Hits 21 - 2006 (9): The Race for Christmas Number 1

Episode Date: January 28, 2024

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every UK #1 hit single of the 21st century - from January 2000, right through to the present day. Twitter: @Hits21UK Email: [e-mail] Chart Music: https://chartmusiccouk.wordpress.com/ Simon Price: https://thequietus.com/articles/33777-remembering-neil-kulkarni-simon-price GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/neil-kulkarni Vault: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5O5MHJUIQIUuf0Jv0Peb3C?si=e4057fb450f648b0 Piehole: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2FmWkwasjtq5UkjKqZLcl4

🎵 Hi there everyone and welcome back to It's 21 where me, Rob, me, Andy and me, Lizzie all look back at every single UK number one of the 21st century from 2000. Right through to the present day. If you want to get in touch with us. You can find us over on Twitter. We are at Hits21UK. That is at Hits21UK. And you can email us too. Send it on over to Hits21Podcast.

At gmail.com Today we were brought in. By a bit of music that you. Won't have heard before. Or you won't have heard before, or you may not have heard before, and that's because it's Andy's music. Hey, how about that? We talk about music and we make it too. So, Andy, before we get going, why don't you tell the listeners all about this project that you've bestowed upon the world? Well, if you insist, then okay.

So I've released an album called headspace by myself andy austin and basically it is a collection of stuff that i put together from a load of synths and a load of stuff a load of production setup that my husband got me for christmas a couple of years ago i've got an old casio from the 80s I've got some more modern synths and I've got some nice little gear to go with it and I have just created a whole bunch of sort of ambient electronic kind of video game

style music that's all on the theme of kind of travel and seeing places and the headspace that puts you in so it's available on SoundCloud and on Bandcamp it's going to eventuallyCloud and on Bandcamp. It's going to eventually be on the more mainstream streaming services. But if you fancy it, yeah, Headspace and the Austin.

Give us a listen and I'll love you for it. Or don't and I'll love you anyway because I'm nice. We'll leave a link to that in the description. And also, I have also been releasing music recently and I forgot to mention it on the previous episode. So I work under Colorful Sevens, as opposed to my actual name. I will make sure that my new song plays us out. I will put it at the end of the episode, and then I'll leave a link to the description. It's the first track of an album I'm working on, and have been working on on in fits and starts for about two or three years.

Hopefully I'll get it sorted soon. So you can check both of those out if you like. Before we begin this week, I just want to pay a little tribute to Neil Kulkarni. Those of you who listen to us and also listen to the wonderful chart music podcast that he was part of, you will know that he really tragically died early this week, Neil Kulkarni, January 22nd, and he was just 51 years old. Neil had written for all sorts of publications down the years, including Melody Maker, The NME, The the guardian loads of other places he was also a published author a lover of pop in particular the specials i've been listening to them a lot this week because of him and he was also a father um he really was one of life's good guys um a person i never met or spoke to but knew very well because of how, oh, just so how personally and

eloquently he spoke about his life and the people in it whenever he was on chart music or writing a book or an article. He made sure that the words that he was putting down were exactly what was in his heart. I will leave a link to Simon Price's tribute to him in the description as well. If you want to read the words of someone who knew him very well and met him and loved him too. And I will leave a link to Chart Music as well. I'm sure there's lots of people who listen to us who also listen to Chart Music. But I have loved Neil's work for a long time. And now one of the reasons I actually got into chart music was because he was

on it. I remember his name being mentioned and as one of the panelists. And I thought, Oh, I'll check that out because I'd read his periodic table of hip hop book about nine to 10 years ago now. Um, and the F U F U N K,

um, blog that he used to keep as well and throughout the years all the clippings and things like that that have been posted about his work in Melody Maker and the NME down the years but Lizzie I think you listened to Chart Music before

me I think you got me into it actually all those years ago so I don't know if you wanted to say anything about Neil Yeah I stumbled on it kind of by accident on a forum i used to go on and um yeah i fell in love with it instantly just because like you say neil was a big part of it you felt like you really knew him because of like how open and honest and just warm he was and how much you could tell he you know he loved pop music but he could be very passionate about when he didn't like certain pop music he's very honest and

yeah his his writing is fantastic i would urge you to go and check it out if you haven't already there's you know there's plenty of links out there there's the tributes that people have written there's snippets that people have picked up both from his writing and from chart music and even the words himself that i've kind of took with me this week um to quote neil gulcarni pop is i reiterate a way of listening the only way of listening i ever learned or cared for. It means giving everything a chance, but letting nothing off the hook. The only way of listening I ever wanted to express.

I think that is really beautifully put. And yeah, he always said to his daughter, I think it was, keep a little Mark Bowen in your heart. I'd say, keep a little Neil Kulcani in your heart. Yeah, I've been thinking about that exact line a lot this week. The give everything a chance and let nothing off the hook. That is, and then you apply it to all of his work and everything that he did and said. And yeah, wow.

I genuinely just, not to go into it too much because, but I remember waking up and seeing the news I genuinely just not to go into it too much because, you know, but I remember waking up in that, like, and seeing the news and just sort of thinking like that. And something hasn't come back. I'll be honest. Something went in that moment that hasn't quite come back and I'm not quite sure what it is,

but yeah, it hit me all at once. I'd never hear him on the podcast again. And yeah, it's horrible. Yeah. We will leave a link. Um,

we will leave a link to, uh, go fund me that has been set up for Neil's family, uh, as well. Um, his two daughters and his partner, um,

that Neil is, uh, really unfortunately left behind. Um, that was set up by David Stubbs, who's another, uh, chart music alum and another wonderful music writer as well.

