Talossan Music Top 20
The Talossan Music Top 20 (or TMT20 for short) is a yearly all-time list of the best songs, determined by Talossans voting in multiple rounds on Wittenberg.
Along the years, TMT20 has become the foremost cultural/social event in Talossa, along with fantasy sport competitions such as the Talossan Football League and the Talossan Cycling Association Tour.
History
Early attempts
The Talossan Music Top was first created in 2009/2010. In that year, there were no rounds, but every voter had just 5 votes. The winner that year was Spieluhr by Rammstein. A second attempt was done in 2013 with different rules. This resulted in three winning "songs", all of which received 5 votes: Bohemian Rhapsody, What a Wonderful World and Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
Current format
The Talossan Music Top 20 was revived in 2015, with a new format that included multiple rounds of voting. The competition was usually paired with a General Election, with the results being revealed just before polls closed. For 2018 and 2019, the final reveal was hosted by Pengopäts Times alongside a brief political chat. This format, save for relatively minor tweaks, is still in use today. An initial list of 150 songs, 100 carried over from the previous edition and 50 new nominations[1], is whittled down over subsequent rounds of voting to determine the Top 20 list:
- Round 1 is composed of 100 songs (10 groups of 10), with all 50 nominations paired up against the 50 Round 2 losers from the previous edition (5 of each per group), and the top 5 vote getters in each group advancing to Round 2;
- Round 2 is composed of 100 songs again (10 groups of 10), with the 50 Round 1 winners paired up against the 50 Round 2 winners from the previous edition (5 of each per group), and the top 5 vote getters in each group advancing to Round 2;
- Round 3 is composed of the 50 Round 2 winners (5 groups of 10), with the top 2 advancing to the final and the next 3 to the semifinal;
- The semifinal is composed of a single group of all 15 songs placed 3rd to 5th in each of the 5 groups of Round 3, with the top 5 advancing to the final, and the next 5 making up places 16 to 20 in the top 20 list;
- The final is composed of a single group of the 5 top 2 vote getters in Round 3 and the top 5 semifinal vote getters; the ranking determines places 1 to 15 in the top 20 list.
Voting in rounds 1-3 generally happens simultaneously per pair of groups, with voting for each pair taking 72 hours and votes cast in public. Semifinal and final votes are instead cast secretly.
Special editions
In 2019, when two General Elections were scheduled to take place, it was decided that there wouldn't be two editions of the TMT20 for 2019, and the second election would be paired with a special edition TMT20 composed of six independent categories. The categories themselves were also voted on by the public. Another special edition was held in late 2022 - early 2023.
Both special editions featured 6 categories with 25 nominations each, split into 5 groups, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the category final.
Hall of Fame
Starting after the 2023 edition, songs that have won the TMT20 multiple times are retired into the TMT20 Hall of Fame and can no longer be nominated:
- Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (2023)
- The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (2023)
- Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing (2024)
Results since the introduction of the multiple rounds format
Songs in bold are previous winners.
| Artist | Song | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Rolling Stones | Gimme Shelter | X | X | X | 14 | 03 | 01 | 03 | 01 | 01 | R |
| Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody | 01 | 04 | 01 | 02 | 04 | 02 | 04 | X | 09 | R |
| Bob Segar | Old Time Rock and Roll | X | X | X | X | X | X | 08 | X | X | X |
| Dropkick Murphys | I'm Shipping Up To Boston | X | X | X | X | X | X | 11 | X | X | X |
| B-52's | Roam | X | X | X | X | X | X | 13 | X | X | X |
| Rammstein | Haifisch | X | X | X | X | X | X | 15 | X | X | X |
| Johnny Cash | Ring of Fire | X | 05 | 16 | X | X | 03 | 17 | 20 | X | X |
| Dire Straits | Telegraph Road | 06 | X | 02 | 07 | 05 | 04 | 05 | 05 | 11 | 08 |
| The Charlie Daniels Band | The Devil Went Down to Georgia | X | X | 06 | 16 | 06 | 05 | 06 | X | 06 | 19 |
| Queen & David Bowie | Under Pressure | X | X | X | 03 | 02 | 06 | X | X | 08 | 07 |
| Simon and Garfunkel | The Sound of Silence | X | X | X | X | X | 07 | X | 11 | X | X |
| Dire Straits | Sultans Of Swing | X | X | X | X | 08 | 08 | 01 | 12 | 15 | 01 |
| David Bowie | Starman | X | X | X | 04 | 01 | 09 | X | 16 | 17 | 02 |
| Dave Brubeck Quartet | Take Five | X | X | X | 12 | 18 | 10 | X | X | X | X |
| Bon Jovi | You Give Love a Bad Name | X | X | 04 | 05 | 10 | 11 | 12 | X | X | X |
| Toto | Africa | X | X | X | 11 | X | 12 | X | 06 | 18 | X |
| Panic! at the Disco | High Hopes | X | X | X | X | X | 13 | X | X | X | X |
| Eurythmics | Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) | X | X | X | X | X | 14 | X | 08 | 20 | 11 |
| Queen | Innuendo | X | X | X | X | 14 | 15 | X | X | X | X |
| Led Zeppelin | Kashmir | 18 | X | 14 | X | X | 16 | X | 17 | X | X |
| Louis Armstrong | What a Wonderful World | X | 01 | X | X | 07 | 17 | 16 | X | X | X |
| Paul McCartney & Eric Clapton | While My Guitar Gently Weeps | X | X | X | X | 20 | 18 | X | 13 | X | X |
| Ozzy Osbourne | Crazy Train | X | X | 13 | 10 | X | 19 | 19 | 02 | 03 | 10 |
| The Rolling Stones | You Can't Always Get What You Want | X | X | X | X | X | 20 | X | 07 | X | 15 |
| Jefferson Starship | Jane | X | X | X | X | 09 | X | 20 | X | X | X |
