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2004 Readers' Poll:

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The best and worst in music...


Without further ado, here are the results as voted by our wonderful readers, who, by the way, rock. Thank you to all who participated in the poll, and never once laughed about how long it took us to put it up! Also, a very special thanks has to go to Bee, who put up with Christine's nagging until he went to his computer, in a fit of rage, and created the wonderful, snag-free database for the poll. Also, thanks to Ed for his rockin' Best Athlete nominees…we would have been truly lost without these wonderful men. (Results have been rounded to the nearest decimal place, just because we wanted to be fancy and scientific about it).

Yeah! Usher sweeps best song, best artist, and best abs...if that were a category.

BEST SONG
"Yeah!," Usher       37.2%
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams," Green Day       20.9%
"My Immortal," Evanescence       16.3%
"Lose My Breath," Destiny's Child       9.3%
"Lean Back," Terror Squad       7.0%
"The Reason," Hoobastank / "Vertigo," U2       4.7%

Phan's Pick: "Yeah!," Usher
Michelle's Pick: "Yeah!," Usher
Christine's Pick: "Yeah!," Usher

2003 Winner: "Crazy In Love," Beyoncé "I never needed those other two" Knowles featuring Jay "my girlfriend is hot" Z
2002 Winner: "In The End," Linkin "no one feels the love anymore" Park and "Without Me," Eminem - tie
Etc.: Usher clearly swept the top spot for Best Song, with Green Day, adorned in silver, trailing a whopping 17% behind the King of Abs (it's no wonder Usher was the most decorated artist in 2004). Although U2 and Destiny's Child made their comebacks this year, there was just not enough love for their first singles to resonate with listeners. Beyoncé's three-way split on this album was obviously no match for her solo debut in 2003.

BEST ARTIST
Usher       24.4%
Kanye West       22.0%
Eminem       19.5%
Green Day       12.2%
Alicia Keys       9.8%
Avril Lavigne       7.3%
Linkin Park       4.9%

Phan's Pick: Kanye West
Michelle's Pick: Kanye West
Christine's Pick: Green Day

2003 Winner: OutKast
2002 Winner: Eminem
Etc.: Who can bethrone Usher? As hard as Kanye West rapped and produced and rapped, it was not enough to match Usher's smooth lyrics, slick dance moves, and rock hard abs (yes, we are obsessed with his abs - wouldn't you be?). 2002's winner, Eminem, finds himself on the charts again, but this time, slipping into third place.

BEST NEW ARTIST
Ciara       24.4%
Gwen Stefani (as solo artist)       22.0%
Franz Ferdinand       19.5%
The Killers / Velvet Revolver / JoJo       9.8%
Gretchen Wilson / Nina Sky       2.4%

Phan's Pick: Gwen Stefani
Michelle's Pick: Nina Sky
Christine's Pick: Franz Ferdinand

2003 Winner: Beyoncé
2002 Winner: Justin "I can't believe I once sang in a boy band" Timberlake
Etc.: This was another close one, as Ciara, who was second place for most of the duration of the poll results, suddenly comes back and takes first place away from solo act Gwen "No Doubt" Stefani, who needs a couple of more votes to join other solo act winners Beyoncé of Destiny's Child and Justin Timberlake of *Nsync. Jojo, the 13-year-old wunderkid and Lindsay Lohan lookalike, edges out Gretchen Wilson and Nina Sky to fall into a three-way fourth place tie. British group Franz Ferdinand, who barely made a splash in North America but caused much buzz in England, is edged out by Gwen Stefani to fall to a commendable third place. Unfortunately, Scott Weiland's protruding ribs and Slash's kooky hair weren't enough to get Velvet Revolver into the top three.

We Joyfully say that k-os rocks as Best Canadian Artist.

BEST CANADIAN ARTIST
k-os       27.6%
Sum 41       19.0%
Keshia Chante       16.7%
Shania Twain       14.3%
Nickelback       9.5%
Nelly Furtado       7.1%
Simple Plan       4.8%

Phan's Pick: k-os
Michelle's Pick: k-os
Christine's Pick: k-os

2003 Winner: Our Lady "are we even a group anymore?" Peace
2002 Winner: N/A
Etc.: k-os, one of the best treats to come out of Canada, takes the top, while Avril's boyfriend, Deryck Whibley, has to settle for second (which, at least, trumps his girlfriend's sixth place under the Best Artist category - although her results are an improvement over her 3% vote in the Best Canadian Artist category back in 2003). Shania Twain manages to beat out Nickelback, Nelly Furtado, and Simple Plan. Poor Simple Plan will have to whine twice as hard to get better placement with readers next year.

