# The Record of the Year

The Record of the Year was an award voted by the United Kingdom public. For many years it was given in conjunction with a television programme on ITV of the same name.
The award began in 1998 and was televised on ITV for eight years before being dropped in 2006 after disagreements over the phone voting element. Since then, it had been an online poll, administered through the Record of the Year website. In 2013, the online poll was axed, signaling the end of the award. It became one of the highest rated music TV ceremonies in the UK, boosting sales of CDs and then downloads in the crucial fortnight before Christmas every year. For that reason, it was much respected by the industry, labels, publishers and retailers. It was the only music award in the UK to be chosen by the public.

## Format

At the beginning of December, a shortlist of twenty (later extended to thirty) songs were decided by an expert industry panel and showcased in a preview programme, with the public then invited to choose their favourite by phone vote, and the ten songs with the most votes advanced to the live show the following week.
The live show, held on a Saturday just before Christmas, was split into two parts. In the first part, the ten songs were represented as either live performances or pre-recorded performances via satellite if the artist was unable to travel to the UK and on some occasions, if a performance of any kind was not possible, the song was represented by an airing of its music video. After all of the songs had been presented, the phone lines were opened and in later years, voting was also conducted by both online and text message. In the second part, aired around one or two hours later, the results of the vote were announced with each ITV region represented by its own spokesperson to announce the results of their local area. The artist with the most votes was declared the winner and received the trophy before performing their winning song again to close the programme.

## Winners

The most frequent winner was Irish boy band Westlife, with four awards (1999, 2000, 2003 and 2005), two of which were consecutive. The only other artist to win multiple awards was American singer Lady Gaga, with two awards (2009 and 2011).
The 2008 winner, "Rockstar" by Canadian band Nickelback, was the first winner from North America.
The only artist to receive multiple nominations in the same year was American rapper Pitbull, who was nominated as both a lead and featured artist in 2011, although he never won.
| Year | Song | Artist | Host |
| 1998 | "No Matter What" | Boyzone | Denise Van Outen |
| 1999 | "Flying Without Wings" | Westlife | Denise Van Outen |
| 2000 | "My Love" | Westlife | Denise Van Outen |
| 2001 | "Don't Stop Movin'" | S Club 7 | Ant & Dec |
| 2002 | "Unchained Melody" | Gareth Gates | Ant & Dec |
| 2003 | "Mandy" | Westlife | Cat Deeley |
| 2004 | "Thunderbirds Are Go" | Busted | Cat Deeley |
| 2005 | "You Raise Me Up" | Westlife | Vernon Kay |
| 2006 | "Patience" | Take That | — |
| 2007 | "Bleeding Love" | Leona Lewis | — |
| 2008 | "Rockstar" | Nickelback | — |
| 2009 | "Poker Face" | Lady Gaga | — |
| 2010 | "Fireflies" | Owl City | — |
| 2011 | "Born This Way" | Lady Gaga | — |
| 2012 | "Somebody That I Used to Know" | Gotye feat. Kimbra | — |

## Results by year
### 1998

The first Record of the Year took place on 12 December 1998 and presented by Denise van Outen. The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "No Matter What" | Boyzone | 1st - 276,741 votes |
| "My Heart Will Go On" | Celine Dion | 2nd - 135,648 votes |
| "Angels" | Robbie Williams | 3rd - 117,365 votes |
| "One for Sorrow" | Steps | 4th - 106,506 votes |
| "Believe" | Cher | 5th - 91,565 votes |
| "Got the Feelin'" | 5ive | 6th - 80,953 votes |
| "C'est la Vie" | B*Witched | 7th - 67,076 votes |
| "How Do I Live" | LeAnn Rimes | 8th - 44,597 votes |
| "Never Ever" | All Saints | 9th - 42,522 votes |
| "Feel It" | The Tamperer featuring Maya | 10th - 37,543 votes |

### 1999

The second Record of the Year took place on 11 December 1999 and presented by Denise van Outen. The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Notes |
| "Flying Without Wings" | Westlife | |
| "...Baby One More Time" | Britney Spears | |
| "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" | Eiffel 65 | |
| "Bring It All Back" | S Club 7 | |
| "If You Had My Love" | Jennifer Lopez | |
| "Livin' la Vida Loca" | Ricky Martin | |
| "Mambo No. 5" | Lou Bega | Pérez Prado cover |
| "Perfect Moment" | Martine McCutcheon | Edyta Górniak cover |
| "That Don't Impress Me Much" | Shania Twain | |
| "When You Say Nothing at All" | Ronan Keating | Keith Whitley cover |

