Happy new year, fantasy TOTP viewers!
Still no real-life Christmas Top Of The Pops I'm afraid, just Clara Amfo's review of the year, which was sort of OK, but mainly boiled the year's music down to Teddy Swims, Jade, and Glastonbury. Not hugely representative and nowhere near as Christmassy as the traditional TOTP studio jamboree.
But that will not stop us! Here's the annual rundown of the top ten most featured performers here on Fantasy TOTP:
In joint ninth place with seven appearances is Dua Lipa. One of the biggest names in British pop and a longtime friend of the show, Dua kept up her excellent record in 2024 (in which she also headlined Glastonbury) by charting with four different tracks from her album. Solid year for her.
Also in joint ninth place with seven appearances is Taylor Swift. Arguably the world's biggest artist, Taylor didn't quite rule the singles chart like last year but she had several long-running hits which kept her status as a TOTP mainstay.
And also in joint ninth place with seven appearances is Central Cee. The most-featured British rapper in a year where the genre's popularity seemed to dip a bit, Cent had several high-profile team-ups, notably with US artists, and charted reliably throughout most of the year.
In eighth place with ten appearances is Teddy Swims. The first completely new name on this list, Mr Swims seemed to come out of nowhere, and impressively followed up his huge debut with several other enduringly popular hits. What a start.
In joint fourth place with eleven appearances is Noah Kahan. Kahan had the biggest selling single of the year in Stick Season, giving him a long run at number 1 right at the start of the year and an extended stay in the top 40 after that. There was the odd other appearance here and there as well.
Also in joint fourth place with eleven appearances is Billie Eilish. There might have been a couple of other female solo artists who caught the attention this year, but Billie proved that she is still a powerful chart force. Her new album came out at the start of the summer and from that point she was rarely out of the top ten, appearing on the show with six different tracks.
And also in joint fourth place with eleven appearances is Gracie Abrams. Big debut year for her, gradually building her popularity and culminating in a hugely impressive climb to number 1 at the end of the year which even managed to hold its own against the influx of Christmas hits.
And also also in joint fourth place with eleven appearances is Chappell Roan. The joint most-featured new artist (alongside Abrams) was desperately unlucky to miss out on a number 1 this year, spending week after week in the upper reaches of the top ten and bringing four different songs to the TOTP studio.
In third place with twelve appearances is Charli XCX. For once the media attention was matched by chart success and the Brat Summer was certainly in evidence on TOTP: no fewer than seven songs from the album were featured at various times, including her first number 1 hit as lead artist.
In second place with fourteen appearances is Benson Boone. 2024 seemed to be defined by a crop of glittering female artists, but Boone (and Teddy Swims) showed that there's still an appetite for rock-oriented male performers if they have the right material. He performed three songs on TOTP this year, with Beautiful Things in particular spending several weeks at number 1 and refusing to disappear afterwards - an incredible run.
But in first place with twenty-six appearances is Sabrina Carpenter. Astonishing year for her, coming almost out of nowhere to set the all-time record for TOTP performances in one year, beating even Ed Sheeran in his prime. One number 1 hit followed another for almost the entire second half of the year, making it a rare week when she wasn't on the show. That's how to do it!
Finally, here's the updated all-time top 20:
1 Ed Sheeran (121)
2 Dua Lipa (81)
3 Little Mix (71)
4 Ariana Grande (69)
= Drake (69)
6 The Weeknd (67)
7 Calvin Harris (57)
8 Sam Smith (52)
9 Stormzy (51)
10 Justin Bieber (50)
11 Taylor Swift (48)
== Anne-Marie (48)
13 George Ezra (47)
14 Clean Bandit (46)
15 Ellie Goulding (45)
16 Becky Hill (44)
17 Camila Cabello (43)
18 Dave (40)
19 Central Cee (38)
== RAYE (38)
== Harry Styles (38)
== Rita Ora (38)
There's not too much movement in the top ten because most of the year's big success stories were new artists; number 1 hitmaker Stormzy just nips ahead of Justin Bieber. Taylor Swift is up several places and Ellie Goulding's success with Calvin Harris allows her to take the "top dance diva" title from Becky Hill. Central Cee and RAYE enter the top 20 at the expense of Jax Jones.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and stick with us for more TOTP fantasy in 2025.
