Hot Press' readers poll 2005: results are in!

Music
26 Jan 06

You voted in your thousands, and we can finally reveal the results of the Hot Press readers' poll 2005.

Yes, it most certainly is that time of year again.
Time to cast a cold eye on the HP readers’ poll, sift through the entrails, read the tealeaves, fondle our crystal balls and indulge in a little post-match analysis.
So, 2005: how was it for you?
Home turf first. It was a boon year for U2, their legendarily partisan fanbase showing no sign of haring off after younger, prettier bandwagons. Okay, so the quartet are pretty much guaranteed a shoo-in for best live act, and as ever Edge blitzes the musician category (although it is good to see Frames violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire get his kudos, a devilishly inventive and emotive player). But it is rather more surprising to see Bono and co continue to dominate the best band, songwriter, DVD, video, ringtone, website and single slots.
Speaking of the Frames, it was a relatively quiet year for Hansard and band, but they still managed to put the heat on U2 in most of the major categories. The competition was heavy though: Bell X1 came on strong with Flock while the middle-list area was a scrum between The Chalets, The Damiens (Rice and Dempsey), Hal, Humanzi, Gemma Hayes… in less than a decade, Ireland’s gone from musical ghost town to boomsville. Okay, the stress might remain on Big Rock and folk templates rather than mind-blowing innovation, but like the man said, a rising tide lifts all boats.
But what’s this – no eyebrowy.com in the website list? Come on, people! And while we’re cribbing, someone might have thrown Ry Cooder a bone for the Folk/Trad/Specialist category.
On the international front, some curious inconsistencies were evident. After a bumper year, Franz did only average business in the ballots. Antony Hegarty too. The White Stripes were cruelly abandoned by their fairweather fans. But on the plus side, Idaho’s finest Josh Ritter beat out David Gray and Chris Martin on two counts. Predictably, but gratifyingly, Arcade Fire trounced the opposition thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime debut and an awe-inspiring turn at Electric Picnic (which deservedly picked up the Love Of The Year gong). Green Day reaped the benefits of a year and a half’s hard touring graft to grab Best Live act, their Bullet In A Bible DVD just edging out heavy competition from Bob and the Flaming Lips. Music aside, Crash got the garlands it deserved, but the HP TV viewing readership displayed astonishingly poor taste by lauding Lost and ignoring Deadwood’s second season. For shame!
Still, it was nice to see that fucking frog get it in the neck.
What next?
Will the Frames return for an election year blitz? Will U2 go away to dream it all up again, again? Will Interpol return? Will promising new bloods like Arctic Monkeys, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Editors translate to the big league?
All this and more will be revealed in the fullness of time.
See you on the other side of 06.
Results in full will be added here over the course of the next two weeks - but if you can't wait, they're displayed in all their full glory in this fortnight's issue of Hot Press