Facts for 2012

The 2012 Hottest 100 was the twentieth annual Hottest 100 countdown since the change of the format which allowed only songs from the previous year to be voted for.

The Countdown

The countdown took place in January of 2013 and featured a mixture of 78 different artists. 1,516,765 votes were counted in the countdown.

The 2012 countdown featured some controversy in the days leading up to the countdown. Brisbane statistician Nick Drewe, using data gleaned from social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, was able to construct a predicted list of the 2012 Hottest 100, jokingly nicknamed The Warmest 100. This lead to much disappointment, with many believing the 2012 countdown to be ruined because of it, and even causing betting agent SportingBet to suspend all bets on the countdown results.
In the end, it was discovered that his predictions were reasonably accurate. 92 of the predicted songs made it into the list, with 8 being correctly predicted to their correct positions. The songs that made up the top 12 were corectly guessed, with 7 of those songs being matched to their correct positions, including the top 3. For more information on the 2012 Warmest 100, click here.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' winning song marks the second time, and the second time in a row time that either a duet, or a collaboration between two artists has topped the chart. It is also the first time that a song in the hip-hop genre reached the top of the chart.

At #17, Flight Failities placed with 'Clair De Lune'. This song was announced to have made the countdown by then-current Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

At #49, Thundamentals' cover of Matt Corby's 'Brother' charted. The original version of the song had charted at #3 in 2011. This also makes Matt Corby the third of three previous Australian Idol contestants to feature in a countdown with a Like A Version cover version. Lisa Mitchell's cover of Dire Straits' 'Romeo & Juliet' reached #116 in 2009 and Owl Eyes' cover of Foster The People's 'Pumped Up Kicks' reached #28 in 2011.

Starting with Knife Party's 'Internet Friends' at #55, and ending with San Cisco's 'Fred Astaire' at #48, a run of 8 Australian tracks in a row featured. This is the longest streak of songs for a country since 1999's countdown, when Australia managed 8 songs again.

At #50, Asta charted with 'My Heart Is On Fire'. Asta is the fifth winner of Unearthed High, but this marks the first time that a winning Unearthed High song has made the Hottest 100. 2008's winner Tom Ugly reached #141 with their winning song 'Cult Romance, and 2011's winner Snakadaktal reached #144 with their winning song 'Chimera'.

At #69, Matt Corby's cover of The Black Keys' 'Lonely Boy' charted. The original version of the song had charted at #2 in 2011.

Ben Folds Five reached #73 with their song 'Draw A Crowd'; the first time the band have charted since 1999's song 'Army'. Their 13 year abscence was the equal longest time that any artist has had between charting songs, matching the record set by Robert Smith who charted with The Cure in 1997's 'Wrong Number', and not again until 2010 with 'Not In Love', his collaboration with Crystal Castles. Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine also matched this record, with a 13 year gap between performing with Rage Against The Machine with 'Renegades Of Funk' in 2001 and performing on Run The Jewels' 'Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)' in 2014. It should be noted that this 13 year abscence only refers to the band as a whole, since the band's frontman, Ben Folds, has featured as a solo artist in many countdowns during that time.
However, this record was later beaten in the 2016 countdown by The Avalanches, making their reappearence after 15 years, and beaten later in that same countdown, by Paul Kelly, who reappeared after a 16 year absence.

At #76, Illy featured with his track 'Heard It All', which focuses on the lack of originality in music. One verse includes the line "Let's see what shit I can't tackle anymore; no momentary happiness or footprints in the sand, no pedal to the metal chase or cigarettes in hand".
This line references all 4 of Illy's previously charting songs in the Hottest 100: 'It Can Wait (feat. Owl Eyes)' at #29 in 2010, Pictures' at #66 in 2009, 'The Chase (feat. Olivier Daysoul)' at #179 in 2010, and 'Cigarettes (feat. Hue Blanes)' at #35 in 2011.

The 2012 countdown marks the first time since 2008 that no Australian artists have featured in the top 3.This had previously happened before in 1995, 1994 and 1993.

Interestingly, the artists that made up the top 4 positions, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Of Monsters And Men, Alt-J and Flume, were all appearing in their first Hottest 100. This is the first time this has been done since 1993, which was itself, the debut Hottest 100.
Similarly, the top 4 positions were all occupied by artists from different countries. This is the first time in any countdown that this has happened.

Artists Featured

Flume was the best performer in the countdown, with 3 entries coming from his solo work and 1 entry coming from his work with Hermitude. Alt-J and Frank Ocean both managed 3 entries while 18 other artists appeared twice.

Artists With Multiple Entries

4 Tracks

3 Tracks

2 Tracks

Countries Featured

The 2012 Hottest 100 featured artists from 11 countries, including 41 from Australia, 25 from USA and 19 from England.

Sweden's contribution of 4 tracks is a current record for the country.

A Couple Of Notes

‘Sweet Nothing', at #11, was a collaboration between Calvin Harris and Florence Welch who are Scottish and England, respectively. However, the track is counted as a Scottish entry for simplicity.

‘I Love It', at #14, was a collaboration between Icona Pop and Charli XCX, who are Swedish and English, respectively. However, the track is counted as a Swedish entry for simplicity.

‘Clair De Lune', at #17, was a collaboration between Flight Facilities, and Christine Hoberg who are Australian, and American, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.

‘On Top', at #67, was a collaboration between Flume and T-Shirt, who are Australian and American, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Australian entry for simplicity.

‘Chronicles Of A Fallen Love', at #87, was a collaboration between The Bloody Beetroots and Greta Svabo Bech, who are from Italy and the Faroe Islands, respectively. However, the track is counted as an Italian entry for simplicity.

‘Warrior', at #98, was a collaboration between Kimbra, Mark Foster and A-Trak, who are from New Zealand, America and Canada, respectively. However, the track is counted as a New Zealand entry for simplicity.

Countries Represented in the 2012 Countdown

Flag	Country	Entries
	Australia	41
	Canada	3
	England	19
	France	1
	Iceland	2
	Ireland	2
	Italy	1
	New Zealand	1
	Scotland	1
	Sweden	4
	USA	25