### 2000

The third Record of the Year took place on 9 December 2000 and presented by Denise van Outen. In a change to the first two years, the votes that each song received from each region were converted into a points value (e.g. the least voted song received 1 point, and the highest voted song received 10 points). The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "My Love" | Westlife | 1st - 129 points |
| "Rock DJ" | Robbie Williams | 2nd - 121 points |
| "Reach" | S Club 7 | 3rd - 114 points |
| "Life Is a Rollercoaster" | Ronan Keating | 4th - 103 points |
| "Fill Me In" | Craig David | 5th - 84 points |
| "It Feels So Good" | Sonique | 6th - 71 points |
| "Pure Shores" | All Saints | 7th - 60 points |
| "Rise" | Gabrielle | 8th - 34 points |
| "Gotta Tell You" | Samantha Mumba | 9th - 29 points |
| "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" | Spiller feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor | 10th - 25 points |

### 2001

The fourth Record of the Year took place on 8 December 2001. Ant & Dec presented the show for the first time. For the first time, in addition to the regional phone vote, viewers could cast their vote online, the result of which was announced as an individual set of points. The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Don't Stop Movin'" | S Club 7 | 1st - 139 points |
| "All Rise" | Blue | 2nd - 135 points |
| "Can't Get You Out of My Head" | Kylie Minogue | 3rd - 124 points |
| "Pure and Simple" | Hear'Say | 4th - 109 points |
| "Whole Again" | Atomic Kitten | 5th - 82 points |
| "Teenage Dirtbag" | Wheatus | 6th - 81 points |
| "It Wasn't Me" | Shaggy | 7th - 62 points |
| "Survivor" | Destiny's Child | 8th - 38 points |
| "Perfect Gentleman" | Wyclef Jean | 9th - 36 points |
| "Do You Really Like It?" | DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies | 10th - 19 points |

### 2002

The fifth Record of the Year took place on 7 December 2002 and presented by Ant & Dec. The results format was changed from this year onwards, the five songs with the lowest votes were eliminated from the scoreboard and only the top five songs went forward to receive points from the regional vote. Text message voting was also introduced this year; like the online vote the previous year, these results had their own individual set of points awarded. The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Notes |
| "Unchained Melody" | Gareth Gates | Todd Duncan cover |
| "A Little Less Conversation" | Elvis vs. JXL | Remix of Elvis's 1968 song |
| "Colourblind" | Darius | |
| "Evergreen" | Will Young | Westlife cover |
| "Hero" | Enrique Iglesias | |
| "If Tomorrow Never Comes" | Ronan Keating | Garth Brooks cover |
| "Just a Little" | Liberty X | |
| "Kiss Kiss" | Holly Valance | Cover of "Şımarık" by Tarkan, based on a previous cover by Stella Soleil |
| "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)" | Atomic Kitten | Cover of "The Tide Is High" by the Paragons |
| "Whenever, Wherever" | Shakira | |

### 2003

The sixth Record of the Year took place on 6 December 2003. Ant & Dec were unable to return as hosts due to their commitments presenting Pop Idol; and the pair were replaced as hosts by Cat Deeley. The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Notes |
| "Mandy" | Westlife | Cover of "Brandy" by Scott English |
| "Be Faithful" | Fatman Scoop | |
| "Bring Me to Life" | Evanescence | |
| "Crazy in Love" | Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z | |
| "If You're Not the One" | Daniel Bedingfield | |
| "Make Luv" | Room 5 feat. Oliver Cheatham | |
| "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex" | Rachel Stevens | |
| "Where Is the Love?" | The Black Eyed Peas | |
| "White Flag" | Dido | |
| "Year 3000" | Busted | |

### 2004

The seventh Record of the Year took place on 4 December 2004 and was hosted by Cat Deeley. The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Thunderbirds Are Go" | Busted | 1st – 92pts |
| "5 Colours in Her Hair" | McFly | 2nd – 91pts |
| "Left Outside Alone" | Anastacia | 3rd – 90pts |
| "Leave Right Now" | Will Young | 4th – 88pts |
| "The Closest Thing to Crazy" | Katie Melua | 5th – 79pts |
| "Laura" | Scissor Sisters | |
| "Love Machine" | Girls Aloud | |
| "Real to Me" | Brian McFadden | |
| "These Words" | Natasha Bedingfield | |
| "This Love" | Maroon 5 | |

### 2005

The eighth Record of the Year took place on 10 December 2005 and was hosted by Vernon Kay. The text message vote was incorporated into the regional vote for this year. It would prove to be the final year in which a television show was held to determine the winner of the award. The ten finalists were:
| Song | Artist | Result | Notes |
| "You Raise Me Up" | Westlife | 1st | Secret Garden cover |
| "All About You" | McFly | 2nd | |
| "My Humps" | The Black Eyed Peas | 3rd | |
| "You're Beautiful" | James Blunt | 4th | |
| "Bad Day" | Daniel Powter | 5th | |
| "Feel Good Inc." | Gorillaz feat. De La Soul | | |
| "If There's Any Justice" | Lemar | | |
| "Nine Million Bicycles" | Katie Melua | | |
| "Since U Been Gone" | Kelly Clarkson | | |
| "What You Waiting For?" | Gwen Stefani | | |

