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Posted by: WhoChristmasssy 12th December 2019, 08:18 AM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50741299

The longlist for the BBC Sound of 2020 has been revealed! And I think it's their best one in years.

Arlo Parks
Beabadoobee
Celeste
Easy Life
Georgia
Inhaler
Joesef
Joy Crookes
Squid
Yungblud

Would love to see Bea, Easy Life, Inhaler, Squid or Yungblud take it.

Posted by: Michael Bubré 12th December 2019, 08:28 AM

Gross

Posted by: Bjork 12th December 2019, 08:31 AM

Ouch horrible list
Really like Georgia, but she's been going on for ages

Posted by: Michael Bubré 12th December 2019, 08:34 AM

I feel pretty lukewarm on this list, beabadoobee would probably be my pick from the bunch in terms of being consistently good I guess, Georgia also has potential but 'Never Let You Go' is the only song I've really loved from her. Also like what I have heard from Easy Life and Squid.

Unfortunately think it'll almost certainly be YUNGBLUD winning. Maybe Celeste has a chance too based on her winning the BRITs Rising Star.

Posted by: gooddelta 12th December 2019, 08:34 AM

I was hoping Lily Moore would be on this.

Posted by: dancember 12th December 2019, 08:44 AM

anyone but Yungblud winning would be nice.

Posted by: ChristmaSteve201 12th December 2019, 09:28 AM

Yungblud/Georgia/Celeste are the only well known ones from that!

Posted by: Dan17F1 12th December 2019, 01:20 PM

I think Easy Life are also some what known now! My friends certainly know who they are anyway, probably more than Celeste.

Posted by: Michael Bubré 12th December 2019, 01:29 PM

The people on these lists aren't really supposed to be well-known lol ~

I think I've heard at least one song by all of these except Inhaler and Joesef.

Posted by: WhoChristmasssy 12th December 2019, 01:31 PM

Inhaler are worth a listen, my fave song is Ice Cream Sundae. The lead singer is the son of Bono.

Posted by: Bjork 12th December 2019, 02:36 PM

^Oh my that immediately put me off, the Bono son thing ouch

Posted by: WhoChristmasssy 12th December 2019, 02:41 PM

I'm not a fan of U2 at all, but it didn't stop me giving them a listen. There's still 3 other members not related to him

Posted by: ChristmaSteve201 12th December 2019, 07:37 PM

I've never heard of them, have they been playlisted yet on radio 1?

Posted by: ChristmaSteve201 12th December 2019, 07:38 PM

I know but Georgia and Yungblud especially have been heavily played by Radio 1 this year. That's normal though!

Posted by: Michael Bubré 12th December 2019, 07:42 PM

They're on the B-List right now with 'Nice Guys' they've had 2 songs playlisted by R1 this year, both of them were pretty good.

Posted by: WhoChristmasssy 12th December 2019, 07:44 PM

Easy Life also have a very good song 'Sangria' with fellow nominee Arlo Parks.

Posted by: ChristmaSteve201 12th December 2019, 07:52 PM

Shows how much I listen to the new additions nowadays that I didn't realise, must check them out!

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 17th December 2019, 08:51 PM

I know and like most of this list, which makes a change. Easy Life they recently sold out a tour playing about a dozen 1.5-2.5k venues and have a song with 12m Spotify streams, that feels pretty big for something like this.

I'd love it if Georgia has some success next year

Posted by: T Boy 17th December 2019, 08:54 PM

I wonder if these acts will be as bland as their stage names suggest?

Posted by: SantaDalek32 25th December 2019, 10:54 PM

My faves from the list are Georgia, Squid and Celeste (plus Joy Crookes and Easy Life)

Posted by: HarryEzra 5th January 2020, 10:18 AM

Inhaler are 5th in sound of list

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 5th January 2020, 10:36 AM

Very happy they're top 5!

Posted by: Bjork 5th January 2020, 10:41 AM

ouch Inhaler :/ probably thanks to Bono sending a check

guess it's between Celeste and Beabadoobee
probably Beabadoobee since she is signed to Dirty Hit, which are notorious for their big checks too

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 5th January 2020, 10:45 AM

I don't think independent label Dirty Hit are known for their big cheques.

Posted by: lewistgreen 5th January 2020, 11:50 AM

It’s always about money with you

I’m not generally familiar with Inhaler, but I’m just hoping Celeste wins

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 5th January 2020, 12:19 PM

Georgia releasing her album and Easy Life their new EP next Friday, a win would tie nicely into their promotion...