But yeah, thank you for listening to us talk about Neil for a second. If you want to get a taste and a flavour of what he was like, by all means, go ahead and listen to chart music. There's a link in the description for you. Always entertaining was Neil, always. I said on Twitter this week that i don't think i'd be

doing this podcast if not for chart music and i stand by that no and i also agree that the structure of this podcast was heavily heavily influenced by the hours of lockdown that i spent listening to chart music um they're a really wonderful bunch of people um and they're a really wonderful bunch of people and they're going to miss Neil a lot so but thank you for joining us for this episode we are at the end of 2006 we are going to be covering the race

for Christmas number one in 2006 we're just going to look back to last week no such problems with the poll this time about it being a close run thing there were a few votes for smack that but patience by take that was a pretty clear winner a pretty clear winner but there were some votes for smack that i would like to hear from those people if you have any defense to offer up i would really love to hear it even if it's just over twitter or email

so it is time to press on with this week's episode. And as always, it's time for some news headlines from around the time the songs we're covering in this week's episode were at number one in the UK. It's just the one song. It's a short period of time. It's just me reading the news this week. And then we'll get on to the usual Christmas episode good stuff

as fast as we can. Legendary funk and soul singer James Brown brown dies on christmas day aged 73 meanwhile former united states president gerald ford dies on boxing day aged 93 shane warne announces his retirement from international cricket after 15 years of playing for australia and in glasgow and edinburgh public New Year's Eve celebrations for Hogmanay are called off due to bad weather. Lizzie, we're going to come to you. You're going to give us the year-end review

for 2006 for the United States. I am. So, as promised, I'm going to give you the year-end top 10 singles and the best performing album of 2006 in the us so first up the best performing album of 2006 is one that i don't think you would ever get some hearts by carrie underwood okay yeah that makes sense yeah american idol winner yeah absolutely it was her debut album and it was

certified nine times platinum in the us but unusually the album only reached number two on the album's chart itself it was held off the top spot by confessions on the dance floor by mid honor which ended up at number 22 on the year-end list. God, the charts are so curious. Very much so. Even more curious, Some Hearts also failed to chart in the main UK charts, but it got to number one on our country albums chart. Ah, OK.

Bad luck. So, over to top ten singles in the US for 2006. So, at number ten, we have Check On It by Beyonce, featuring Slim Thug. OK, yep. At number number nine one we covered sexy back by justin tim like featuring timberland i see that might have been my guess at number one so i would have just embarrassed myself yeah i would have guessed that that too honestly in at number eight is riding by chameleon air featuring Crazy Bone. That's a shame. I'm gusted we didn't get to cover that one. At number seven, another one we did cover,

Crazy by Narls Barkley. In at number six is one that is currently in the top 20 in 2024. It's Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield. Yes. Yes, it is. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. As we speak, yep, it is. Yeah, yeah. As we speak,

it is currently just occupying just inside the top 20. Saw her do it at Pride last year. Oh, which one? At Manchester Pride. Saw her do Unwritten. Oh, wow. And these words, obviously. But yeah, the crowd went wild for Unwritten at Pride. It was great. In at number five, another one we covered, Hips Don't Lie by Shakira featuring

Wyclef John. Ah, see, that would have maybe been mine, I think. Yeah, that was a big single. Yeah, I think that might have been my suggestion, so okay, I'm a bit stumped now. In at number four, one we covered in 2005, You're Beautiful

by James Blunt. Okay. My triangle, my triangle. My triangle. In at number three is Promiscuous by Nelly Fasardo featuring Tim Bland. That's high.

Blimey. Wow. This was a big Nelly Fasardo year. Yeah, that was the first single released in America off-loose, wasn't it?

We had Maneater and they had Promiscuous. Yeah. And number two is Temperature by Sean Paul. So in at number one, Andy, I think you'll like this.

It's Bad Day by Daniel Powder. Oh my god! No way! That is shocking. I mean, I do like it and I rated it highly in Born to runner up because one of us had to um yeah but i'm not sure i would have put it as the best seller of the year i'm not sure it's worthy of that wow daniel wow big year for coffee pop in america yeah yeah well thank you

very much lizzie um it's time to come back over to this side of the atlantic and see what were on that their telly on christmas eve christmas day and boxing day over christmas 2006 andy yes hello hello it's tv time it is christmas 2006 do not adjust your sets because those sets have some decent programs on this year actually and, and some not-so-decent ones as well. See what you make of it. See what you make of it. So, on the BBC, the big day, it rolls out a lot of big hitters. There's a bit of a kind of assault with comedy this year. At the centre of the evening is Doctor Who Christmas special The Runaway Bride, introducing one Catherine Tate as Donna Noble,

who was, of course, initially just a kind of comedy one-off, but has become a much-beloved character in Doctor Who. And we also have the return of the Vicar of Dibley for its final episodes, airing on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, in which Geraldine marries Richard Armitage, I think, if I remember that rightly. And we also get Little Britain Abroad, which is exactly what you imagined it is,

which features guest appearances from Steve Coogan and Ronnie Corbett, amongst others. So it's very much a comedy Christmas from BBC One. They really want you to laugh. It's heavily counterbalanced by what EastEnders has in store for us this year. I'll come back to that in a minute. Just keep that in your head. And it has to be said that not all of the Biebs' offerings are worthwhile Christmas gifts, because on Christmas Eve, we have the excruciating Duet Impossible,

in which, and I quote, modern technology gives pop stars the chance to sing duets with their idols from yesteryear. Presented by Vernon Kay. Whoa. So, Duet Impossible treats us to such delights as Westlife dueting with Roy Orbison. I know. Sugar Babes having a tete-a-tete with Dusty Springfield.

