NZ hits of 2005

This is where digital piracy really harmed the Australian music scene, although at least NZ changed up their charts to prevent this from happening over there. As such the selection of songs on this list will be a bit divisive but as promised, I'll do my best to be nice when talking about each and every entry on here.

I get the feeling there was some sort of competition over in NZ which allowed this track from the Crazy frog to be a massive success over there, after all, it appears that the song was a hit twice hence why it's appearing on more than one of these lists of mine. Suffice to say, the animated frog managed to be even more successful over there than it was even throughout Europe back in the day.

Evidently this was a success in NZ slightly sooner than it was here in Australia, meaning it was the kiwis that somehow came across this theme song to a German cartoon aimed at preschooler's which resulted in its success down under. If you can believe it, the cartoon crocodile scored a second hit worldwide with "Ein Lama in Yokohama" (A llama in Yokahama for my non-German readers.)

Given how her older brother was born in NZ, it only makes sense that the kiwis would be equally as receptive towards Natasha Bedingfield's music as they were with Daniel's. Still, I don't think even they expected this to be as inescapably popular over there as it wound up being given that it became one of the biggest hits of the decade for her, naturally this led to her scoring a second hit later in the decade.

OK I was able to be nice towards this thing on the Australian side of my site, mainly because its popularity didn't really extend past the music videos over here which meant each of their entries had a fairly short shelf life in our music scene. It appears this thing was a genuine household name in NZ however as this also managed to appear on more than one of these lists due to its refusal to leave their charts.

Given how immensely popular the Sugababes were throughout the decade in NZ and their native UK, it only makes sense that this would remain their biggest hit in both countries as the girls seemed to take a page out of Kelis's book by making a song about sex that most people still believe it isn't about to this day. It was so popular that it even crossed over to Australia where it finally gave the girls a genuine hit here.

Like many entries on these lists that appear much higher than they did on the Australian side of this site, this wasn't pulled from shelves over in NZ which means its placement on here can accurately reflect on how popular it truly was back in the day. It makes sense this was Kanye's international breakthrough given how it features guest vocals from Jamie Foxx fresh off his performance as Ray Charles in his biopic.

Although this was a massive success in NZ like it was here in Australia, it didn't quite reach number one over there like it did here which suggests that they were a bit hesitant in making this his final hit at the time. Of course, they were eventually won over thanks to how bumping the production is as well as him branching off his hip hop style to be more in line with the crunk scene of the day.

This was released on time for Snoop Dogg over in NZ, as such it had very little issues in becoming one of the biggest hits of the decade over there as opposed to it merely being a moderate success here in Australia for the rapper. This is the second collaboration that he had with Pharrell following their earlier hit "Beautiful," I guess they wanted to keep the momentum going with both of their careers as a rapper and singer respectively.

It appears that the kiwis weren't as impressed with this debut single from James Blunt as we Aussies were as though it was a massive success over there, it didn't reach the dizzying heights that it achieved over there or indeed throughout the rest of the world. Indeed, the other singles from his debut album didn't achieve any success over there, although that didn't prevent the album itself from being a massive success.

I would've been shocked if this song wasn't a success over in NZ considering A: how inescapably 2Pac was over there throughout the 90's and B: it was produced by Eminem as well as featuring a chorus from Elton John. This remains the rappers final hit to date as it appears that death had finally caught up with his career by this point in time, although he had a good run in the mainstream from the afterlife.

This feels more out of place on this list than it did on the Australian side of my site, mainly because we Aussies at least allowed the like of Jessica Simpson and the Backstreet Boys to have success during the midpoint of the decade where the kiwis didn't. Despite this, this song from Jesse McCartney was somehow even more popular over there than it was over here this year.

You'd think that Mario would've had more success over in NZ given how the rest of his catalogue was the type of RNB that made the likes of Akon and Usher popular worldwide, alas he also remains a one hit wonder over there with this Billboard chart topper which was only as successful there as it was here in Australia for him.

Given how he managed to crossover to Australia with "Moonshine" (which we'll look at in a bit) it only makes sense that Savage would achieve multiple other hits in his homeland which began with his debut single that didn't do quite as well here in Australia as his other big hit. It turns out there's a version of this track with Soulja Boy that he released later in the decade to try and break into the American market.

From what I can gather, this was among the earliest British hip hop tracks to make it big in the UK as well as throughout the world, it comes to us courtesy of the British duo Mattafix who managed to translate their success over to NZ this year and even have minor success with this track here in Australia months after its peak over there due to how big it was worldwide.

