More dirge from Example 😫

Boring number 1. A pretty unserious artist taking himself way too seriously and riding on the success of his previous no.1 .

"Stay Awake" is boring and forgettable - "Changed The Way You Kiss Me" is so much better and catchier for me. Not in the top 20 for me this.

Oops I’m waay behind.

“Loca People” is rather a one off #1 - would have been a bit higher in mine.

“Changed The Way You Kiss Me” isn’t bad but less interesting than some of his earlier singles. I also prefer the follow up.

“The Lazy Song” is fairly dull and not really up to Bruno’s usual standard.

“Wherever You Are” was written by classical composer Paul Mealor who also did a piece for William and Kate’s wedding. I do rather like it too actually - think your placing for it is pretty fair.

On 22/06/2026 at 22:45, jimwatts said:

I really like 'Kickstarts', and Example's other singles from the previous album were quite breezy too, but despite a hardened dance production on his first #1 it didn't have the same appeal for me - if anything I also prefer his next #1, elastoplast mention notwithstanding. (There's another two songs I'm a little surprised haven't appeared yet, but have even more scope for ironic appreciation.)

'Swagger Jagger' was one of those two songs - The X Factor excessively promoting her as an edgy talent was perhaps one sign the show was losing its touch, and this debut single was heavy on the cringe, but ironically that's key to its appeal for me and I have to admire its, erm, swagger I guess. 'Dub On The Track' from the same album got points from me when it came up in Bop Idol for a similar reason.

'All About Tonight' is another that flatters to deceive - a mish-mash of lyrical clichés about post-break up and dancing in the clurrrb, but the chorus has some spirit.

As aforementioned, 'Stay Awake' is perhaps my preferred of the Example #1s, although the elastoplast mention does stick in the mind more than it probably should. That's three of the one-week blockers of 'Moves Like Jagger' gone, and another of them might be the other of those two songs I mentioned at the end of my quote.

A song that sold 100k plus in a week that it was at #1 is out next.

It could've spent multiple weeks at #1 but one of those weeks it sold 100k+. Or it could've been #1 for just the one week.

Had to try and stay awake to get through the Example number. Moves Like Jagger completely robbed there, moreso than on most other weeks.

Also Ed's You Need Me, I Don't Need You was released that week and 'only' got to No.4. Always funny how that kind of quickly came and went in the UK chart when it's such a big fan favourite and still a main staple in his live shows. Not sure they got the studio version for the single mix quite right though, I prefer the rawness of the live version and earlier studio/demo recordings, possibly a little overproduced.

Edited Sunday at 09:222 days by gooddelta

16 – What Makes You Beautiful – One Direction

1 Week at #1 / Weekly Sales – 153,965

#20 in EOY 2011 – Total Sales of 540,300

Up now is the debut single from One Direction, it’s What Makes You Beautiful. Formed on the seventh series of The X Factor and finishing in 3rd place is arguably the biggest boyband of the 21^st century. Debuting at #1 with an impressive 153,965 copies sold, What Makes You Beautiful was the first single to sell more than 150,000 copies in a week since Matt Cardle back in the first chart week of the year. Despite coming from The X Factor What Makes You Beautiful launched Nial, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis into the pop stratosphere and as well as reaching #1 in the UK the song also hit peaks of #4 in the USA and #7 in Australia (where it is certified 4x and 13x Platinum respectively). Whilst I’m not a huge fan of the song myself, nor was I a big 1D fan I absolutely can’t deny what an earworm this song is and how much the song and the boys themselves just took over the pop world. (I do really enjoy Story Of My Life and Night Changes).

Elsewhere in the charts Moves Like Jagger was stuck at #2 for a third consecutive week, All About Tonight was down from #1 to #3 and Rihanna’s Cheers (Drink To That) had climbed to a new peak of #15.

22 hours ago, 777666jason said:

Well technically louisa Johnson never released an album

Matt Terry's was a christmas single so didnt appear on his

And Raksu didnt release an album. Until years after their win

Otherwise yes

If we look at the peak years of the show though which is what I think most people will agree with:

Steve Brookstein - Yes

Shayne Ward - Yes

Leona Lewis - Yes

Leon Jackson - Yes

Alexandra Burke - Yes

Joe McElderry - Yes

Matt Cardle - Yes

Little Mix - No

James Arthur - Yes

Sam Bailey - Yes

Ben Haenow - Yes

So that's 10 of the first 11 winners that included it on the release of their debut album after winning the show.

I really like that track, I think it's still possibly my favourite One Direction single and probably in my top ten No.1s of the year. Big pop that's held up well for the era.

I'm glad they went the pure pop route with their first album rather than with club banger type songs like JLS and The Wanted, as I think it has helped it to date less badly.

Stay Awake is lyrically preachy but I absolute adore its composition, one of the most interestingly composed number ones.

It uses a "Am - G - C - F" chord progression which is mostly used to convey a sense of melancholy in music (the only other major hit I recall using this progression is Clocks by Coldplay)

The intitial "Am" (a-minor) chord is typically used to create emotional distance, then going up a scale to major "G" and "C" chords creates a slight uplifting tension before finally resolves into a warm but sad sounding "F" major chord before looping again.

