The Ten Best Selling Singles in Austria in 2006

2006 was basically all about regular pop music. There was not a specific trend that year, or anything overly gimmicky that stood out, at least not in the top spots of the year end charts. Usually, there was at least one song within the ten best selling singles of the year people either loved or hated. But in 2006, the charts were divided between several contributions to widely accepted subgenres of mainstream music, people either loved or didn't care about.
Source: https://austriancharts.at/2006_single.asp, Created on 3/2/2019
The Top Ten
1 Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley's only hit is one of the all time classic tunes of the 2000s. Soulful in vocals and catchy in melody, the italo western sample makes the chorus unique and, quite literally, cinematic.

Peak position: 1
Having spent 10 weeks on top of the charts, the soul pop song was also the biggest number 1 hit of the year.

2 Love Generation - Bob Sinclar & Gary Pine

The fast paced guitars, the "ba-ba-bam" vocals in the background and whistle leitmotif makes this catchy as heck, and it will be stuck in your head for very, very long. Really, if you want to make a song catchy, include whistling. It always works.

But... is it just me or is the singing off-key quite often?

3 Hips Don't Lie - Shakira & Wyclef Jean

Both Shakira and Wyclef Jean make this an extremely fun and positive summer hit song to dance to. This spreads so much natural joy, it's amazing. In this case it's okay to call it a summer hit - unlike "Obsesion" and "La camisa negra", which were Latin songs, but not really designed to be holiday hits.

4 Big City Life - Mattafix

I still recall when we sang this song in English class when it was on top of the charts. It was fun - also because the chorus is in a slang and not in neutral English and we didn't really understand what it's actually supposed to mean.

I really like this song. Is a decent track to listen to when walking through the city. A pity that it was one of the couple of hit songs that were completely forgotten over time.

5 Nie genug - Christina Stürmer

Listening to these old Christina Stürmer songs from when she was still an energetic pop rock singer with personality like P! nk or Avril Lavigne, it makes me sad her last album was so listless, tame and poppy. Where is that badass girl who loved to rock the stage? Her 2000s stuff like "Nie genug" is, of course, legendary, and she has every right to be one of the biggest Austrian music stars ever.

6 I Belong to You (Il ritmo della passione) - Anastacia & Eros Ramazzotti

What a worthy collaboration of two legends! There are bilingual songs that sound awkwardly stitched together, like the parts weren't even supposed to be on one track. But damn, this is NOT one of them. The chemistry between the Italian Eros Ramazzotti and the American Anastacia is so spot on, especially the few lines they sing at the same. Even their vocal tones are similar, and their singing styles are perfectly synchronized!
Great, great, great! One of the ultimate ballads, a clear 5 out of 5, no other option than the highest score!

7 Stop! Dimentica - Tiziano Ferro

I don't even remember this song, but... DAMN! What an electro beat, a how the almost rhythmically spoken vocals are layered over it. This just sounds cool and badass. Even a beat cinematic. Synth pop at its finest.

8 I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters

Elton John plays the piano, and the members of the Scissor Sisters do their groovy thing as fine as usual. Jake Shears gives a terribly charismatic performance. This is the kind of disco melodrama every gay club needs. Other clubs too, but... you know.

9 Das Beste - Silbermond

*sigh*
I love Silbermond. I really do. Especially their first two albums. But really... almost all of their biggest hits are among the most unspectacular material they have to offer. If you listen to the audio sample of this basic piano ballad... would you guess that the rest of the album is packed with nonconformist alternative rock and pop punk? And I mean the really good stuff. "Meer sein" is a headbanging punk rock number with lyrics that make you feel you are part of a movement that is about to tear the whole world down! It was also a single and had a music video... but nope, "Das Beste" was the huge hit. The one track you'd skip on this fantastic album.

10 One - Mary J. Blige & U2

U2 are one of the let's say 10 most loved artists in Austria, the ones that the masses and the critics agree on are among the greatest and most visionary that have ever been there. And "One" was known in its original version before. But personally, I like this version better. Bono only sings the intro and later on in harmony with Mary J. Blige's vocals, but the spotlight belongs to her singing. She owns this track and shows off how much heart and talent one can put into a rock song. And that even though she's not a rock singer, but usually sings contemporary RnB and neo-soul.