She wasn’t looking for this. She said as much in the first verse. But here we were, in her way, and here we are, with Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2012 classic, “Call Me Maybe,” our Bangers III champion.
It was a dominant performance in the championship, with Call Me Maybe more than doubling up I Love It, triumphing 50-24 with a 36-17 Instagram edge, a 9-3 victory on Twitter, and a 5-4 lead in the Google Form voting.
Thank you to all who nominated, voted, and voted some more. The Bangers Bracket is always the highlight of our spring, and its third year was just as glorious as the first two. Can’t wait for Bangers IV. In the meantime, we’ve got more brackets. First, though, to tie up a loose end:
Every bracket concludes with us unveiling The People’s Rankings, which just reflect the margin of victory in every individual vote in a way that lines up all competitors in an objective order from 1-64. It’s imperfect, but it’s our best way of turning these votes into one list, and while it only sometimes serves a purpose, it always at least gives credit to the songs that got screwed over with a tough draw in the bracket, like Timber did this year, running into Call Me Maybe in the quarterfinals rather than in the championship, where it quite possibly belonged. Here are those rankings. Below them is our next bracket, on which we’ll begin voting on Monday morning.
| Rank | Song | Score |
| 1 | “Call Me Maybe” – Carly Rae Jepsen | 100.00 |
| 2 | “Timber” – Pitbull, Kesha | 73.56 |
| 3 | “I Love It” – Icona Pop, Charli XCX | 64.86 |
| 4 | “Pumped Up Kicks” – Foster The People | 64.14 |
| T-5 | “Wake Me Up” – Avicii | 63.32 |
| T-5 | “Teenage Dream” – Katy Perry | 63.32 |
| 7 | “Levels” – Avicii | 62.03 |
| 8 | “Blank Space” – Taylor Swift | 60.51 |
| 9 | “Rolling in the Deep” – Adele | 59.65 |
| 10 | “Turn Down For What” – DJ Snake, Lil Jon | 59.36 |
| 11 | “Shake It Off” – Taylor Swift | 58.43 |
| 12 | “22” – Taylor Swift | 57.78 |
| 13 | “Can’t Hold Us” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Ray Dalton | 57.35 |
| 14 | “Super Bass” – Nicki Minaj | 56.50 |
| 15 | “Shut Up and Dance” – WALK THE MOON | 56.26 |
| 16 | “Firework” – Katy Perry | 54.95 |
| 17 | “Feel So Close” – Calvin Harris | 54.31 |
| 18 | “Lights (Bassnectar Remix)” – Ellie Goulding, Bassnectar | 53.92 |
| 19 | “All Of The Lights” – Kanye West | 53.86 |
| 20 | “Party Rock Anthem” – LMFAO et al. | 50.63 |
| 21 | “Wrecking Ball” – Miley Cyrus | 50.35 |
| 22 | “Without You” – David Guetta, Usher | 50.18 |
| 23 | “Airplanes” – B.o.B, Hayley Williams | 50.05 |
| 24 | “Die Young” – Kesha | 49.72 |
| 25 | “We Found Love” – Rihanna, Calvin Harris | 49.42 |
| 26 | “Get Lucky” – Daft Punk et al. | 47.64 |
| 27 | “Titanium” – David Guetta, Sia | 47.08 |
| 28 | “F**kin’ Problems” – A$AP Rocky et al. | 46.97 |
| 29 | “Take a Walk” – Passion Pit | 46.08 |
| 30 | “Blow” – Kesha | 45.95 |
| 31 | “Royals” – Lorde | 45.43 |
| 32 | “California Gurls” – Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg | 43.47 |
| 33 | “Anything Could Happen” – Ellie Goulding | 43.27 |
| 34 | “Summer” – Calvin Harris | 42.68 |
| 35 | “Fuck You” – CeeLo Green | 42.30 |
| 36 | “Midnight City” – M83 | 41.72 |
| 37 | “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” – Kelly Clarkson | 41.34 |
| 38 | “Thrift Shop” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Wanz | 40.63 |
| 39 | “Born This Way” – Lady Gaga | 40.33 |
| 40 | “Blurred Lines” – Robin Thicke | 39.27 |
| 41 | “The Edge of Glory” – Lady Gaga | 38.85 |
| 42 | “Everybody Talks” – Neon Trees | 38.54 |
| 43 | “Dynamite” – Taio Cruz | 38.46 |
| 44 | “Ni**as in Paris” – JAY-Z, Kanye West | 37.42 |
| 45 | “Payphone” – Maroon 5, Wiz Khalifa | 34.30 |
| 46 | “Drunk in Love” – Beyoncé, JAY-Z | 33.60 |
| 47 | “Girl on Fire” – Alicia Keys | 33.15 |
| 48 | “Don’t You Worry Child” – Swedish House Mafia, John Martin | 32.91 |
| 49 | “Black and Yellow” – Wiz Khalifa | 32.84 |
| 50 | “We Are Young” – fun., Janelle Monáe | 32.25 |
| 51 | “Little Talks” – Of Monsters and Men | 31.32 |
| 52 | “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” – Taylor Swift | 31.06 |
| 53 | “Started From the Bottom” – Drake | 30.31 |
| 54 | “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” – Katy Perry | 29.63 |
| 55 | “Hey Brother” – Avicii | 29.03 |
| 56 | “We R Who We R” – Kesha | 28.68 |
| 57 | “Cooler Than Me” – Mike Posner, Gigamesh | 27.93 |
| 58 | “Boom Clap” – Charli XCX | 27.38 |
| 59 | “Give Me Everything” – Pitbull et al. | 27.14 |
| 60 | “Fancy” – Iggy Azalea, Charli XCX | 26.85 |
| 61 | “I Will Wait” – Mumford & Sons | 26.30 |
| 62 | “Stay The Night” – Zedd, Hayley Williams | 24.87 |
| 63 | “Burn” – Ellie Goulding | 24.09 |
| 64 | “Story of My Life” – One Direction | 21.72 |