Well, I did mention that Madonna's remix of Abba's "Gimme gimme gimme" was a massive success everywhere in the world except for her native America, so it's little surprise that the song would reappear on this side of my site given how much the kiwis loved both her and Abba over the years. Even though the song was equally as successful over there as it was over here, the same can't be said about the album.

Although this had a bit of delay to its release in NZ compared to here in Australia (rather unusual considering it's often the other way around for these types of songs) it was nonetheless an instant success for PCD proving that the kiwis as well as everyone else in the world found the girls titillating on this track and indeed the rest of their album.

This was the second big hit that Savage had in NZ this year, it's with the original version of his hit single that he had here in Australia which is devoid of Akon given how few if anyone knew who the American RNB singer was upon this song's initial release. It's hard to say when Akon's version was released over there as RIANZ now insists that version was the one that got popular from the start when it wasn't.

Given how 50 cent achieved equal amounts of success in NZ with his first album as he did in Australia, it's a bit surprising to see him find more success with this lead single to his second album over there than he did over here. Granted, the NZ charts weren't nearly as chaotic this year as the Australian charts were, so this song's placement is more due to the lack of competition it had over there at the time.

I forgot to mention on the Australian side of this site that this debut single from the Veronicas was pulled from shelves to encourage album sales of their debut album, it didn't really matter too much though because it already had a fairly high ranking on that side of my site even though it only appears on one of these lists as opposed to it appearing on two of them on this side of my site.

There were no signs of BEP's popularity slowing down during the midpoint of the decade, as such it's little surprise that the lead single to their second album with Fergie managed to be a massive success over in NZ like it was here in Australia thanks to it being a song where the three rappers are seemingly pining over her affection.

This wasn't as big a hit for PCD over in NZ as it was here in Australia, likely because it had stiffer competition when it was released over there compared to here in Australia where it dominated all the competition during its lengthy run at number one. For what it's worth, their next four singles proved to be more popular over there throughout the following year for the girls as well as their album.

Even though this was an EDM song that came from a band which had one of the members being an Australian, this still managed to be more successful in NZ for the British based duo which goes to show you how much more love the kiwis had for the British music scene that we Aussies did throughout the decade.

Even though this song appears much lower on this list compared to its Australian counterpart, I feel this song was equally successful in both countries given how its lower placement on this list was more due to having stiffer competition over there this year with a lot of the entries that have improved rankings on this list. For what it's worth, their other big hit from Demon days was much more successful over there.

Whereas in Australia where the biggest hit that Green Day had was the song that played during the series finale of Seinfeld, in NZ, that honour goes to this lead single and title track from their politically charged album that would eventually be turned into a musical with said musical continuing to polarise fans to this day. This was so popular over there that it even rebounded on their charts when the second single was released.

Although it remains a polarising film to this day, few would argue that the soundtrack to Shark tale was a failure given how its lead single became a massive success for Christina Aguilera and Missy Higgins worldwide. It was a much bigger hit over in NZ largely due to it sticking around for much longer over there than it did over here, I'm guessing because it was a cover of a 70's classic that's fondly remembered to this day.

While this was back in the day where people had to buy singles to make them a success (be it physical copies or digital downloads) I get the feeling this was a hit ironically for BEP worldwide given how it's the type of song that seems perfect to annoy someone with (similar to Crazy Frog's popularity now that I think about it.) That said, there are people out there that do enjoy this any many other widely mocked songs featured on this site unironically.

This managed to be slightly bigger in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly due to it sticking around for slightly longer over there which further proves that juvenile humour was more in vogue throughout the 00's than it was before and especially since (this was the decade where Freidberg and Seltzer thrived after all.) At least Eminem's has clearly moved on from this phase of his career as has all of his fanbase.

Given how they had one of the biggest albums of the decade in their homeland, it only makes sense that Fat Freddy's drop would achieve a huge hit from said album which no doubt helped it achieve its best seller status over there and even likely sparked international interest in the band that helped them become a cult classic.

I guess the kiwis weren't as on board with Gwen Stefani's solo career than we Aussies were, then again, I have noticed that she hasn't had as much success in her career up until this point in general given how much weaker her hits with No doubt were over there. That said, this was still a massive hit for her over there which is certainly more than I can say about how it did in her native America where it flopped.

This was released slightly sooner in NZ than it was here in Australia, naturally it meant that it would be slightly more successful for Green day over there than it was over here also likely because "My happy ending" was a flop over there which meant there weren't any comparisons between the two songs. This led to the band having massive success with their album as well as their follow up later in the decade.

