This is part VII of my list of the biggest hits of the 2010's in NZ, this is in lieu of making individual lists for each year as it's been a real challenge for me to talk about some of these songs with the dignity and respect they deserve as is.
Given how we've looked at two entries from Nick Jonas on this list already, it seems odd that his younger brother Joe would see less success in NZ than he did here in Australia with his band DNCE (I can't even with that name.) That said, this was released on time over there which means we have another example of a song finding success in Australia due to its tardy release.
While it came close to appearing on both sides of my site, "Here" was too much of a sleeper hit for Alessia Cara to do so which is why this will be the earliest entry in her catalogue to appear on this site. I guess we Aussies weren't too interested in what she had to say until her stance against plastic surgery which will be reappearing on this list in a bit.
This proved to be equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Taylor Swift, although let's face it, if it wasn't for the fact that she had put her entire catalogue back on Spotify mere months prior to when she released this critically panned track, I doubt this would've even charted over there since it became an instant meme the minute it was released into the world.
Even though it was better received than his previous album Revival, Kamikaze was only able to spawn one hit for Eminem which was this track that didn't even receive a proper single release despite there being a music video for it.
Contrary to popular believe, this was the debut single for JB and not "Baby" from earlier on this list, it was a hit single in NZ and a moderate sleeper hit here in Australia thanks to the hype that he had going into its release.
From what I can gather, Zowie was meant to be NZ answer to the likes of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga which means we have a dance pop number from her that managed to become a hit in her homeland at the start of the decade much like Zoe Badwi was for Australia around the same time.
It makes sense that Pitbull would have more success in NZ with this collaboration with Marc Anthony than he did here in Australia given how the latter did achieve massive success with his breakthrough album back in 2000 over there where he failed to do so over here.
This may have failed to appear on the Australian side of my site due to how thoroughly unimpressed we Aussies were with this change in direction Lady Gaga made with her sound, however the kiwis had enough love for this new direction for it to become a modest success for her at the time of its release.
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with James Bay as we Aussies were given how this appears lower on this side of my site compared to the Australian side, although it's worth noting that this did linger in the lower half of their charts for quite some time just like it did on ours. This was James's only hit in America, although more specifically it was the only song of his Americans would know about.
We have one final entry from Adam Lambert on this list as his debut single managed to be a huge hit for him in NZ at the very start of the decade, it was one of the last songs to be released in the 00's thus making it a clear candidate to be one of the first songs of the 2010's worldwide. I guess we Aussies weren't on board with making him a success here until he released his top entry on this list.
This was equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia, likely because it came at the tail end of the club boom and that both countries were looking to move on from it in favour of the indie scene which Chris didn't think to capitalise off of.
This is to date the only hit single that Machine gun Kelly has had outside of his native America, although the rapper turned rocker likely has Camila Cabello to thank for this song's success given how this was the first thing she released following her departure from Fifth harmony. Her solo success here in Australia wouldn't come until she released "Havana" from earlier on this list.
And there were still no signs of Khalid slowing down during the back half of the decade as we now have an entry from him, Ty Dolla $ign (what is with that rapper name?) and 6lack (OK never mind, THIS is the worst rapper name on this list.) Ty Dolla $ign already had a string of hits worldwide as a guest rapper for the likes of Fifth harmony and Jason Deurlo whilst 6lack has yet to have his own hit.
Much like here in Australia, this is to date the only hit from an Israeli artist in NZ as Dennis Lloyd managed to take the world by storm with this track thanks to it fitting in with the tropical house trend of the decade. It was a sleeper hit over there, likely due to strong airplay as it wasn't that big on our digital charts here in Australia.
This is the first hit that Zedd had in most parts of the world, heck it came close to appearing on the Australian side of my site but failed to do so due to being too much of a sleeper hit here. It made the cut for this side of my site even though it failed to crack the top ten over there, it stuck around likely due to the kiwis wanting to give English singer Foxes a hit and this is the only way they could do so.
This is the final hit that J Williams had in his homeland, although considering it was fifth hit he had from his solo debut as well as the sixth single from said album, you'd be forgiven into thinking that he had a massive career ahead of him as the decade unfolded which turned out not to be the case.