Okay. And a future UK number one. For real. Stay tuned in 2007 to see which one that is. But Duet Impossible gives us a UK number one single, unbelievably.

Yes. Stay tuned. Do you remember what that is? Yeah. But yes, Mixbag from BBC, but mostly keeping it polite, keeping it fun. Remember that. Over on ITV, we've got Two Hours of Doc Martin. Right. And on Christmas Eve, we also have Philip Schofield's Night Before Christmas.

So let's say no more about that one. But yes, ITV did not have a vintage year. Over to the soaps. So I've been hinting at this, obviously, and I said that the BBC was full of fun and comedy this year. And I've underlined this point because bloody hell. Oni Stenders, original character and Albert Square matriarch, Pauline Fowler, played by Wendy Richard, is killed off.

And she's not just killed off. In this episode on Christmas Day, Pauline is disowned by her young son smacked around the face by her daughter-in-law off screen she's beaten with a frying pan by her husband then pauline collapses in the snow and dies alone merry christmas everyone oh my god i know christmas day everyone meanwhile on cory, David Platt is in his Demon David era. I remember that very well. And he reveals a secret family affair over Christmas dinner.

Just for the lols. And the Grimshaws have a newborn baby dropped on their doorstep on Christmas Day. Symbolism. And it's a massive one on Emmerdale, where head of the family, Tom King, is murdered. He's pushed out of a window. It will later be revealed that his son, Carl, was the killer. Big Christmas film showdown this year. So, what do you think?

The BBC had Monsters, Inc. and ITV had Philosopher's Stone. What's the winner, do we think, everyone? Probably Philosopher's Stone. I'd say Monsters, Inc. Actually, yeah, because it's just BBC. It's just default, isn't it? People just leave it on the BBC. Oh, no, no, I didn't mean ratings.

What do we think is better? I think Monsters, Inc. Oh, Monsters, Inc. Yeah, Monsters, Inc. Oh, yeah, Monsters, Inc., definitely. Yes. God, yeah. Sorry, I thought you meant which one would more people watch.

God. Yeah. Oh, it would have been the BBC. Definitely would have been the BBC, but yeah. Also, Queen Elizabeth II used her speech to talk about how different generations could come together to build a sense of community and perhaps to underline the generational gap point this was the first Queen's Christmas message made available as a podcast how do you do fellow subjects uh yes

the Queen also she pointedly encouraged viewers to build bridges with British Muslims in her speech. And that was also the message of the alternative Christmas message on Channel 4, which was given by Khadija, a veiled British Muslim, who spoke about her relationship with both Islam and Britain, including her great-grandmother's work as a suffragette. A very nice message, that one. And that's your TV Christmas. So we've got Catherine Tate,

inclusive speeches, time-travelling duets, and an old woman being beaten to death. Perfect. Pass the mulled wine. Thank you very much, Andy. So it is time now to have a little look

at the toys and video games that we were buying around Christmas 2006 and throughout the year, actually, in 2006. So, Lizzie, what have you got for us? Yeah so as always with thanks to the Toy Retailers Association of the UK for these figures

so let's just go down the awards as usual. First up is the Creative Toy of the Year Paper FX Okay. What's that? I don't know what that is As we get older we're not going to remember any of these I'll just warn you The film toy range of the year

I do remember this, Cars They were everywhere And I do remember this actually as well The innovative toy of the year is Butterscotch Pony The craze of the year is Butterscotch Pony. The craze of the year of 2006 is Shootout Cards. Was that ever your thing, Rob? I collected the Panini stickers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's about all. The electronic toy of the year is the Pixel

Chicks Mall. The doll of the year for 2006 is Bratz Forever Diamonds with a Z. Bratz has got that sewn up, hasn't it? Yeah, Bratz is never going to go away. Bratz is like, you know how Ant and Dave win the television awards every year? It's flipped out, isn't it? Yeah, pretty much. The game of the year for 2006 is the Deal or No Deal board game. Okay, yeah, shows how popular that was.

For this Christmas, I remember it was this Christmas, I bought my mum the DVD game of Deal or No Deal. shows how popular that was yeah i am for this christmas i remember it was this christmas um i bought my mum the dvd game of deal or no deal she was um she was absolutely mad at her would you believe that my mum changed her hours at work to make it home for deal or no deal every day that's how big it was at this time yeah because it was a really really huge deal yeah i can sort of yeah yeah so then we have the boys toy of the year which i'm not going to reveal because it does actually relate to the toy of the year okay so i'll skip to the girls toy of the year which was nintendogs trick trainer pups oh nintendogs yeah yeah nintendogs

okay then so boys toy of the year and toy of the Year then I guess Are the two that are left I'll have you know, the Toy of the Year for 2006 Is the Doctor Who Cyberman mask I don't remember that at all Delete Yeah, didn't it have like a voice changer in it I assume so yeah, I mean I knew everybody had the Sonic screwdriver but I don't remember the voice

changer mask for the Cybermen Wow, God The Boys Toy of the Year was Doctor Who figures So, same thing driver but I don't remember the voice changer mask for the Cybermen wow, so the voice was Doctor Who figures so same thing yeah good old Cybermen, see there's a lot of stuff on TV at the moment that's really filtering through to kids toys

and just toys in general, Deal or No Deal Doctor Who, do you have the video games on file there, Lizzie? Yes, I do. So thank you as ever to UKIEpedia. I don't think that's the right pronunciation, but we have the UK top seven games for 2006.

