Top 2000

The Top 2000 is an annual Dutch marathon radio program, that plays the 2,000 most popular songs of all time. The show runs 24 hours a day, starting Christmas and ending on New Year's Eve.[1][2] The show is hosted by the Dutch national radio station NPO Radio 2. A significant part of the population of the Netherlands listens to the broadcast each year;[3][4] during the 2019 edition, Radio 2 had a national radio market share of 17.7 percent.[5][6] Because of its popularity and notoriety, the show is often called de lijst der lijsten, the chart of charts.

Top 2000

The Top 2000 is broadcast from a purpose-built studio and cafe, with the show's logo on the outside
Genre	Popular music; Listener determined mix including Classic rock, Mainstream rock, Hip Hop, Jazz standards, Hot adult contemporary, Rhythmic adult contemporary, Dance pop, Dance
Running time	7 days (168 hours; 25 December midnight - 31 December midnight) for 24 hours a day, only interrupted by short hourly news bulletins and commercials
Country of origin	Netherlands
Language(s)	Dutch
Home station	NPO Radio 2 (broadcast by NTR)
TV adaptations	Top 2000 a Gogo
Hosted by	Various, multiple per edition
Created by	Kees Toering
Recording studio	Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, Hilversum
Original release	26 December 1999 – present
No. of episodes	22
Audio format	FM, cable, satellite, DAB, DTT and internet
Opening theme	Tommy Overture (The Who)
Website	NPO Radio 2 - Top 2000
Podcast	NPO Radio 2 player

The Top 2000, first held in 1999 to inaugurate the new millennium, was intended to be a one-time event. It became immensely popular. Following this success, Radio 2 decided to make it an annual program.

The broadcast initially started at midnight on Boxing Day. From 2009 onwards, the show begins broadcasting on December 25, Christmas Day.[7] From 2009 to 2015, the show started at noon. From 2015 to 2018 the show started at 9:00, with 2019 starting at 8:00 in the morning and 2020 starting right after midnight. It continues until midnight of New Year's Eve.

The show is hosted in a temporary studio called the Top 2000 Café. People are allowed to visit the studio. To enter, people must pay an entrance fee for a timed ticket. Because of the popularity of the show and the small size of the studio, visitors are only allowed to stay for a limited period of time,[8] and tickets sell out quickly.[9]

Voting

During the 6 to 7 day broadcast, the station broadcasts a set of 2,000 songs that have been voted on by the show's audience via Internet voting to be the "most popular songs of all time". The first year of voting was limited to a set list of 2000 songs that the users ranked themselves. Radio 2 changed the format in 2005 to allow voters to nominate their own suggestions.[10] In 2008, Radio 2 used a different voting format: the votes from the previous nine years were compiled to create a "jubilee list" for the tenth anniversary of the radio show.[11]

People can choose as few as five to as many as thirty-five songs. The voting period lasts one week, starting late November or early December. People can vote through the radio channel's website on any Internet device during this period. Hosts of the radio channel tour the Netherlands in a bus ('stembus', which means 'ballot box', but literally translates to 'voting bus') during the period of voting to promote the show. People who visit the bus can also submit their songs there.[12][13]

Voters can choose which version of a certain song they prefer. These include covers, live performances or full versions whose running time exceed mainstream radio standards. The eventual lineup of the program can contain multiple versions of one song.

For listeners to know if or when their favourite songs get aired, the running order, which includes the date and time songs are set to air, is revealed at least a week prior to the start of the show's broadcast. Since the show is aired all day and night, it's not uncommon for some people to set their alarms to listen to certain songs on the show.[14]

Top 2000 sign at the Beeld en Geluid Museum, Hilversum

Inside the temporary studio called Top 2000 Café during the 2018 edition

Other media

In 2002, Radio 2 added the television show Top 2000 a Go-go to the broadcast.[15] The show contains quizzes, live performances and clips of various songs on the list, as well as interviews with performers and artists featured in the all-time charts. The following year they added Top 2000 in Concert, where various Dutch artists are invited to sing one of their favorite songs, along with one of their own songs.[16] The concert is typically broadcast on New Year's Eve, right after the end of Top 2000.