This would've seemed like a massive surprise for Benny Benassi fans in NZ given how this was his first charting single as well as his only charting single aside from his earlier entry with Chris Brown on this list, it was less of a surprise here in Australia where he previously had a hit with "Satisfaction" eight years prior. That said, it was only a sleeper hit here, hence why it failed to appear on that side of my site.
It appears that this is one of the rare songs that managed to not only be a hit upon its initial release but also be more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing this means the kiwis went with the original version of this track and not the version which has Nicki Minaj tacked on it that became a success here and, in the duo's, native America.
I guess the kiwis felt this song's gimmick of repeating the word low 176 times wasn't as endearing to the kiwis as it was to us Aussies given how much lower this appears on this side of my site, that said it did make the cut for Jon Bellion likely due to how much airplay it received over there when it finally caught on internationally.
Much like here in Australia, this took its sweet time in finding success in NZ despite John Newman's appearance on the Rudimental track from earlier on this list. Unlike in Australia however, this didn't crack their top five which explains why it appears lower on this list, although the payoff is that it did last longer in their top twenty.
Much like here in Australia, this was the final hit that B.O.B had in NZ as it was obvious the only reason why the kiwis gave this the time of day was due to the presence of Taylor Swift on the track. It's best not to look into what happened to him after this collaboration, unless of course you're in the mood for a chuckle with how much of a conspiracy theorist he's become over the years.
Sandwiched between their previous two entries was this second single from Rudimental which was a hit here in Australia but during our Christmas period which meant it would struggle to rack up the points necessary to appear on that side of my site. Fortunately, the Christmas period of 2012 was much calmer in NZ which allowed this to fit more comfortably onto this list of mine.
This is the only noticeable hit to come from Tori Kelly anywhere in the world, Tori is best known for her role in Illumination's Sing where she played Meena the elephant (although I always thought she was played by Ariana Grande) given how little success she's had with her singing career outside of this one hit she had in the midpoint of the decade.
This is the only appearance from Gavin DeGraw on this site, mainly because the only hit he had here in Australia was with "I don't wanna be" which was too much of a sleeper hit to appear on that side of the site. Indeed, this was a bit of a sleeper hit over in NZ likely due to the kiwis not knowing who he was given the failure of that track back in 2004 over there, however this did when them over eventually.
Much like here in Australia, this charted on both the singles and albums chart in NZ for Skrillex albeit vastly differently due to how complicated both our charts had become by the 21st century. I guess you can argue this was based on its airplay whilst its success here in Australia was based on how well it did specifically on iTunes, streaming wasn't a factor back then so we can eliminate that format here.
If you're wondering how this failed to appear on the Australian side of my site, that's because this was released after Ed's earlier entry on this list which would've made it come out nine months after it did in NZ. Even so, this wasn't the biggest thing over there (obviously) so it's not like we Aussies were missing out on too much with its absence.
I have no idea how the kiwis came across this track from Canadian rapper K'naan, I'm guessing they gravitated towards this hip hop track due to the chorus that Nelly Furtado provided him, which allowed her to have one more hit over there before she truly faded into obscurity.
This is another song that became huge thanks to streaming during the final stretch of the decade, although this wasn't the case here in Australia as this didn't even chart here, proving that not everything related to Spotify streams was guaranteed to be a success down under.
This is to date the only hit that Tyler the Creator has been able to achieve anywhere in the world, he's best known for a rumour that he once went out with Jaden Smith with both parties have fiercely denied over the years.
It turns out we have a second entry with Tinie Tempah as the lead artist for this list as he managed to score a hit the year prior to his earlier entries we looked at. This time he recruits someone named Eric Turner, that's not me undermining an artist I'm unfamiliar with by the way, it literally is some random singer few it anyone has heard of outside of this breakthrough single for Tinie.
OK so you know how I said this song was praised by critics? It turns out I may have stretched the truth there as while it was well received here in Australia (given the love we Aussies have for P!nk even to this day) it wasn't as such internationally where many people felt it was a disappointment from her. That would explain why it was so much less popular in NZ even if it does manage to reappear on this list.
This was a hit twice in NZ, once upon its initial release as the third single from Taio Cruz's debut album, and the second when it was turned into a duet with Kylie Minogue of all people which boosted its sales months after its initial release.
