The Top 20 were broadcast yesterday (Sun 31 January 2021) within the station’s flagship musical theatre programme Elaine Paige on Sunday (1pm-3pm) during a very special weekend of programming - Radio 2 Celebrates Musicals. Listen to it now on BBC Sounds.

The Top 20 is:

1 One Day More (Les Misérables)

2 Bring Him Home (Les Misérables)

3 Defying Gravity (Wicked)

4 This Is Me (The Greatest Showman)

5 Over The Rainbow (The Wizard Of Oz)

6 Singin' In The Rain (Singin' In The Rain)

7 Circle Of Life (The Lion King)

8 Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Evita)

9 Somewhere (West Side Story)

10 America (West Side Story)

11 Memory (Cats)

12 You Can't Stop The Beat (Hairspray)

13 Summertime (Porgy and Bess)

14 Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton)

15 All That Jazz (Chicago)

16 Gethsemane (Jesus Christ Superstar)

17 You Will Be Found (Dear Evan Hansen)

18 The Room Where It Happens (Hamilton)

19 Send In The Clowns (A Little Night Music)

20 Seasons Of Love (Rent)

On hearing it had been voted the number song, talking to Elaine Paige, Alfie Boe - who has played the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables - said: “My goodness, that’s amazing. Thank you to everyone who voted for Les Mis in this wonderful Radio 2 chart. It’s so special to me to be a part of the show and to everyone who’s ever worked on it. The music will never die, the story is so strong, the characters are unique. Valjean is so close to my heart and it’s an honour to play him in this wonderful piece of music.

"One Day More is probably one of the biggest highlights of the show and it resonates to everybody who sings it on stage as a unified piece of music; and in this present day that we’re living during this pandemic we are unified as a nation, we are unified as a world, we are adapting as a world, we are adapting as human beings, and this song resonates so much with the present situation that we’re in. Hopefully we’ll see theatres back open really soon and we’ll all be able to enjoy live music, live performances once again.”

Elaine Paige says: “I hope my Elaine Paige on Sunday listeners enjoyed today’s countdown. What an honour to present such an iconic list of classic songs. I’m sure, like me, you can’t wait to return to the theatre to see the magic of musicals live once again!"

Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2, says: I’m hugely proud of the commitment that Radio 2 has given to shining a light on musical theatre at this difficult time. Radio 2 Celebrates Musicals has been a joy from start to finish, from Zoe Ball’s singalong on Friday morning, through to today’s chart, and tonight’s Musicals: The Greatest Show from the London Palladium. The Top 20 includes songs from the past 80 years of glorious productions, proving that the appeal of musical theatre remains as strong as ever.”

Listeners took their pick from a long list of 50 classics spanning nine decades, and cast their vote at bbc.co.uk/radio2. The shortlist was created by an esteemed panel of musicals experts, including American musical theatre actor Marisha Wallace, Baz Bamigboye (Daily Mail), Sita McIntosh (What’s On Stage), and Elaine Paige.

On Friday between 5am to 7pm, each song broadcast on Radio 2 was one of the greatest ever songs from musical theatre and film, and a national singalong featuring Mary Poppins (The Definitive Supercalifragilistic 2020 Cast Recording) - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious; Original London Cast Of The Rocky Horror Show - The Time Warp; and Louis Armstrong - Hello, Dolly! took place on Zoe Ball’s Breakfast Show.

A range of musical stars presented Sounds of the 60s, 70s, 80 and 90s:

SOT80s (8-10pm, Friday 29th Jan) was hosted by Jennifer Holliday, a Tony Award winner from the original cast of Dreamgirls. A Listen production.

SOT90s (10pm-midnight, Friday 29 January) was presented by Jason Donovan, who played the lead in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. A Somethin’ Else production.

SOT60s (6am-8am, Saturday 30 January) was hosted by Petula Clark, who’s performed in numerous shows including The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins and Sunset Boulevard, and starred in 60s musical films Finian’s Rainbow and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. A 7digital production.

