichever you prefer. After slumming it out on production duties and features, this is it, this is him, and honestly it's one of the most well-orchestrated debuts in history. Based off the legacy of older songs that authentically wax lyrical about how beautiful the singer's object of affection is, it's pretty clear that a lot of this song's success is down to how convincingly Bruno manages to make you feel that he is singing about a truly amazing lover that he loves everything about, in all the ways that particularly women often want to hear, that there is nothing they need to change, their love interest, Bruno, loves them just the way they are. For me, those genuine feelings that he sells do elevate the song, but it's also just so smoothly and fantastically sung. You could see he was going to be a star, although thankfully he pivoted away from doing this thing all the time. It's better when you don't unleash these huge easy-listening radio monsters, too many of them can be dangerous.

This was my birthday #1 in 2010, I clearly do remember listening to the chart show on that second chart week, I think I really embarrassingly liked at the time all of the 3 new entries that spanned from #9-#11 that week (look them up and you'll see what I mean), and as the one to have that title for this thread, though it hasn't affected anything, I really don't hate it. Which is something that has to be said about ballads like this, this one has a bit of tempo to it, Bruno's an undeniable talent, so so many similar songs to this are far more boring. Despite it suffering just a little from overplay, being a bit too sappy and in pitch just staying a bit too flat, it's a very fine song and a good intro for the charting world to this new biggest star.

Streaming era style chart run and yes it was overplayed on radio/music channels. I had enough of it in the charts about halfway through its top 40 run!

I remember really liking 'Replay' at the time. Can't say it's something I return to nowadays but the "iPod stuck on replay" line is an incredible time capsule and so nostalgic.

Wow your commentary on Cheryl's sophomore solo era really took me back to the tabloid fanfare surrounding her life at the time. Not much I can add there except the fact she was back with a new look too, with that red hair, which was suddenly all the rage after Rihanna's Loud era. I remember several girls in my year dyeing their hair red around this time! I feel similar to you in that I got some enjoyment out of 'Promise This' but moved on from it very quickly.

'Dynamite' felt huge at the time. Today's cringe-averse kids will never understand the chokehold the "I throw my hands up in the air sometimes..." template had on Facebook group titles back in the day. Skittles / taste the rainbow, sandwich / mayo, telescope / Galileo etc. Musically, I didn't care for this song in 2010 and still don't now, hands in the air fodder. He certainly had worse though.

I loved 'Just The Way You Are' at the time and remember it being thee go-to serenade song 💀 it's a bit too sickly for me these days but he is a great vocalist indeed. Curiosity got the better of me, so I looked up the #9-#11 new entries you referred to and wow '2012 (It Ain't the End)' is so of the time it hurts

Love 'Just The Way You Are'. Would be in my top 5 or near it I think.

Just The Way You Are is a bit dull but I can certainly admire the vocals. I think Bruno has had much better, more interesting singles since though.

That Bruno Mars song makes me cringe in the way a fair chunk of his discography does, in that the lyrics sound like really bad chat-up lines!

It’s a decent song, but it’s way too sickly sweet for me. Plus it hung around for way too long. I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard it since 2011!

Just The Way You Are is decent and a good solo debut for Bruno, but he’s had better since.

I actually like “Just The Way You Are” quite a

lot - it isn’t just a copy of other slushy ballads, the lyrics feel genuinely delivered and the production is so warm. I enjoyed it returning to #1 with a six figure sale, more than it had done on release. We’ll see how high that gets in my list.

“Dynamite” a trash bop.

Just The Way You Are could well be in my top five for the year or thereabouts, effortlessly good, and agreed that it feels heartfelt and genuine.

In other news, I've realised Green Light wouldn't be my No.1, I forgot about a song still to come that's in my all-time top 50.