| Gorillaz | Feel Good Inc. | X | 07 | 07 | 08 | 11 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Carbon Leaf | The Donnybrook Affair | X | X | X | 17 | 12 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Buena Vista Social Club | Chan Chan | X | X | X | X | 13 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Grimethorpe Colliery Band | Adagio (Concierto De Aranjuez) | X | X | X | X | 15 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Whiskey Myers | On The River | X | X | X | X | 16 | X | 09 | 04 | X | X |
| Frank Sinatra | Blue Moon | X | X | X | X | 17 | X | X | X | X | X |
| The Beatles | Eleanor Rigby | 02 | X | X | X | 19 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Muse | Knights of Cydonia | 13 | 06 | X | 01 | X | X | 18 | X | X | X |
| Johnny Cash | Hurt | X | 03 | X | 06 | X | X | X | X | 07 | X |
| John Lennon | Imagine | 04 | X | X | 09 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Talking Heads | Once in a Lifetime | X | X | 09 | 13 | X | X | 07 | X | 16 | 13 |
| Gaelic Storm | One More Day Above the Roses | X | 12 | X | 15 | X | X | 10 | X | X | X |
| Coldplay | Fix You | X | 18 | 19 | 18 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Reckless Kelly | Seven Nights in Eire | X | X | 10 | 19 | X | X | 14 | X | X | X |
| Fleetwood Mac | The Chain | X | X | X | 20 | X | X | 02 | 03 | X | 18 |
| Pink Floyd | Run Like Hell/Waiting for the Worms | X | X | 03 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Alan Parsons Project | Sirius/Eye in the Sky | X | X | 05 | X | X | X | X | 19 | X | X |
| Gaelic Storm | The Night I Punched Russell Crowe | X | X | 08 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Queen | Killer Queen | 16 | X | 11 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Blue Öyster Cult | Burnin' For You | X | X | 12 | X | X | X | X | 09 | X | X |
| Guns N' Roses | November Rain | 17 | X | 15 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Radiohead | Paranoid Android | 15 | X | 17 | X | X | X | X | X | 10 | X |
| Marillion | Kayleigh | X | X | 18 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| The Kinks | Village Green Preservation Society | X | 17 | 20 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Iron Maiden | The Trooper | X | 02 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Ma la Mha | In Nazareþ | 19 | 08 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Ricky Skaggs | Uncle Pen | X | 09 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Coldplay | Viva la Vida | 03 | 10 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Green Day | Jesus of Suburbia | X | 11 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Barry Manilow | Copacabana | 05 | 13 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| The Dead Kennedys | Holiday in Cambodia | X | 14 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Bon Jovi | Wanted Dead or Alive | 20 | 15 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Aerosmith | Dream On | X | 16 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Booker T. & the M.G.'s | Green Onions | 08 | 19 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Frank Zappa | Joe's Garage | X | 20 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| The Beatles | Let it Be | 07 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Editors | Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors | 09 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Meatloaf | Bat out of Hell | 10 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Billy Talent | This is How it Goes | 11 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Barry Manilow | I Write the Songs | 12 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Rush | Territories | 14 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| The Eagles | Lyin' Eyes | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 18 | X | X |
| The Who | Baba O'Riley | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 15 | 12 | X |
| Men at Work | Down Under | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 14 | X | X |
| Earth, Wind, and Fire | September | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 10 | 04 | 03 |
| Radiohead | Street Spirit (Fade Out) | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 19 | X |
| New Order | Blue Monday | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 14 | X |
| Depeche Mode | Enjoy the Silence | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 13 | X |
| The Smiths | How Soon is Now? | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 05 | X |
| Pink Floyd | Wish You Were Here | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 02 | 04 |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | The Mercy Seat | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 20 |
| The Police | Roxanne | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 17 |
| The Rolling Stones | Sympathy for the Devil | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 16 |
| Queen | Don't Stop Me Now | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 14 |
| Foo Fighters | Everlong | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 12 |
| Ludwig von Beethhoven | Mondscheinsonate, 3rd movement | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 09 |
| Black Sabbath | Paranoid | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 06 |
| The Cure | A Forest | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 05 |
2019 Special Edition
In each category, voters could choose to sort all 10 songs, or only their preferred 3 or 5. The weight of their vote would be greater the most songs they voted on; this was to encourage voters to vote on all categories, but avoid partial votes from altering too much the outcome for people who cared about a certain category enough to vote on all 10 songs.