Shout out to number 17, Norton Internet Security 2007. Banger of a game. Had many, manyanger of a game. Had many, many fun hours playing that. Good times. So it goes without saying at this point that the top two is FIFA 07 at number one and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 at number two. Spoiler alert.

So the question, as ever, what do you think is the highest entry that isn't a football game? Oh, once again, I'm tempted to say the Wii. I know it came out in December. However, I think Wii Sports, that's the highest selling game of all time, isn't it? So it must have made a dent in the charts at least. True.

But I don't know. I would say for most people that came bundled with the system. Oh, does that not count then? Would that not register as a sale if it came with the system? I don't think it's in the list. It's not in the list for 2006. I'm not saying for 2007. I'll keep that on the wraps.

What about Mario Kart DS? Everyone had that at this time. Or Star Wars Battlefront 2? Can't remember if you covered that last year. Star Wars Battlefront 2. I'll put that one there as well. Can't remember if it's a little later than this, but the Elder Scrolls one, Oblivion.

Was it Oblivion at this time? It was Oblivion. Oblivion before Skyrim. The only other thing I could possibly think of is if there's any Zelda or Final Fantasy games, or is there another Burnout game out at the time? Those are the only

ones. I've got no solid picks though, so let's see. I think Burnout's been and gone by this point. Still fairly popular, but there's not been a new one. So in terms of your guesses, Oblivion is at number 30.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 is at number 37. I'm pretty sure that was in the last years. And Mario Kart DS is in at number 58. Oh, Jesus. God. Fingers on the pulse here. Jesus. Yeah. So, without further ado, the top 10.

So in at number 10 is WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. Number 9, one I played a lot, The Sims 2. At number 8, we have Tomb Raider Legend. At number 7, a reappearance for Cars. In at number six is The Sims 2 Pets. At number five is Lego Star Wars 2, the original

trilogy. Got the wrong Star Wars game. Yeah, good games. In at number four is Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories. Is that a little spin-off one for the DS or something? It is, yeah. It came out on the PSP.

Imagine GTA on the DS. That'd be sick. And in at number three, which is the highest rated non-football game for 2006 is Need for Speed Carbon. It's always cars, isn't it? Yeah, if it's not football

it's cars in the mid 2000s in some form or another and as I've mentioned top two Pro Evo Soccer 6 and FIFA 07 well I owned both of those so yay right then thank you very much Lizzie we will get back to the music now and back to Andy

because it's time for my favourite kind of new segment of recent christmas episodes which is this born to runner up thing that we have come up with such a great idea so andy born to runner up time for 2000 and time for the 2006 rundown so take it away yeah so born to up just to quickly recap for anyone who's new to this so every song that got to number two and peaked at number two i should say in 2006 we, I should say, in 2006, we look at all of them each year and give a little consolation trophy to whichever song that missed out on number one.

Most deserves recognition from that year. Born to Run Her Up, which we've lovingly started abbreviating Be True, which I really want to make happen. I think that's a lovely abbreviation. But anyway, yes, there were 20 songs this year. I'll give you the top 10. So we all had different picks for this. Like we all were really different, all three of us. And I think a consensus pick has made it to the top here.

I think you might be quite surprised at what the winner is on this one. So in 10th place, it is From Paris to Berlin by Ant Dino. Oh. Only pumping to number ten, unfortunately. In ninth place, it's Riding by Chameleon Air featuring

Crazy Bird. Well, at least it gets played on the podcast. Yeah, for about a second. In eighth place, it's S.O.S. by Rihanna. Oh, for about a second. In eighth place, it's S.O.S. by Rihanna. Oh, okay. So Soft Cell make it into the 21st century then. There you go.

In seventh place, it's Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Ray. Aw, sweet. Quite low, that one, isn't it? That was my number one pick. Yeah, well, maybe someone didn't give it any points. Yeah. I wonder who.

In sixth place, it's Ain't No Other Man by Christina Aguilera. Can I please ask for the edit that the clip that we play is Hey! Hey! Okay, so it's our top five in Boards of Runner-Up. Our fifth place pick is Every Time We Touch by Cascada.

Yes. Ooh, that was in the top five. Love that one. In fourth place, it's Yeah Yeah by Body Box featuring Luciana. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And these top three, quite a good top 3 so in 3rd place it's Boogie Tonight by Booty Love

some proper dance classics going in so far in 2nd place it's My Love by Justin Timberlake oh wow I expected that to be number 1 I told you, consensus pick In second place, it's My Love by Justin Timberlake. Oh, wow. I expected that to be number one. Okay. I told you, consensus pick.

This year's Born to Runner Up winner, it's When You Were Young by The Killers. Okay. What? Yeah. Quite a surprising pick this one, isn't it? Yeah. Okay, I like that a lot.

