Happy new year once again to all fantasy TOTP viewers!
We're still in mourning for the demise of the Christmas Day Top of the Pops, of course. The review of the year wasn't a bad show but what we want is super-mainstream, joyful, lightly Christmas-themed performances of the year's big hits, right in the middle of the Christmas Day schedule. This wasn't that.
I did enjoy Jools's Hootenanny, though. Between Olivia Dean and RAYE Jools actually seems to have his finger on the pulse of what people enjoy a bit more than he used to. Lulu was a pretty good legend, Jessie J overdelivered, and that swing guy was a successful novelty. No weak links really, since even if Ronnie Wood was only average performance-wise, he was a certified Big Name and an impressive booking.
Anyway, it's time to get on to the annual rundown of the top ten most featured performers here on Fantasy TOTP:
In tenth place with 10 appearances is Sam Fender. He certainly benefited from his association with Olivia Dean, but he had several appearances with hits of his own as well in the first half of the year, and given his status as one of the country's biggest live acts this seems well deserved.
In joint seventh place with 11 appearances is Sombr. Not the highest placing newcomer, but this was a hugely impressive year for a man who seemed to come out of nowhere with a battery of fully formed hits-in-waiting and an electric performance style.
Also in joint seventh place with 11 appearances is Lola Young. Most of these were with the undeniable Messy, which dominated the early part of the year, but she had a couple of other hits here and there as well to make a very strong showing.
And also in joint seventh place with 11 appearances is Ed Sheeran. This was a low-key year by Ed's standards but there were strong placings for several of the songs off his album, even if they didn't dominate the chart like we've seen previously. It certainly keeps his place at the top of the all-time list well cemented.
In joint fifth place with 12 appearances is Chappell Roan. She's not quite as high up the list as last year but Chappell is still, very interesting, very popular and well worth watching. Pink Pony Club topped off an incredible chart career by climbing to number 1, and she had two other big hits later in the year.
Also in joint fifth place with 12 appearances is Sabrina Carpenter. Last year's number 1 continued to release hits, chart strongly and appear on the show. She performed eight different songs including a number 1 single.
In fourth place with 13 appearances is Tate McRae. Though maybe not quite in the top tier of name recognition, her consistency of releasing and charting is truly impressive and her success is well deserved. She performed six different hit songs on the show this year.
In third place with 18 appearances are the K-Pop Demon Hunters. What a debut year for this multimedia phenomenon, and in another year this might have been enough to top the chart. Golden was a huge hit and there was support from several other songs as well.
In second place with 20 appearances is Olivia Dean. The undeniable breakout artist of the year seemed to feature almost every week, performing eight different songs on the show and achieving a well-merited number 1 single as well.
In first place with 23 appearances is Alex Warren. This might have be something of a surprise but he was present all year. Though he was hugely assisted by a double-digit run at number 1, it wasn't all about Ordinary - he performed six different songs over the course of the year.
Finally, here's the updated all-time top 20:
1 Ed Sheeran (132)
2 Dua Lipa (82)
3 Ariana Grande (74)
= Drake (74)
5 Little Mix (71)
6 The Weeknd (69)
7 Calvin Harris (60)
8 Taylor Swift (57)
9 Justin Bieber (54)
10 Sam Smith (53)
11 Stormzy (51)
12 Anne-Marie (49)
13 George Ezra (47)
14 Clean Bandit (46)
15 Ellie Goulding (45)
16 Charli XCX (44)
== RAYE (44)
== Becky Hill (44)
19 Central Cee (43)
== Camila Cabello (43)
Dave, Harry Styles and Rita Ora drop out of the top 20, while Sabrina Carpenter is close to entering it only two years after she broke through. Charli XCX finally makes an appearance, around ten years into her career. King Ed Sheeran extends his lead at the top.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and stick with us for more TOTP fantasy in 2026.
