3 Is a Magic Number
Today is my 3-year anniversary at TRL. Long time. Very long time. So long that I am in the process of finding another job. So far I have a bunch of small nibbles, but nothing big enough to jump ship to. Hopefully it won't take too long to find something else. A change is long overdue.

In honor of my 3 years, I've compiled a super-sized Top 20 countdown of my favorite TRL songs since I started here. To qualify, we had to show the video at least once on TRL (whether it was on the countdown, or as a premiere, first look, click-to-pick, or Pre-RL). That made it quite a difficult list to compile. Like a normal TRL countdown, there can only be one song per artist (unless it's a "featuring"). And bear in mind that these are my favorite songs, not videos.

20. Chamillionaire - "Ridin": Thanks to him for reviving Weird Al's sagging career.
19. Maroon 5 - "This Love": I remember this video came out right around the time of the Nipplegate Super Bowl debacle, so they had to add floating flowers to the video to make it less sexual. It was the first of many, many content-related issues that have caused me to roll my eyes over the past 644 shows (damn, that's a lot!).
18. Blink 182 - "I Miss You": How hard is it to get that "Don't waaaaste your tiiiiiime on meeee, you're allllllready a voice inside myyyyyyyead" chorus out of your head? Or should I say your yead?
17. Lady Sovereign - "Love Me or Hate Me": Everyone else on TRL hates her. I love her. I think she's sassy and spunky. Even though she's a total bitch.
16. Missy Elliott - "We Run This": This made the list solely due to the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache" sample. Shouldn't there be a ban on hip-hop songs sampling that anymore? It's been done, what, 2,147 times?
15. Eminem - "Like Toy Soldiers": Another one that made the list due to the sample. Long live Martika!
14. Snoop f/ Justin Timberlake - "Signs": I usually can't stand JT's music. But even I can't resist this.
13. My Chemical Romance - "I'm Not Okay": Tough call between this and their new "Welcome to the Black Parade." If not for the lame opening section of the latter, it would've made the list instead.
12. T.I. - "What You Know": This was the summer jam of 2006 for a reason.
11. Christina Aguilera - "Ain't No Other Man": Something about songs that combine trumpets really gets to me. See #2 below.
10. Busta Rhymes - "Touch It": I honestly don't have anything to write about this song, other than I like it.
9. Alicia Keys - "If I Ain't Got You": Have you heard my embarrassing Alicia Keys story? It makes me shudder to even think about it...
8. Killers - "Mr. Brightside": Can TRL take credit for "breaking" these guys? They'd been selling about 20,000 copies of "Hot Fuss" a week. Then after they performed on our Spankin New Music Week in January '05, their weekly sales doubled, eventually reaching 3 million. Yet their videos were never popular on our countdown. But I'll still take credit. They are also the most humble, shy, introverted band to ever come to TRL.
7. Gorillaz - "Feel Good, Inc.": I pushed really hard to get this video shown, pitching threads about the top animated videos and stuff like that. We finally showed it once, when TRL was temporarily trying to be "music credible" and more varied in its music at the start of 2006 (that lasted about 5 weeks). Naturally I was on vacation that day. I doubt it got a single vote to ever make the countdown.
6. Kanye West - "Through the Wire": I could've put in "Touch the Sky." Or "Jesus Walks." But the lyrics on this are just so damn clever. And when he came on to promote it, he said on the air that he was sure he'd never be on TRL again. I miss the days when he wasn't such an arrogant prick.
5. Kelly Clarkson - "Since U Been Gone": Possibly the catchiest song of the millennium, so far.
4. Green Day - "American Idiot": On TRL it was the least popular of their singles from that album. But most popular in my mind. Typical that I feel the complete opposite of our audience. Also, I should note that one of the highlights of my tenure here was the day they performed on TRL. I was sitting in on soundcheck, sitting 5 feet from the stage as they tore through "Welcome to Paradise." Their roadie was filling in on drums, as Tre Cool was so hungover they had to hook him up to an IV in the green room. Fortunately he was able to make it through their 3 songs on the show without passing out. But just barely.
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Tell Me Baby": Great energetic verses combined with a mellow chorus. Love the guitar riff. But what the hell is Flea wearing in the video?
2. Nelly f/ Christina Aguilera - "Tilt Ya Head Back": Again, I don't know what it is about the combination of the trumpets and Christina's harmonies.
1. Gwen Stefani - "Cool": I could put this song in place of OMD's "If You Leave" during the prom scene in "Pretty in Pink" and feel the same way about the movie. That's the sign of a classic song. At least in my eyes.