The bottom half results of all categories were revealed between November 30 and December 1, with the top 4/5/6 (depending on the category) scheduled to be revealed in an election night broadcast. This did not happen, and the final results were revealed from February 28, following the switch to New Wittenberg, to April 3, when the final category winner (Ecstasy of Gold) was revealed as part of a live quiz during the second episode of La Curantoina.
Categories are sorted according to the highest scoring winner (ie., the category where the winner has the most points compared to the other winners is shown first.) In the following lists, points are shown only for the songs who would have featured in the election night show.
Movie Theme Songs
- Ennio Morricone - Ecstasy Of Gold (59 pts)
- Ennio Morricone - Man With A Harmonica (43 pts)
- Hans Zimmer - Davy Jones Theme (41 pts)
- John Williams - The Imperial March (40 pts)
- Nino Rota - Love Theme From The Godfather (37 pts)
- Monty Python - Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (36 pts)
- John Williams - The Hologram/Binary Sunset
- John Barry & Orchestra - James Bond Theme
- Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther Theme
- Christopher Cross - Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)
Country Songs (excluding Johnny Cash)
- Marty Robbins - Big Iron (50 pts)
- Willie Nelson - On The Road Again (47 pts)
- First Aid Kit - Emmylou (36 pts)
- Steve Earle - Copperhead Road (36 pts)
- The Common Linnets - Calm After The Storm (35 pts)
- Hank Williams Jr. - A Country Boy Can Survive
- Balsam Range - Stacking Up The Rocks
- Toby Keith - Beer For My Horses
- David Allen Coe - You Never Even Called Me By My Name
- Marty Robbins - El Paso
Songs with female lead vocals
- Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (48 pts)
- The Cranberries - Zombie (47 pts)
- Sia - Chandelier (42 pts)
- Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive (40 pts)
- Chvrches - The Mother We Share (38 pts)
- Elastic - Waking Up (37 pts)
- Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon
- Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High
- Mama Cass Elliott - Make Your Own Kind Of Music
- Yoko Ono - I Felt Like Smashing My Face In A Clear Glass Window
Songs to play while overthrowing the government
- Muse - Uprising (47 pts)
- Toto - Africa (45.5 pts)
- Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down (42 pts)
- Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son (39 pts)
- Gustav Holst - Mars, The Bringer Of War (38 pts)
- Green Day - Know Your Enemy (38 pts)
- The Clash - Rock The Casbah
- Edvard Grieg - In The Hall Of The Mountain King
- Pussy Riot - Putin Lights Up The Fires
- Boots Randolph - Yakety Sax
German language songs
- Falco - Rock Me Amadeus (36 pts)
- Rammstein - Haifisch (36 pts)
- Falco - Vienna Calling (34 pts)
- Nena - 99 Luftballons (26 pts)
- Kraftwerk - Das Model (22.5 pts)
- Kraftwerk - Radioaktivität (The Mix)
- Peter Schilling - Major Tom
- Peter Fox - Alles Neu
- Mo-Do - Eins, Zwei, Polizei
- Laing - Nieselregen
Songs released in 2018/2019
- Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (35 pts)
- Whiskey Myers - Bury My Bones (32 pts)
- Rammstein - Radio (32 pts)
- Lil Nas X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road (27 pts)
- Editors - Hallelujah (So Low)
- David Guetta & Sia - Flames
- Cosmo Sheldrake - Come Along
- Gorillaz - Tranz
- Miranda Lambert - Track Record
- Gabby Barrett - I Hope
2022-23 Special Edition
Much like for the first Special Edition, the 2022-23 was also prompted by a year with two General Elections and was largely held under the same rules. One category comprised only songs released since the previous Special Edition's nomination phase (October 30th, 2019), and the other five were decided by voting, with the caveat that the categories of the previous Special Edition couldn't be nominated again. Categories also had to be niche enough that no more than eight previous TMT20 finalist song could fit in a category, so that unusual songs would be encouraged.
