My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #1 Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe

Oh boy, was I so glad to have discovered this song two months before it exploded here in Manila - where everyone made their own parodies of the song!  I think I first heard the song the first week of March when all the concerts were in full swing here in Manila!  I guess the song stuck because it just stood out from all the other songs that I was listening too at that time!  Around this time, mellow music was ruling my personal countdown - with Ed Sheeran's Lego House, Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know and Evanescence's Swimming Home, my playlist favorites and add to that the playlists of all the artists who were coming in!

Then this bubbly song came!  I was so hooked on it I did my own parodies of it in the privacy of my own room!  I even used it as the first song during the FABE fashion show last March and well, there was still no reaction even from the young models.  It was THAT new to them!!

Of course, about a month later, everyone's FB and Twitter were just raving about the song.  Thank God I discovered it much earlier, otherwise, I hate listening to 'gasgas' songs - and this one - like Psy's Gangnam Style - are the two super gasgas songs of 2012.  The only reason I love them to bits is that I discovered them way before the masses did - and that made all the difference.

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #2 Psy - Gangnam Style

2012 is one of the rare years where my year-end list exactly matches most of the major music publications including the revered Billboard magazine.  I guess my nose was just at the right time and at the right place when these megahits came out of the woodwork.

I know many of you are already sick of Psy's Gangnam Style.  I know I am but I still remember when I first heard of the song.  It was actually in Nelly Furtado's concert here in Manila - and I remember that only a few in the audience actually knew the song!  I too wasn't too familiar with it, at that time.

The song, at that time, was still a hit only in Korea (I think it was on its fourth week at #1), and I remember, there were "only" 50 million hits in Youtube.  And I remembered, OMG, that's huge, because this is not a song in English, and South Korea's population is well, only around 50 million too!  So for it to achieve that many hits, is impressive.

Of course, six months later, it became the first song to breach 1 billion views!!  Impressive!

Like billions around the world, the first time I saw the video, I just couldn't resist it.  It was funny, and the horse steps were just perfect for the song!  And to think, at that time too, I just opened my countdown to Korean songs, so in a way, I was still a "baby" observer of Korean music.  But this song, just made me embrace Korean music more.  Towards the end of 2012, it was not unusual to have six Korean songs in my weekly Top 40 countdown!!  In any given year, 40 English songs would've been the norm.  Not in 2012.

The song ends as my #2 favorite song of 2012.  It's pure pop after all!   

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #3 Beyonce - Love On Top

This song arrives so high on my year-end list, it's kind of an anomaly since it did not reach #1 in my personal countdown this year, but well, last year, in 2011, during the last four weeks of that year.  However, it did not place very high in last year's year-end countdown because it was a relatively new #1 song last year.  

However, due to its inclusion in one of the Body Jam releases this year, the song gained traction and rebounded at #2 the week the new Body Jam was released - and it's my third favorite song of 2012.  It's just sad that none of Beyonce's singles from 4 became monster hits.  In my book three of the songs from that album are certified #1's, including I Miss You and End of Time.

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #4 Gotye ft. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know

Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know is probably the most unlikely hit of 2012.  It's one of those songs that just grows on you as you listen to it more.  It definitely did, on my part!  It's also one of the only three songs this year, in my personal countdown that stayed at #1 for two weeks!  

The other two were Ed Sheeran's Lego House and Evanescence's Swimming Home.  All the other songs only stayed at the top for a week.

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #5 Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together @taylorswift13 #TaylorSwift @VeryGrumpyCat

I was definitely one of the few adults I knew who loved this song, and before the Grammy voters named it as one of the Record of the Year nominees for next year's awards, I had to keep that love for this song a secret - since most of those who loved it were young people who were so into Taylor - and not adults over 40!

I just love how Taylor composed this song!  I guess it caught on so quickly because high school kids knew it was written for them - and well, their puppy loves, or first loves or whatever. Don't you just love rolling "never, ever, ever!" on your mouth!

This song confirms though what Harry Styles of One Direction has to watch out for.  As I read on of today's tweets, the song's going to be called "I Went In the Wrong Direction".

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #6 Ed Sheeran - Lego House @edsheeran

Love songs make a strong comeback in 2012 and the second of them is my #6 most favorite song for 2012.  It's from English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, whose Lego House is definitely one of the most heartbreaking songs of the year.  "And out of all these things I've done, I think I love you better now" - how does that feel when it hits you in the head and in the heart!

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #7 Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up @jason_mraz

Just hand it to Jason Mraz to craft such beautiful love songs like I Won't Give Up.  Pity I wasn't able to watch his concert here in Manila a year ago.  I saw in Youtube that he sang this song!  At that time, it was just a song in his album and it wasn't released yet.

The song is my #7 most favorite song of 2012.

 

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #8 Azealia Banks - 212 @AZEALIABANKS #Top10FavRappers

I admit it took some time for me to really get into this song.  I usually go for more pop stuff and when this song broke out, I think Carly Rae Jepsen was ruling the airwaves.  However, the more I listened to it, the more I was hypnotized by its driving funky beat - and don't you just love the way Azealia raps and licks her lips as well - so darn nawty, gurl!!

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: #9 Loreen - Euphoria @LOREEN_TALHAOUI #eurovision

Loreen of Sweden won this year's Eurovision Song of the Year and it's my #9 most favorite track of the year.  This song was a huge favorite of mine middle of this year, I'd be dancing to it in my room every night after I got home from the gym!  "We're goin' u-u-u-upp!!"

 

My Ten Favorite Songs of 2012: 10. Hello - Cast of The Book of Mormon @BookofMormonBWY #TheBookofMormon

This year, I was lucky enough to be able to watch the Tony Awards live telecast - and I was really glad I did!  I was blown away by the opening number done by the cast of The Book of Mormon.  Their song, 'Hello' is my #10 favorite song of 2012.

The Book of Mormon is definitely the first show I will watch if I do get the chance to visit New York in the future!