SOT70s (3pm-5pm, Sunday 31 January) was presented by The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, who starred in Pinball Wizard and Tommy. A Listen production.

BBC One is also joining Radio 2 in celebrating musical theatre.

With venues currently closed around the UK, Musicals: The Greatest Show is a celebration of the nation’s favourite songs and performers from the world of musical theatre. Hosted on radio and television by multi-award winning performer Sheridan Smith, it puts the songs, the shows, and the stars back onstage at the London Palladium.

It will be broadcast from 7pm-9pm tonight (Sun 31 January) on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, on BBC One on Sunday 7 February at 7.40pm-9pm, and available on BBC iPlayer for a year after the broadcast. Produced by TBI Media.

Highlights of Musicals: The Greatest Show - some exclusively for the Radio 2 broadcast – include:

Elaine Paige in conversation with Idina Menzel from Los Angeles
Amanda Holden and Sheridan Smith perform I Know Him So Well from Chess. The song, originally performed by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson, reached Number 1 in the UK Pop Charts in 1985 remains the best-selling song by a female duo.

Nicole Scherzinger with Never Enough from The Greatest Showman - with her performance recorded in Los Angeles.

Exclusively for Radio 2, Josh Groban sings The Impossible Dream from Man Of La Mancha - with his vocal performance recorded in Los Angeles.

Exclusively for Radio 2, Elaine Paige with Sunset Boulevard’s As If We Never Said Goodbye; Elaine made her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard in 1996.

Gavin Spokes, from the West End production of Hamilton, performs You’ll Be Back
Michael Ball performs You Can’t Stop The Beat from Hairspray.

Sheridan Smith performs Don’t Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl.

An exclusive first performance by Ivano Turco of Only You, Lonely You from Cinderella (which is due to open in London in 2021).

The cast of SIX The Musical performing SIX.

Ramin Karimloo sings The Music Of The Night from The Phantom Of The Opera.
The three West End lead actors of MAMMA MIA! perform Dancing Queen.
Aisha Jawando of the West End production of TINA, The Tina Turner Musical performs The Best.
Lea Salonga performs I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables - with her performance recorded in Manila.

Layton Williams of Everybody's Talking About Jamie performs The Wall In My Head.
Sam Tutty sings You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen, alongside members of the West End cast.

Nicole Raquel Dennis of Dreamgirls with And I Am Telling You.
Kerry Ellis sings Defying Gravity from Wicked.
Exclusively for Radio 2, Christine Allado and Alexia Khadime perform the Oscar-winning song When You Believe from The Prince Of Egypt.
Jac Yarrow, with the public, performing Any Dream Will Do from Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat

All radio programmes will be available on BBC Sounds.

Elaine Paige on Sunday is produced by BBC Audio.

Radio 2 Celebrates Musicals is produced by Laura Busson, Commissioning Executive, Radio 2.

BBC Four are also celebrating Musical Theatre with a number of programmes, including:

Sunday 31 January

10pm - West Side Stories – The Making of a Classic

11pm - Imagine… Cameron Mackintosh: The Musical Man

Sunday 7 February

Imagine - Andrew Lloyd Webber: Memories

10.30pm - Les Mis at 25: Matt Lucas Dreams the Dream

11.30pm - Sings Musicals…

BBC iPlayer has Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, the documentary following the story of teenager Jamie Campbell who wants to be a drag queen and which led to the creation of the West End musical, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie; plus Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award winning Fosse/Verdon, an eight-part series starring Sam Rockwell as musical director and choreographer Bob Fosse and Michelle Williams as Broadway and screen dancer Gwen Verdon. It tells the story of the famous couple's troubled personal and professional relationship. There are also the following musical films available to watch on BBC iPlayer, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Top Hat, The Sky’s the Limit and A Damsel in Distress, The Gay Divorce and Carefree.