Best Music 2010: Enrique Iglesias Picks His Favorite Song Of The Year

Becky Bain | December 21, 2010 12:26 pm

The critics are still posting lists ranking the great songs and albums of the past year — but what about the artists who helped shape the sound of 2010? As a special holiday treat to you, we’ve picked a special class of singers, musicians and groups — artists we consider among the most creative emerging stars in pop — to participate in our special year-end feature, exclusively sharing with us their reflections on the albums, songs and performers that made their year really… pop. And in many cases, their answers were surprising.

So far in our year-end series, Far East Movement gave props to Eminem’s Recovery while Adam Lambert waxed poetic about Sia. Thanks to his hit track, “I Like It”, we already know what Enrique Iglesias likes — the way you move on the floor, screaming like never before — but when it came to picking his favorite song of the year, we didn’t know what to expect. Jump below to find out what tune had Enrique’s fists pumping in 2010!

Enrique has had quite a year. He dropped his ninth (ninth!) album, Euphoria, and the only thing steamier than his sultry duet with Nicole Scherzinger on “Heartbeat” was him water-skiing naked in celebration of Spain winning the World Cup. (Baby, we like that.)

Of course, the singer and scored a major hit this year with the Pitbull-assisted, Jersey Shore-approved club jam “I Like It”, which was voted the Song Of The Summer by our readers. But as far as what Enrique’s listening to, he chose Linkin Park’s “Waiting For The End” from their new album A Thousand Suns as his favorite song of the year. (Watch the single’s music video here.)

The Spanish singer isn’t the only one praising the rock band. MTV compared Linkin Park’s latest to Radiohead’s Kid A, describing it as “dark, sprawling, discordant, [and] ambitious”, and calling it “so completely different from the band’s previous efforts that it will almost certainly stand as the line of demarcation between everything that came before and everything that will come after.”

Clearly, many people were fond of this new direction — the band’s fourth studio album topped the Billboard 200, and “Waiting For The End” peaked at #2 on both the Rock and Alternative charts.

Enrique tells us why he picked the rockers’ single as his fave of 2010:

Enrique Iglesias: It’s so hard for me to select just one song or album that is my absolute favorite of the year.  I listen to so many different types of music that it’s difficult to compare and pick one above the rest.  Whether it’s Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Cee Lo Green, Jason Mraz, Juan Luis Guerra, Marco Antonio Solis, Lionel Richie, Wisin & Yandel or Pitbull, it is difficult for me to select JUST ONE artist, let alone one song or one album.

I usually listen to new music through the radio, finding songs on YouTube and from recommendations through friends.  One song in particular that keeps standing out is Linkin Park’s new single, “Waiting For The End”. I know that the most recent album from the band has been a bit of departure from their usual style, and I always admire musicians who grow and take risks musically.

“Waiting For The End” has been in my heavy rotation recently because it has an amazingly melodic quality that builds into an upbeat rock anthem.  The song has a hook that gets stuck in your head, but I’m not mad at that.  It’s super catchy and has elements of pop, but holds true to the band’s rock roots. I like that the somber lyrics of the song contrast with the catchy begging and upbeat ending.  The more I listen to it the more I truly appreciate what the band has done with this song and their new album.

I hear that they’re playing Madison Square Garden the night before me.  Maybe I’ll head to New York a day early to check out “Waiting For The End” live. * * * Keep coming back to Idolator for more year-end faves from some of 2010’s most noteworthy artists.