Message from Steve Wright

Hello, I'm Steve Wright and I am bringing you the World's Top Ten Favourite Records!

Since the beginning of November, we.ve been asking you to tell us, here at the BBC World Service, which one song of all time means the most to you. You.ve been voting by phone, fax, email and letter, and interest has been so great that at one point 12 votes a minute were coming in from around the world.

We've compiled your votes to create a global Top Ten - the first time a remarkable survey such as this has been carried out, and it.s all part of the wonderful celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the BBC World Service.

Well, you.ve obviously had great fun with this poll and it.s generated tremendous debate and interest from all over the world. From Poland to Peru and Senegal to Singapore, we.ve received votes from nearly every country around the globe.

Some 7000 song titles were nominated and almost 150 000 votes were cast. Everyone from Celebrities, Politicians and of course, you, the audience of the World Service, made their nominations known.

Our final Top Ten records all received massive support from fans around the world who felt motivated to get their favourite song to the top of the chart. Websites were created to encourage other fans to vote, phone calls were made and newspapers and radio stations have been urging people to get involved. On this site you can find the stories behind the songs and some background on the artists involved, as we count down the World's Top Ten.

The Top Four Songs in our survey are all similar in that they were voted for in an organised and passionate way by listeners who felt strongly enough that their song should be chosen as the World's Favourite Song. It proved to be a tight race to the top...

It.s also worth taking time out to look at some of the other great records that didn't quite make it to the World's Top Ten. We received votes for songs from all over the world including Canada, Columbia, Ireland, Brazil, Jamaica and South Africa.

The South American artists were well represented and the highest artist on the chart was Antonio Carlos Jobim or simply Tom Jobin to the rest of the World. He was born in Rio De Janeiro in 1927 and is best known for the song that was voted for in the World.s Top Ten, "The Girl From Ipanema"

Another notable global entry was Ragheb Alama. Born in the Lebanon, his father was so impressed with his prodigious talent that he arranged for his son to be interviewed on Lebanese radio before his tenth birthday. He went on to receive the Arabian World Gold Lion award as Best Arabic Singer of 1998, and his song Saharouni Ellai has proved to be one of the most popular Middle eastern acts.

From the Middle east to Nepal now with the seventh highest entry on our chart. Arun Thapa was one of Nepal.s most popular singers and even though he tragically died three years ago he lives on in the hearts and minds of the Nepalese with his song Reetu Harumi Timi.

There were other omissions from the World's Top Ten that merit a mention.

Most people might expect to see The Beatles appear in any global chart and they did have a whopping 55 individual titles nominated. The most contemporary song to feature in the Top 100 was Nelly & Kelly.s .Dilemma., which had great support from many African countries and just narrowly missed out on a place in the Top Ten. Also, the Cliff Richard fanclub finally ran out of steam after a spirited effort to get "We Don't Talk Anymore" into the Top Ten - it finally came to rest at number 11!

So there you have it, thank you very much for voting and taking part in this unique poll. Enjoy listening to the World's Favourite songs!