That would have been like fourth on my list maybe or third. But okay, yeah. It's a bit like the Albedo saying principle this. Where everybody gets what nobody wants sort of thing. We all gave tens to a different song. Tens, sorry, being our highest score. We all gave that to a different song. And so we've ended up with a consensus pick. Keep this in mind for the end of the show

jaws may drop yet further than this but well done the killers with when you were young you get this year's born to run her up trophy well well done to them so we are gonna pivot back towards Christmas now and we're gonna get on to gonna play some more clips of more songs

the top 10 on Christmas day in 2006 and then we're gonna look at the Christmas number one, but we'll run down from 10 to 2, so here we are. At 10, it is down three places, from number seven, it's the official Bond song for a new era, Chris Cornell, you know my name. At nine, it's a former number one, also down down three places Smack That by Akon and Eminem. Down three from five at number eight it's Spooky Tonight by Booty Love we just heard about it. Last week's number two this week's number seven it's Cliff Richard wishing us a very 21st century Christmas. At six it's up four places it's a Christmas classic back in the chart, it's The Pogues and Kirstie McColl with Fairy Tale of New York.

At 5, down 1 place from 4, we've just heard about them but not this song, it's Cascada and their rendition of Savage Garden, truly madly deeply. This week's number 4, it's jumped up 46 places, but it's not enough for number one, Girls Aloud, I Think We're Alone Now. At three into the top three, it might have risen 95 places, but it's not good enough for the Christmas number one, it's But Fly and Sorry's Not Good Enough. And last week's number one, finally knocked off the top. This week at number two, after four weeks at the summit, it is Take That's Big Comeback, Patience, which means that the official Christmas number one for 2006 is this. What if I told you It was all meant to be

Would you believe me Would you believe me? Would you agree? It's almost a feeling that we've met before So tell me that you don't think I'm crazy When I tell you love has come here and now A moment like this Some people wait a lifetime For a moment like this

Some people search forever For that one special kiss Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me Some people wait a lifetime for a moment A light fuse Everything changes, but beauty remains Something so tender, I can't explain Well, I may be dreaming, but till I awake

Can we make this dream last forever? And I'll cherish all the love that we shared A moment like this Some people wait a lifetime For a moment like this Some people search forever for that one special kiss Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me We will wait a lifetime for a moment like this Could this be the greatest love of all?

I wanna know that you will catch me when I fall So let me tell you this Some people wait a lifetime For a moment Like this Oh but like this Some people search forever For that one special key Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me

Some people wait a lifetime For a moment like this for a moment like this for that one special kiss I can't believe it's happening to me

Some people wait a lifetime For a moment like this Okay, this is A Moment Like This by Leona Lewis. Released as the lead single from her eventual debut studio album titled Spirit, A Moment Like This is Leona Lewis' first single to be released in the UK and her first to reach number one, and it's not the last time that we'll be coming to Leona on this podcast. The single is a cover of

the song originally performed by Kelly Clarkson which did not reach the singles chart in the UK but did reach number 56 on the downloads chart. A moment like this went straight in at number one as a brand new entry knocking Take That off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one for four weeks. In its first week atop the charts, which is when it became Christmas number one, it sold 571,000 copies, beating competition from the songs that you just heard about. In week two, it sold 109,000 copies,

beating competition from Different World by Iron Maiden, which got to number three. In week three, it sold 39,000 copies, beating competition from Proper Education by Eric Pritz and Pink Floyd, which climbed to number two. And Window in the Skies by U2, which got to number four. and Window in the Skies by U2, which got to number four. And in week four, it's last week at number one, and we're now into January 2007, it sold 21,000 copies, beating competition from Grace Kelly by Mika,

which got to number three, and Stars in Their Eyes by Just Jack, which got to number four. Oh my God, we're in my era now. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, a moment like this fell five places to number six. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 19 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK

as of 2023. So, Lizzy, Leona. I can't think of another L. Go. My problem with this song has nothing to do with Leona Lewis. Who I think is by far the best solo winner of the X Factor. Agreed. And would probably say top two alongside Little Mix.

I have a slight preference for Little Mix, but she's up there. She's easily the best thing about this song, as she has all the power of a Whitney Houston or a Mariah Carey without sounding like a cheap imitation. The problem is, I do think that this particular song is a cheap imitation of a Whitney Houston song and it doesn't do a very good job of hiding it. The title is almost identical to one of her biggest hits and the lyrics even reference one of her other biggest hits like could this be the greatest love of all.

It has the unfortunate side effect of coming off like a song that was written for Whitney Houston but turned down and for launching a brand new artist onto the scene after all this hype and all the the show and everything like that I don't think that's good enough I feel like that's a bit of a slight and I think ultimately it's a relief that both Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis went on to record much better singles that were more suited to their individual styles. Because this sort of winner's song can easily become a definitive full stop on the career of a singing contest winner. Challenging the likes of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey is, for most singers, a recipe for failure. Leona Lewis and Kelly Clarkson just about managed to overcome the odds, but others aren't so lucky, and more on that next Christmas, I suppose. I think Leona's performance here is very good but I think the song itself is quite bland and tepid and I'm not a fan of the song

I'm sorry oh all right then Andy how about you I'm really interested in that point there about um Kelly Clarkson being um the you know the choice of cover because it's really interesting. I forgot that this was Kelly Clarkson cover until earlier today. And I was trying to think, who is the point of comparison? Who they might try and basically own her off? Who they might use as a template to launch her?

