Australia’s hottest music property, Gotye, has taken out the country’s biggest fan-voted music poll, Triple J’s Hottest 100.
The Belgian-born artist (real name Wally De Backer) came out on top of the 2011 poll with his hit “Somebody That I Used To Know (Feat Kimbra),” a multiple winner at last year’s ARIA Awards.
The state-funded Triple J broadcaster reports a record 1,378,869 million votes were cast this time, up 9% on last year, with 158,258 voters taking part.
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That Gotye won this year’s January 26 countdown comes as a surprise to no one. The track resonated with Triple J’s youth democratic like no other song in 2011, and its album “Making Mirrors” recently claimed Triple J’s coveted “J Award” for album of the year.
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The video for “Somebody That I Used To Know” is a viral sensation, with more than 53 million hits on YouTube. Now, Gotye’s career is heating up in Europe, where he’s enjoyed a No. 1 single in Germany and a handful of continental European markets.
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“We’re now fixing our attention on America and U.K. and the rest of Europe,” Gotye’s co-manager Danny Rogers, managing director of Lunatic Entertainment, tells Billboard.biz. “It’s really connecting in so many markets. The feeling around the U.K. is really strong. Tickets for a series of shows in February have all sold out. We’ll do “Later with Jools Holland, he’s been offered the Echo Awards in Germany. In a lot of markets, it’s coming along very strong.”
“Making Mirrors” is platinum certified in Belgium and Holland already, and has reached gold in Germany.