No.30: "You" - Robin Stjernberg.
I was pretty delighted when this won Melodifestivalen - finally an Andra Chansen winner and a true underdog, although over the space of a year there were other songs from that contest which had a much longer shelf life, thus explaining this song's drop to a lower place in the 2013-50 rankings. Anyway all these months down the line, I still wonder how such a great singer with an impressive voice was saddled with one of the most ridiculous dance routines ever seen at Melodifestivalen. And that's saying something...
No.29: "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
Confession time: I like Thrift Shop. And then this came along and I liked it even more. There’s been a genuine excitement and vitality missing from the carefully controlled pop of 2013. Proof that commercial rap/r’n’b can still offer something fresh, exciting and enduring. Even my mum loves this, and she hates rap and r’n’b.
No.28: "Radioactive" - Rita Ora.
Winner of this year's "can't stand the artist but like the song" award. When Rita Ora arrived on the music scene I was expecting something different due to her noteworthy origins - but instead all we got was what appeared to be a fame-hungry Poundland Rihanna with a succession of overplayed, overrated r'n'b nonsense. Happily, Sia sprinkled her songwriting magic on this slice of space-age electropop, elevating it well above the mundane.
No.27: "Love Kills" - Roberto Bellarosa.
OK admit it: when you first saw and heard this, you were probably underwhelmed. Yet what an incredible transformation from when the song was originally chosen as Belgium's Eurovision entry to its great achievement in qualifying for the final. Ridiculous choreography aside, this is just a very impressive dance-pop song which went on to have a very long post-contest life for me.
No.26: "You Make Me" - Avicii featuring Salem Al Fakir.
If you continue to follow Salem's career you will know that he's had a very successful year as super-collaborator, writing, producing and performing with Petter and Veronica Maggio and his biggest success came with his collaboration with Avicii on the follow-up single to "Wake Me Up", as well as his contribution on "Shame On Me" from the "True" album. Oh, and he co-wrote a little song called "Hey Brother" which you might have heard of. "You Make Me" is a great dance song however it continues to irritate me that Avicii never seems to credit his featured vocalists...
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