Released: April UK chart peak: #1
Some sniped that he sacrificed his grime roots for chart success, but there's no denying that Tinchy makes a smashing popstar. The biggest of his four hits, 'Number 1' was a winning combination of Euro synths, easy rhymes and a generous helping of Dappy! [DB]
Released: October UK chart peak: #1
Listen 1: "Thank
Released: November UK chart peak: #1
On which the popstar of the year didn't so much walk a fine line between ridiculous and brilliant as dance all over it chanting "Nernernernerner, look what I can do!" You know, we still haven't quite managed to memorise that "Rara-ah-ah-ah" vocal hook... [NL]
Released: November UK chart peak: #2
Beginning with an eerie guitar riff and ending with a gunshot, and packing more nervous energy than an NHS Stop Smoking meeting into the middle, 'Russian Roulette' was 2009's most startling comeback track. "Little Miss Sunshine"? Not any more. [NL]
Released: April UK chart peak: #36
Natasha Khan scored her first radio hit with this ethereal pop beauty, which floated into our minds like a wonderful half-remembered dream. Would you believe us if we told you it was about the boy from Karate Kid? Well, at least partly. [MN]
Released: July UK chart peak: #4
After her club-friendly assault on the charts with 'Just Dance' and 'Poker Face', GaGa showed she was no one-trick pony with this smart, zeitgeisty midtempo track. Suddenly those popstar-as-artist promises didn't seem quite so silly. [MN]
Released: September UK chart peak: #4
Saucier than a year's subscription to Nuts magazine and madder than one of Jedward's X Factor performances, Shakira's first single in two-and-a-half-years was an absolute hoot. Oh, and the video proved she still had the best bendy dance moves in pop. [AF]
Released: November UK chart peak: #2
Post-Glastonbury, Jigga finally bagged himself a big old pop crossover hit. Marrying one of his smoothest ever flows to Alicia Keys' soaring vocals, this love letter to the Big Apple sounded like a classic as soon as we heard it. [MN]
Released: February UK chart peak: #2
The bequiffed Elly Jackson and her invisible bandmate Ben Langmaid came out of nowhere with this spine-tingling synth-pop smash. Despite initially being ignored by radio, it rightly went on to become one of the year's biggest-sellers. Altogether now: “Woo-oooh!" [DB]
Released: April UK chart peak: #1
'Just Dance' was a transatlantic No.1, but it was 'P-P-P...' that turned GaGa into a global pop sensation. How? By mixing the best hooks of the year with RedOne's bombastic production, adding a soupcon of smut, and topping it off with a video that screamed superstar. [AF]
Selections and commentary by David Balls, Alex Fletcher, Nick Levine and Mayer Nissim.
