Well, it was a strange year, in more ways than one. A year packed full of great music and film, sporting firsts, shock political decisions and shocking celebrity deaths. But, what were your highlights? Well, you voted in your droves and this morning, we revealed the results of The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show Poll Of The Year.
Shock of the Year – Donald Trump
We probably all still remember where we were when we heard the news that Donald Trump was officially announced as the President Elect of the United States. On the morning of November 8th, Trump ‘trumped’ Hilary Clinton by 306 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232 – that’s despite running a controversial campaign where he was accused of being racist & sexist, where he promised to ‘build a wall’ and told terminally ill patients to 'hang on in there' and vote for him. Wow.
Irish Man of the Year – Conor McGregor
After a re-match victory over Nate Diaz & a win over Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship on November 12 – Conor McGregor is the overwhelming winner in the Irish Man of the Year category. He is now probably the most recognisable Irish sportsperson in the world and his star is only getting brighter. The Alvarez fight drew a record audience in the United States - more than 1.6million pay-per-view buys & also broke the Madison Square gate record, bringing in $17.7m of ticket revenue in one night!
It's been a great year for him both professionally and personally, with him announcing that he's going to be a Dad for the first time.
Irish Woman of the Year – Annalise Murphy
After finishing an agonising 4th place in London four years ago, Annalise Murphy came back in style to claim an Olympic Sailing Silver Medal in the Laser Radial event in Rio this year. She is up for RTE Sportsperson of the Year award 2016 which will be announced on Saturday night but more importantly, the listeners of The Breakfast Show have made her the Irish Woman of the Year. Clare from The Breakfast Show caught up with Annalise yesterday to get her reaction to the award.
Irish Moment of the Year – Ireland at the Euros
Who can forget that month of football in France last Summer! After a draw and a defeat in the opening two games against Sweden & Belgium, the knives were out for Martin O’Neill and his team. It all came down to a night in Lille against Italy – a night when the whole country went bananas around the 85th minute & babies around the country were immediately named Robbie! And so, the Irish Moment of the Year as voted by you, was the two weeks at Euro 2016, when many of you descended onto French soil while the rest of us watched here on the telly as our football team did us proud.
Irish Song of the Year – Take My Hand
Last time we spoke to Picture This in M&S on Grafton St, tickets for sixteen of their shows had sold out around Ireland. In the past few weeks, the lads sold out 5 nights for The Olympia in May & June in ONE DAY! They also sold out one of their Live at the Marquee dates - June 9th & 10th.In other words, they are HOTTEST BAND IN IRELAND RIGHT NOW! We caught up with Ryan to congratulate him...
Bingewatch of the Year - Stranger Things
Stranger Things was one of the most talked-about series this year. Created by Netflix and starring Winona Ryder, this sci-fi series created a stir in 2016 and was viewed by over 15 million people in the first 36 days of its release. Set in 1983 in a small American town, a peculiar chain of events leads to the disappearance of a local child and it becomes apparent that there is something strange going on. The 8 part series is accompanied by a brilliant 80s soundtrack featuring Joy Division, New Order & Foreigner to name a few.
Soap of the Year – Red Rock
Following its launch on TV3 in January 2015, the hit series has gone from strength to strength and has also been sold to Amazon Prime in the US (where 81% of viewers give it 5 stars). The show premiered on BBC One on 11th July to a massive audience of 1.3million, making it an instant hit and one of Ireland’s most successful television exports. Red Rock returns on Monday 9th Jan on TV3.
Gig of the Year - Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band retuned to Dublin in May 2016 and rocked Croke Park to its foundations with two of those, now legendary, 3.5 hour shows, in front of a staggering 160,000 people. Springsteen played an amazing 33 song set and the audience lapped it up, including one Mr Enda Kenny who was spotted playing a bit of air guitar in the crowd.
Song of the Year – Christine & The Queens
Following appearances on Jools Holland and Graham Norton on the BBC, Christine & The Queens quickly became one of the biggest hits of the year and one of the most stand out tracks released in a number of years. When we made it Song of the Week on the Breakfast Show, it became one of the most asked for and asked about songs of the year. Yesterday, we sent the good news to Christine and she sent us back this message...
Book of the Year - Paul O'Connell
Not content with being a sporting legend, Paul O’Connell made his debut as an author in 2016. The Battle, which he co wrote with Alan English, hit the shelves in October and has been in the top ten bestsellers list since it's release. Not only did it win Sports Book of the Year at the Bord Gais Energy Book Awards but it's also on course to be the biggest selling book of the year.
Gift of the Year - Paul O'Connell Audiobook
The Gift Grub reenactment of some of the more 'colourful' scenes from Paul O'Connell's 'The Battle' was chosen as your favourite of 2016. Featuring BOD, ROG, Sexy and Quinny, it's definitely worth a listen:
Sports Moment of the Year – Ire v NZ
The 5th of November will be a date that will be set in stone within Irish Rugby history. Ireland scored five tries to claim a first win against the All Blacks in 111 years of trying and end the world champions’ record run of 18 straight victories. Jordi Murphy, CJ Stander, Conor Murray & Simon Zebo all crossed for Ireland but it wasn’t until Robbie Henshaw powered home for Ireland's fifth and decisive try that Irish fans could celebrate. And celebrate they did....
Movie of the Year – Sing Street
This was as close as any category in the poll. Many of our listeners chose Bridget Jones, many choose Deadpool and a lot chose Fantastic Beasts. However the majority of our listeners chose the Irish movie, Sing Street as their Movie of the Year. Written, co-produced and directed by John Carney, the film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016 and was released in Ireland St. Patrick’s Day. It went down a storm with many likening it to The Commitments. The success didn't stop there - it was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and 'Drive It Like You Stole It' is now on the Oscars longlist.
Breakfast Show Moment of the Year – Ian’s Tattoo
Back in September, Today FM launched a new charity campaign called ‘Dare to Care’. The purpose of it was to raise as much money as possible for The Irish Cancer Society by daring people to do things they wouldn’t normally do...& sponsor them to do so. Over €300,000 has been raised so far by listeners of Today FM and it was a phenomenal effort by everyone. Today FM presenters got involved too! Someone decided it would be a good dare for Ian to get his first ever tattoo and he actually went through with it! That's commitment!
Album of the Year - Bowie
The 25th and final studio album by Bowie, was released worldwide on the 8th January, his 69th birthday. He died on the 11th January. It was nominated for 6 Grammys and the song, 'Blackstar' is up for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. Following his death, Blackstar became Bowie's only album to top the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Listeners chose this their album of the year just ahead of Beyonce’s Lemonade & Everything This Way by Walking On Cars.
And finally, the Hope for 2017.....
That 2017 is way better than 2016!