This it to date the final hit that Kelly Clarkson has had anywhere in the world given how her 2010's output hasn't resonated with audiences like her 00's output, indeed this was heavily criticised back in the day as it being her least personal track even though it remains one of her biggest hits in her native America.
This is the only hit from Disney star Bridgit Mendler, one of many actresses from the house of mouse to try (and mostly fail) transitioning into the music scene following the staggering success that the likes of Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez had in both mediums. I guess the issue here is that unlike those two, she wasn't the star of any of the (in my opinion) terrible sitcoms that the company was churning out.
This was the song that put DJ Snake on the map, partially due to early nostalgia people had for Lil Jon but mostly for its bizarre music video where an Asian guy (at least he looks Asian to me) goes around an apartment building doing bizarre things with his err........ body weight (at least I think it's his body weight causing those shockwaves.) This came close to appearing on the Australian side of my site but was too much of a sleeper hit to do so.
This was the second collaboration that MJ made with Akon, although this time this was done posthumously given how the former had died in 2009 and that this came out the following year despite the protest of his family and friends. Naturally this flopped here in Australia given how we Aussies didn't use to take too kindly to artistic grave robbery with very rare exceptions.
Well, it took us long enough, but we've finally come to the debut single that made Shawn Mendes a star in NZ and his native Canada. I'm willing to bet that most people outside of these two countries don't even realise he released anything prior to "Stitches" given how this has fallen into obscurity over the other entries I've featured on this list already.
This will be the only appearance that Yung Thug has as a lead artist on this site, here he recruits J Cole and Travis Scott for his one and only hit that managed to become as such worldwide thanks to strong streaming data, although it was pushed aside here in Australia due to how strong our digital sales were even by the final stretch of the decade.
Whereas this was a decent hit for Selena Gomez here in Australia coming out of the decade, it was only barely a hit in NZ for her and likely only charted as high as it did due to the tabloid drama that went into making this. It's too early to say that this is the last we'll hear from her, although it's worth noting she hasn't had a hit song, movie or album since this came out.
It's odd that this second single from the deluxe edition of Animal (called Cannibal for the uninitiated) would be more successful for Kesha than two of her singles from the standard edition in NZ, mainly because we Aussies were growing tired of her by the time she released her sixth consecutive hit even if that was due to how overexposed she was during the first stretch of the decade.
This was released around the time where Demi Lovato made news for how she (in my and many others opinion) rudely dismissed a contestant on X factor America claiming that "a lot of people work very hard for their dreams, but it's not meant for everybody" to which she was (again in my and many others opinions) put in her place with the response "that's why you use autotune and I don't!" I just thought I'd share my disdain for her without necessarily criticising her music on this site as I feel she's not a good person.
Whereas this was at least a huge hit for Will.I.Am here in Australia, this was only a decent hit at best for him in NZ making this a much more devastating death of his career that JB was responsible for. That said, he still has one more entry to come on this list, meaning that the death wasn't as immediate over there as it was in most parts of the world.
Yeah, it turns out I lied when I said this wasn't appearing on this side of my site as this did rack up enough points to do so even if its success in NZ was a fraction of what it achieved here in Australia for Lizzo. Admittedly this might be due to the fact that there was apparently a remix of this track with Ariana Grande that did well on our digital charts which ARIA bundled with the original version here.
We have another entry from Six60 on this list, this time it's the final single from their debut album which made the cut likely through airplay as said album was already a best seller by the time it saw the light of day over there.
Nelly is back on the list once more with his endorsement for the car brand Porsche, OK so you can make the argument that it's actually a love song about a woman named Porsche, but I mean........ COME ON! In any case, it appears the kiwis weren't that impressed with this ad jingle given how much lower it appears on this side of my site compared to the Australian side.
I would say this is yet another example of a song with strong digital sales suffering in this ranking due to streaming being much more prevalent in NZ than it was here in Australia, however there's also the fact that this didn't last as long on the lower half of their charts as it did on ours, meaning this is just proof that the kiwis weren't as big of fans of the Greatest showman as we Aussies were.
This is the final entry from Six60 on this list, I'm not even going to bother talking about the song as I honestly have nothing to say about it. What I will say is that this wasn't even released as a single in their homeland, hence why I had to improvise for giving it a visual image for this list.
