Who's Number One in 2021

     In about two weeks, I will be doing my annual tabulations on what the number one song of the year will be.  Last year, I did my first ever spreadsheet to help me out.  This year, I might go back to pencil and paper, and my calculator.  Doing things the old-fashioned way took about two hours at most.  The spreadsheet took al least twice that amount of time spread over two days.  Now, that might be because I had never made a spreadsheet before, but I could be wrong.  Anyway, we'll see what will turn up. I have narrowed down my choices of what the top song will be to three potential songs.  These estimates are very loose, so I wouldn't put too much credit in with them.  However, I am confident that the winner will be one of these three songs.  First off is "Butter" by BTS.  It spend two months at number one, but it also debuted at that spot.  The song fell out of the top ten relatively fast after that run, so it didn't get to rack up extra points for longevity.  Second is "driver's license" by Olivia Rodrigo.  It also debuted high and spent about two months at the top.  It fell out of the top ten much more slowly, so it got to rack up some nice bonuses. It's main downside was that her follow ups quickly drowned out the original, pushing it down faster, but not entirely out.  The final nominee is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa, with or without Da'Baby.  That is the main detraction for the song, as controversy surrounded the rapper, possibly causing the remix of the song from reaching number one.  The song was still allowed to chart, as the original album version, so the song stayed on the charts.  And stay it did.  It has been charting for over a year now, pretty much the only song this year that has stayed in the top ten for almost all of this time.  While it only peaked at number two, it has been hanging around the top ten for ten months!  In fact, it outlasted its two follow-up singles, "Cool" and "Love Again."  Only her duet with Elton John, "Cold Heart," has been able to finally overtake it, and that is just barely as "Levitating" finally seems to be leaving the top ten.  With Christmas songs starting to chart, I'm not sure what will happen next, but the last few weeks of the year chart with the following year. There is a traditional of songs that haven't reached number one to wind up as the number one song of the year.  It isn't often, but it has occurred.  Chart longevity can beat out long stretches at number one, but I have a feeling this year could be close.  I'll post my final calculations, and the actual results, next month.  See me then.