No.10: "In And Out Of Love" - Martin Rolinski.
Otherwise known as The-Song-Which-Lost-To-"You"-in-Andra-Chansen. But it is no loser in my chart. I love Martin, and I love this homage to Modern Talking. Oh, and while watching Melodifestivalen this year, my mum fell in love with Martin and declared him to be pretty wonderful because he reminded her of the Pet Shop Boys. Greatness, greatness, greatness.
Melodifestivalen performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHuNxQB9aDM
No.9: "Take Back The Night" - Justin Timberlake.
And the horns say...!
Flippin’ eck - this is completely at odds with anything released in 2013....think more 1979, summoning up the spirit of Michael Jackson. This only managed to make the lower reaches of the UK top 30, which says a lot about the state of our charts. Funky and irresistible, with JT on top form. I know I'm going to be at odds with popular opinion when I say I like this more than "Mirrors", but I always have to be different :)
Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEzREJbln-o
No.8: "Alive" - Empire of the Sun.
The comeback single. Question: what more do Empire of the Sun have to do to get a hit record in this country? This was the band at their most commercial and I thought this would have finally been their breakthrough, but it was not to be. Yet the instrumental version seems to be soundtracking a lot of telly programmes/trailers so someone has noticed. "Alive" is a great big anthemic singalong which was just made for a live setting.
Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPKAwJKGSDc
No.7: "Invincible" - Jack Rowan featuring Sam Gray.
Yes, this was officially my favourite DMGP song of 2013, in which Danish dance producer Jack teamed up with English singer Sam. On first hearing I dismissed it as a "Titanium" clone, but there's room for the two of them in my world. Read the lyrics and it looks like, say, an X Factor winner's song, but the vocal performance by Sam Gray turns the whole song on its head and (for me) turns it into a sad, regretful song, as if on the outside he's invincible but inside his heart is breaking. This is one more reason why following Eurovision national finals season can be such a musically enriching experience.
Dansk MGP performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wwYK5ZfQBQ
No.6: "Safe and Sound" - Capital Cities.
The winner of my annual 'Great Lost European Hit of the Year' award. Not actually by a European act, but an American duo who shot to fame in their native country thanks to that very inventive dance video. Regular readers will know that I tend to gravitate towards pop music with a 'retro' feel and in this case we are transported back to, say, maybe 1984 or thereabouts. This only managed to reach no.42 in the UK charts. I suppose we should be grateful that it even charted at all.
Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47dtFZ8CFo8
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