How do I know this song took forever in a day to find success here in Australia (aside of course from tracking it from a week-to-week basis?) Well, it turns out this had already fallen off the NZ charts by the time it started gaining traction here, meaning that we Aussies and by extension the rest of the world were taking cues from the kiwis when making this a success.
Whereas Rita Ora was still able to find comfortable success here in Australia with her singles this far into her career, this wasn't the case in NZ likely due to digital sales becoming scarcer as we moved closer towards the end of the decade. In fact, I'm willing to bet this was only a hit over there purely through airplay as I don't think Rita had much presence on their iTunes charts like she had here.
This is the only hit that Drax project had in their homeland (at least as of this writing) although it's worth noting that they did find massive success with their album by the end of the decade which does contain this as its first advanced single. We Aussies did make a version of this track successful as these guys attracted the attention of Hailee Steinfeld who agreed to provide vocals for a version released here.
I guess the kiwis were growing tired of BEP by this point in time as their fourth single from the E.N.D was only a hit in NZ purely through airplay given how it only makes the list due to its refusal to leave the lower half of their top twenty for quite some time. Indeed, this was the final single they released over there from the album as "Imma be" didn't even chart there like it did here.
This was the final hit that Will.I.Am had in NZ given how JB killed his career with his previous (solo) entry on this list, although given how Miley Cyrus was back in the spotlight when this came out, she was able to make this a moderate success for him worldwide before the JB curse finally took hold of his career.
This is the final entry from Demi Locato on this list, I guess the kiwis weren't too put off by her insensitive comments I mentioned in her previous entry given how this and "Let it go" managed to become a success over there when they both bombed over here following those comments. I also need to stress that while there's no denying she's an objectively terrible human being, that doesn't mean she deserves the harassment she's received over the years for her behaviour.
Remember how I said that George Ezra had more success overall in NZ from earlier on this list? It turns out he now has a third entry on here given how the kiwis were able to make his second single from his debut album stuck around long enough to be a sleeper hit for him over there. This was also a sleeper hit here in Australia, but too much so to appear on that side of my side.
Given how Macklemore was able to achieve a massive hit in NZ with "Glorious," I think we can comfortably blame Kesha for why this didn't do as well over there as it did over here as "Praying" was a massive flop over there. The lack of success she had with the kiwis is largely due to her success here in Australia being fuelled by digital sales which were on a sharp decline worldwide by this point.
It looks like DJ Snake had one final hit after all as he managed to recruit two of the most famous Latina pop stars in the form of Cardi B and Selena Gomez on this track as well as someone named Ozuma who provides the male vocals on this track. It's tough to say if this was a hit because of Cardi or Selena given how both women were on a roll at this point in time for their Hispanic heritage (although I'd put my money on Cardi.)
It appears that the kiwis needed some incentive in making this a hit for Echosmith over there given how it was released fairly late over there compared to over here in Australia, although this tardiness didn’t result in the song being more successful over there as it has for so many other songs in this ilk I've featured throughout this site.
This barely managed to make the cut on this list given how we're at what I like to call the fan single section of the list, that is to say, songs that only made it on here due to the artists in question having a strong fanbase but too niche of an appeal for a wider audience.
And we have another entry from Broods back-to-back on this list, this was more of a hit for them over there but didn't last that long in the upper echelons of their charts which is why it has the same position as their other entry which was more of a fan single for them.
This is the other big hit that Rihanna had in NZ and her native America from Anti, an album she admitted she only made due to contractual obligation given how it wasn't as well received as her previous work even though I'd argue the time it took to make this album makes it better than the rush jobs from the start of the decade.
This is the only that both the Vamps and Matoma had in NZ throughout their respective career, the Vamps being the British equivalent of 5SOS given how they were a boy band who played their own instruments whilst Matoma being an EDM artist from Norway who had buzz throughout Europe that led to this collaboration with the English lads.
Given how "Down" was released on time in NZ compared to here in Australia, this meant that this second single from Jay Sean was able to be released over there just as the 00's was winding down thus making it one of the first hits of the 2010's. That said, this is another case where a delay would've done the song good given how much bigger it was here in Australia because of it.
