I've been a member of this forum for over two years, yet I have never really participated in the year-end countdowns (either making my own or supporting others). 2010 seemed like an appropriate year to start new traditions, thus I will be offering my own humble countdown of some of my favorite singles during the past year.
As an enthusiast of various genres of dance music, I have thoroughly enjoyed pop music's acclamation of all things electronic over the past couple years (and particularly in 2010). It's a direction I have been dying for the pop music scene (especially in America) to take for years. I have also had the pleasure of cheering on America's little princess, Ke$ha, as 2010 brought her countless hits and chart domination. Brilliant singles from Rated R that carried over into 2010 helped override some of the missteps made by camp Rihanna with the release of Loud. And rumblings Queen Britney's return in 2011 have made the past few months of 2010 blissful.
In compiling my chart I used to following guidelines:
Creating a countdown of every song I have enjoyed over the past year seemed incredibly daunting, thus I have opted to include only songs that were released as singles in 2010. I decided not to include songs that were released as singles in 2009 yet had impact or were still popular in 2010, making certain favorites like Britney's "3" ineligible to chart. Songs listed here vary in release date from early January to the present, and in some instances tracks that appeared on albums released in 2009 were eligible for consideration because they were released as singles in 2010.
But before we get into the Top 50, let's have a look at the could-a-should-a-would-as, the didn't have chances, the flops and the lesser girls who love to swim in the boiling waters of the Bubbling Under chart.
Bubbling Under Chart
65. Sophie Ellis-Bextor Bittersweet
(Enjoy this slideshow cause I can't find the video.)
I should love every single thing about this track, but for some reason I don't and I can't really explain why. It's perfectly tailored to my musical tastes, and with Sophie on vocals I should be in heaven, but if I'm truthful Sophie started losing me sometime around Trip the Light Fantastic. I'll blame my sudden lack of interest in the sudden appearance of that hideous heart tattoo on her arm. Hate that ****. (She's still probably one of the prettiest women in the business, though.) Anyway, the best bit of this track is the synth line that plays during the choruses that's reminiscent of the synth line from the Eurythmic's "Sweet Dreams" and countless other songs. I listened to the song a fair bit for that synth alone.
64. Lolene Rich (Fake it Til You Make It)
I have a feeling Lolene will be faking it for the rest of her life. “Rich (Fake It Til You Make It)” isn’t particularly good, the production is cheap and the content campy, but that’s also what makes it semi-amazing. It’s an entire song about pretending to be more fabulous than you actually are, and it’s appropriately riddled with elements that try to be more fabulous than they actually are. Lolene’s not holding back. She’s serving us second-rate/plastic-sounding synths and every possible reference to luxury goods she could think of in one ultimately forgettable pop track and I love it, well, sorta… it is only on the Bubbling Under chart after all.
63. Matisse Better Than Her
(This video features a version with Akon. I'm not here for that. Should I be here for any of it?)
From one cheap sounding song to another, here’s Paris Hilton’s twin sister to deliver us the #63 Bubbling Under smash, "Better Than Her". And when I say twin I mean it, though Matisse doesn’t have such a bizarre nose or a wonky eye and her voice is just slightly better. Still, I’m willing to place money on the fact that this girl slithered out of Kathy Hilton’s vagina just seconds after Paris, but little Matisse was sent on her merry way because she was prettier than Mom, sister Paris and sister Nicky, and thus would have overshadowed them all. Just think of the Stars are Blind kind of success this song could have had with a little Hilton money thrown behind it. Anyway, this song sucks, but was sorta catchy and fun to listen to for a few days in February/March of 2010.
62. Cody Simpson iYiYi (feat. Flo Rida)
For about a week during the early summer, every minute, every hour, every second of the day, iYiYi was listening to this song from Australia’s answer to Justin Bieber. The Code-ster (Cody seems too mature) had a bad case of the missin’ yous, and it seemed that with his pre-pubescent charm he would be able to attach himself to a strain of the Beiber Fever that has been sweeping the globe and ride it to at least Nickelodeon original series guest spot level fame, but it wasn’t to be. The song flopped when it was revealed that Cody, just freshly weaned off that nasty breastfeeding habit, wrote the song about missing his mom’s ****.
61. Shontelle Impossible
I wouldn’t have pegged “Impossible” to become a moderately successfully charting song, but Shontelle must have more Shontelligence than I do, because she rode this mediocre song to a decently mediocre peak on both the Billboard Hot 100 and my own Best of 2010 Bubbling Under chart. I successfully resisted it for several months, but I have this habit of just going on iTunes and buying songs whether or not I really like them just for the sake of spending money and having a new song. A few listens in I decided that I “liked” the song, though I also realized that my affections would never become anything greater. “Impossible” and Patrick would never have any sort of romance. So why do I like this? I suppose her voice is quite nice on this track, and I suspect that I like the fact that the word impossible becomes an 8 syllable word when she sings it, but I can’t be certain.
60. Starshell Superluva
(There's nothing like a green screen.)
I don’t know a damn thing about this chick, other than the fact that she could potentially be my superluva and her name, Starshell, sounds a bit like a character from a sci-fi movie that spends her days as an intergalactic warrior and her nights wearing Lucite heels and dancing on a pole. Fernando Garibay does some decent production work on this track, nothing outstanding, but enough to earn Starshell a spot on this list.
59. M.I.A. XXXO
I hate M.I.A. with every fiber of my being. It saddens me that I must award her with the #60 spot, though I am reassuring myself that it is okay to do so because I don’t actually love anything she contributes to the track in terms of vocals. I’m here purely for the production.