Even though their earlier appearance on this list was less successful over in NZ than it was here in Australia, the kiwis more than made up for that blunder by having the second (and in my opinion better) single from Demon days be much more successful over there than it was over here given how the success of the album didn't hamper its success over there like it clearly did over here.

This was way more of a success here in Australia for both women on the track than it was over in NZ, although I will say that their other collaboration was far more success over there which I guess balances out these two songs in both countries for this year. I'm not sure why this was less successful though given how Ciara already had a big hit over there with "Goodies," perhaps that track ate up some of this song's success over there.

This will be the only song from Simple Plan to reappear on this side of my site, I guess the kiwis could only stomach one of their songs making it big in their mainstream as opposed to us Aussies who gave them a string of hits over here back in the day from their first two albums. They're one of the most loathed bands of all time on the internet, and unlike other bands in this vein, I won't argue against their infamy.

The hits just kept on coming for Chingy in NZ, admittedly this is his only new appearance on this side of my site as the other three hits he had over there were also successful here in Australia. This song has become infamous for the line "I like them black, white, Puerto Ricon, or Haitian like Japanese, Chinese, or even Asian" which was supposed to show he wasn't a racist when it came to women but came off as a tad redundant.

It's only natural that this was more popular over in NZ than it was here in Australia for both women involved, although I still can't get over the fact that "Work it" was far less successful over there for Missy Elliott than it was over here given how the rapper broke through over there with her second single from the late 90's. Like the rest of the world, she wouldn't have another hit after this collaboration.

This was released slightly earlier in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because the kiwis had fully incorporated their digital charts onto their main charts when it first came out which would explain why the song was also slightly more popular over there for Eminem as I can imagine him being popular on that format during the early phases of its existence.

This wasn't as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia this year, likely because there were a lot more kiwis who felt that this ballad was little more than a shallow attempt at forced positivity than audiences throughout the rest of the world where this song saw more popularity. The song was at its most popular in America the following year where it was the biggest hit of 2006 according to Billboard.

This was a hit twice in NZ during its chart run, the first time was upon its initial release and the second was following the series finale of the reality show that INXS aired in order to determine who their new lead vocalist would be following the tragic passing of Michael Hutchence from 1997. It looked like the band was back in the mainstream given how popular this song was in the southern hemisphere, alas they weren't.

Even though this charted higher for Rihanna in NZ than it did here in Australia, it wound up being more successful over here due to it lingering around for much longer on our charts than it did on their charts. Either way, this was a solid introduction to her career and one that led to a highly fruitful career throughout the rest of the decade and well into the 2010's.

It looks like this second single from Destiny's Child's final album Destiny fulfilled was the big hit off the album in NZ in lieu of "Lose my breath" although we did look at that song on my previous list whilst "Girl" is still to come on this list. I guess the kiwis are familiar with the version that has T.I and Lil Wayne given how both men had more success over there later in the decade.

In an odd move, this second single from Suit was released around the same time that "Tilt ya head back" was released from Nelly's other album Sweat in NZ as opposed to here in Australia where it being released well after the latter became a hit down under. As such, this proved to be less successful over there than it was over here as it had to wait for that track to fall off the charts before it became popular.

This will be the first of two appearances from the Game on this list, both of which has his former mentor 50 Cent provide a guest verse for him which no doubt allowed both of these songs to see a massive worldwide audience from those who made the older rapper's debut album from two years prior a huge success. This no doubt also led to the success of the Game's own album this year for better or worse.

While this didn't quite get to number one in NZ like it did here in Australia, the fact it wasn't pulled from shelves over there like it was over here (to encourage album sales of course) meant that this was able to retain its placement on this side of my site that it had on that side. It's a song that many will tell you is among the worst on this list, however I don't think I'd go that far even if I weren't a fan of hers.

This was a passing the torch moment as Savage wouldn't be able to find any success until the end of the decade (with Baby Bash of all people) whilst Aaradhna would score a massive hit the following year given how popular this collaboration the rapper had with the RNB singer. Like every song of his to appear on this list, this also charted in Australia albeit in the lower half of our charts.

It appears the kiwis had the same love/hate relationship with this song as we Aussies did upon its initial release, namely that they loved the track enough to make it a hit for J-lo but likely found it too irritating to make it among the biggest hits of the decade (despite being one of her bigger hits over there regardless.) As such, it's little surprise this was the last they heard from her until her 2011 comeback.