And I thought, well, her voice. I'm trying to think of people who've got a similar range. And yeah, Kelly Clarkson. I can see why they went with her. And she's one of the very very few successful long-term successful winners of american idol and here we have leona who is one of the very few relatively long-term successful winners of the x-factor as well which kind of makes you think it's not rocket science really but there is a bit of a cynical thing with this that the x factor has

this thing yeah are you aware of the phenomenon of the chosen one on each series of the x factor that there is a fairly obvious producer's pick who is being shilled to the audience as the person you should vote for oh yeah um and in most years the chosen one doesn't win like Daniel Johnson was one, Cher Lloyd was one, Diana Vickers was one and in most cases they don't win because the audience eventually gets wise to it but Leona

was definitely this year's chosen one and she did win partly because she was by far and I mean by far the best singer on this year's competition it was quite a weak year for the X Factor in terms of vocal ability. But partly because as well, I think they did have a little bit of a ready-made career lined up. I think they wanted a big-voiced solo female to win this series

because a lot of the songs that ended up on Spirit are already sat around having been flogged to other artists, which again, you mentioned, Leslie, that kind of sounds like you know, Leona is singing songs that have been passed over and given to her, and she will eventually end up doing that. Bleeding Love already exists

at this moment, and it's been offered to a few people who've refused it and I do think there is a sense of the corporate machine wearing here that we think, right, we've got some good songs hanging around that we kind of need a solo female singer for. Let's push her as the winner of this series. I'm not saying that's what happened, but it would make sense. And it would kind of jive with the way that Simon Cowell does business. So as with everything X Factor, there is a veneer of

corporate shilling that is inescapable about this completely. I mean, of course it is. It's X Factor. But I don't hold any of that against the owner at all. And I think one big compliment you can pay to her is that I do think she,

in a weird way, kind of saved the X Factor and sort of made it into the phenomenon that it is because... Yeah, I agree. It's easy to look back at Houndstide now

that it was this huge TV phenomenon, but it wasn't at this point it had a pretty successful first couple of series but Steve Brookstein had vanished without trace Shane Ward was doing okay but he'd not yet had another number one single after That's My Goal and he never really did anything much after 2006

and then in series three there was no one else really I mean Ray Quinn was likable he made the final but I definitely don't think he would have had a singing career out of this it's just Leona really and I think if we'd gone three series bear in mind as well the next series after this doesn't produce any stars if we'd gone those first three four series without anyone really making it and really becoming a big star and really demonstrating a special level of vocal ability as well then i think people would have started to realize that the emperor has no clothes and that this show is not producing big stars because out of those first four series leona is the only really

big star that comes out of there but she is one of the very biggest that the x factor ever produces i mean she it's easy to forget because she's kind of sort of finished now but she my word she was big at the time she sang the end credits theme for avatar like she was just yeah absolutely i know no one remembers that song but that was a big gig to get she was really colossally huge at the time. And she deserves it to some extent because she is by far the best singer that the X Factor has had to this point.

And I don't hold anything against her at all. The problem I've always had with Leona is that I think she's a perfect example of everything about the X Factor in that, first of all, this song is both the best and the worst example of the X Factor winner's song because it's the most typical X Factor winner's song.

So it feels the most generic, the most cliche-ridden, the most by-the-numbers. But it's kind of one of the best because Leona does such a good job of singing it. And it's all kind of diminishing returns from this point on. But for Leona, I think she's a really good example of how the X Factor finds singers and gives them a platform, but it does not produce artists. And there is a big, big gap between the two that you find someone who's come from absolutely nowhere,

they've got a nice voice, you give them some songs, they get number one. Great. But then there's no story for them. There's no space for them to occupy. And it tends to be, for whatever the reason, I won't get into this now, but for whatever the reason, the people who actually do have potential to be made into artists tend to not win. They tend to be runners up. People like Olly Mers and JLS and One Direction, who like made

very successful careers, like with big branding behind them and stuff but the winners tend to not get that treatment, they just kind of get given a song and get put out there and my problem with Leona has always been that she's just a very good singer and there's nothing wrong with that she's a lovely singer but she has I just don't think there's any kind of interest there at all

couldn't describe what Leona's brand is other than ballads and I do find her music pretty boring to listen to to be honest and i'll come back to this in 2007 for sure and this is kind of yeah this is that and that she sings it technically very very well she does that ridiculously silly high note at the end but she nails it um and this is just fine it's just fine and that's all i really ever think about Leona's music, to be honest. So, yeah, she is a good example of what it's like to be on The X Factor

and to win it and to come out of it. In that they were very lucky to get someone with such a great singing voice and she got deserved success off the platform that was given to her, but she didn't really get the proper treatment that a pop star should get and she could have been so much more than she was i think to be honest uh but thank god for leona because i don't believe we would have had a series five six seven of x factor if they hadn't found someone at this stage so this song is meh it's very generic very very winner song material but at least we've got a proper star out of X Factor to talk about. So yeah, I'm middling on this. Can you imagine if Ray Quinn would have won?