That is such a unique composition and adding distorting dubstep beats over it is such a clever trick.

Gotta give Nero their flowers for that one.

I do like the pure pop (1) direction they took for the debut single, even if they did copy the intro of ‘Summer Nights’. Though I can see even then they (Cowell) were aiming for an American market with it.

Also, reading all the comments as the countdown goes on, I’m getting the feeling that I’m definitely in the minority that really doesn’t like ‘Moves Like Jagger’ at all. Pretty much every song that stopped it reaching number one is better than it!

Edited Sunday at 12:432 days by Jaz13music

“Party Rock Anthem” is fun trash - I prefer “Sexy And I Know It” actually though.

“Swagger Jagger” is terrible and I can’t even say I ironically enjoy it. Think that would be my 3rd bottom ahead of The Finalists and Jason.

Pixie in general is one of the more irritating pop stars of the time and this one was average.

“Stay Awake” is a bit of a tune actually though does sound dated now. My preferred of his two.

“What Makes You Beautiful” is quite basic really but has a sincerity about it and did the job for them as a statement of intent.

Example, I'd forgotten that one entirely until I played it, and immediately liked it but I rated it as a top 40 peak as opposed to top 3 for the previous Example chart-topper. Doesn't sound dated to me at all, because I consider 2011 to be recent and I still enjoy dance bangers of any sub-genre😄It seems about 7 or 8 years ago, oops!

One Direction OTOH sounds even more recent, and still annoying by virtue of not having the good taste to stop being played on the radio. I always found their stuff bland, predictable and Paint By Numbers, OK for two or three weeks and then of little interest beyond that. What Makes You Beautiful was about average for them, peaking at 59 for me, but not one of their 10 singles I bothered to chart ever made my top 40, their grown-up solo singles by every member are generally often much better, and many are brilliant pop tracks. This, I would rate near the bottom of the list as I still would prefer not to hear it. My word but they sold records though!

I loved his previous #1, but 'Stay Awake' never really made any sort of impression on me.

'What Makes You Beautiful' is a storming debut single.

What makes you beautiful is one of their absolute best if not the best song they released, what a way to kick start a career

The next song will be revealed soon and it's one that surprised me when I ended up placing it here, as I thought it'd be lower.

Also the next 4 songs were really hard to seperate, so there isn't much between them (#15-#12) Then the top 11 was clear of #12.

Edited Monday at 10:301 day by Paddington James

15 – Louder – DJ Fresh ft Sian Evans

1 Week at #1 / Weekly Sales – 140,750

#25 in EOY 2011 – Total Sales of 488,500

Up next is Louder which not only the first #1 for British producer DJ Fresh but for the songs vocalist too, Sian Evens. If Sian’s name or voice sounds familiar it’s because she was a member Welsh electro music group Kosheen who had four top 20 hits in the UK between 2001 and 2003, with the two most well know for me being Hide U and Catch. Louder itself is for me a song that sounds very much like a 2011 hit with its dubstep and drum and bass influences and it served as the lead single from DJ Fresh’s first album Nextlevelism, which was released over one year later in 2012. I have vague memories of this one at the time it was released and when I looked into this song I can understand why as it only just made the Australian singles chart at #96.

This one did take a couple of listens to grow on me and whilst it wouldn’t be a ‘go to’ song for me I do certainly appreciate it. For me the most interesting thing about the chart the week this entered at #1 was that debuting at #42 was the Linkin Park cover of Adele’s Rolling In The Deep, which happened to chart at #43 that week.

Since last commenting, I suddenly remembered that 'Swagger Jagger' was #1 the same week 'Masterchef Synesthesia' debuted in the top 40 *_* an unserious week. This specific chart is memorable to me because my brother was having a paintball party with his friends but I didn't want to join in, so locked myself in the car and listened to the chart instead a true BuzzJacker.

Not a fan of 'All About Tonight', the chorus feels overstuffed and the production has really dated. I agree with others that 'What Do You Take Me For?' was a more interesting follow up.

I had forgotten that Nero produced 'Stay Awake'! What a year they had in 2011. This one isn't as atmospheric as 'Changed the Way You Kiss Me' and the lyrics are a bit all over the place, but the dynamic production still elevates it for me.

I followed One Direction on the X Factor but I wasn't particularly mad about them, despite being part of their target audience. 'What Makes You Beautiful' was a smart choice of first single, with that big pop sound and slushy lyrics sung in the first person. It's not really to my taste but does still evoke a bit of nostalgia.

Love Kosheen / Sian's distinctive voice so it was great that she got a moment at the top! A lot of dubstep has aged badly for me but the production of 'Louder' still sounds huge. The lyrics are pretty generic ('higher' / 'fire' etc.) but overall it's a good time and really hits in the summer.

'Louder' is great, although I was mostly really happy to see Sian Evans credited with a #1. At the time I hoped it'd lead to more appearances from her as a vocalist, but that wasn't to be.