The good and kind Triple J overlords have finally blessed unto us all the date for this year’s Hottest 100 countdown, marking the second year the countdown will occur on its now-usual fourth weekend in January slot. However this year Triple J has smartly changed tack slightly, with the countdown set to take place on the Sunday of the weekend, rather than the Saturday which in 2019 just-so-happens to be the 26th.
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Instead, this year’s countdown will take place on Sunday, January 27th, the day after the increasingly-controversial “Australia Day,” and the day prior to the nationally observed public holiday on Monday the 28th, which is being held in lieu of the 26th falling on a weekend.
Following the Hottest 100 countdown on the Sunday, the Hottest 200 countdown – a run of the songs that finished 101-200 in the voting – will take place on the public holiday Monday, rounding out what Triple J is billing as the Hottest 100 Weekend.
In addition, Triple J also announced that this year’s countdown would be pairing with Lifeline to raise money for the mental health line’s vital services via either straight-up charitable donations from listeners, or via limited edition Triple J/Lifeline shirts which can be sourced from Triple J’s official Hottest 100 sub-site.
Prior to last year’s count, Triple J conducted a long consultation process with both the listening public and Indigenous community leaders regarding the placement of the Hottest 100 on the Australia Day public holiday, deciding – in a widely celebrated move – to shift the date of the countdown away from January 26th, as the nation moves towards holding more austere observances with regards to First Nations people and the significance of the date for them.
The youth broadcaster’s Indigenous-focused slate of programming for January 26th is set to be announced in the coming weeks.
Voting for this year’s Hottest 100 countdown will open from 8am on Monday, December 10th, and will run until 9am on Tuesday, January 22nd.
Start whittling down yr short-lists, mates.
