To ring in the new year, we want to celebrate the eventful 2014, during which we got caught in the crazy, obsessed over new love, reminisced about the past, travelled to the future, stood behind enemy line, pushed impossible boundaries, learnt a few lessons about life, and feasted on amazing cinematography.

We are going to cover the BESTs of 2014 until New Year’s Day, kicking off with Number 5: Best OST!

Best OST of 2014

Anna: While I’m no music expert by any means, I know immediately whether or not I like a song or soundtrack. For 2014, my vote for Best OST isn’t actually going to an entire soundtrack, but rather a song. No OST this year had songs that had me hitting “repeat” on my iTunes as much as Fred Cheng’s ending theme, “Surrender” (Tau Hong Ba), for the Hong Kong drama, Overachievers. Fred’s voice is so suited for mid-tempo ballads that it legit sounds like he’s serenading you for those 4 minutes. The chorus is just epic enough that it’s perfect for singing in the car, shower, while washing dishes, or wherever and whenever. For a drama that had a lot of flaws, this song was one of the best things to come out of it.

Runner Up: Prince of Lan Ling didn’t air in 2014, but I watched it this year. It had, by far, the best overall soundtrack for a drama. The songs are nice and symbolic on their own, but even better when listened to together or while watching Lan Ling. Listen to my favorite song off the OST here.

Estelle: This year had a lot of great music. From Cunning Single Lady‘s cute and fluffy to Misaeng‘s inspiring and uplifting, from Virtuous Queen of Han‘s bittersweet to Pleasantly Surprised‘s just sweet, I had a super hard time choosing, but I ended up with It’s Okay, That’s Love because it had awesome indie music (in English to boot!) and a beautiful rendition by Chen from EXO. The soundtrack just totally makes me smile, but maybe I’m biased because I loved the series and how well the OST captures the mood/spirit of it all! Have a listen for yourself, and see what you think! A bonus that I don’t think was on any of the albums, but was prevalent in the series, is “Family of the Year” by Hero, a personal favorite that surprised me by showing up!

Runner Up: Raymond Lam lent his voice to the OST of Virtuous Queen of Han and it was glorious! Richie Ren and Niki Chow also sang a song for the series. Listen to the soundtrack here.

Stay tuned tomorrow for…the Best Directing of 2014!