iPod Music Playlist - Pick the Song of the Summer 2008

In Toronto, the sign that summer is officially over is when The Ex opens and this year, it happens this Friday. More officially known as The Canadian National Exhibition, it's our town fair that runs in the last 2 weeks of the summer ending on Labour Day and every year, every Torontonian says the same thing "What? The Ex is opening already? Where did summer go?".

Yes, as we hit mid August and summer is nearly over (that segue worked better in my mind), by now there's usually a clear winner for the song of the summer, but this year, there's more possibilities than a clear winner, and that might be a good thing (because have you still gotten "Umbrella" out of your head yet? Joe at Low Resolution made a similar post questioning this years songs and nicely lists previous Songs of the Summer). This summer, I can turn on the radio and very few songs make we want to rip out my hair (and again, this is the year that introduced TWO new Billy Ray Cyrus offsprings to the radio and I didn't want to kill myself) so I'm throwing out my nominations for Song of the Summer and letting YOU pick the winner in my first poll EVER on Tapeworthy!

The poll is on the sidebar (look right and scroll to the top):

And if you don't see a song you think should be on the list, write it in the comment. So what is the Song of the Summer for 2008? As Joe so succinctly put it "what song dominated your life in X summer? Oftentimes against your will. And you can leave your music snobbery at the door, okay? This stuff goes beyond taste -- it's the cultural zeitgeist." (The odd thing I just realized is that Joe now lives across the waters from Toronto and since I often listen to their stations, we might be influenced by the same radio ad nauseum repeats!). I'm also going to add one more factor which is the So You Think You Can Dance influence. If they've danced to it, it usually adds more points to the song.

So here are the songs I'm nominating (in no particular order) and if you don't most of them, what cave do you live in and why are you even reading my blog? (I posted the videos after the jump anyways just in case):

"I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry - If the song of the summer meant it was played every 10 minutes on every radio station, I think this would clearly win it, but I think the titillation and hook of the song will sound annoying in years to come and the song of the summer must endure years of worthiness. Or at least until next summer.

"American Boy" - Estelle feat. Kanye West - This is almost too good to be the song of the summer and is probably one of the best songs of the year, yet it never caught on as it should have. Still, it's really good so it's on the list.

"Dangerous" - Kardinal Offishall feat. Akon - Considering the 60 year old woman I worked with last month knew all the words, it obviously caught on far more than I imagined and as annoying as it is, I constantly find myself humming the song. Damnit. GET OUT! (Bonus points for being from Toronto! Who knew!?)

"The Time Of My Life" - David Cook - It's schmaltzy with a touch of edge and I love it. In fact, it reminds of the time when Kelly Clarkson had to sing HER Idol song... so is Cook to be the boy successful version of Clarkson (last album notwithstanding)? If he is, I can't wait to hear more!

"Forever" - Chris Brown - The lines "Its like I've waited my whole life for/ This one night it's gonna be me you and/ The dance floor cause/ We've only got one life/ Double your pleasure/ Double your fun and dance" does it all (in some kinda porn doublemint gum fantasy) yet somewhere the song goes off the rails from being the perfect summer song but those few lines are pure perfection!

"Leavin'" - Jesse McCartney - I loved this song right from the start (way back when there was still snow on the ground) but I never thought it would take this long to peak, but it finally peaked in the summer and I STILL love this song (and it's MY PICK for the song of the summer).

"Disturbia" - Rihanna - Just because Rihanna needs to be nominated every summer, this is her entry for this summer (although narrowly beating her Maroon 5 duet) although it probably got released too late to make a real impact like "Umbrella" did last summer.

"Viva La Vida" - Coldplay - I think "Violet Hill" was supposed to be the song that took off but clearly this was the better (and catchier) song from an established and somewhat respected band (at least from white people).

"One Step at a Time" - Jordin Sparks - It's a minor song but it slowly chips away at the brain... well... one step at a time... and I can't get it out. It's like I'm suffocating... with no air... badaboom!

"Shake It" - Metro Station - Who would have thought an off-spring from Billy Ray Cyrus would produce a song that's actually catchy AND kind of cool?

"Fly Girl" - Tara Oram - My one country entry this summer and while it's too new to be a hit at this point, or even that widely known, it's a perfect summer song that is both fresh and fun. (Oh, and I just realized she's from Canadian Idol after thinking she was from the south this whole time).

"Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis - This actually peaked too early to be a song for the summer but it came back on my radar when Mark and Chelsie amazingly danced to it and changed my perspective of the song. This will probably be more of a song of the year contender than a summer song.

"Just Dance" - Lady Ga Ga feat. Colby O'Donis - Another song that kinda played on the background on the radio all the time as it slowly wormed its way into our head until they finally made an appearance on SYTYCD making us realize this band was for real.

"Burnin' Up" - The Jonas Brothers - Because in the summer where The Jonas Brothers starts taking over the world (or at least the minds of every teenage girl in the universe), I've got to give them one song and while this entry might be too late to gain the momentum for the song of the summer, it's definitely a catchy little ditty that explains their future world domination. Also, if I were a 15 year old girl, Nick would totally be dreamy... but I'm not.

These songs never made it to the list (but might have in another time in another year...):

"Summertime" - New Kids on the Block
"Fall For You" - Secondhand Serenade
"Closer" - Neyo
"If I Never See Your Face Again" - Maroon 5 ft. Rihanna

Here are the videos for the nominated songs of the summer:

"I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry:


"American Boy" - Estelle feat. Kanye West:


"Dangerous"- Kardinal Offishall feat. Akon:


"The Time Of My Life" - David Cook:


"Forever" - Chris Brown:


"Leavin'" - Jesse McCartney:


"Disturbia'" - Rihanna:


"Viva La Vida" - Coldplay:


"One Step at a Time" - Jordin Sparks:


"Shake It" - Metro Station - Video here since I can't find any unembedable videos. I hate that. I almost want to unnominate the song for that.

"Fly Girl" - Tara Oram:


"Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis:


"Just Dance" - Lady Ga Ga feat. Colby O'Donis:


"Burnin' Up" - The Jonas Brothers: