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No matter where you are in the world, the end of the year is always fun because you get to look back on the last 12 months and reflect on the different trends, hits and big stories. Joysound, a company that is bringing karaoke and social media together, is doing just that, and recently released a list of the top 20 karaoke songs of 2014 divided by age, from teens to 60-year-olds.

For the older age groups the rankings are pretty similar, with tracks like Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s opening theme song, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” being a particular favorite, and Frozen’s “Let It Go” managing to sneak into every single group’s list of most-sung tracks. The biggest anomaly, however, was the teen group, with 11 of their top 20 songs being vocaloid tracks, and the remaining nine from anime.

These rankings are brought to us by Joysound, one of Japan’s top karaoke companies. Joysound has a vast song library used in many karaoke parlors, but also gives people additional options such as song rankings, karaoke at home, and on-demand tracks on users’ cellphones. The company also has an extensive online community where karaoke die-hards can record and upload their performances to be scored by others.

▼ Hatsune Miku is one of the most popular Vocaloid “artists.”

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Over the past few years, Joysound has been observing an increase in the new genre of vocaloid. Vocaloid is technically the name of a voice synthesizing application that allows music producers to synthesize and otherwise alter the voices of human singers. It has become a phenomenon and has created new artists, as the synthesized voices are often given avatars, such as Hatsune Miku and GUMI (whose names feature a lot on this list). The vocaloid avatars usually accompany the name of the song’s producer. While vocaloid songs appear in the 20s, 30s and even 40s age groups, the teens seem to be a little obsessed with them.

Without further ado, the 2014 Top 20 karaoke songs for the teen age group:

1. “Senbonzakura” by Whiteflame, ft. Hatsune Miku [Vocaloid]

2. “Let It Go (Ari no mamade)” by Takako Matsu [Anime- Disney’s Frozen]

3. “Brain Fluid Explosion Girl” by Reruriri, ft. Hatsune Miku and GUMI [Vocaloid]


4. “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” by Yoko Takahashi [Anime- Neon Genesis EVANGELION]


5.“Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” (The story you don’t know) by Supercell [Anime- Bakemonogatari]


6. “Ama no jyaku” by 164, ft. GUMI [Vocaloid]


7. “God Knows…” by Aya Hirano [Anime- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]


8. “Only My Railgun” by Fripside [Anime- A Certain Scientific Railgun]


9. “Lion” by May’n and Nakashima Ai [Anime- Macross Frontier]


10. “Lost One no Goukou” by Neru ft. Kagamine Rin [Vocaloid]


11. “Roku Chounen to Ichiya Monogatari” by Kemu, ft. IA [Vocaloid]

12. “Connect” by ClariS [Anime- Puella Magi Madoka Magic]

13. “Karakuri Piero” by 40mp, ft. Hatsune Miku [Vocaloid]

14. “Ii aru Fanclub” by GUMI and Kagamine Rin [Vocaloid]

15. “Kagerou Days” by Jin, ft. Hatsune Miku [Vocaloid]

16. “Tokyo Teddy Bear” by Neru, ft. Kagamine Rin [Vocaloid]

17. “Yobanashi Deceive” by Jin, ft. IA

18. “Lie” (uso) by Sid [Anime- Fullmetal Alchemist]

19. “Matoyoshika” by Hachi, ft. Hatsune Miku and GUMI [Vocaloid]

20. “MajiLOVE1000%” by ST☆RISH [Anime- Uta no Purinsusama]

It’s worth giving an honorable mention to AKB48’s song “Koisuru Fortune Cookie,” which made it into every age group’s list except, for course, the teen group. Maybe if they released a version recorded by a certain teal-haired songstress?

Being winter break in Japan, I’m sure there are thousands of teenagers in karaoke booths all over the country cranking out these songs right now. I wonder what next year will bring. Will vocaloid take over karaoke entirely? Should pop artists be scared for their jobs? I’m excited to see what 2015 will bring.

Source: Jin, Joysound
Image: Wikimedia Commons, Zero Chan