The Record of the Year is an award voted by the UK public. For many years it was given in conjunction with a television programme of the same name. It became one of the highest rated music TV shows in the UK, boosting sales of CDs in the crucial fortnight before Christmas every year. It remains the only music award in the UK to be chosen by the public. The award began in 1998, and was televised on ITV before being dropped in 2006 after disagreements over the phone voting element. Jonathan King, who created the concept, then presented the award online in 2006, 2007 and 2008, which was administered through the award's website.
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Winners
The most frequent winner is Irish boyband Westlife, with four awards.
| Year | Song | Artist |
| 1998 | "No Matter What" | Boyzone |
| 1999 | "Flying Without Wings" | Westlife |
| 2000 | "My Love" | Westlife |
| 2001 | "Don't Stop Movin'" | S Club 7 |
| 2002 | "Unchained Melody" | Gareth Gates |
| 2003 | "Mandy" | Westlife |
| 2004 | "Thunderbirds Are Go" | Busted |
| 2005 | "You Raise Me Up" | Westlife |
| 2006 | "Patience" | Take That |
| 2007 | "Bleeding Love" | Leona Lewis |
| 2008 | "Rockstar" | Nickelback |
"Rockstar" is the first winner which did not make # 1 on the UK singles chart, and also the first by a non-UK or Irish artist.
Year by year
1998
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist |
| "Angels" | Robbie Williams |
| "Believe" | Cher |
| "C'est La Vie" | B*Witched |
| "Feel It" | The Tamperer feat. Maya |
| "Got The Feelin'" | 5ive |
| "How Do I Live" | LeAnn Rimes |
| "My Heart Will Go On" | Céline Dion |
| "Never Ever" | All Saints |
| "No Matter What" | Boyzone |
| "One For Sorrow" | Steps |
1999
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist |
| "...Baby One More Time" | Britney Spears |
| "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" | Eiffel 65 |
| "Bring It All Back" | S Club 7 |
| "Flying Without Wings" | Westlife |
| "If You Had My Love" | Jennifer Lopez |
| "Livin' La Vida Loca" | Ricky Martin |
| "Mambo No. 5" | Lou Bega |
| "Perfect Moment" | Martine McCutcheon |
| "That Don't Impress Me Much" | Shania Twain |
| "When You Say Nothing At All" | Ronan Keating |
2000
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist |
| "Fill Me In" | Craig David |
| "Gotta Tell You" | Samantha Mumba |
| "Groovejet" | Spiller feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor |
| "It Feels So Good" | Sonique |
| "Life Is A Rollercoaster" | Ronan Keating |
| "My Love" | Westlife |
| "Pure Shores" | All Saints |
| "Reach" | S Club 7 |
| "Rise" | Gabrielle |
| "Rock DJ" | Robbie Williams |
2001
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist |
| "All Rise" | Blue |
| "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" | Kylie Minogue |
| "Don't Stop Movin'" | S Club 7 |
| "Do You Really Like It?" | DJ Pied Piper |
| "It Wasn't Me" | Shaggy |
| "Perfect Gentleman" | Wyclef Jean |
| "Pure And Simple" | Hear'Say |
| "Survivor" | Destiny's Child |
| "Teenage Dirtbag" | Wheatus |
| "Whole Again" | Atomic Kitten |
2002
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist |
| "A Little Less Conversation" | Elvis vs. JXL |
| "Colourblind" | Darius Danesh |
| "Evergreen" | Will Young |
| "Hero | Enrique Iglesias |
| "If Tomorrow Never Comes" | Ronan Keating |
| "Just A Little" | Liberty X |
| "Kiss Kiss" | Holly Valance |
| "The Tide Is High" | Atomic Kitten |
| "Unchained Melody" | Gareth Gates |
| "Whenever, Wherever" | Shakira |
2003
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist |
| "Be Faithful" | Fatman Scoop |
| "Bring Me To Life" | Evanescence |
| "Crazy in Love" | Beyoncé |
| "If You're Not The One" | Daniel Bedingfield |
| "Make Luv" | Room 5 feat. Oliver Cheatham |
| "Mandy" | Westlife |
| "Sweet Dreams My LA-Ex" | Rachel Stevens |
| "Where Is The Love?" | Black Eyed Peas |
| "White Flag" | Dido |
| "Year 3000" | Busted |
2004
After an initial selection of thirty songs, ten were selected for the final show, broadcast by ITV on Saturday December 4, 2004.
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "The Closest Thing to Crazy" | Katie Melua | 5th - 79pts |
| "Five Colours in her Hair" | McFly | 2nd - 91pts |
| "Laura" | Scissor Sisters | |
| "Left Outside Alone" | Anastacia | 3rd - 90pts |
| "Leave Right Now" | Will Young | 4th - 88pts |
| "Love Machine" | Girls Aloud | |
| "Real to Me" | Brian McFadden | |
| "These Words" | Natasha Bedingfield | |
| "This Love" | Maroon 5 | |
| "Thunderbirds Are Go" | Busted | 1st - 92pts |
2005
The final was on ITV on Saturday December 10, 2005
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "All About You" | McFly | 2nd |
| "Bad Day" | Daniel Powter | 5th |
| "Feel Good Inc." | Gorillaz | |
| "If There's Any Justice" | Lemar | |
| "My Humps" | Black Eyed Peas | 3rd |
| "Nine Million Bicycles" | Katie Melua | |
| "Since U Been Gone" | Kelly Clarkson | |
| "What You Waiting For?" | Gwen Stefani | |
| "You’re Beautiful" | James Blunt | 4th |
| "You Raise Me Up" | Westlife | 1st |
2006
The Record of the Year 2006 took place online, instead of ITV.