Ultimately, 13 categories were nominated with the following 5 being selected: "Christmas music", "Classical music to have dinner to in the last day of Earth", "Comedy music", "Electronic music" and "Eurovision nominated songs".
Much as in the previous Special Edition, category winners were granted an automatic entry in the next (2023) regular edition. In the Eurovision category, where the top three songs were only separated by tiebreakers, all three received an automatic entry. Categories are again sorted according to the highest scoring winner.
Comedy music
- "Weird Al" Yankovic - Eat It (34 pts)
- "Weird Al" Yankovic - Mission Statement (29 pts)
- Monty Python - Lumberjack Song (28 pts)
- Trevor Moore - Time for Guillotines (24 pts)
- Monty Python - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (24 pts)
- Lonely Island ft. Michael Bolton - Jack Sparrow (23 pts)
- Dana Lyons - Cows with Guns (22 pts)
- Måns Zelmerlöw & Petra Mede - Love, Love, Peace, Peace (20 pts)
- Lonely Island - Lazy Sunday (17 pts)
- Spike Jones - I'm in the Mood for Love (17 pts)
Songs released on or after October 30th, 2019
- The Weeknd - Blinding Lights (32 pts)
- CHVRCHES - Final Girl (28 pts)
- Stromae - Santé (28 pts)
- Dan Tyminski ft. Vargas & Lagola - Hey Brother (Avicii Tribute) (27 pts)
- Imagine Dragons - Bones (27 pts)
- Karpe - PAF.no (22 pts)
- Billie Eilish - No Time to Die (22 pts)
- Arlo Parks - Hurt (21 pts)
- Lumineers - BRIGHTSIDE (20 pts)
- Brad Paisley - No I In Beer (11 pts)
Electronic music
- Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (27 pts)
- Stromae - Formidable (25 pts)
- Kraftwerk - Das Model (24 pts)
- Archive - Controlling Crowds (22 pts)
- Radiohead - Everything In It's Right Place (19 pts)
- Daft Punk - Contact (19 pts)
- ExoNova - Electro Swingity (16 pts)
- Kraftwerk - Die Roboter (16 pts)
- Toby Fox - Megalovania (14 pts)
- Avicii - Levels (13 pts)
Classical music to have dinner to in the last day of Earth
- Ludwig von Beethoven - Mondscheinsonate (Moonlight Sonata), 3rd movement (27 pts)
- Ludwig von Beethoven - 7th Symphony 2nd movement, Allegretto (24 pts)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Lacrimosa (Requiem) (23 pts)
- Antonin Dvorak - Symphony No. 9 4th movement (22 pts)
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto 1 (B Flat Minor) (21 pts)
- Edward Elgar - Enigma Variations, Op.36: IX. (Nimrod) (13 pts)
- Johann Pachelbel - Canon in D (13 pts)
- Giuseppe Torelli - Concerto for Guitar & Violin in A Major: I. Allegro (11 pts)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - A Little Night Music Serenade No. 13 in G Major (10 pts)
- Ludwig von Beethoven - 9th Symphony (10 pts)
Eurovision nominated songs
- Urban Symphony - Rändajad (24 pts)
- Måneskin - Zitti E Buoni (24 pts)
- Lesley Roy - Maps (24 pts)
- Daði og Gagnamagnið - Think About Things (22 pts)
- Loreen - Euphoria (21 pts)
- Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah (20 pts)
- Domenico Modugno - Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (14 pts)
- MELOVIN - Under the Ladder (11 pts)
- Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra (10 pts)
- Chanel - Slomo (10 pts)
Christmas music
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve / Sarajevo (17 pts)
- Peter Auty - Walking in the Air (17 pts)
- Joni Mitchell - River (15 pts)
- Bing Crosby and David Bowie - Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy (15 pts)
- Lindsey Stirling - O Come, O Come Emmanuel (14 pts)
- Statler and Waldorf - Marley & Marley (12 pts)
- Kristi Yamaguccimane - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (9 pts)
- Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again (9 pts)
- Tim Minchin - White Wine in the Sun (7 pts)
- Beatallica - Happy Christmas (War is Over) (7 pts)
- ↑ Occasionally fewer if ties occurred in the previous year's Round 2, in which case one song would have been eliminated by a tiebreaker but granted an entry in the following edition as if it succeeded; or if a special edition just happened, such that all category winners receive an automatic entry, taking up new nomination slots.