Hosts

Current

• Bart Arens (since 2015)
• Giel Beelen (since 2020)
• Carolien Borgers (since 2020)
• Wouter van der Goes (since 2014)
• Frank van 't Hof (since 2015)
• Jeroen van Inkel (since 2020)
• Jeroen Kijk in de Vegte (2001–02, since 2020)
• Paul Rabbering (since 2018)
• Jan-Willem Roodbeen (2006–12, 2014–18, since 2020)
• Annemieke Schollaardt (since 2017)
• Gijs Staverman (since 2013)
• Ruud de Wild (since 2016)
• Emmely de Wilt (since 2019)

Former

• Marc Adriani (2009–2012, 2014)
• Jurgen van den Berg (2011)
• Leo Blokhuis (2019)
• Cobus Bosscha (2009)
• Evelien de Bruijn (2016–18)
• Daniël Dekker (1999–2008, 2011, 2013)
• Gerard Ekdom (2015–17)
• Sjors Fröhlich (1999)
• Sander Guis (2011–13)
• Bert Haandrikman (2002–2015)
• Sander de Heer (2007–2014)
• Tom Herlaar (2004)
• Marisa Heutink (2016)
• Ruud Hermans (2001, 2003–04)
• Corné Klijn (2011, 2015)
• Kasper Kooij (2012–13)
• Bert Kranenbarg (1999–2008, 2010, 2012)
• Pedro van Looij (2000–01)
• Ferry Maat (1999–2000)
• Riks Ozinga (2001–02)
• Hans Schiffers (1999–2014)
• Cielke Sijben (2017)
• Hans Smit (2004–06)
• Frits Spits (1999–2000, 2002, 2005–08)
• Stefan Stasse (1999–2010, 2012, 2015–18)
• Ron Stoeltie (1999–2002, 2004–08)
• Henk van Steeg (2011–13)
• Rob Stenders (2009, 2015–16, 2018–19)
• Harjo Thijs (1999)
• Roderick Veelo (2003)
• Rick van Velthuysen (2018–19)
• Jasper de Vries (2014–15)
• Alfred van de Wege (2010–12)
• Jeffrey Willems (1999–2000, 2002–05)

Notable occurrences within the list

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen has traditionally been voted the most popular song on the countdown,[17] with Boudewijn de Groot's "Avond" achieving the top spot in 2005 (as the first Dutch and currently only Dutch-language song to do so) and the Eagles' "Hotel California" doing the same in 2010 and 2014.[18]

Up until 2018 The Beatles consistently occupied the most spots in the list, but in 2019 Queen took over the role as the Top 2000's main supplier with 37 songs.[19]

The song with the highest position in its debut year in the list (from 2000 onwards) is "Roller Coaster", from Dutch country singer Danny Vera in 2019, entering in fourth place.[20][21] The highest-scoring foreign newcomer was Adele with "Someone Like You" in 2011, placing sixth.[22]

Some songs enter or get a higher placement because of certain events. On 27 November 2015, it was announced that John Lennon's song "Imagine" was voted number one for the first time, in association with the piano act of Davide Martello after the November 2015 Paris attacks.[23] In 2019, farmers across the Netherlands protested against regulations limiting nitrogen emissions. In support of those farmers, a farmers' alliance called people on social media to vote for "De Boer Dat Is De Keerl" (The Farmer, That's The Man) of the Dutch band Normaal. This resulted in the song entering the list that year in ninth place.[24]

Social media are also used by voters to get a song into the list of all lists. A notable example is the Pokémon Theme.[25][26]

