Paul van Dyk is Number One

Djmag’s annual Top 100 DJs of the year issue is out. Good thing I actually made it in time to vote this year, so the results aren’t simply a pile of statistics to me. Tiesto has finally been taken out of the number one seat, replaced by Paul van Dyk, who’s been in the top ten of the list for the past eight or so years. I’m not saying that Tiesto is really such a horrible DJ, because he isn’t– but he has had that top spot in djmag’s poll for the previous three years in a row. In my opinion, Paul van Dyk really deserves this award for his contributions to trance and the EDM world in general. Many on tranceaddict say that he hasn’t had a particularly good year in the scene, but his contributions are still noteworthy, and he had never been voted to number one. Congratulations, PvD!
So why did Tiesto drop a spot? Armin remained in his third place spot, while van Dyk and Tiesto traded the top two spots. Maybe Tiesto lost some fans, while van Dyk retained the solid base he’s maintained. It’s a little strange, but still believable, that Armin didn’t garner enough votes to rise a step or two (many people thought he would). One possible and plausible reason is that many tranceaddict members who liked Armin (including me) put Mikey Mike as their number one vote instead, putting Armin as their number two vote. Although there are plenty of people who dislike Armin on tranceaddict, there are also plenty who like him, probably outnumbering those who like Paul van Dyk.
By the way, tranceaddict had its own separate top DJ of 2005 poll, and the top three winners of that poll were Armin, Paul van Dyk, and Tiesto– in that order, so you can’t completely dismiss my guessplanation.
You might be wondering who this Mikey Mike is that everyone (a lot of people) on tranceaddict voted for in the djmag poll. There was a campaign on the forums to show everyone how ridiculous the djmag top DJs poll was by voting for an amateur, just some guy from tranceaddict who is completely unknown in the international dance scene. Mikey Mike actually made it to the 110th spot, beating actual world-famous DJs and producers like Ronski Speed and The Thrillseekers. We’ll put someone from tranceaddict on the list again next year, and he’ll have an even higher rank!
