Top 50 Songs of 2010

2010 has been officially over for about 12 hours, so let's take a quick look back at the hottest singles of the past year.

Not Eligible: Only actual singles are considered for this list. This means that songs such as Rihanna's 'Man Down' and 'Fading,' Robyn's 'U Should Know Better,' Joe McElderry's 'If You Love Me' and Cheryl Cole's 'Waiting,' which otherwise would have made the list, are disqualified. Also, my eligibility dates run from December of '09 to November of '10. This is only because sometimes it takes me awhile to warm up to a song and I feel like it's unfair that a song 2 weeks old should compete with one I've had 4 months to spend pondering. So, this rule disqualifies Joe McElderry's 'Someone Wake Me Up' and Frankmusik's 'The Fear Inside,' both of which should make a strong showing on next year's list.

10 Runner-ups: Alexandra Burke 'The Silence' | Alex Gaudino 'I'm In Love (I Wanna Do It)' | Drake 'Find Your Love' | David Archuleta 'Something 'Bout Love' | Alphabeat 'Heat Wave' | Rihanna 'Rude Boy' | Kate Nash 'Do-Wah-Doo' | Marina & The Diamonds 'Shampain' | Kelis 'Scream' | Alex Gardner 'I'm Not Mad'

50. Sophie Ellis-Bextor 'Bittersweet'
49. Rihanna 'Only Girl (In the World)'
48. Cee-Lo Green 'Fuck You'
47. Kelis 'Acapella'
46. Kelly Rowland 'Commander'
45. Ed Drewett 'Champagne Lemonade'
44. Nelly 'Just a Dream'
Nelly hasn't been relevant in ages, but he made a big comeback with this unexpected slow jam much in the vein of his earlier 'Over and Over.'
43. Diana Vickers 'My Wicked Heart'
Vickers at her most stylized. Amazing stuff if you can get past it.
42. 3OH!3 featuring Katy Perry 'Starstrukk'
41. Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris 'Baby'
Silly fluff, but done in such a way that it actually kinda becomes sweet. A nice flashback to the days of junior high relationships.

40. Kris Allen 'Alright With Me'
39. Rihanna 'Rockstar 101'
38. Janelle Monáe featuring Big Boi 'Tightrope'
37. Katy B 'Katy on a Mission'
I'm not exactly sure what Katy B is singing about, but this song just feels right nonetheless. And it's surprisingly catchy!
36. The Hoosiers 'Choices'
35. Grum 'Can't Shake This Feeling'
34. Ke$ha 'Your Love Is My Drug'
33. Freemasons featuring Wynter Gordon 'Believer'
A bit of a late entrant to this list. I only just discovered this song's brilliance about a month ago and I haven't been able to stop listening since. Wynter Gordon is a true talent on the rise.
32. Lady GaGa 'Alejandro'
31. Marina & the Diamonds 'Oh No!'

30. Darin 'Lovekiller'
29. Selena Gomez & The Scene 'Naturally'
28. The Pretty Reckless 'Make Me Wanna Die'
Taylor Momsen becomes the second Gossip Girl star with a promising music career. Who'd have guessed that back in 2007?
27. Sky Ferreira 'One'
26. Sabrina Washington 'OMG'
Obviously, the better of the two singles titled 'OMG' this year. Now if only people would actually listen to this one.
25. Hurts 'Wonderful Life'
24. Lady GaGa featuring Beyoncé 'Telephone'
23. Miley Cyrus 'Can't Be Tamed'
22. Leighton Meester 'Your Love's a Drug'
21. Mark Ronson & The Business Int'l featuring Q-Tip and MNDR 'Bang Bang Bang'

20. Nicki Minaj 'Your Love'
Ingenious sample, brilliant rap, heartbreaking finale. The moment Nicki Minaj really clicked for me.
19. Gabriella Cilmi 'Hearts Don't Lie'
18. Justin Bieber 'Somebody to Love'
17. Joe McElderry 'Ambitions'
16. Alexandra Burke 'Start Without You'
15. Selena Gomez & The Scene 'A Year Without Rain'
Selena (& The Scene) risks alienating the Disney crowd with this sensual song of romantic longing. The lyrics make it sound like kids' stuff, but her delivery makes 'A Year Without Rain' one of the most tender love songs of the year.
14. Alexandra Burke featuring Pitbull 'All Night Long'
Alexandra Gurl takes it to the club with this massive, trance-inducing pop song.
13. Alphabeat 'DJ (I Could Be Dancing)'
12. Diana Vickers 'Once'
11. The Saturdays 'Higher'
Welcome back, girls! After the awfulness that was their Wordshaker album, The Saturdays returned to their former glory with this infectious jam.