58. Jason DeRulo Ridin’ Solo
This song was much better in its demo form when it included a sample of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” (this perhaps might have been a fan creation and not the demo at all, I’m not certain), and sans this sample the track sort of underwhelms. I have nothing interesting to say about this one. It was a fairly popular song of 2010 and I found it fairly enjoyable when it would pop up on my iPod from time to time.
57. Tinie Tempah Pass Out
The production on this track is really outstanding and that’s ultimately the main reason it managed to bubble under my favorite hits of the year. The rapping itself I’m sure is fine, but as I am not a connoisseur of the genre I don’t feel qualified to comment on it very much. Good stuff, all around. I hope he’s upset about his low placement. I’d hate to face the wrath of his tiny temper (that name is just the stupidest ****).
56. Cascada Pyromania
I really like the direction Cascada have taken their music in the past couple years. It’s completely derivative of the sounds others are doing, yet it maintains some of the cheapness and cheesiness that make Cascada fun. The old commercial euro-trance sounds of their earlier hits like Every Time We Touch must have been produced with the idea in mind that it would soon become appropriate for 4 year olds to rave, because truthfully, I think if anyone over the age of 15 were to hear a song like that in a club setting they’d probably laugh and promptly evacuate the dancefloor, so to speak. This new RedOne-lite sound that they’ve been working on is the same sort of idea; take the professional sound of a production that RedOne would create for Gaga and make it kid approved by cheapening it up a bit with synths and percussion work that imitates but doesn’t quite replicate in a mature way. But I like it, it’s fun.
55. Charice Pyramid (feat. Iyaz)
I wanted to like this song more than I do. I want to like Charice more than I do. For every insistence made by Oprah or insert media outlet here that she is phenomenally talented, there’s further evidence to support the fact that she’s also phenomenally underwhelming. The bad (poor material) cancels out the good (talent). I gave this track ample opportunity. I tried to ***** it and get excited for her album, but it just wasn’t to be. This sounds a bit like a Jordin Sparks leftover from her first album, and as much as I enjoyed No Air when it came out, it doesn’t taste quite as good when reheated and served to me in 2010. Still, the voice is lovely and the sentiment sweet, which is enough for me to mildly enjoy this track and award it a spot on the Bubbling Under chart.
54. Sky Ferreira Obsession
With a title like Obsession, I was certainly expecting to be obsessed with this track, and to be fair, in snippets and clips I was, but as a whole, the track (though enjoyable) was sort of forgettable. I’ll blame it on the fact that Ryan Tedder and that DJ Frank E dude were responsible for producing this, unlike her brilliant UK single “One”, which was produced by musical masterminds Bloodshy & Avant. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why this track is appearing so low, because I love “One” so much more. Where will “One” debut? Stay tuned!
53. Jessie J Do It Like a Dude
I was ready to close the door on new music in 2010, but then this little gem appeared on iTunes and managed to beat out a stacked field of competitors and land in the #53 spot on my Bubbling Under chart. How was this track able to do this?
• Jessie J has a sort of bizarre accent that suggests she’s not from America.
• Mother****er is one of my favorite words. Jessie J uses it in her song.
• The whole thing sounds sort of vaguely Rihanna-esque.
If you are an artist and you can do even one of those 3 things with your song you can guarantee that I’ll give it a listen. Had this song been released in 2011 she would have had a shot to chart higher, but I haven’t had enough time to fall in love.
52. Kelly Rowland Rose Colored Glasses
I often wonder if Kelly Rowland wears rose colored glasses. She’s been relegated to a life working long hard hours in Beyonce’s wig crypt and it’s a well known fact that Matthew stole all of her of Destiny’s Child earnings (her cut was something like $10,000) to pay off loud-mouth pregnant bitches and launch the career of Solange Knowles. Most people in her situation would have offed themselves, but not Kelly Rose-Colored-Glasses-Wearing Rowland. Kelly never loses hope. She’s always putting out new music for American consumers to ignore and praying that David Guetta will ring her pay-as-you-go cell phone asking her to record another club smash. Her dedication earns her the #52 spot on my Bubbling Under chart, with her good but overlooked single “Rose Colored Glasses”.
51. Miley Cyrus Can’t Be Tamed
This track is big, thumping, synthy and stupid. I love it! But only enough for it to peak at the top of my Bubbling Under chart. The dance pop direction is exactly where I want the Avis Cyrus to migrate, but if she’s so hell bent on proving her can’t be tamed status and cutting ties with the all-powerful Mouse she should also cut ties with the Rock Mafia production team. They have such an inherently juvenile sound to their productions. I’m left wondering what this song could have been in more capable hands.
Lolene, her album is sick. Agree on your write-up with "Rich", not good, but good enough. Matisse Cody write-up Toooo much. But same here, this was my **** in July. Mainly because of his huge, weird teeth in the video. "SuperLuva", prefer the alleged GaGa demo >>> XXXO, no sir! Re-do this list and put it in. "Ridin' Solo" >> Sky…hmm she's my favorite newbie this upcoming year, and I have a similar impression on it.
MileyBiiiirddd!! I admit, I love this track. *plays*
Cody write-up 
Toooo much. But same here, this was my **** in July. Mainly because of his huge, weird teeth in the video. "SuperLuva", prefer the alleged GaGa demo >>> XXXO, no sir! Re-do this list and put it in. 
"Ridin' Solo" >> Sky…hmm she's my favorite newbie this upcoming year, and I have a similar impression on it.
, I love it. 
Sky 