Given how Snoop Dogg already achieved massive success in NZ with his earlier entry on this list this year, I guess it isn't too surprising that his first chart topper in Australia wasn't as such over there despite it finding equal amounts of success in both countries. Again, I feel that this was more due to JT's presence as he felt like a cheat code when it came to artists wanting to make it big this decade.

Now before you clutch your pearls and wonder how the charity organisation Greenpeace managed to score a hit in NZ this year, I should point out that this is actually a supergroup comprising of a bunch of big-name celebrities from NZ who named themselves after a ship that was brutally destroyed in 1985. The group decided to cover a track from the Mutton Birds to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of that disaster.

Unlike in Australia where this was released specifically as the second single from Nelly's two albums Suit and Sweat, in NZ it was released simultaneously with "Over and over" which means the kiwis preferred this collaboration with Christina Aguilera than they did with his collaboration with Tim McGraw, showing the kind of music they wanted from the rapper/RNB singer from around this time.

This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for Nickelback, it was the first song of theirs to achieve this feat given how their previous material had clearly been more popular here than anywhere else in the world. I guess the memes helped this take off worldwide given how even at the time, this was a widely mocked track from what many people considered to be an overrated band.

Although this somehow failed to crack the NZ top ten this year, this nonetheless proved to be equally as successful for Kelly Clarkson over there as it was over here where it debuted rather high on our charts thanks to how anthemic it remains to this day. I didn't mention the video on the Australian side of this site which is a shame because it remains one of the most iconic of all time due to how cathartic it is watching her trash that apartment.

This was only a modest success here in Australia back in the day, I'm guessing because we Aussies weren't that interested in this song that's a tonal whiplash of JoJo's debut single from the previous year given how she's expressing her love to presumably the same person she chastises on "Leave." Here she recruits Bow Wow to provide her a hip-hop verse that no doubt led to his popularity skyrocketing this year.

Well, it appears that the kiwis also disagreed with this being among the biggest hits of the decade as this did just as well on their charts as it did on ours suggesting that it was equally as popular there as it was over here (it was slightly more so due to having stiffer competition to work against.) Indeed, her popularity over there overall was very limited as she only has one more appearance to come on this list.

This was the other collaboration that the Game had with 50 cent this year; it was the first of the two collaborations they released which no doubt led to the success of their earlier entry on this list as well as the Game's own album. While they were taking the world by storm with these songs, they were fighting with each other over who was more popular in the mainstream due to both their albums being released at the same time.

This is the closest that Eve came to having more success in NZ than she did here in Australia, mainly because this song rebounded on the charts over there as it was descending likely due to it being the first solo hit that Gwen Stefani had in her native America. Ultimately it was more successful here in Australia even taking into account that this lasted longer on the NZ charts than it did on ours.

Much like here in Australia, this was also Destiny's Child's final hit in NZ where it also managed to become a bigger hit over there than it was over here, likely due to the album's popularity having no effect on its success as opposed to here where it likely did (the album only barely missed out on appearing on this site.) They would release one more single before finally going their separate ways.

Given the success of their debut single "I got" these guys already received, it only makes sense that their second single would not only become a hit in their homeland but also chart here in Australia, proving how interested we Aussies were in NZ hip hop which likely inspired us to check out our own hip hop scene later in the decade.

At least the one good song from Encore (in my and many others opinion) managed to be more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because it serves as a profound take on what audiences felt was going to be inevitable as tensions in the world government led to theories that there would be a return of mandatory conscription in most parts of the world which thankfully turned out to be false.

This is the only other song from Mariah Carey's comeback album to appear on this list, it saw a bit of an improvement in the rankings which suggests that the kiwis were gradually becoming more open to the idea of welcoming her back into the mainstream for the first time this century after a very public meltdown she had at the start of the decade no doubt scared them off from her catalogue.

Even though he managed to achieve massive success with his debut album this year, I'm guessing that was due to his involvement with Savage from earlier on this list as this breakthrough single from Akon didn't do nearly as well over there as it did throughout the rest of the world. I'm guessing this was because the kiwis didn't find his duet with Alvin and the Chipmunks to be as endearing as international audiences.

This was the one and only hit from Pretty Ricky, one of the many RNB groups from America to find success with only one song with this being one of the lucky few to find success outside of the Billboard charts back in the day. I guess this was deemed too sexually provocative for us Aussies to make a success this year, either that or this was one of the earliest songs to become a success thanks to digital downloads in NZ.

