Posted by Staff on 12/22/2012 at 1:07 PM Best of 2012

The Popdust Files: best of 2012, cher lloyd, g-dragon

… “Crayon” by G-Dragon!

Your votes pushed G-Dragon and his wacky dance anthem to #1–with exactly 612,373 more votes than silver medalist “Want You Back” by Cher Lloyd. Guess a catchy chorus wasn’t strong enough to bump G’s outrageous K-pop jam out of the top spot? Or perhaps it was the A+ work of a super adoring fan base (Hey there, #VIPs!) that gave him the extra push.

It’s been a long, earworm-filled tournament–with bonafide Song of the Summer “Call Me Maybe” getting pushed out after the POP bracket’s first round (Upset, much?) by Cher Lloyd. And after Carly Rae left the stage, there was no turning back.

Round two brought serious contenders from all categories: “Blown Away” vs. “We Are Young”, “Starships” vs. “What Makes You Beautiful”, “Climax” vs. “Amen”, “Spectrum” vs. “Glad You Came” and there were rough battles all around. Minor upsets included the knock-out of “Climax” (By far one of the year’s best) and “Starships” reign over “What Makes You Beautiful” (Where were you on this, Directioners?)

Round three crossed out The Lumineers, Frank Ocean AND The Wanted–and if you weren’t already aware, things were getting serious.

In the fourth round, we saw victories from Meek Mill and fun.! But not for long.

When it came down to the final two, it was a match-up for the ages. Or, actually, just for 2012. Will G-Dragon accept his place on the golden throne as 2012′s Pop Royalty?

We bet the swearing in ceremony will be CRAY.