{"id":423937,"date":"2026-01-21T16:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423937\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:19:08","slug":"triple-js-hottest-100-more-than-2m-votes-have-been-cast-but-who-will-win-triple-j-hottest-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423937\/","title":{"rendered":"Triple J\u2019s Hottest 100: more than 2m votes have been cast \u2013 but who will win? | Triple J Hottest 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside the offices of Australian youth broadcaster Triple J<\/a>, the results of the Hottest 100 \u2013 which will be counted down on Saturday \u2013 are a closely guarded secret.<\/p>\n

Mornings host Lucy Smith says presenters don\u2019t see their section of the countdown until an hour before going live, with only a select few staffers ensuring the votes and statistics are tallied correctly inside a private \u201cTriple J bunker\u201d that is occupied from the day voting closes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes there\u2019s no windows. They need to have specific snacks in there,\u201d Smith says. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of NDAs signed, essentially.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a landmark year for the national youth broadcaster, which celebrated its 50th anniversary, reshuffled its presenter lineup<\/a> and went on tour<\/a>. As part of the celebrations, the station staged a special mid-year retrospective poll, the Hottest 100 of Australian Songs, which drew 2.6m votes and saw INXS\u2019s Never Tear Us Apart named the greatest Australian song of all time<\/a>. The all-Australian countdown offered a feelgood corrective to the 2024 Hottest 100, which featured the lowest number of Australian artists since 1996.<\/p>\n

In December, Triple J published its year-in-review statistics, reporting 3% year-on-year growth in weekly metro listeners, up to 1.83 million, and more than a billion views across its digital content. While the station\u2019s reach remains small compared with commercial radio, and streaming algorithms continue to fragment listening habits, the Hottest 100 endures as a cultural touchstone \u2013 so much so that Anthony Albanese was again compelled to share his votes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Triple J confirms the final 2025 vote tally will exceed 2m \u2013 but as for the music itself, what surprises might be in store?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about the vibes<\/p>\n

While pop is well established on the Hottest 100 now \u2013 Billie Eilish and Charli xcx each scored eight entries in last year\u2019s poll \u2013 this year\u2019s international frontrunners skew more smooth than spiky. \u201cI think we\u2019re still in a kind of post-post-pandemic lockdown era,\u201d Smith says. \u201cPeople are still leaning into those elements of buoyancy, nostalgia and escapism; music that feels warm, classic and familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the first countdown in nearly a decade without the go-to prediction site 100 Warm Tunas, which founder Nick Whyte has put on pause<\/a> because of the increasing difficulty of gathering data from social media posts. However, a clear favourite has emerged in Olivia Dean\u2019s supremely likable throwback hit Man I Need, which has continued its streak atop the Aria singles chart into 2026. Dean was also Triple J\u2019s third most-played artist in 2025 and cemented her Australian bona fides with a performance at the Aria awards.<\/p>\n

Journalist and Hottest 100 obsessive Tyler Jenke, whose meticulous chronicling of the poll includes tracking down tape recordings of old broadcasts, is anticipating another pop-heavy year. \u201cThe party line has always been that Triple J is youth radio, and it reflects the tastes of youth. And I think the youth now happen to be a lot more into pop music.\u201d<\/p>\n

British singer-songwriter Raye\u2019s hit Where Is My Husband will probably get a spot on the Hottest 100. Photograph: Kristy Sparow\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Other international hopefuls tipped by Reddit prognosticators include the easy-going stylings of Raye and Sombr, the grabby dance music of Fred Again \u2026 and Disco Lines\u2019 pool party-ready take on Tinashe\u2019s No Broke Boys.<\/p>\n

In the absence of the brash, can\u2019t-be-ignored presence of an album like Charli xcx\u2019s Brat, these predictions offer a window into the listening habits of younger voters, where TikTok is a powerful engine – last year, Triple J reported that more than 70% of voters were under 30.<\/p>\n

Where to for Australian music?<\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s disappointing showing for Australian artists<\/a>, signs point to a stronger return in 2025; Jenke believes a new feature on the voting page \u2013 allowing users to search by Australian artists only \u2013 could provide a welcome boost to local artists too.<\/p>\n

There are multiple contenders from Triple J favourites like Spacey Jane (the station\u2019s most-played artist last year), Tame Impala, G Flip and Ocean Alley, whose single Confidence won the 2018 countdown. Then there\u2019s Keli Holiday\u2019s ubiquitous Dancing2. Despite Holiday not appearing anywhere in the station\u2019s Top 50 most-played artists last year, the song sparked a wholesome TikTok trend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Australian band Ocean Alley have multiple contenders in the running this year. Photograph: Kane Lehanneur<\/p>\n

One area likely to see strong Australian representation is electronic music. Leading the charge are multiple Aria winner and Triple J\u2019s second most-played artist of 2025 Ninajirachi, whose strikingly original debut album I Love My Computer has several songs in play; and globe-trotting DJ-producer Dom Dolla, who became the first solo Australian electronic artist to headline a stadium show<\/a>, playing to 40,000 people in Sydney last month.<\/p>\n

And it wouldn\u2019t be the Hottest 100 without an underdog outlier. This year, that role falls to Playlunch\u2019s \u201cbogan funk\u201d anthem Keith, a fitting entry in an irreverent lineage that includes the likes of TISM and Regurgitator. \u201cSure, everyone loves Olivia Dean<\/a>,\u201d says Jenke, \u201cbut we also like having a bit of fun yelling at the neighbours.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside the offices of Australian youth broadcaster Triple J, the results of the Hottest 100 \u2013 which will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-423937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}