God bless him, he seems like a perfectly nice guy, good singer, but it would have been like the non-threatening boys competition. There's no reason for it to exist because it's obvious what the outcome's going to be. Sonic, throw in Eog and Quig in 2008 like why not yeah the thing with this i suppose is that we've covered so many

winners songs now that it's going to be hard to find anything new to say about the songs themselves at this point you know they all because they all basically follow the same formula don't they where they all start off slow and vulnerable and quiet, and then they increase in size a little bit. Then they get as big as they can, and they give the singer as good an excuse as possible to belt out whatever it is they're saying. It's a very tried and tested method

that was sort of perfected by every Oscar winner for Best Original Song at some point between 1983 and 1992. And I'm just bored of it now, but we still have a fair few to go. And we're only two years away from Geraldine McQueen's My Winner song, which directly, I think, parodies... I think this was the song they had in mind. Definitely.

Definitely this that they had in mind. Definitely. Definitely this that they had in mind. But what I will say is that because these songs follow such a specific formula, that you can kind of just let them drift past you. You know, I now like to view them as little more, we've kind of discussed this here, actually, they're little more than just vehicles for the person singing them, which means that you can compare your will youngs to your

steve brooksteins and michelle's to shane's etc and i think leona just in terms of pure ability i completely agree with the two of you see she is the most accomplished winner's singer we have had so far like i'm not keen on a moment like this it feels like we're stuck in the bodyguard soundtrack somewhere like we're in whitney's early 90s phase definitely it sort of feels a bit like eurovision actually in the sense that like the x factor whatever whatever the x factor is doing is about 15 years behind the rest of the pop market but what it does have comes from leona she follows all the numerous key changes throughout and feels like she's in control. It doesn't feel like the song is leading her.

It feels like she's very much in tune, very much in step with everything that's happening around her. And I think that the best version of this song, of the numerous versions of it that have been recorded now, is that the best version is the live performance that Leona does just before she's crowned the winner the one afterwards she's a bit too emotional and obviously she's very overwhelmed and it's a big moment and you can forgive a couple of missteps here and there but it does feel like the moment that she does it before she wins feels like a bit of a crowning moment in that particular series of the x factor like you were saying she was the chosen one that season and whatever happens afterwards is you know it's kind of one for the birds we can discuss it i mean we come back to her a couple more times on

this show so you know she made a better go of it than most of the other singers that came out of the x factor but all of the questions that you could have about what happened to Leona afterwards, when it's just about the end of the X Factor in 2006, I think they find the balance just about where it's the end of the show, but the beginning of the winner's career. You know, they've always kind of struggled with that kind of we're leaving one thing behind and moving into another era with that i think they've always kind of struggled with that about trying to find the balance and i think this just about gets there um probably helps that this has already been a winner's song like two or three years before but i feel like they just about avoid mixing up the the themes of this and the formula i feel like they they kind of sorted it out for

leona to take advantage because like you were saying it the x factor was a big deal in 2004 and 2005 but by 2006 it felt like it was on the bit of a crest of a wave and it just needed you know it's like a mutually beneficial thing with leona where it was like leona definitely benefited from being on the x factor of course but the x factor benefited from having leona win the competition like you were saying if it was if it was lovely ray quinn uh it may not have had the same because then after three years you get well why are no women winning it and why is it just like you say non-threatening boys winning it where are they 18 months later why are they and so then all these questions come in whereas with leona it's like oh bonafide star you

know straight away and it's like we've got somebody else winning it a bit different you know she's different kind of actor usual winners she's very good everybody likes her etc etc there's no doubt on the night actually about who's gonna win because Leona's league's better than Lovely Ray. The entire thing does feel a bit like a victory lap in a very anticlimactic way. And I think that the thing with a moment like this is that it's just kind of like the cherry on the top because when they do the performances,

it's like Ray's singing his heart out and you're just sort of looking at him going, there is no chance there is just no chance like and this isn't even said with hindsight it's like everybody knew like everybody was looking at it and watching it sort of like as soon as leona hits that moment it hits that hits that high note at the end of her penultimate performance of the song before the votes votes close, you're like, and there you go, she's won it. Like, you know, she was already being pushed forward as the winner, and then she really delivered on the narrative that was being built around her. It's better than the same old guff that we're going to have to deal with

over the next few years around Christmas with the X Factor. It's fine, this. I think that it's maybe made slightly more interesting, because, because like it doesn't do the key change at the end, it kind of has already done a couple and so by the time you get another key change it's like well we're already kind of there and so it's not as uninvited or as uncomfortable. So yeah, it's fine. I will never, never listen to this again out of choice. I've been looking ahead to it at the end of the year thinking, oh, it's really going to drag the year's average down this, isn't it?

In terms of like, you know, how I feel about the year. I wish that we had like, you know, just better selections for Christmas number ones. But this is what the X Factor did to the chart, isn't it? So, Andyy speaking of the average for the year the bottom five i think this is the moment that everybody looks forward to where we find out at the end of the year the five songs that we hated the most and the 10 songs that we loved the most they probably look forward to the top 10 more than the bottom five but uh yes so a few in this that are very very obvious, one or two that might be a bit harsh, only one

really and I think our 5th worst song of the year is potentially a bit harsh on an X Factor theme, it is It's Chico Time by Chico which we gave an average score of 4.5 I think that's a bit harsh our 4th worst song of the year with an average score of 4.5. I think that's a bit harsh. Our fourth worst song of the year

with an average score of 4.2. It's Westlife with The Rose, completing what must surely be pretty much an annual event so far in them appearing in our bottom five. So our bottom three of the year, in third place with an average score of 3.8 and put in the pie hole by me,

it is Nasty Girl by The Notorious B.I.G. with all sorts score of 3.8 and put in the pie hole by me it is nasty girl by the notorious big all sorts of other people yeah Wow Wow biggie below Westlife never thought I'd see the day well even though even further below that is Eminem because smack that by acorn and Eminem is our second worst song of the year an average score score of 3.7, put in the piehole by myself and Lizzy, but not you Rob. But there is something that Rob, along with both of us, put in the piehole, all three of us this year, with an average score of 1.7. It is our worst song of 2006, and in fact, the lowest score any song has ever received on Hits 21.

