It’s that time again! (One day I really do need to re-run this whole series from scratch to make up for the fact that the old polls didn’t survive the migration to Discourse.)
In contrast to several recent years, there were only 10 songs to make #1 on the Hot 100 this year. Mariah Carey tops the charts yet again, setting a new record for the most weeks spent at #1, thereby reclaiming the record that “One Sweet Day” set in 1995 after Lil Nas X broke it a few years back.
For myself, as much as it hurts me to vote against Tay-Tay, “The Fate of Ophelia” isn’t a very good song. I went with “Golden” - I haven’t seen K-Pop Demon Hunters and I’m not a big fan of the genre in general, but it’s just a fun song.
Place your vote, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
“Not Like Us” is easily the highest-rated song according to the world-famous Ponch8 Music Rating System. I nearly voted for it in 2024 (just being edged out by Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control”), and further analysis makes be believe that I made the wrong choice last year. Now the good Lord has given me a second chance to vote for “Not Like Us”!
The songs by the redneck and by Mariah Carey are tied for dead-ass last.
Y’know, I missed the 2024 poll, else I would have at least got Not Like Us represented there. It was an anthem of its year for sure.
I have a particular inclination to just rule out tracks that are automatically set for seasonal rotation year after year. Especially when by now it has turned meme-driven. So, sorry, no Xmas song unless it’s new, or just from last year.
Still haven’t made up my mind but as of now it’s between Kendrick’s hit-in-more-than-one-sense, and the one from a fantasy property that last summer came out of seemingly nowhere to steamroller the streaming world and blow real bands off the chart.