closest margin for year end #1

[prenatt1166]

After compiling my year end chart, the #1 and #2 songs were separated by only one point. I have always used the same point system, making this is the closest margin ever since I began using a chart in 1978.

There have been four times that the margin has been 5 points or less.

1986 [red]5 points[/red]
575 Whitney Houston "How Will I Know"
570 Peter Cetera & Amy Grant "The Next Time I Fall"

1983 [red]4 points[/red]
616 Pretenders "Back On The Chain Gang"
612 Bonnie Tyler "Total Eclipse Of The Heart"

1987 [red]2 points[/red]
664 Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram "Somewhere Out There"
662 Whitney Houston "Didn't We Almost Have It All"

2003 [red]1 point[/red]
763 Matchbox Twenty "Unwell"
762 Fleetwood Mac "Say You Will"

In contrast, the biggest blowout...

1984 [blue]342 points[/blue]
1006 Scandal "The Warrior"
664 Nena "99 Luftballons"

I do not keep track of a song's performance throughout the year. I feel that I would not be objective if I knew "song A" would need x amount of points to overtake "song B".

Could you please share some similar stories on your charts?

:)

[Matt4319]

Margins by year:

2001 - 248 points
1202 Lifehouse "Hanging By a Moment"
959 Linkin Park "In the End"

2002 - 68 points
1183 Michelle Branch "All You Wanted"
1115 Course of Nature "Caught In the Sun"

2003* - 415 points
1413 "#1 Song"
998 "#2 Song"

*I'm not solely using points to determine my 2003 year-end chart, but for comparison purposes, I used that method here.

The percentage my #2 (in points, not necessarily the song that will be #2 on my year-end chart) has to the #1 is 70.6%, compared to 66.0% for prenatt1166 in 1984.

[kingLUKE22]

1997 15 points

#1. Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? - Paula Cole (392)
#2. Quit Playing Games With My Heart - Backstreet Boys (377)

1998 61 points

#1. Adia - Sarah McLachlan (467)
#2. Real World - Matchbox 20 (408)

1999 1 point

#1. Smooth - Santana f/Rob Thomas (357)
#2. Beautiful Stranger - Madonna (356)

2000 17 points

#1. Bent - Matchbox 20 (403)
#2. Music - Madonna (386)

2002 (partial year) 20 points

#1. Die Another Day - Madonna (246)
#2. Disease - Matchbox 20 (226)

2003 53 points

#1. ?
#2. ?
I'll unveil these in two weeks.

I had forgotten how close the race was in 1999. Wow. But no, I don't tally as the year runs because I know I would be biased and make some songs accumulate more points.

[FreakyFlyBry]

Both of my 2001 and 2002 year-end charts were very close margins at #1, a single week could've changed the difference. 2000 was also fairly close, but I didn't go exactly by points that year.

2001
#1: Nelly Furtado - Turn Off The Light (1767 points)
#2: Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink, Lil' Kim - Lady Marmalade (1752 points)
#3: Shaggy - Angel (1709 points)
#4: Lifehouse - Hanging By A Moment (1632 points)
#5: Janet - All For You (1615 points)

2002
#1: Avril Lavigne - Complicated (2067 points)
#2: Our Lady Peace - Somewhere Out There (1992 points)
#3: Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (1789 points)
#4: Pink - Don't Let Me Get Me (1744 points)
#5: Michelle Branch - All You Wanted (1731 points)

The same situation occurs on my 2003 year end chart, where a single week made the difference.

#1 song: 2767 points (2174)
#2 song: 2761 points (1995)
#3 song: 2673 points (1855)
#4 song: 2305 points (1782)
#5 song: 2286 points (1721)

The top 5 songs are in the same order as they would've been under my old point system, but it would've been a lot more decisive for the #1 song.

I've changed my point system this year to accommodate 100 positions, while in the past I used a point system for a top 40.

1999 was the biggest blowout on my chart... Britney Spears had #1 with "Baby One More Time" by a significant margin.

1999
#1: Britney Spears - Baby One More Time (2476 points)
#2: Smashmouth - All Star (1943 points)
#3: Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle (1886 points)
#4: Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca (1780 points)
#5: Britney Spears - Sometimes (1700 points)

[strong4PMB!]

"Mesmerize" will beat "Rain On Me" by ~ 24 points this year. If 2003 started 1 week later, and ended 1 week later, then "Rain On Me" would have beaten "Mesmerize" by ~ 54 points.

2003 was the first year that I used inverse points to compile my chart.

[iceman]

1997 (partial year) [green]17 points[/green]
506 Notorious B.I.G. "Mo Money Mo Problems"
489 Robyn "Do You Know (What it Takes)"

1998 [green]255 points[/green]
824 Shania Twain "You're Still the One"
569 Billie "Because We Want To"

1999 [green]18 points[/green]
624 Sixpence None the Richer "Kiss Me"
606 Smash Mouth "All Star"

**Smash Mouth would've been #1 had I not given bonus points to the #1 song. "Kiss Me" spent 10 weeks at #1 and "All Star" only spent 1 week at the top.

2000 [green]586 points!!![/green]
1206 Vertical Horizon "Everything You Want"
620 Lonestar "Amazed"

2001 [green]50 points[/green]
618 Fuel "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)"
568 Nickelback "How You Remind Me"

2002 [green]42 points[/green]
673 Sense Field "Save Yourself"
631 Goo Goo Dolls "Here is Gone"

2003 [green]79 points[/green]
822 ? "?"
743 ? "?"

[insect2]

2001*: about 500 points
1) Lifehouse - Hanging By A Moment (2136)
2) Train - Drops Of Jupiter (1634)
3) Staind - It's Been Awhile (1595)

2002: 121 points
1) Michelle Branch - All You Wanted (1525)
2) Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness (1404)
3) Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles (1396)
4) John Mayer - No Such Thing (1326)
5) Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way (1271)

2003: Like I'd tell you now ;)

*I haven't compiled a 2001 chart so those are just estimates, but I'm confident about the order of those songs.

As for 2003, I don't even know the results, and don't plan on knowing until the last chart is complete. I will say, though, that it might have been closer than 2002.