WORST ARTIST
Ashlee Simpson       28.6%
Any American Idol Winner       19.0%
Britney Spears       16.7%
Hilary Duff / Ja Rule       14.3%
D12       4.8%
Kalan Porter       2.4%

Phan's Pick: D12
Michelle's Pick: Britney Spears
Christine's Pick: Hilary Duff

2003 Winner: Clay "I so stalk women because I can" Aiken
2002 Winner: Nick "who?" Carter
Etc.: Kalan Porter, the 2004 "Canadian Idol" winner, surprisingly got 2.4% of the votes in this category. This could possibly be as a result of no one actually knowing who he is. Ashlee Simpson was crowned the Queen of Sucky-ville, while Britney Spears (who we championed as being suckier than Simpson) has to settle for the title of Viceroy of Sucky-ville. Readers were also torn between Ja Rule and Hilary Duff in their fourth place finish - making this the first time that both names have appeared side by side (and despite the different genre of music, we agree that they are both equally sucky). The "American Idol" production chain, in second place, continues to baffle readers.

WORST SONG
"My Prerogative," Britney Spears       29.3%
"Rumors," Lindsay Lohan / "Take My Breath Away," Jessica Simpson       19.5%
"Party For Two," Shania Twain and Mark McGrath       17.1%
"Groupie Luv," 213       12.2%
"Fly," Hilary Duff       2.4%

Phan's Pick: "My Prerogative," Britney Spears
Michelle's Pick: "Rumors," Lindsay Lohan
Christine's Pick: "Party for Two," Shania Twain and Mark McGrath

2003 Winner: "Spread My Wings," Shawn "stop sending Happygrrls hate mail because it's obvious they're not the only ones that hate me" Desman and "American Life," Madonna - tie
2002 Winner: "Just a Friend," Mario and "Die Another Day," Madonna - tie
Etc.: It's very probably that if Madonna had released a single in 2004, instead of making Kabbalah-related pilgrimages, she would have beat out any one of our nominees. Her protégé, Britney Spears, whose prerogative it is to suck, will have to stand in for her this year. Teen queens Lohan and Simpson didn't fare much better, making their "long-awaited" singles that much more fruitless. Duff tied for fourth place as worst artist, but it obviously wasn't because of her single, "Fly," which only banked in 2.4% of votes. And John Mayer, who brought us "Daughters" and received 0% of the vote, didn't offend our readers as much as it offended Christine.

BEST DUET
"Drop It Like It's Hot," Snoop Dogg and Pharrell / "My Boo," Usher and Alicia Keys       24.4%
"Broken," Seether and Amy Lee       17.1%
"Numb/Encore," Jay-Z and Linkin Park       14.7%
"Over and Over," Nelly and Tim McGraw       9.8%
"Tilt Ya Head Back," Nelly and Christina Aguilera / "Goodies," Ciara and Petey Pablo       4.9%

Phan's Pick: "My Boo," Usher and Alicia Keys
Michelle's Pick: "My Boo," Usher and Alicia Keys
Christine's Pick: "Numb/Encore," Jay-Z and Linkin Park

2003 Winner: "Baby Boy," Beyoncé and Sean "I used to be everywhere, but where am I now?" Paul
2002 Winner: "Feel It Boy," Beenie Man and Janet "I really want to knock that Timberlake kid upside the head" Jackson and "Hero," Chad "all of Nickelback's songs are actually the same single but with different lyrics" Kroeger and Josey "I don't really like Chad Kroeger" Scott - tie
Etc.: There was another first place split vote this year, as Pharrell works his little magic and briefly resurrects Snoop Dogg's career (not that doing a voice-over for Racing Stripes isn't a career boost), and Usher gives Alicia Keys a little sex-appealed boost. Amy Lee also manages to get her boyfriend some screen time, and as much as Nelly covets Tim McGraw and Christina Aguilera, their collaborations only managed to land in fourth and fifth place, respectively - making Nelly and his band-aid the deciding factor for votes, it seems.

Gwen Stefani's acid trip finally pays off as "What You Waiting For" is voted Best Music Video.

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
"What You Waiting For," Gwen Stefani       23.1%
"Roses," OutKast       17.9%
"Jesus Walks," Kanye West - pick your version       15.4%
"All Falls Down," Kanye West       12.8%
"Mosh," Eminem       11.8%
"Ghetto Musick," OutKast       10.3%
"We're All To Blame," Sum 41       7.7%

Phan's Pick: "What You Waiting For," Gwen Stefani
Michelle's Pick: "Roses," OutKast - "Ghetto Musick" was a close second!)
Christine's Pick: "Roses," OutKast

2003 Winner: "Hey Ya!," OutKast
2002 Winner: "Work It," Missy "my videos are way better than yours" Elliott
Etc.: Gwen Stefani's Alice-in-Wonderland (if Wonderland were in Japan) trip manages to beat out kooky OutKast, with their quasi-homage to Westside story, and cameos from Paula Abdul and Kevin McDonald, among others. Kanye West also cancels himself out by having "All Falls Down" and "Jesus Walks" on the list, but "Jesus Walks" edges out "All Falls Down" by a mere 2.5%. And poor Sum 41…despite their good-will work in the Congo, their video still places last.

[ From best film to worst actor. Part II of our Readers' Poll. ]