The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Crazy" | Gnarls Barkley | 5th 10.6% |
| "From Paris to Berlin" | Infernal | |
| "Hips Don't Lie" | Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean | 2nd 15.3% |
| "I Don't Feel Like Dancin' | Scissor Sisters | 6th 10.4% |
| "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)" | Sandi Thom | |
| "Maneater" | Nelly Furtado | 4th 10.8% |
| "No Tomorrow" | Orson | 3rd 14.9% |
| "Patience" | Take That | 1st 15.5% |
| "Smile" | Lily Allen | |
| "SOS" | Rihanna |
Votes were compiled on... The Record of the Year
2007
The final was on Sunday December 16, 2007 with over a million people casting their votes online.
The finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Bleeding Love" | Leona Lewis | 1st 24.2% |
| "Shine" | Take That | 2nd 20.2% |
| "Grace Kelly" | Mika | 3rd 19.3% |
| "Hey There Delilah" | Plain White T's | 4th 13.3% |
| "Umbrella | Rihanna | 5th 12.8% |
| "How to Save a Life" | The Fray | 6th 3.6% |
| "Beautiful Liar" | Beyonce & Shakira | 7th 3.5% |
| "The Way I Are" | Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & D.O.E. | 8th 1.2% |
| "Ruby" | Kaiser Chiefs | 9th 1.1% |
| "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)" | The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin | 10th 0.8% |
Votes compiled on... The Record of the Year
2008
The final was on Sunday December 14, 2008
The finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Rockstar" | Nickelback | 1st 20.3% |
| 4 Minutes | Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake | 2nd 19.8% |
| Mercy | Duffy | 3rd 11.9% |
| I Kissed a Girl | Katy Perry | 4th 10.5% |
| American Boy | Estelle feat. Kanye West | 5th 10.4% |
| Viva La Vida | Coldplay | 6th 10.3% |
| Chasing Pavements | Adele | 7th 4.9% |
| Take a Bow | Rihanna | 8th 4.7% |
| Now You're Gone | Basshunter | 9th 3.9% |
| Hero | The X Factor Finalists | 10th 3.3% |
Votes compiled on... The Record of the Year
Criticisms and Praise
Many have criticised the 'Record of the Year' Award, as they feel the nominations are unfairly dominated by pop acts and thus the winner is usually not the "true" record of the year. One suggested reason for this is that it is done to attract young girls, who the organisers are sure will watch the televised final and vote for the records. Others have argued that it is an attempt to boost the sales of pop artists' albums, which traditionally have limited success relative to their singles, in the crucial pre-Christmas period. Of the examples cited as evidence for this, the most famous include the exclusion of rap artist Eminem's "My Name Is..." in 1999 as he was unavailable to perform live on the Record of the Year final and the omission from nominations of rock act The Darkness' "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" in 2003, despite being one of the highest selling singles of the year.
Memorable moments from the TV show includes among other incidents, Wyclef Jean forgetting the words to his hit Perfect Gentlemen whilst performing on stage.
In spite of this, many winners of the award, as well as the organisers, argue its significance and integrity on the basis that it represents the views of the public, rather than critics. It inspired Simon Cowell to get into television and he attributes the show for his entry into the media. Some may argue this is not entirely a good thing. However it always gets massive ratings. Indeed Westlife have often said that their first win for the single "Flying Without Wings" was the most exciting moment in their career. Unsurprisingly, critics eventually began to say that it was just an award to prove Westlife were still around, hence why Heat Magazine dubbed it "Westlife Record Of The Year" in 2004. However, a counter-argument is that this, and similar awards based on phone polls, are a true representation of public opinion, a possibly better indication than sales, which calls Radio 1's countdown of the 20 best selling singles of the last calendar year a more accurate indication of the record of the year. Still, the chosen tracks on the televised Record of the Year contest reflect the views of the television programme viewers only, and not necessarily the music-buying public at large, who might not phone in multiple times to vote for their favourite song. In contrast, the Radio 1 end-of-year chart includes all music sales in all formats.
This was the basis of the disagreement between ITV, who wanted the revenue from phone calls, and Jonathan King, the creator of the award, who believed that sales no longer reflected true popularity, with millions loving a track but failing to buy it. As a result ITV stopped broadcasting the event in 2006 and it went online.
Sponsorship
Below is a list of companies that have sponsored the award since it began
1998-2001: Britannia Music
2002-2005: T-Mobile
Theme Music
From 1998 to 2004, the theme music was the club track Disco Cop by Blue Adonis.
In 2005 ITV used a specially recorded track.
External links
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