### 2006

The result was:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Patience" | Take That | 1st 15.5% |
| "Hips Don't Lie" | Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean | 2nd 15.3% |
| "No Tomorrow" | Orson | 3rd 14.9% |
| "Maneater" | Nelly Furtado | 4th 10.8% |
| "Crazy" | Gnarls Barkley | 5th 10.6% |
| "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" | Scissor Sisters | 6th 10.4% |
| "From Paris to Berlin" | Infernal | |
| "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)" | Sandi Thom | |
| "Smile" | Lily Allen | |
| "SOS" | Rihanna | |

### 2007

The result was:
| Song | Artist | Result | Notes |
| "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" | Beyoncé & Shakira | 7th 3.5% | |
| "The Way I Are" | Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E. | 8th 1.2% | |
| "Ruby" | Kaiser Chiefs | 9th 1.1% | |
| "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)" | The Proclaimers feat. Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin | 10th 0.8% | Comic Relief rerecording of the Proclaimers' 1988 song |

### 2008

The result was:
| Song | Artist | Notes | Result |
| "Rockstar" | Nickelback | | 1st 20.3% |
| "4 Minutes" | Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland | | 2nd 19.8% |
| "Mercy" | Duffy | | 3rd 11.9% |
| "I Kissed a Girl" | Katy Perry | | 4th 10.5% |
| "American Boy" | Estelle featuring 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 and DJ Mental Theo's Bazzheadz | Remake of Basshunter's song "Boten Anna" | 9th 3.9% |
| "Hero" | The X Factor finalists | Mariah Carey cover | 10th 3.3% |

### 2009

The result was:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Poker Face" | Lady Gaga | 1st 20.6% |
| "Use Somebody" | Kings of Leon | 2nd 13.9% |
| "Fight for This Love" | Cheryl Cole | 3rd 12.2% |
| "I Gotta Feeling" | The Black Eyed Peas | 4th 11.1% |
| "The Fear" | Lily Allen | 5th 10.6% |
| "Bonkers" | Dizzee Rascal feat. Armand van Helden | 6th 10.5% |
| "In for the Kill" | La Roux | 7th 10.1% |
| "Number 1" | Tinchy Stryder feat. N-Dubz | 8th 4.6% |
| "Broken Strings" | James Morrison feat. Nelly Furtado | 9th 3.5% |
| "Sexy Chick" | David Guetta feat. Akon | 10th 2.8% |

### 2010

The result was:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Fireflies" | Owl City | 1st 21.7% |
| "Telephone" | Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé | 2nd 13.7% |
| "Empire State of Mind (Part II)" | Alicia Keys | 3rd 13.0% |
| "Just The Way You Are (Amazing)" | Bruno Mars | 4th 11.8% |
| "Love the Way You Lie" | Eminem feat. Rihanna | 5th 10.9% |
| "California Gurls" | Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg | 6th 10.0% |
| "Pass Out" | Tinie Tempah | 7th 9.3% |
| "We No Speak Americano" | Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP | 8th 6.9% |
| "Airplanes" | B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams | 9th 2.3% |
| "OMG" | Usher feat. will.i.am | 10th 0.4% |

### 2011

The result was:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Born This Way" | Lady Gaga | 1st 38.2% |
| "Someone Like You" | Adele | 2nd 19.8% |
| "The A Team" | Ed Sheeran | 3rd 14.4% |
| "Moves Like Jagger" | Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera | 4th 9.6% |
| "Price Tag" | Jessie J | 5th 6.4% |
| "Grenade" | Bruno Mars | 6th 3.7% |
| "Party Rock Anthem" | LMFAO | 7th 3.6% |
| "S&M" | Rihanna | 8th 2.3% |
| "On the Floor" | Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull | 9th 1.9% |
| "Give Me Everything" | Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer | 10th 0.3% |

### 2012

The result was:
| Song | Artist | Result |
| "Somebody That I Used To Know" | Gotye feat. Kimbra | 1st 18.5% |
| "Call Me Maybe" | Carly Rae Jepsen | 2nd 17.4% |
| "Gangnam Style" | Psy | 2nd 17.4% |
| "Titanium" | David Guetta feat. Sia | 3rd 10.9% |
| "We Are Young" | fun. feat. Janelle Monáe | 4th 10.3% |
| "Starships" | Nicki Minaj | 5th 6.5% |
| "Next To Me" | Emeli Sandé | 6th 6.3% |
| "Payphone" | Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa | 7th 5.4% |
| "Domino" | Jessie J | 8th 3.9% |
| "Whistle" | Flo Rida | 9th 3.7% |

## Criticism 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's track "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" in 2003 despite being one of the highest selling singles of the year.
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. The writer and director Richard Curtis, who is the founder of Comic Relief, also cited Gareth Gates' win of the 2002 award as the deciding factor in asking him to record the following year's Red Nose Day single for the charity. 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 BBC 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.

## 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.