This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it did here in Australia, likely because regardless of where in the world you're from, BEP was inescapable during the midpoint of the decade with these three entries of theirs being a large reason why. Indeed, I feel most people forget this second single form the album even exists due to how the other two entries on this list has long since overshadowed its legacy.

Apart from her earlier appearance on this list, this will be the only entry from Kelly Clarkson to appear on this side of my site which is fitting given how it was the one hit of hers that failed to do so likely due to strong album sales preventing it from being a hit over here despite it being easily one of her most recognisable (and my personal favourite) songs in her catalogue. 

This is the only other hit that Dei Hamo achieved in his homeland, it was a huge hit for the rapper due to NZ hip hop being at the height of its popularity around this time given all the entries from the likes of Scribe and Savage from these last few lists alone. He would release one more single which was a complete flop over there which led to him fading into obscurity.

This wasn't released in NZ that long after it was here in Australia, meaning that the kiwis would've recognised Natalie Bassingthwaighte from her work on Neighbours this year and yet it was still far less popular over there than it was over here. This would eventually see a UK release the following year where it was a hit over there, again likely for the Brits recognising her as Izzy Hoyland from the series.

This was too minor of a hit to appear on the Australian side of my site; indeed, it only manages to appear on this side of my site due to it becoming a hit twice in NZ as it rebounded on their charts when Ciara released her second single "1 2 step" with Missy Elliot for some reason. This song has become infamous for the production, specifically due to it sounding like a screeching siren throughout its runtime.

Rosita Vai was the winner of the second season of NZ Idol, although you wouldn't have thought that was the case given how much less successful her victory single was than the previous winner Ben Lummis from last year. Like Ben, she struggled to retain her fame following her victory on the show, proving how much of a waste of time it is in the long run.

I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this posse cut from Ja rule, Ashanti and R Kelly compared to us Aussies given how this lasted much longer on our charts than it did on theirs, although at least this now means all of the former's "thugs need love too" tracks have reappeared on this side of my site, proving that he did indeed have a formular that helped him stand out from his contemporaries over there.

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that this only charted for one Christmas season in NZ given how immensely popular the other two hits that the Crazy Frog had over there were, heck I'm even surprised that it didn't linger into the new year even if Christmas singles are traditionally pulled from shelves to prevent that from happening nowadays.

Although neither of their hits from their second album managed to rise up to the ranks of those from their first album, Nesian Mystik was nonetheless able to score two big hits from said album over there with this being the first of them. I guess you can argue that this would've been even bigger were it not for all of the stiff competition it had with all of the other entries on this list.

This proved to be far less successful for both men involved over in NZ, this is a bit strange as while "Suga suga" did chart higher over there than it did over here (due to being released on time) that song proved to be equally as successful in both countries in the southern hemisphere which suggests that this song would as well as apart from the artists having their roles reversed, it was essentially the same track as that was.

This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for Ciara, again likely due to Ludacris's guest verse which helped it stand out from the now obscure competition from many of her counterparts such as Keysha Cole and Fantasia back in the day. Whereas she wouldn't trouble our charts again until the end of the decade, Ciara would score two more hits in NZ in addition to her collaboration with JT.

You would've thought this would've been an even bigger hit over in NZ than it was here in Australia due to how big his entries were both solo and with the Game from earlier on this list, I suppose the kiwis felt he was a tad overexposed over there this year which is why this was only as successful there as it was over here for 50 Cent.

It looks like these guys were able to score a second hit in their homeland with the lead single to their sophomore album, I guess this is proof that nu metal wasn't out of vogue just yet in NZ like it was throughout the rest of the world given that this easily would've flopped had these guys been from Australia and released it here.

This was the third and final hit that these guys were able to achieve in their homeland from their debut album, they did release a second album later in the decade to very limited success which prompted the band to breakup and for Dane Rumble to embark on a solo career.

It's a bit strange that Bow wow failed to appear on this side of my site as a child star given how underage hip hop was all the rage in NZ over the years, however they seemed to be more interested in his work once he matured starting with this collaboration he made with RNB singer Omarion. This was a minor hit here in Australia, although it was too minor to make an appearance on that side of my site.

Well, this certainly is a surprise, it appears that the kiwis can expect Dave Dobbyn to have a random hit once every ten years given how this comes over a decade after his last big hit "Language" which briefly revived his career in the mid 90's over there.

I guess the kiwis had enough love in their hearts to allow this love letter to Eminem's two daughters to be a minor success over there even though it was only barely as such, hey at least there's no reappearance of "Ass like that" even though that too was a minor hit over there,