At the end of the year our TVs are flooded with “Best of” and “Top 10” lists concerning everything under the sun. With that in mind we thought we would add to the mix...sort of. We’ve compiled the tops in music from various different outlets to give you a look at what was happening this past year. In a nutshell, pop is still king, European beats make it big, and American Idol rules the charts. 
 
American Idols Take Over Charts   
Four of the top ten albums for December were from American Idol alums. They may not be recognized as critical favorites but they are certainly big with fans (at least this month).  Kelly Clarkson will end the year with the third highest selling album. This year's AI winner Carrie Underwood and runnerup Bo Bice were numbers 2 and 4 respectively.

The latest band to join the ranks of the big boys when it comes to album sales and concert receipts is Coldplay. Since arriving four years ago, they have sold over 11 million copies. Only U2 and the Dave Matthews Band top them in sales.

50 Cent and His Midas Touch
It was a mixed bag for 50 Cent this year. He owned the charts for most of the year selling 4.9 million copies of his "Massacre."He had the midas touch, with every album he was on selling well. Unfortunately for him, with four days to go, it seems,  Mariah Carey squeaked out the top selling album for the year. His conversation to the silver screen did not fare as well as his CD sales. His movie "Get Rich or Die Tryin" tanked at the box office. Even with that disappointment, he is still the pop god of the year with his own record company, cigarettes, cologne, CD, video game, and too many other pop culture items to name. Look for him to own the airwaves for years to come.

The Death of Slim Shady
The big news of the year was the hints from Eminem that he may be retiring. With the success of his greatest hits, "Curtain Call", that finished at the top of the chart for December, this seems unlikely. Based on lyrics from his new CD it seems more likely that his stage persona, Slim Shady, will be the one to R.I.P. We'll see him winning a "producer of the year award" sometime soon as he moves into this new arena and devotes less time to his own music. With the death of Slim Shady, when he does appear on stage, who knows what we'll see.

Here is how the charts ended for 2005 (from various media outlets)

Amazon Top 5 CD Sales	Rolling Stone Top 5 CD Picks
1.  Coldplay, X&Y  2.  Green Day, American Idiot  3.  Il Divo, Il Divo  4.  Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams  5. Ray Charles, Geniune Loves Company	1.  Kayne West, Late Registration 2.  The Rolling Stones, A Bigger Bang 3.  Whites Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan 4.  Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine 5.  Bruce Springsteen, Devils and Dust
Various Categories
Top Ringtone -      Kayne West,                                  Gold Digger	Top Modern Rock -      Nine Inch Nails,                                         Only
Top Selling CD -   Mariah Carey                                 Mimi	Top Electronica CD -  Madonna                                        Confession on A ....
Top Christian CD -Switchfoot                                 Nothing Is Sound	Top Country CD -       Kenny Chesney                                      The Road and the Radio
Band of Year -       The Killers	Top Chart Year End - Eminem,                                       Curtain Calls
Top Downloaded Songs
Rhapsody -      Kayne West -      Gold Digger            Napster -         Bright Eyes -      I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning            iTunes -           Mariah Carey -   Don't Forget About Us

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