Top Honours 2008

After much deliberation, it has been decided that...

Pop Artist of the Year
Beyoncé
Britney Spears
Gabriella Cilmi
Katy Perry
Sarah Brightman

While they were all special in one way or another, Katy Perry stormed through 2008 with I Kissed A Girl and Hot N Cold which basically charted everywhere and were great songs themselves. Coming second was Britney Spears with her massive, A-rated comeback followed by Sarah Brightman thanks to her accomplished studio effort "Symphony" and her work on the soundtrack of "Repo: The Genetic Opera".

Pop Group/Duo of the Year
Girls Aloud
Goldfrapp
The Saturdays
Take That
The Ting Tings

Arguably also deserved by The Ting Tings who came out from nowhere and produced a brilliant set of tunes, Girls Aloud wins here for their significant releases in 2008, among them the Top 10 hit Can't Speak French and their number one chart entry "The Promise" that showed just how some music never gets tiring.

Pop Song of the Year
Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet About Me
Girls Aloud - The Promise
Goldfrapp - A&E
Sarah McLachlan - U Want Me 2
The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go

Making a clean sweep at the ARIA Awards showed how much potential this young woman had as an artist, and her album has gotten some positive remarks from critics worldwide as well. But this track, Sweet About Me, will be a classic, one that will be played decades from now on for its sheer catchiness.

Pop Album of the Year
Girls Aloud - Out Of Control
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Sharleen Spiteri - Melody
The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
Yael Naim - Yael Naim

The Ting Tings narrowly edged out the Girls' effort due to their innovation and creativity, as heard in their songs. That's Not My Name, annoying but brilliant, was a number one hit for them, while the ever amazing Shut Up And Let Me Go won the hearts of music listeners both sides of the ocean.

Foreign Artist of the Year
Ami Suzuki
Ayumi Hamasaki
Hikaru Utada
Alan
Yuna Ito

For her ultimately excellent album Heart Station, Utada beats pop diva Ayumi Hamasaki in this category despite the latter releasing some of her best work in recent times. However, Utada is no stranger to awards, with every release of hers gaining well-deserved attention from the public.

Foreign Song of the Year
Ayumi Hamasaki - Days
Ayumi Hamasaki - Green
Ayumi Hamasaki - Mirrorcle World
Hikaru Utada - Stay Gold
Yuna Ito - miss you

Having three songs in the nominees list might have been a bit of a feat to pull off, but Hamasaki's A-sides in 2008 were so strong they deserved more than they got. Despite being number ones, their sales figures were paltry compared to the sales of her Top 10 singles many years ago. A close contender for this honour was Utada's Stay Gold, but Green won for the way it plays out in an epic manner.

Foreign Single of the Year
Alan - ひとつ
Ayumi Hamasaki - Days/Green
Hitomi Shimatani - 雨の日には雨の中を風の日には風の中を
Namie Amuro - 60s 70s 80s
Yuna Ito - miss you

As mentioned before, Hamasaki's 2008 singles were some of her best in recent years, and Days/Green boasts two excellent A-sides that showed her knack for a ear-catching melody, narrowly beating out Alan's ひとつ.

Foreign Album of the Year
Ami Suzuki - Supreme Show
Ayumi Hamasaki - Guilty
Hikaru Utada - Heart Station
Kumi Koda - Kingdom
Mika Nakashima - Voice

Heart Station was shocking; it was everything an album should be. All the tracks were single-worthy and unique, yet they melded together perfectly. Critics and fans alike may point out that the album contains outtakes from previous studio effort Ultra Blue, but why waste some brilliant songs when you can make them work together?

Newcomer of the Year
Duffy
Gabriella Cilmi
Katy Perry
Alan
The Ting Tings

Both The Ting Tings and Katy Perry brought a strong fascination for music when their songs first debuted on the radio. Perry's I Kissed A Girl was both controversial and superb, while That's Not My Name gave a sense of originality while boasting a hok that pounds itself into your head. While both won over fans like no other, The Ting Tings deserve this honour more for being one of a kind; no other bands of the moment sound or even look like them.

That's all we have folks, here's to 2009 bringing us more of the "same old shit" as Popjustice would say.