Kicking off the show was SZA featuring Ty Dollaa $ign with ‘Hit Different’, and next came Aitch and AJ Tracey’s ‘Rain’, as well as music from Headie One, Laura Marling, Billie Eilish, Fontaines D.C., Arlo Parks, and more. Many listeners Tweeted in their thoughts as they awaited the end of the set to discover the Hottest Record of the Year.

Mac shared interviews with some acts throughout, speaking to Romy, who said of beginning her solo career apart from ‘The XX’ “It’s been great, it’s a new experience. It’s fun to make some decisions, and meet some new people, new collaborators, and just write a more personal story.”

Franky Wah, creator of ‘Come Together’, said, “I think if I were to sit in the studio and try and make the record for the time it was going in, it wouldn’t have come out like ‘Come Together’ did.”

Coming up in third place was IDLES for popular song ‘Model Village’ from their latest album ‘Ultra Mono’. The release was met in September with praise from fans and critics, while the single was the final track to be shared before the full album came out. The ‘Model Village’ music video currently stands at 523,000 views, projecting comical cartoon animations to match the wild rock sound.

The runner up of the evening was ‘Bad Friend‘ by Rina Sawayama from her debut album ‘Sawayama’. The singer commented, “It’s one of the most personal songs I’ve ever written, really. On the morning of the session that I wrote it, I checked in with an old friend that we’d actually fallen out with. When I say ‘checked in’ – I kind of stalked her on Facebook, and realised that she’d had a baby. I hadn’t known anything about, between the time we fell out to now, her having a baby. I just felt like a bad friend.”

Finally, the confirmed Hottest Record of the Year was ‘Obey‘, the collaboration between Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud. One of the most popular tracks this year, the single has gained over 10 million views on YouTube and a whopping 25 million Spotify streams.

pic.twitter.com/bFZA8eF92G

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) December 10, 2020

Lead vocalist of Bring Me The Horizon Oli Sykes appeared live on the show in a full-length interview to discuss the win. He said, “The night we released it, and premiered it, the hype felt tangible and there was so much excitement around it.” Yungblud also spoke to Mac, saying, “Bring Me The Horizon were such a massive part of my soul, really, as an artist, and discovering who I was.”

In total, there are twenty songs to choose from, and fans can vote via Twitter by tweeting @BBCR1 with the hashtag of their chosen artist. Voting closes on at 7pm on Thursday 3rd December, giving voters one week to decide.

Included in the list are Arlo Parks with ‘Black Dog’, Bring Me The Horizon’s collaboration with Yungblud ‘Obey’, and Laura Marling for ‘Strange Girl’ from her album ‘Song For Our Daughter’. Parks shared the news on her Twitter page, with an excited post saying, “That song has touched so many, in more ways than I could ever really understand – I feel filled with purpose and I’m smiling away to myself.”

.@AnnieMac has picked Black Dog as one of the contenders for “Hottest Record of the YEAR” on @BBCR1!!!! That song has touched so many, in more ways than I could ever really understand – I feel filled with purpose and I’m smiling away to myself. pic.twitter.com/RGGMYqlMY2

— Arlo Parks (@arloparks) November 26, 2020

There are a number of UK artists who have released amazing new singles and even albums in 2020, but there are also a few from around the world. Billie Eilish received a nomination for her July track ‘My Future’, while Haim’s ‘The Steps’ and SZA’s ‘Hit Different’ featuring Ty Dolla $ign were also included. The full list of nominees are below with their hashtag to vote with.

1. Aitch and AJ Tracey - ‘Rain’ #R1AITCHAJ
2. Arlo Parks - ‘Black Dog’ #R1ARLO
3. Ashnikko - ‘Daisy’ #R1ASHNIKKO
4. Bicep – ‘Apricots’ #R1BICEP
5. Billie Eilish – ‘My Future’ #R1BILLIE
6. Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud – ‘Obey’ #R1BRINGYUNG
7. Clipz featuring Ms.Dynamite, Ms. Banks, and Jaykae - ‘Again’ #R1CLIPZ
8. Fontaines D.C. - ‘A Hero’s Death’ #R1FONTAINES
9. Franky Wah - ‘Come Together’ #R1FRANKY
10. Haim -‘The Steps’ #R1HAIM
11. Headie One featuring AJ Tracey and Stormzy – ‘Ain’t It Different’ #R1HEADIE
12. Idles – ‘Model Village’ #R1IDLES
13. Laura Marling - ‘Strange Girl’ #R1LAURA
14. Pa Salieu featuring Backroad Gee - ‘My Family’ #R1PA
15. Paul Woodford, Diplo and Karen Lomax - ‘Looking For Me’ #R1WOOLFORD
16. Phoebe Bridgers - ‘I See You’ #R1PHOEBE
17. Romy - ‘Lifetime’ #R1ROMY
18. Royal Blood - ‘Trouble’s Coming’ #R1ROYAL
19. Rina Sawayama - ‘Bad Friend’ #R1RINA
20. SZA featuring Ty Dolla $ign - ‘Hit Different’ #R1SZA

Voting for @AnnieMac’s Hottest Record of the Year 2020 is now OPEN!

Tweet @BBCR1 + the # of your chosen nominee to vote.

To vote online and for terms & privacy notice go here: https://t.co/O467XQdino

Voting closes on Thursday 3rd December 2020 at 7pm GMT pic.twitter.com/wH9KKUhLur

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) November 26, 2020