Top 20 Countdown is taking a few end of the year weeks off to make room for the Top 40 of the year countdown, but that’s no reason for me to skip my revising.  I have never quite been able to figure out how VH1 determines the order of its Top 40 of the year.  It must have more to do than with just how the videos performed on the Top 20, if that even really matters at all.  The list is ostensibly a measure of how big a hit these songs were, which is hard to objectively measure perfectly.  As far as I am concerned, it is about ubiquity, and VH1 appears to agree, for the most part.  In addition to my normal revision in terms of the quality of the songs, I am also including some thoughts on how big I measured these hits to be, by noting those that charted too high or too low.  It is worth mentioning now that I do not know how “Teenage Dream” or “Nothin’ on You” missed the cut.  For the record, “Teenage Dream” would have been number 1 on my revision if it had made the countdown (and everything else remained the same).

Original Version
1. Train – “Hey Soul Sister”
2. The Script – “Breakeven” (should be lower)
3. Katy Perry – “California Gurls”
4. Adam Lambert – “Whataya Want From Me” (should be lower)
5. Lady GaGa – “Bad Romance” (could be higher)
6. Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
7. Usher ft. will.i.am – “OMG”
8. Eminem ft. Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”
9. P!nk – “Raise Your Glass” (should be lower)
10. Bruno Mars – “Just the Way You Are”
11. Ke$ha – “Tik Tok”
12. B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams – “Airplanes”
13. Rihanna – “Only Girl (in the World)”
14. Michael Bublé – “Haven’t Met You Yet”
15. Taylor Swift – “Mine”
16. Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
17. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts” (should be lower)
18. Maroon 5 – “Misery”
19. John Mayer – “Heartbreak Warfare” (should be lower)
20. Katy Perry – “Firework”
21. Paramore – “The Only Exception”
22. Drake – “Find Your Love”
23. Daughtry – “September”
24. Jason Derülo – “In My Head”
25. Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars – “Billionaire”
26. Sara Bareilles – “King of Anything”
27. Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
28. Linkin Park – “Waiting for the End”
29. Train – “If It’s Love”
30. Usher ft. Pitbull – “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love”
31. Lady GaGa ft. Beyoncé – “Telephone” (should be higher)
32. Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
33. Adam Lambert – “If I Had You”
34. Mike Posner – “Cooler Than Me” (should be higher)
35. Kid Rock – “Born Free”
36. Eminem – “Not Afraid” (should be higher)
37. Jack Johnson – “At or With Me”
38. Sugarland – “Stuck Like Glue”
39. Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris – “Break Your Heart” (should be higher)
40. Muse – “Resistance”

Judging by the top of my list, it was quite the singular year.

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Only Girl (in the World)
2. The Only Exception
3. Find Your Love
4. Radioactive
5. Breakeven
6. Tik Tok
7. OMG
8. Bad Romance
9. King of Anything
10. Little Lion Man
11. If I Had You
12. Telephone
13. Cooler Than Me
14. Just the Way You Are
15. Love the Way You Lie
16. California Gurls
17. Not Afraid
18. Resistance
19. Jar of Hearts
20. Haven’t Met You Yet
21. Whataya Want From Me
22. Break Your Heart
23. Waiting for the End
24. Misery
25. Airplanes
26. Firework
27. Empire State of Mind
28. Born Free
29. DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love
30. At or With Me
31. Mine
32. In My Head
33. Stuck Like Glue
34. If It’s Love
35. Need You Now
36. Heartbreak Warfare
37. Raise Your Glass
38. Hey Soul Sister
39. Billionaire
40. September