(Inthemix) At the end of October, DJ Mag is set to reveal the 2012 results in the always-divisive Top 100 DJs poll. Since the poll’s beginnings in 1997, the number 1 spot has been shared between some of dance music’s most celebrated stalwarts: Carl Cox took out the first year, Paul Oakenfold had 1998 and 1999 tied up, Sasha and John Digweed took 2000 and 2001 respectively, Tiesto held firm from 2002 to 2004, Paul van Dyk had ’05 and ’06, then it was over to Dutch trance titan Armin van Buurento hold the title for four consecutive years. In 2011, it was the turn of chart-troubling FrenchmanDavid Guetta to ascend to the #1 position. Cue much angst from some corners of the internet, and even an awkward handover from Armin to Guetta at Amsterdam Dance Event (the video has been taken down, by the way).
The new issue of DJ Mag contains a small message on page 6: “There is a new #1. Who will it be?” 2012 has been a star-making year for new guard players like Avicii and Skrillex, but 2011’s results had Deadmau5, Above & Beyond, Afrojack and Dash Berlin also fighting up the ranks. While Swedish House Mafia’s farewell circuit could also be their ticket to the #1 spot, we can’t ignore the groundswell of support that’s sure to be building for Paris Hilton.
“I don’t know how many years trance DJs have been No.1,” Guetta said last year. “I have a lot of respect for what those guys have done. But I’m happy for myself, and also think that maybe it gives hope to a lot of DJs playing house and electro. Our music is so big at the moment, as simultaneously there are people like me and TiĆ«sto and the Swedish House Mafia who are really crossing over, and at the same time you have this crazy underground scene that is exploding also.”