Sun Staff Writer John Taechin Lee sat down with Cornell Concert Commission’s current Executive Director Douglas DuRant 11 and last year’s Executive Director (and Sun columnist) Justine Fields 09 to get their take on 2009s pop music hits.

Beyoncé, “Single Ladies”

Though first released in the fall of 2008, “Single Ladies” became the eighth biggest song of 2009 according to Billboard and still sat in the Top 40 in 2010.

Justine: I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew the whole dance.

Douglas: If anyone was ever on the fence about Beyoncé, they should’ve fallen on the correct side after this song, absolutely adoring and worshipping her.

Justine: I agree.

Douglas: It was one of the best videos of all time. OF ALL TIME.

Justine: Only because there’s a debatable tranny in the background. That song had a millions of YouTube hits to begin with but everyone had to rewatch it to debate. It’s supposedly the male choreographer dressed up as a girl.

Douglas: Are you serious? How are the two biggest names in pop right now, Beyonce and Lady Gaga, surrounded by tranny rumors?

Justine: I don’t think it gets more viral than that video.

Douglas: That crazy mechanical glove. That sealed the deal for me. I want that. I’d put a ring on it if I had the chance.Top of the Pops: DuRant and Fields ponder the radio and fraternity hits of ‘09

Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”

The infectious dance single was also one of those monster songs that gained momentum in 2009, establishing Lady Gaga as the princess of pop.

Douglas: Around this time, my feelings for Lady Gaga were very negative. She kept on trying to cast herself as a very strange, huge pop star that was breaking the mold.

Justine: But she didn’t start out that weird!

Douglas: She was an “artist.” She was a “performer.” Then she comes out with these very mediocre, radio-friendly songs that didn’t seem like they were of any substance. Then “Paparazzi” came out, followed by “Bad Romance.” And it was like, “Alright. I believe her. I’m sold.”

Justine: I still don’t like her very much. I’m not sold.

Douglas: Well, I have the “Haus of Gaga” iPhone App, so…

Justine: That’s really weird.

Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”

The Black Eyed Peas ruled this year with two major singles. This feel-good song began the group’s reign over 2009 and earned them a Record of the Year nomination for the 2010 Grammy’s.

Justine: I particularly love this song when they do the “Mazel Tov” shout-out. It’s a great song. It can’t be denied.

Douglas: The only thing that comes to mind when I hear it is the flash mob that they did for Oprah’s [24th season kickoff party], people doing this dance in unison. And Oprah’s sitting there in her gold mike and her gold get-up thinking like, “What the… this is amazing! This is incredible! Wowww!” You’ve got to see it on YouTube. It’s phenomenal.

Justine: This song’s featured in the preview of Valentine’s Day, so this song just makes me want to make out with someone.

Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”

Kings of Leon was one of very few rock bands that had insanely popular songs this year, and “Use Somebody” helped them become one of Rolling Stone’s Top Artists of the Decade.

Douglas: So it seems like it’s a sad rock ballad but it’s really just about exploiting an ex-lover, right?

Justine: And wanting to get some.

Douglas: I love Kings of Leon. The thing is though everyone raved about this new album like it was so great.

Justine: It’s just because they’ve got the word “sex”…

Douglas: “on fire…”

Justine: … that people are like, “Oh should we pay attention to this band?” It shocks me.

Douglas: When I play it for my mom, she goes “Who is this? Adam Sandler?” And now every time I hear his voice, I go, “Adam Sandler. Damn it, mom!” But Kings of Leon is legit. Two thumbs up.

Drake, “Best I Ever Had”

Nominated for Best Rap Song at the Grammy’s, this gave listeners the heads up that there was a new player in town and he may the be best we ever had.

Justine: The song is a little inappropriate. Who didn’t love Degrassi though?

Douglas: I can’t believe he was on Degrassi.

Justine: It makes it better though.

Douglas: Does it?

Justine: Do you think he’ll make guest appearances as Drake on Degrassi?

Douglas: What? Pull a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus kind of thing?­

Justine: DO IT! He totally has the hairstyle for it!

Douglas: “I just put a blonde wig and then I’m Drake!”

Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha, “Right Round”

Containing a sample from Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record),” Flo Rida’s infectious radio hit became the sixth most popular song of 2009.

Douglas: I think that it took me about six months of knowing who Flo Rida was to realize it meant “Florida.”

Justine: … I didn’t know that until just now.

Douglas: He’s from Florida. “Flo Rida.” Get it?

Justine: That’s funny. That’s clever.

Douglas: His thing seems to becoming so ridiculously prevalent. Taking old songs and rehashing them and making them popular again. And Ke$ha’s cool.

Justine: Ke$ha with a dollar sign. No “S”s allowed.

Britney Spears, “Circus”

After a public meltdown, Spears released “Circus,” proving that after all these years, she was still the pop star whom everybody fell in love with.

Douglas: I’m a huge fan of Britney, but I only became a huge fan after she became a freakshow. After she shaved her head off, had multiple marriages, had kids, and was caught flashing her …

Justine: Hoo-hah.

Douglas: Nether-regions.

Justine: Every frat party we went to, that song was on. And everybody loved it.

Douglas: My favorite memory of Britney Spears’s career was her “Gimme More” VMA performance. I’m thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe I just saw this train wreck on network television.”

Justine: That’s good. You need to have a low so you can reach a new high. Circus is a great album. I hope when she’s 40 though, she’s still half-naked singing pop songs other people wrote.

Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”

Taylor Swift had the two most played songs on radio this year, with “Love Story” and the more recent “You Belong With Me.”

Douglas: When Kanye ruined the most important moment of her life, Justine was convinced it was all a media ploy between Beyonce, Kanye and Taylor.

Justine: I still think it is!

Douglas: And I fought her so hard on it. And yet it wasn’t until then I decided to go and listen to “You Belong With Me,” and now I love Taylor Swift, I’m not going to lie. And I think you’re right.

Justine: The album is incredible. Oh my god. At the end of the year, Susan Boyle was so close to overtaking Taylor Swift’s album as the highest selling within a month, which is just …

Douglas: … stupid.

Justine: It’s because old people don’t know how to steal music.

Miley Cyrus, “Party in the USA”

In a song that defined the younger generation, “Party in the USA” defined America in less than four minutes and became one of the biggest pop songs of 2009.

Douglas: Yes! The music video that made statutory rape okay!

Justine: If there’s a song to define my senior year at Cornell, it would be this song. The last six, seven months of my life, anywhere I’ve gone, this started playing. And I still don’t hate it.

Douglas: This was so unbelievably ubiquitous and every time I hear it, I just …

Justine: Stop and put my hands up, move my hips like yeah!