So not just the worst song of 2006, but our choice for worst number one of the century so far is I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker by Sandy Tom. That is brutal. Wow. Yeah. I have a feeling it may hold onto its title for the worst number one of the noughties but it is going to have its, I think it will be bunked up a couple

of places for worst number one of the century I think there will be a few strong I would agree, strong contenders for that dubious crowd coming up in the 2010s Oh wow, oh Sandy Ah well, just smile Sandy Andy so, the top ten of the year Oh, wow. Yes. Oh, Sandy. Ah, well, just smile, Sandy.

Andy, so the top 10 of the year. Let's brighten it up before we send everybody away and then tell them to come back for 2007. So start us off. What's the number 10? What's the number 10? I'm going to tell you. It's a really strong top 10 this year. In a really pleasant bit of stats for you,

10 songs were vaulted by at least one of us this year. And it's the top 10. It aligns perfectly. Isn't that nice? Nice. Ah, symmetry. Just lovely. So our 10th highest rated song of the year with an average score of 7.2,

vaulted by Rob, it is patience by take that oh the boys that's our level i mean that's number 10 like that's a good one for number 10 in ninth place again vaulted by rob but not by me and lizzie with an average score of 7.5 it is man eater by nelly fatado okay very strong In eighth place, with an average score of 7.8 and put in the vault by Lizzie, it is Sorry by Madonna. Forgot we even called it that, to be honest. It's been a long year.

In seventh place, vaulted by myself and Rob, with an average score of 8.2, it is No Tomorrow by Orson. Oh, I'm glad score of 8.2. It is No Tomorrow by Orson. Aww. I'm glad they got in. Yeah. And in 6th place, bolted by all three of us, but only making it into 6th place with an

average score of 8.8. Again, not even making the top 5. 8.8. It's Smile by Lily Allen. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. God wow This is some year 2006 is a great year Such a good average In 5th place

Vaulted by all three of us With an average score of 9 It's When the Sun Goes Down by Arctic Monkeys Oh wow Right back to the start of the year Yeah In 4th place Vaulted by all three of us With an average score of 9.2 Right back to the start of the year. In fourth place,

voted by all three of us with an average score of 9.2, it is Stargirl by McFly. Oh, I expected that to be a little bit higher. Me too. Interesting. So, this top three. In third place, with an average score of 9.2,

voted by myself and Rob, it's Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Top three is fine by me. With the competition this year to get into the top three, that's pretty high. In second place, voted by all three of us, with an average score of 9.3, it is I Don't Feel Like Dancing by Scissor Sisters.

Which means... Which means, so, can we please bring on Arctic Monkeys to hand over the trophy from last year? Hello, Alex. This rock and roll thing, eh? It's been a good year, hasn't it? Yes, so, handing over the trophy to this year's winner with an average score of 9.5,

voted by all three of us it is Crazy by Niles Barker it couldn't really have been anything else could it like number one for the longest time in the year okay yeah I really thought it was going to be either Scissor Sisters

or My Chem I really thought it was going to be one of the two because that's probably my bias but I thought it was going to be either Scissor Sisters or Mike M. I really thought it was going to be one of the two, because that's probably my bias, but I thought it was going to be one of the two, with an outside chance that it might be Stargirl. I didn't see Crazy coming at all, to be honest. So, yeah. I'd make a case for Crazy that it is both a great song and a landmark moment for the charts.

So the trophy gets handed over to Niles Barkley. Looking ahead to 2007, I think we're in for a hell of a race, to be honest. I think there's no clear winner, but we'll see. We'll see. But yes, well done to Niles Barkley. They win the year of 2006, beating out some incredible competition. I agree with Rob that this has been an absolutely amazing year, especially that top five, just extraordinary, really.

So, yes, a huge achievement there. Well done. Are the girls going to get it back next year? Like, it was a clean run, and then we just had the boys breaking up the party. So can the girls get it back next year? That's what we'll find out. I think they've got a chance.

Not every girl, but I think there are some girls with a chance next year we'll see i don't know but my gut says maybe yeah well thank you all very much for listening um alongside this christmas episode there's that little bonus episode of moments of truth which is the sort of hits 21 spin-off show i'm borrowing the main feed for that will be out around the same time as this episode. It's just where I look at hip hop and you'll get the whole gist of it when you listen to it for five minutes. I don't need to tell you much more. My music's playing you out, as I promised. And we will see you in 2007.

2007. Cannot believe we're already there, we're sort of almost a third of the way up to the present day which is I feel like we're getting there a lot faster than I thought, so we will see you in 2007, thank you for listening

to us in 2006 and we'll see you soon bye bye Bye-bye. Thank you.