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.
YearSongArtistHost1998"No Matter What"BoyzoneDenise Van Outen1999"Flying Without Wings"Westlife2000"My Love"2001"Don't Stop Movin"S Club 7Ant & Dec2002"Unchained Melody"Gareth Gates2003"Mandy"WestlifeCat Deeley2004"Thunderbirds Are Go"Busted2005"You Raise Me Up"WestlifeVernon Kay2006"Patience"Take That rowspan="7" 2007"Bleeding Love"Leona Lewis2008"Rockstar"Nickelback2009"Poker Face"Lady Gaga2010"Fireflies"Owl City2011"Born This Way"Lady Gaga2012"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:
SongArtistResult"No Matter What"Boyzone1st - 276,741 votes"My Heart Will Go On"Celine Dion2nd - 135,648 votes"Angels"Robbie Williams3rd - 117,365 votes"One for Sorrow"Steps4th - 106,506 votes"Believe"Cher5th - 91,565 votes"Got the Feelin"5ive6th - 80,953 votes"C'est la Vie"B*Witched7th - 67,076 votes"How Do I Live"LeAnn Rimes8th - 44,597 votes"Never Ever"All Saints9th - 42,522 votes"Feel It"The Tamperer featuring Maya10th - 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:
SongArtistNotes"Flying Without Wings"Westlife1st - 159,900 votes"...Baby One More Time"Britney Spears3rd - 73,841 votes"Blue (Da Ba Dee)"Eiffel 656th - 62,335 votes"Bring It All Back"S Club 77th - 58,422 votes"If You Had My Love"Jennifer Lopez10th - 37,569 votes"Livin' la Vida Loca"Ricky Martin5th - 65,101 votes"Mambo No. 5"Lou Bega8th - 58,120 votes"Perfect Moment"Martine McCutcheon9th - 55,365 votes"That Don't Impress Me Much"Shania Twain4th - 69,727 votes"When You Say Nothing at All"Ronan Keating2nd - 150,669 votes
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:
SongArtistResult"My Love"Westlife1st - 129 points"Rock DJ"Robbie Williams2nd - 121 points"Reach"S Club 73rd - 114 points"Life Is a Rollercoaster"Ronan Keating4th - 103 points"Fill Me In"Craig David5th - 84 points"It Feels So Good"Sonique6th - 71 points"Pure Shores"All Saints7th - 60 points"Rise"Gabrielle8th - 34 points"Gotta Tell You"Samantha Mumba9th - 29 points"Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)"Spiller feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor10th - 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:
SongArtistResult"Don't Stop Movin"S Club 71st - 139 points"All Rise"Blue2nd - 135 points"Can't Get You Out of My Head"Kylie Minogue3rd - 124 points"Pure and Simple"Hear'Say4th - 109 points"Whole Again"Atomic Kitten5th - 82 points"Teenage Dirtbag"Wheatus6th - 81 points"It Wasn't Me"Shaggy7th - 62 points"Survivor"Destiny's Child8th - 38 points"Perfect Gentleman"Wyclef Jean9th - 36 points"Do You Really Like It?"DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies10th - 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:
SongArtistNotes"Unchained Melody"Gareth GatesTodd Duncan cover"A Little Less Conversation"Elvis vs. JXLRemix of Elvis's 1968 song"Colourblind"Darius"Evergreen"Will YoungWestlife cover"Hero"Enrique Iglesias"If Tomorrow Never Comes"Ronan KeatingGarth Brooks cover"Just a Little"Liberty X"Kiss Kiss"Holly ValanceCover of "Şımarık" by Tarkan, based on a previous cover by Stella Soleil"The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)"Atomic KittenCover 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:
SongArtistNotes"Mandy"WestlifeCover 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: SongArtistResult"Thunderbirds Are Go"Busted1st – 92pts"5 Colours in Her Hair"McFly2nd – 91pts"Left Outside Alone"Anastacia3rd – 90pts"Leave Right Now"Will Young4th – 88pts"The Closest Thing to Crazy"Katie Melua5th – 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:
SongArtistResultNotes"You Raise Me Up"Westlife1stSecret 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:
SongArtistResult"Patience"Take That1st 15.5%"Hips Don't Lie"Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean2nd 15.3%"No Tomorrow"Orson3rd 14.9%"Maneater"Nelly Furtado4th 10.8%"Crazy"Gnarls Barkley5th 10.6%"I Don't Feel Like Dancin"Scissor Sisters6th 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:
SongArtistResultNotes"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:
SongArtistNotesResult"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 BazzheadzRemake of Basshunter's song "Boten Anna" 9th 3.9%"Hero"The X Factor finalistsMariah Carey cover 10th 3.3%
2009 The result was:
SongArtistResult"Poker Face"Lady Gaga1st 20.6%"Use Somebody"Kings of Leon2nd 13.9%"Fight for This Love"Cheryl Cole3rd 12.2%"I Gotta Feeling"The Black Eyed Peas4th 11.1%"The Fear"Lily Allen5th 10.6%"Bonkers"Dizzee Rascal feat. Armand van Helden6th 10.5%"In for the Kill"La Roux7th 10.1%"Number 1"Tinchy Stryder feat. N-Dubz8th 4.6%"Broken Strings"James Morrison feat. Nelly Furtado9th 3.5%"Sexy Chick"David Guetta feat. Akon10th 2.8%
2010 The result was:
SongArtistResult"Fireflies"Owl City1st 21.7%"Telephone"Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé2nd 13.7%"Empire State of Mind (Part II)"Alicia Keys3rd 13.0%"Just The Way You Are (Amazing)"Bruno Mars4th 11.8%"Love the Way You Lie"Eminem feat. Rihanna5th 10.9%"California Gurls"Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg6th 10.0%"Pass Out"Tinie Tempah7th 9.3%"We No Speak Americano"Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP8th 6.9%"Airplanes"B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams9th 2.3%"OMG"Usher feat. will.i.am10th 0.4%
2011 The result was:
SongArtistResult"Born This Way"Lady Gaga1st 38.2%"Someone Like You"Adele2nd 19.8%"The A Team"Ed Sheeran3rd 14.4%"Moves Like Jagger" Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera4th 9.6%"Price Tag"Jessie J5th 6.4%"Grenade"Bruno Mars6th 3.7%"Party Rock Anthem"LMFAO7th 3.6%"S&M"Rihanna8th 2.3%"On the Floor"Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull9th 1.9%"Give Me Everything"Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer10th 0.3%
2012 The result was:
SongArtistResult"Somebody That I Used To Know"Gotye feat. Kimbra1st 18.5%"Call Me Maybe"Carly Rae Jepsen2nd 17.4%"Gangnam Style"Psy"Titanium"David Guetta feat. Sia3rd 10.9%"We Are Young"fun. feat. Janelle Monáe4th 10.3%"Starships"Nicki Minaj5th 6.5%"Next To Me"Emeli Sandé6th 6.3%"Payphone"Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa7th 5.4%"Domino"Jessie J8th 3.9%"Whistle"Flo Rida9th 3.7%
Criticism and praise