Last week, Taylor Swift made history on Billboard's 'Hot 100' chart. Swift had all of the top ten songs on that chart. This concurrently made it the first time in the chart's history that there were no male artists in the top ten. There had been multiple instances where there were no female artists in the top ten. These are just two of the records that had been broken this year. In fact, there were quite a few records that were broken this year. Here are just two noteworthy example, before I get into the really big ones. Disney's "We Don't Talk about Bruno" from the Encanto soundtrack became the first song from one of their animated films to hit number one. It is also the number one song with the most credited performers. (Other songs, most notably "We Are the World," have more performers, but not all of the artist's names were featured.) "Keep Running up That Hill (A Deal with God)" by Kate Bush made it to the top three, about forty years after it first debuted. The breaks a record for the longest period a song has ever taken to reach a peak position after its original debut, at least for a non-holiday recording. Some Christmas songs could break that record, particularly Brenda Lee and "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree," which could happen as soon as this year if it reaches number one past Mariah Carey. However, two of the biggest singles of the year, which I feel are the only songs vying for Billboard's number song of the year, have some of the biggest records themselves. First, there is "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals. It holds the record for the longest time to reach number one during its original charting period, fifty-nine weeks. Some Christmas songs, such as "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey, have taken longer, but took multiple charting periods to do so. "Heat Waves" also now holds the record for most consecutive weeks on the chart, with over ninety. This occurred just a year after The Weeknd achieved the record with "Blinding Lights." In fact, the two songs were on the chart at the same time for many weeks. Another minor achievement by "Heat Waves" is that it went to number one after debuting at number one hundred on the chart. Not that rare, as another song just this year, "Bad Habit" by Steve Lacy, also achieved this milestone. On the other hand, "As It Was" by Harry Styles, achieved its own record by going to the number one spot five times in one year. Whenever a new song debuted at the top or passed Styles, "As It Was" would only drop a spot or two, and then climb back up to the top. It was only Taylor Swift who would end the yo-yoing. For now, at least. With only a few weeks left in the charting year, I doubt the song could do much more climbing, not with holiday music starting up. One of these two songs will probably be the number one song of the year, depending on which criteria is weighed more heavily. "Heat Waves" has quantity on its side. It has been on the chart the entire year, giving it multiple points week after week. "As It Was" has quality, though. After it bumped "Heat Waves" out of the top spot, it stayed in the top three, giving it higher point totals per week. Until I start doing my won calculations next month, I wouldn't fathom a guess at which one will be the overall winner. Last year, I guessed rightly the "Levitating" by Dua Lipa would be number one, before I started tallying. My other guesses were way off, though. This year, I'm pretty sure I've got the right final two. What I won't be trying to guess is next week's Grammy nominations. Those are going to be crazy again, and only one of my final two is fully eligible for awards.
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