10. Miley Cyrus 'Who Owns My Heart'

After flirting with the Top 10 in both 2008's and 2009's year end list, Miley finally snuck in this year with her most mature single to date. 'Who Owns My Heart' unfortunately went nowhere on the charts, but it's proof that if Miley continues down the pop music path, she has a bright future ahead of her.

09. Katy Perry 'Teenage Dream'

Speaking of maturity, Katy Perry, the one-time singer of such immature dreck as 'Ur So Gay' and 'I Kissed a Girl,' grew up before our eyes with this ode to young love. Perry's fragile upper register adds a touch of beauty and tenderness that I think many covers of the song (including the Darren Criss one, although I believe it's brilliant in its own way) truly lack.

08. Rihanna featuring Jeezy 'Hard'

This is still the most brilliant dissection of a Rihanna song I've ever read and made me see 'Hard' in a whole new light. I've really grown to appreciate Rihanna's follow-up Loud in the past month, but I don't think anything will ever top her Rated R reign.

07. Darin 'You're Out of My Life'

Surprising, touching, tender, sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs worthy yet haunting and dark, Darin's Eurovision hopeful revealed that he is the next major pop artist to incorporate violence and death into his usual music.

06. Kylie Minogue 'Get Outta My Way'

Aphrodite was a disappointment, but 'Get Outta My Way' showed Kylie at her feisty, fearless, Girl Power best.

05. Robyn 'Dancing on My Own'
Robyn at her best, dancing through the heartbreak.

04. Selena Gomez & The Scene 'Round & Round'

This past July, I had a rough weekend. Some guy I was into was blatantly ignoring me and my roommates were gone for the weekend and had left a sink full of nasty dishes that could not wait until they came back to be washed. So I trudged upstairs, already in a pissy mood and turned on this song, which I had just downloaded, while I started washing the dishes. 'Round & Round' was on repeat and about 10 minutes in, I was just shouting the damn lyrics, eager to get rid of all my negative feelings. Selena (& The Scene) definitely helped me get through that rough night with this clever gem of a song.

03. M.I.A. 'XXXO'

Aside from 'Born Free,' the lone standout from M.I.A.'s horrid mess of an album was this song, her most commercial sounding to date. 'XXXO' is brilliant in its dissection of how pop culture wants celebrities to be pigeonholed into certain "types" and in its ability to be catchy at the same time. Bonus points for including a lyric about Quentin Tarantino.

02. Janelle Monáe 'Cold War'

'Tightrope' was Monáe's breakthrough, but 'Cold War' was the song I came to realize over time was the even more brilliant of the two. I have a hard time describing why I love this song so much. Something about it, whether it's the lyrics, the music or Monáe's vocals, connects with me on a deeper level than a vast majority of songs I've ever heard. Her album was a bit hit or miss for me, even though I appreciate what she was going for, but if she keeps on cranking out songs like this one, Monáe will continue to be on my good side.

01. Gabriella Cilmi 'On a Mission'

From the moment I first heard Cilmi's battle axe of a single very early this year, I knew that it would be one I wouldn't soon forget. But who would have guessed that 'On a Mission' would have hung on to the top spot, without any real competition, for the entire year? I sure didn't. But that goes to show you just how powerful and memorable of a song 'On a Mission' is. It became my battle cry during certain moments of the year, making me feel empowered when other media just wasn't cutting it. And during other times of the year, I was simply amazed by the lyrics ("I never miss a trick just like a magician"), Cilmi's delivery, the out-of-this-world beat and that brilliant Middle fucking 8 which contains as much brilliance in 20 seconds that many entire albums couldn't manage this year. A true "moment" for pop music and a song that I hope many will discover (or re-discover) in the future.