Posted by: Bré 6th January 2020, 02:26 AM

BBC News initially posted an article naming Inhaler in the headline but then later chaged it to just 'Bono's son's band'

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 6th January 2020, 08:13 AM

Joy Crookes is 4th

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50712447

To be fair, it does say 'Bono's son and his band Inhaler'

Posted by: vidcapper 6th January 2020, 10:53 AM

Yungblud is the *only * one I know, and that's just from doing sales estimates.

Posted by: Bré 6th January 2020, 12:13 PM

It didn't on the front page.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 7th January 2020, 10:54 AM

Yungblud is #3

Posted by: HarryEzra 7th January 2020, 02:01 PM

I predict Celeste will win

Posted by: Bré 7th January 2020, 06:11 PM

The evil is defeated!

So far I've not cared at all for any of the announced artists. Oops. Guessing the top 2 should be Celeste and beabadoobee (probably in that order).

Posted by: Burns 7th January 2020, 06:12 PM

Now Yungblud has been knocked out I'm expecting a Celeste victory with Georgia second.

Quite like some of the songs by this year's list. Of the top 5 "Ice Cream Sundae" by Inhaler isn't bad and liking Joy Crookes "Hurts". Yungblud is a bit too 'youth culture' for me now

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 7th January 2020, 06:21 PM

Octavian didn't turn out to be the 'sound of 2019' did he?

Posted by: Bré 7th January 2020, 06:32 PM

He did have the second highest charting song from all of the artists on that list combined to be fair...!

#6 Dermot Kennedy - Outnumbered
#44 Octavian - Bet (feat. Skepta and Michael Phantom)
#46 Mahalia - Simmer (feat. Burna Boy)
#47 Ella Mai - Trip
#50 slowthai - Inglorious (feat. Skepta)
#52 Ella Mai - Boo'd Up
#66 Meek Mill - 24/7 (feat. Ella Mai)
#84 Ella Mai - Whatchamacallit (feat. Chris Brown)
#88 Dermot Kennedy - Power Over Me
#89 Dermot Kennedy - All My Friends
#90 Mahalia - What You Did (feat. Ella Mai)

I think he still has potential to have more hits in the future, certainly moreso than most others on the list ~

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 7th January 2020, 06:34 PM

It was a very weak list looking back at last year actually

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 8th January 2020, 09:13 AM

Easy Life are 2nd!

Posted by: cantthinkofaname 8th January 2020, 09:55 AM

It's interesting to speculate just how right they were each of the years of the past decade..

2010: Ellie Goulding
Definitely the right choice out of the nominees. Although maybe not the sound of 2010 per se she has become a big name and is still relevant today if you ask Alexa or people trapped in cars being pushed on the highway by trucks. A few easily recognisable names here (Marina, Hurts, Devlin, Owl City, Two Door Cinema Club) but none had the impact that Ellie had.

2011: Jessie J
Yes I suppose. Jessie had a huge year in 2011 but faded rather quickly after the first half of the decade. Wretch 32 would have made sense as at least a top 5-er in 2011 but none of the others were really big chart-wise.

2012: Michael Kiwanuka
First one I disagree with. I love some of Kiwanuka's stuff but given that his competition included Frank Ocean, Azealia Banks and Skrillex who all definitely had bigger years in 2012 and in the 2010s in general I think this was definitely not correct. Hell, even Stooshe had a bigger year in 2012 lol.

2013: HAIM
Yes? No? Unsure? I think HAIM are definitely a semi big name but chart-wise they have never been huge. Seeing how The Weeknd was nominated in this year I think the biggest name was definitely not chosen. However, HAIM did have a fair few big hits in 2013 so maybe they were as good a choice for that year as any other. CHVRCHES, Kodaline, Tom Odell and AlunaGeorge all would have made sense too.

2014: Sam Smith
Yes. Sam faced tough competition from the likes of George Ezra and Ella Eyre but 2014 was definitely Sam's year and he has shaped the sound of the decade too so I think this was a fitting choice. BANKS, MNEK and Chance the Rapper are all also big names that featured that year but none came close to having the impact that Sam Smith had.

2015: Years & Years
Another tough one seeing how Y&Y have definitely proven to be chart beasts but then again they were up against James Bay and Stormzy. Bay had two huge hits but then kind of fizzled and Stormzy didn't really come into his own until a bit after 2015 so I'll say this was the right choice.