From what I can gather, the Kin are an Australian trio who are based in America who scored their one and only hit over in NZ with this folk track, I wish I could tell you more about this but that's the best I could do with my research.
This is the last hit that Coldplay had as a lead artist as well as their second last overall behind their collaboration with the Chainsmokers from earlier on this list. This comes from their album A head full of dreams and is perhaps best known for its video which depicts CGI monkeys dancing to the track. It's interesting how this was the big hit off the album and not "Hymn for the weekend" which had Beyonce on it.
Given how we looked at "Taki taki" from earlier on this list with DJ Snake, it only seems fitting that Ed Sheeran would have a song that celebrates Latinas as well as he brings in Cardi B from that track along with Camilla Cabello who takes the place of Selena Gomez here. I guess you can say he replaces Ozuna even though he doesn't have any Hispanic heritage (at least to my knowledge.)
Given how inescapable his early entry on this list was worldwide, it only makes sense that Lil Nas X would have buzz for what else he had to offer from his E.P which somewhat came with this track that he named after a character from a show known as Chowder (it was a little after my time on Cartoon Network, so I'm not familiar with it.) As there weren’t any controversies attached to this song, it wasn't that big for him anywhere.
Much like here in Australia, this was the Black keys only success in NZ even if it was way less popular over there than it was over here. This is likely due to the kiwis not caring as much that it nearly became the best song of 2011 according to listeners of Triple J, although that definitely didn't harm the success it achieved over there either.
We have one final appearance from Maroon 5 on this list; this one comes to us from their album V which didn't do so well when it came to their singles save for a remix of "Sugar" which became one of their biggest hits in their catalogue. Indeed, I feel this only took off for its bizarre music video where Adam Levine fancies himself as some sort of sexy Hannibal Lecter.
Given how successful these two were on their previous collaboration "Finesse," it only makes sense they would reunite for this collaboration where this time Bruno plays second fiddle to Cardi B which had much less desirable results for the two. I guess it was due to their other collaboration being a throwback to the early 90's right when nostalgia for that period was at its peak.
There's a misconception that all of Beyonce's songs are misandrist anthems when in reality, that only applies to "If I were a boy" as the rest of her "man hating" tracks are all designated to a singular person who broke her heart (presumably her first boyfriend but also possibly Jay Z.) That said, this is by far one of the silliest female empowerment anthems especially considering how loathed the "girl boss" architype has become in recent years.
I guess the kiwis weren't too of fans of 1D's charity single for Red nose day as we Aussies were, this is interesting given how they were on a roll over there so much more so than they were over here and that it's highly doubtful they'd be familiar with the original version from Blondie like we Aussies are.
I honestly would've thought this would be a bigger hit for Kendrick and Abel in NZ than it was here in Australia, I don't want to say it suffered over there because of the movie it was attached to as that obviously wasn't the case, however it appears that there was only so much it could do to hand out success to everyone involved with its creation.
This is the only hit that Shapeshifter had in their homeland, admittedly they were more of an album band given how successful their albums were throughout the decade, however they were able to score at least one hit from their third album Delta which incidentally is also their biggest album over there.
I remember this making headlines back in the day for how unnatural Miley's transition was form a Disney star to a more risqué pop diva, it's the same trajectory every Disney child star goes through as naturally being part of one of the most sterile companies in existence (something that's still true to this day) makes them want to go in the opposite direction once they hit adulthood.
We have one final entry from Basshunter on this side of my site, here he is with this track that was only a hit for him in NZ given how inescapable his earlier work was over there during the last stretch of the 00's. Indeed, the only reason why he doesn't have any further appearances on this list is because this was his final song he released in his discography.
It looks like the kiwis didn’t fall for the hype of Kesha's debut album like we Aussies did as this was only barely a hit over there hence why it appears so low on this list. Remember back when objectively awful music (and by that, I mean music poorly made like this track and not niche songs that are widely mocked such as "Barbie girl" or "Afternoon delight") didn't see any success in the mainstream? Those were the days.
Although he had a strong start to his career over in NZ, it appears the kiwis love for Jason Derulo didn't stick around as long as the love we Aussies had for him given how much lower his third single appears on this side of my site. Indeed, his popularity moving forward would be far more palatable here as we've seen throughout this list, although in fairness he was still better received than by his fellow Americans.
