The votes are in, we’ve had lots more than last year, they’ve been counted and verified etc etc… here are your best and worst pop bits of the past twelve months:
Single of the Year
Winner: Katy Perry – ‘Teenage Dream’
2nd: Cheryl Cole – ‘Promise This’
3rd: Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg – ‘California Gurls’
Hurrah! Last week we named ‘Teenage Dream’ our own single of the year and it appears you agree as well. ‘California Gurls’ was completely neglected by our Top 50 but it’s good to see it get a look-in here in bronze position. And Cheryl.
Not Single of the Year
Winner: Black Eyed Peas – ‘The Time (Dirty Bit)’
2nd: Shout For England feat. James Corden and Dizzee Rascal – ‘Shout’
3rd: JLS – ‘The Club Is Alive’
Not even close, this one – Black Eyed Peas ran away with it. We do like the guys but we have to admit this was a bit of a misfire. Good value in a club, but when we’re old and looking back on the best songs we’ve ever heard, we’re a hell of a lot more likely to remember ‘I Gotta Feeling’ with fond affection than ‘The Time (Dirty Bit)’. But we’ll let you know if we’re wrong.
Album of the Year
Winner: Ke$ha – ‘Animal’
2nd: Diana Vickers – ‘Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree’
3rd: Kelis – ‘Flesh Tone’
DiVi is runner-up for you as well as for us, with Ke$ha narrowly claiming victory for her party-friendly ‘Animal’ LP. You also had a fondness for Kelis, whose ‘Flesh Tone’ LP we have to admit we didn’t even listen to, and barely noticed being released. “A masterpiece” was one particular voter’s note, and another was “Not all the songs are great but the album as a cohesive whole is AMAZING.” We’ll give it a spin.
Best Newcomer
Winner: Tinie Tempah
2nd: Ellie Goulding
3rd: Matt Cardle
The behatted ‘X Factor’ winner gets a surprise podium finish (narrowly beating Aiden Grimshaw, bizarrely enough) but doesn’t come close to touching the Ellie/Tinie two-horse race. Both picked up a substantial number of votes in ‘Worst’ categories as well, proving if anything that both have made a successful impression on the market in 2010.
Absolute God-Awful Artist of 2010
Winner: JLS
2nd: Cheryl Cole
3rd: Justin Bieber
Poor JLS ran away with this one, with Cheryl and Justin being the two also-rans with the most votes. Also picking up impressive amounts of votes were Lady Gaga, Matt Cardle, Olly Murs, N-Dubz, Wagner, Florence and the Machine and countless others. Cheryl was another who picked up as many ‘Worst’ votes as she did ‘Best’ votes, but that’s a contrast to our 2009 polls when she barely registered on any ‘Worst’ lists.
Best Video
Winner: Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg – ‘California Gurls’
2nd: Katy Perry – ‘Firework’
3rd: Lady GaGa and Beyonce – ‘Telephone’
Katy Perry narrowly beats Katy Perry in this Katy Perry heavy category, with ‘California Gurls’ emerging as a fave. We personally thought it was a bit laborious and awkward when it first came out, but Katy knows how to not take herself seriously and it was an undeniable summer smash. GaGa and Beyonce beat Cheryl’s ‘Promise This’ by a single vote to complete the Top 3.
Worst Video
Winner: Alexandra Burke featuring Laza Morgan – ‘Start Without You’
2nd: Nadine – ‘Insatiable’
3rd: Matt Cardle – ‘When We Collide’
Picking up more votes than anything or anyone else across the entire poll, Alexandra’s diabolical promo for ‘Start Without You’ is crowned Worst Video by a clear landslide. Fair play to the track – she’s done better, but worse crimes to music have been committed – but the long-delayed video, which was even made twice, failed to meet expectation. Nadine’s self-indulgent ‘Insatiable’ video is the distant runner-up, with the traditional mish-mash of Matt’s ‘X Factor’ journey polling 3rd.
Most Disappointing Musical Release of 2010
Winner: Gorillaz – ‘Plastic Beach’
2nd: Joe McElderry – ‘Wide Awake’
3rd: Sugababes – ‘Sweet 7′
A close category as it encompasses both albums and singles, Gorillaz’ latest LP narrowly topped ‘X Factor’ 2009 champ Joe and the disasterous musical re-invention of the Sugababes to be named the year’s most disappointing release. Other artists who picked up their fair chunk of votes included Nadine, Kylie, Gary and Robbie, Christina Aguilara (“Floptina”, as named by one voter) and Black Eyed Peas.
Best Lyric from a 2010 Song
Winner: “You’re a Midas in reverse” – from ‘The Boy Who Murdered Love’ by Diana Vickers
In a category so diverse that only a handful of votes were needed to win, amazingly enough voters opted for this particular Vickers line, which we agree is suitably epic. Good choice. Other amusing suggestions were for “I like your beard” from Ke$ha’s ‘Your Love Is My Drug’, “I’m only gonna let you kill me once” from Diana’s ‘Once’, “PA PA L’AMERICANO” from ‘We Speak No Americano’ (obv) and “Come here rude boy boy can you get it up” from Rihanna’s ‘Rude Boy’.
Hero of the Year
Winner: Joe McElderry
2nd: Katy Perry
3rd: Dannii Minogue
Joe is triumphant in this category with a comfortable victory over nearest rival Katy Perry. ‘X Factor’ judge Dannii Minogue was also a popular choice, but despite only picking up one vote we have to give honourable mention to Alesha Dixon, who was voted for “purely for having the sheer balls to believe “I THINK I NEED A BETTER DRUMMAAAAAAAAR” was in any way a sensible idea.”