2016: Jack Garratt
No not at all. Seeing how Garratt faced competition from WSTRN, Alessia Cara, J Hus, Mabel and DUA LIPA I think this was not even close to being the correct choice. Dua Lipa probably had the best year out of the bunch when it comes to 2016 and arguably the years since so they dropped the ball here for sure.

2017: Ray BLK
Another dud here seeing how Rag'n'Bone Man who had one of the biggest hits of the year came second. I don't think Ray BLK has troubled the top 100 a whole lot since winning so even RAYE, AJ Tracey, Declan McKenna and Stefflon Don would have made more sense than ol' Ray here.

2018: Sigrid
I love her and she did manage two fairly big hits off of this win but no. Facing competition from a LOT of huge names such as Khalid, Sam Fender, Tom Walker, Yxng Bane, Not3s, ALMA and perhaps more notably Billie Eilish and Lewis Capaldi, I think Sigrid is easily forgotten among these names. I'm happy she got the recognition but sound of 2018 she definitely wasn't.

2019: Octavian
Uhh, no. Even though most of the names here didn't really do much I think Octavian definitely wasn't the sound of 2019. King Princess and ROSALÍA didn't do much in the UK but these are way more easily recognizable names as well as Ella Mai who didn't even place lol. Most obvious name here though is definitely Dermot Kennedy who I'm surprised failed to place given the success he had in 2019.

Posted by: Bré 8th January 2020, 10:28 AM

King Princess' album didn't even make the top 100, she's definitely not a more recognisable name than Octavian lol ~ ROSALÍA is by far the biggest artist from the list on a worldwide level but I don't know if she really has any name recognition at all in the UK still unfortunately.

I think they had the right idea picking a UK rap artist as 'sound of 2019' but Octavian specifically was a bit of a weird leftfield choice. slowthai would have been slightly more fitting even if his sound is also pretty different and less commercial than most of the more successful UK rap acts, he has at least had more critical acclaim. On the whole though 2019's longlist was just painfully lacking in viable contenders, even compared to 2018 it feels super obscure, and 2020 definitely feels more like 2019 than 2018...

I think you're also not giving Michael Kiwanuka enough credit, he seemed like a dud winner at the time for sure but he's got bigger since then surprisingly enough which retroactively vindicates him imo. Jack Garratt and Ray BLK though... not so much x (I guess there's still time for the 2019 and obviously the 2020 crop to vindicate themselves as well).

In other news, Easy Life are much more interesting to me than the 3rd to 5th placed acts so yay for them getting a place. I hope the winner ends up being either beabadoobee or Georgia but almost certain it'll just be Celeste, same as the BRITs. Yawn.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 8th January 2020, 10:30 AM

Very interesting that two of Georgia, beabadoobee and Celeste won't be in the top 5!

Posted by: danuary 8th January 2020, 10:49 AM

when's the last time Sound of and Critics Choice had the same winner though? if I'm not mistaken they've chosen different acts these past few years so I think it could happen again.

Georgia's had a fair bit of support already so I think it might be her.

Posted by: M4NGO 8th January 2020, 11:13 AM

Fingers crossed for Georgia. I think she has the most chance of commercial success out of her, Celeste and beabadoobee.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 8th January 2020, 01:07 PM

I think Bea will given how large her fanbase is (definitely the second biggest in this list after Yungblud), and only 19! She has a long career ahead of her.

Posted by: TS0301 8th January 2020, 06:19 PM

Think its going to be Georgia tbh but we'll see!

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 8th January 2020, 06:24 PM

It does seem surprising that 2 of those 3 won't be in the top 5 at all, and I'd have said of 4 yesterday and included Easy Life. They have had a fair amount of BBC support, I'd have been amazed if they weren't top 3.

Posted by: coi 9th January 2020, 01:02 AM

And as I guess we expected, Celeste has won BBC Sound of 2020.

Posted by: Bré 9th January 2020, 01:34 AM

Yeah I know Sound of... and the BRITs have avoided picking the same winner in recent years but I just really couldn't imagine Celeste not even being top 5 here, she feels like a quintessential critical darling. I haven't really cared for the couple of songs I've heard from her but she does have a lovely voice so maybe has potential if she puts out some more interesting material.

WD to her anyways xx but disappointing that beabadoobee wasn't even top 5.

Posted by: Liаm 9th January 2020, 01:38 AM

I don't get beabadoobee at all from what I've heard :/

Glad it was Celeste in the end, I've said the same about Jorja Smith but with the right material I think she could be proper huge because her voice is just stunning and sounds potentially classic.