This is the only hit to come from Kanye West's album My beautiful dark twisted fantasy, mainly because of the various artists he recruited which include Alicia Keys, Elton John, John Legend and Rihanna among many others (those are the biggest names of course.) This was a rather rocky decade for the troubled rapper given how his mental health was highly volatile as it unfolded.
As far as everyone outside of Ellie Goulding's native UK is concerned, this was her debut single as it became a surprise hit for her in America despite it being among the weaker singles released in her homeland. Naturally the kiwis also gravitated towards this track when it took off on Billboard, which would more than explain how popular her second album and its deluxe edition got over there.
I did mention earlier that this was a minor hit for Daya in NZ, I guess if the kiwis allowed for digital sales to be prevalent when this came out like we Aussies did, it would've performed much better for her over there like it did over here. In any case, she has the full representation of her catalogue on both sides of my site, or rather the representation of her catalogue anyone cares about.
If you're wondering how on earth this managed to appear on this side of my site and not the Australian side, that's because this was only a success through digital sales here as opposed to over there where this obviously benefitted from strong airplay. I might have to end up making a digital list for the Australin side of my site to look at songs with strong sales during the second half of the decade that didn't make it on my main list there.
Much like here in Australia, this was the first true hit that Avicii had even though "Levels" did come close to appearing on this side of my site. Admittedly that had the misfortune of charting the same time as "Good feeling" from Flo Rida worldwide which no doubt ate up that songs success due to the rapper sampling his remix of the Etta James classic for his own success.
It turns out these guys had one more hit from their final album (at least at the time of this writing as it's possible they'll reform one day) this was only a hit in NZ for 1D likely due to it coming out the same time as Zayn's top entry on this list which no doubt distracted his fans from what his former band mates had to offer here.
This is the only hit that Little mix had over in NZ throughout their career, why the kiwis passed up on the female 1D when we Aussies made them a household name over here is anyone's guess but that's how it is. I have to imagine that this became a hit for them less because of the song itself and rather due to it being tabloid fodder due to the speculation of who each of their exes were.
As this was a hit more than once in NZ this decade, you're probably wondering if this encapsulates its entire run. I'll rip the band aid off and confirm this only covers its initial release as I didn't want to include its success when he tragically passed away six months after it dropped off the charts over there. In Australia, this only saw the light of day when he was pronounced dead in the media.
Given how EDM was never that popular in NZ like it was here in Australia, it makes sense that this was less popular over there for Duck sauce than it was here in Australia. I'm kind of amused that they used the album art from Barbra's 1980 album Guilty for the cover art of the song, although there is an alternate art which just has a random duck that I abstained from using on this site.
This feels like a version of "Paris" from the Chainsmokers if instead it was made by a different American EDM duo, this due of course being Frenship who managed to score a hit in NZ of all places right before the Chainsmokers scored their own hit with the female singer where they didn't bother to credit her. This was a sleeper hit here in Australia, too much so to appear on that side of my site.
This is the only other hit that Cher Lloyd had in NZ, hey at least she has more than one entry on this side of my site which is far more than I can say about her representation on the Australian side. Here she recruits Becky G who would go on to have success worldwide with the likes of "Shower," although not so much in the southern hemisphere given how that bombed in both countries.
It turns out these two were able to score a second hit in NZ after all even if it was with a different song than the one that appeared on the Australian side of my site, again this was originally released under their first name Envy before they rebranded as Nico and Vinz which ultimately didn't matter since they had no success under their previous name.
This is the final hit that BEP had anywhere in the world, even then this was largely passed up in most parts of the world due to the album being a decent success for them by the time it saw the light of day (despite its critical thrashing.) It's strangely fitting that a song demanding the party go on indefinitely would be the cause of BEP's party in the mainstream coming to a screeching halt.
This was the final song to be released from Doo wops and hooligans for Bruno Mars, it was a decent hit in NZ as well as a sleeper hit here in Australia which is impressive given how it was the fifth single from a highly successful album. Of course, his winning streak wouldn't stop here as in addition to his entry to the Twilight saga, his next album would be out in just over a year from this song's success.
