Young Post's Best of the Worst awards for music 2014
Tired of all the regular music awards categories? So is David Bartram. He gives out some unusual - yet much needed - awards to the pop stars of 2014
Most annoying song
OK, so Happy by Pharrell Williams was actually released at the very end of 2013, but we had to spend all of 2014 listening to it … on repeat. You know what, Pharrell, I was happy until I heard that song for 3000th time.
However, for its sheer infuriating catchiness, we have to give the award to The Lego Movie's Everything is AWESOME, a song surely created by some evil genius with the sole purpose of sending the entire world insane.
Cringiest song
So many toe-curling songs, so little time. We had Pitbull and J-Lo singing "ole ola" for the official World Cup song, We Are One, but sport songs always suck, so we'll let them off this time. As ever, we had the entirety of the Eurovision Song Contest.
But our cringiest song of the year is Rude by Canadian band, Magic! Horrible reggae-pop, clichéd lyrics and leather jackets: have we time-travelled back to the 90s by mistake?
Best Taylor Swift diss
You know you've made it when you finally get burned in a T-Swift song. Taylor normally uses her songs to take aim at her long list of exes, but on Bad Blood she turned her attention to a female frenemy. "Did you think we'd be fine? / Still got scars on my back from your knife," she sang. "Did you think it all through? / All these things will catch up to you." The song was rumoured to be about fellow singer Katy Perry. We're guessing they didn't exchange Christmas cards this year.
The "Cheer up, it's not all bad" award
We have a dead heat in this year's "Cheer up" award. First up we have Lana Del Rey, who took self pity to impressive new highs on Ultraviolence: "And as the years go by / The other woman will always spend her life alone."
Sharing the award is Sam "definitely not the only one" Smith, who spent the year complaining about his love life. "I have loved you for many years / Maybe I am just not enough." Cheer up guys - is being a multi-millionaire pop star really that miserable?
Best song you probably never heard of but totally should
Future Island's Seasons (Waiting On You) was an unlikely hit in 2014. The band had been releasing music since 2006, but no one seemed very interested. But when they somehow landed a slot performing on US chat show The Late Show with David Letterman, lead singer Samuel Herring's strange dancing and passionate vocals won hearts across the world.
Biggest reach for the stars
Who needs K-pop when we have MK-pop? Hong Kong's very own Birds of Paradise performed at Kowloon Bay International Trade and Exhibition Centre last week, and we couldn't be prouder of them. They might wear more nail polish than your sister, but as band member Gordon Ip says, it's time Hongkongers start supporting local music.