Secrets of Triple J 2022 Hottest 100 revealed

About 100 votes separate the top two songs in this year’s countdown, with votes counted in a bulletproof room to avoid spoilers.

Triple J stars Bryce Mills and Concetta Caristo have opened up about the secrets and security surrounding the station’s popular annual countdown, the Hottest 100.

Mills and Caristo, Triple J’s breakfast show hosts, will count down pointy end of the Hottest 100 — the top 25 — on Saturday.

The public vote for JJJ’s most popular song of the year, conducted by online poll, is considered the world’s biggest radio event.

“It’s funny because all we’re doing is reading out the results,” Mills said.

“There’s not really much we can do. The only thing we can do is encourage people to have their say, then Saturday rolls around. We open the envelope and read it out. It feels so crazy.”

Triple J presenters Bryce Mills and Concetta Caristo. Picture: Supplied

Asked about security and secrecy surrounding the songs featured in the countdown, Mills said:

“It’s actually pretty full on. There’s a real bulletproof room the votes get counted in, and no entry. As much as it is top secret, no-one wants to spoil it. We don’t want to be walking in to do the countdown, and already know (the results).

“We want to know as late as we possibly can, like who’s going to be winning, or who’s in the top 10, or top 20. Honestly, I don’t want to know who’s coming 98th. I want to experience it as a fan. It’s a testament to … human spirit that people don’t want to spoil it.”

How is the top 10 delivered to Mills and Caristo?

“No comment,” Mills replied, laughing. “It’s pretty chill. We have to press the right buttons and know what songs are coming up. Once we get in the studio, we start getting an idea, but I’ll tell you honestly, we don’t know the number one until as late as we possibly can.”

Gotye’s hit Somebody That I Used To Know won the Hottest 100 in 2011. Picture: Chris Kidd

Caristo added: “People have an emotional reaction to the Hottest 100, and they always have something to say about it. I’m excited about reacting (to the countdown) with everyone around the country and the world.”

The 2022 Hottest 100 features a few fun facts.

The number one and number two songs are separated by 100-or-so votes. The last close call was 2007, when 14 votes separated Silverchair’s Straight Lines and the eventual winner, Muses’s Knights of Cydonia.

Also in thie year’s countdown, 23 acts will make their Hottest 100 debut, and 57 songs from Australian artists will feature on the chart.

There are 131 F-bombs across this year’s countdown, up 30 per cent from last year.

Aussie rockers Wolfmother’s record of having six songs in the Hottest 100 is also under threat.

Mills said it made his “heart soar” to be in the studio with The Wiggles when their version of Tame Impala’s Elephant topped the Hottest 100 last year.

“I feel responsible for the Wigglefication of 2022, and I’m not mad about it,” Mills said. “It cuts through so many parts of society. It had wide appeal.”

Past winners include Angus & Julia Stone (Big Jet Plane), Vance Joy (Riptide), Flume (Never Be Like You), and Gotye (Somebody That I Used To Know).

Meanwhile, Caristo is settling into co-hosting duties with Mills after Ebony Boadu left the breakfast shift. “I plan to be myself, which is so cliche, but it’s all I’ve got, it’s what I’m good at doing, and what makes me the happiest,” she said.