It looks like the kiwis were also unimpressed with this track where Nicki Minaj "takes back" Sir mix a lot's "Baby got back" for the women (whatever the hell she meant by that) as we Aussies were. In fact, the only reason why this nearly topped the Billboard charts was due to the music video which went viral on YouTube and Billboard incorporating YouTube views onto their charts.
This is the final hit that Kelly Rowland had anywhere in the world, and low and behold, she's back with David Guetta albeit this time with their roles reversed from "When love takes over" as she's now the lead artist on this track instead of him. It's kind of sad to see how she was the first member of Destiny's child to have solo success and yet her time in the spotlight would end whilst Beyonce's continues to thrive to this day.
This was too minor of a hit to appear on the Australian side of my site; indeed it only makes the cut on this side due to it sticking around slightly longer in NZ and thus making it enough of a hit to qualify.
This is the final entry from Jason Derulo on this list, again this is a song that was way more popular here in Australia than it was in NZ even though it still did better over there than it did in his native America. I'm not sure why the Americans turned on him after his debut album, I mean it could be that like me they weren't fans of his music, but I don't think there's that many of them that have my music tastes.
This was too minor of a hit to appear on the Australian side of my site; indeed it only makes the cut on this side due to it sticking around slightly longer in NZ and thus making it enough of a hit to qualify.
Even though "Better off alone" by Alice Deejay was only a mild sleeper hit at best in NZ (as evidence by its absence on this side of my site) it appears the kiwis had enough nostalgic love for that track to allow this to become a hit for David Guetta, Ne-yo and Akon given how it heavily samples that song.
OK so I lied when I said earlier that the Vamps only had one hit in NZ, it turns out they had an earlier hit in the form of this track which did decently well over there as well as in their native UK. Nowadays the song is best known for being the earliest taste of success that Shawn Mendes had in his own career given how he's the featured artist.
It turns out Alicia Keys had one more hit this decade after all as this managed to be a success for her in NZ right at the start of the decade following her collaboration with Jay Z on "Empire state of mind" from the end of the previous decade. Indeed, she would have another hit in her homeland with that song's "sequel" which is just the song without Jay Z or the hip hop beat.
This came close to appearing in the Australian side of my site as it was a hit for James Blunt, however it was too much of a sleeper hit to do so as opposed to NZ where this racked up just enough points to appear on this list.
It's a bit weird to see how much less popular Taio Cruz was in NZ compared to Australia, yes he had the same among of hits in both countries even if only out of three of them are the same, however only "Dynamite" from earlier on this list was equally popular for him in the southern hemisphere as this and his collaboration with Kylie Minogue was way less popular with the kiwis.
This is the only hit that Blocboy JB had outside his native America (what is with that hip hop name?) here he teams up with Drake who was at the height of his popularity from his album Scorpion which likely explains its success in NZ where the kiwis probably confused this as yet another track from the lucrative album.
Given how Alessia Cara already had some success in NZ by the time she released this track against plastic surgery, it makes sense it would've been more of an immediate hit for her over there even if it wound up being more of a success here in Australia in the long run.
Barely squeezing onto this list is Kesha's third single which was a bit too much of a sleeper hit for her over there to rank any higher on this list, indeed this was somewhat of a comeback in Australia and her native America given the poor reception to "Blah blah blah" she received worldwide despite its commercial success.
I honestly would've thought this would've been a bigger hit for Calvin Harris in NZ given how Ellie Goulding was on fire over there when this was released, I guess the kiwis were still on the fence about if they wanted her to be the new big pop star of the moment or not and ultimately decided she would be once she released the deluxe edition of her second album Halcyon days.
Well, how about this? It turns out that Nico and Vinz managed to score a third entry on this list given how the kiwis kept this around long enough in the lower half of their charts to make it a success over there. That said, this and their previous entry only make up for how well this did here in Australia, meaning they were equally as popular in both countries in the southern hemisphere.
Given how this song became infamous at the start of the decade due to its awful food puns, it's a bit surprising to see this be a decent sleeper hit for Timbaland and JT over in NZ even though we Aussies were thoroughly unimpressed with this meme track. I guess this was a hit over there due to how much on a roll Timbaland was with his earlier collaboration with Katy Perry even though that was a hit down under as well.
