Online Popular Vote | RAP IS NOW AWARDS

Fifty acts split 4,726 votes and nobody came close to a majority: Maiyarap won with just 18.9%, edging P9d by a bare 1.5 points, 894 votes to 821. Illslick sat right behind at 15.3%. This was a plurality contest, decided on margins this thin, not a runaway.

The top two drew opposite crowds. P9d's support ran 95% male and leaned hard on Thailand, the single largest voting bloc in the poll — yet Thailand backed P9d, not the winner. Maiyarap's more even base, 57% male, plus strength in the AP and US pools, was enough to hold the lead.

• Photo finish · Winner edged the runner-up by 1.5 points, 894 to 821
• Plurality, not a mandate · 18.9% was enough to win a 50-option field
• Geographic dissent · Thailand, the biggest bloc, backed P9d over the winner
• Gender split · P9d's base ran 95% male; Maiyarap's was 57% male