The top 10

Year / Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
1999	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	The Beatles "Yesterday"	John Lennon "Imagine"	The Rolling Stones "Angie"	Simon & Garfunkel "Bridge Over Troubled Water"	Procol Harum "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
2000	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	The Beatles "Hey Jude"	John Lennon "Imagine"	The Beatles "Yesterday"	The Rolling Stones "Angie"	Guns N' Roses "November Rain"
2001	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	The Animals "House of the Rising Sun"	Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms"	Billy Joel "Goodnight Saigon"	The Beatles "Hey Jude"	Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing"
2002	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	The Animals "House of the Rising Sun"	Dire Straits "Private Investigations"	The Alan Parsons Project "Old and Wise"	Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms"	The Doors "Riders on the Storm"
2003	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	Guns N' Roses "November Rain"	The Animals "House of the Rising Sun"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	The Alan Parsons Project "Old and Wise"	The Rolling Stones "Angie"
2004	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	Guns N' Roses "November Rain"	The Animals "House of the Rising Sun"	John Lennon "Imagine"	Coldplay "Clocks"
2005	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Queen "Bohemian rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	Coldplay "Clocks"	The Animals "House of the Rising Sun"	The Alan Parsons Project "Old and Wise"	Guns N' Roses "November Rain"
2006	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	U2 "One"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Coldplay "Clocks"	Metallica "Nothing Else Matters"
2007	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Coldplay "Clocks"	The Animals "House of the Rising Sun"	U2 "One"	The Alan Parsons Project "Old and Wise"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"
2008	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	The Animals "House of the Rising Sun"	The Alan Parsons Project "Old and Wise"	Guns N' Roses "November Rain"	U2 "One"
2009	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Ramses Shaffy & Liesbeth List "Pastorale"	Ramses Shaffy "Zing, Vecht, Huil, Bid, Lach, Werk en Bewonder"	Coldplay "Clocks"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Ramses Shaffy "Laat Me"
2010	Eagles "Hotel California"	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Coldplay "Viva la Vida"	Coldplay "Clocks"	Meat Loaf "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"	The Alan Parsons Project "Old and Wise"
2011	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Adele "Someone Like You"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Coldplay "Clocks"	Coldplay "Viva la Vida"	Bruce Springsteen "The River"
2012	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Pink Floyd "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"	Adele "Someone Like You"	Coldplay "Clocks"	Pink Floyd "Comfortably Numb"
2013	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Bruce Springsteen "The River"	Pink Floyd "Comfortably Numb"	Metallica "Nothing Else Matters"	Pink Floyd "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"
2014	Eagles "Hotel California"	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Billy Joel "Piano Man"	Pink Floyd "Comfortably Numb"	Pink Floyd "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"	Guns N' Roses "November Rain"
2015	John Lennon "Imagine"	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Claudia de Breij "Mag Ik Dan Bij Jou"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Billy Joel "Piano Man"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Coldplay "Fix You"
2016	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Billy Joel "Piano Man"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	David Bowie "'Heroes'"	Claudia de Breij "Mag Ik Dan Bij Jou"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Pearl Jam "Black"
2017	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Billy Joel "Piano Man"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Pearl Jam "Black"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Coldplay "Fix You"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Guns N' Roses "November Rain"
2018	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Billy Joel "Piano Man"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	Deep Purple "Child in Time"	Pearl Jam "Black"	Toto "Africa"	Coldplay "Fix You"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"
2019	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Billy Joel "Piano Man"	Danny Vera "Roller Coaster"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Pearl Jam "Black"	Coldplay "Fix You"	Normaal "De Boer Dat is de Keerl"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"
2020	Danny Vera "Roller Coaster"	Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"	Eagles "Hotel California"	Billy Joel "Piano Man"	Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"	Pearl Jam "Black"	Boudewijn de Groot "Avond"	Coldplay "Fix You"	Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"	David Bowie "'Heroes'"

See also

• Serious Request — another annual Dutch radio marathon in the month of December that reaches over half the population.

References

1. "Nederland: De Top 2000 is volop bezig". Radio Visie. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
2. van Dijck, José (2007). Mediated Memories in the Digital Age. Stanford University Press. pp. 93–97. ISBN 0804756244.
3. "Recordaantal luisteraars en kijkers Top 2000 - NU.nl" [Record number of listeners and viewers for Top 2000] (in Dutch). NU.nl. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
4. Bijsterveld, Karin (2009). Sound Souvenirs: Audio Technologies, Memory and Cultural Practices. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 116–118. ISBN 9089641327.
5. "NPO Radio 2 haalt hoogste marktaandeel sinds start van Top 2000 in 1999". NU. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
6. "Actuele luistercijfers – Nationaal Luister Onderzoek" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
7. "Radio 2 weer van start met Top 2000". HVNL. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
8. "Gezien op NPORadio2.nl: Top 2000 café - Alle informatie op een rij - NPO Radio 2". www.nporadio2.nl. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
9. "Langste wachttijden ooit bij Top2000-café". Metronieuws.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-30.
10. Knooihuizen, Klaas (2019-12-03). "Bijna was de Top 2000 er niet geweest". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-30.
11. "Top 2000 houdt stembussen dit jaar gesloten". NU. 2008-11-03. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
12. "Route Top 2000 Stembus voor dit jaar bekend". www.nporadio2.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-25.
13. "Dit is de route van de Top 2000 Stembus". www.nporadio2.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-25.
14. "Top 2000 - FAQ". www.nporadio2.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-25.
15. "Knallend einde in 'Top 2000 a gogo'". TV Visie. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
16. "Top 2000 leeft op Hollandse lied". Volkskrant. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
17. "office time waster". San Antonio Express-News. July 26, 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
18. "Nederland: Top 2000-lijst is bekend". Radio Visie. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
19. "Queen voor het eerst hofleverancier in Top 2000". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-25.
20. "Danny Vera hoogste nieuwe binnenkomer ooit in NPO Radio 2 Top 2000". www.nporadio2.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-25.
21. "Danny Vera knalt op 4 binnen in de Top 2000 en is hoogste binnenkomer ooit". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 2019-12-07. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
22. "Queen weer op nummer 1 in Top 2000". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-25.
23. "Imagine van John Lennon op 1 in de Top 2000". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
24. "Succes! 'De boer dat is de keerl' van Normaal héél hoog in Top 2000". Omroep Gelderland (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
25. "Pokémon Theme Song in Top 2000: 'We did it!'". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
26. "Hoe belandde Pokémon in de Top 2000?". www.nporadio2.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-30.

External links

• Statistics of Top 2000 (in Dutch)
• nporadio2.nl Official website of the hosting radio station. (in Dutch)