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Posted by: Jade 25th July 2019, 02:45 PM

Voting for 'Should've Been A Single 2019' concluded earlier today so the results will be kicking off soon! We'll start with the bottom 2. These are the songs vying for the crown:

bad idea
Be Alright
bloodline
Break Your Heart Right Back
everytime
Greedy
Just a Little Bit of Your Heart
Piano
sweetener
Tattooed Heart
Thinking Bout You

Posted by: RobBob 25th July 2019, 03:57 PM

Greedy to win x

Posted by: Juliano 25th July 2019, 05:01 PM

Too many GREAT songs!

Posted by: Jade 25th July 2019, 05:54 PM

Let's kick this off then *.*



11. sweetener (32 points)
Highest: ...ready for it (7pts)
Lowest: Juliano, coi, John-James, Jack, sergejdordij98 (0pts)



10. Tattooed Heart (51 points) [08-10]
Highest: Jordan Lee, Cameron (12pts)
Lowest: LewisGT, Sailor Steve, Jay (0pts)

Finishing just outside the top 10 is 'sweetener' from the album of the same name. This is a high energy Pharrell produced moment on the track list, with a chorus that is often compared to the 'Bop It' game, due to it containing chanty phrases that are of a similar nature. However, the bridge is surprisingly soft. The song clearly had single potential as it was cherry-picked enough on album release week to chart at #22 in the UK Singles Chart. But many Ariana fans (including myself!) feel that the trio of singles we did get from the album were an untouchably perfect run, so perhaps that's a reason for this not doing so well. The other sweetener song 'everytime' is still in the game though, how well can that do? This is a brand new entry as the 'sweetener' album was not released yet when this competition last ran in 2017. Its biggest fan was ...ready for it, who awarded it 7 points. So it didn't quite receive a medal position from anyone. Over a third of voters snubbed it in their points entirely too. Oops. Next up, just scraping into the top 10 with a points jump of 19 compared to #11 is 'Tattooed Heart'. This is a needy ballad from her debut album 'Yours Truly'. I feel like her debut album was seriously lacking in singles in the ballad department so I can see why it made it this far. It's less Mariah copycat than a lot of the material that came from her debut, so would've showcased something different. This song was the first one she ever recorded for the album and it has stuck with her in a pretty permanent way, as she has a tattoo named after it. The biggest highlight about this song for me is her live performances of it back in the day, as it really showcases her vocals. Her performance from the American Music Awards 2013 is a particularly good example of this. 'Tattooed Heart' finished in 8th place back in the 2017 edition of this competition, so it slips a couple of spots this time around. It still has loyal fans in Jordan Lee and Cameron though, as they both thought it was the most viable single option out of all the songs here! I can confirm that they are allowed to be salty at Jay as this would've finished higher before his votes were counted he was one of three to snub this from their points, Joseph and LewisGT being the others.

Yours Truly: 1/2
My Everything: 0/2
Dangerous Woman: 0/3
sweetener: 1/2
thank u, next: 0/2

Posted by: coi 25th July 2019, 06:05 PM

Good that ‘sweetener’ came last here, the chorus really is just a remake of Bop It! The run of singles was indeed perfect from that album anyway, and the best of the rest is ’everytime’ imo so glad that’s still in. Tattooed Heart is better but still wasn’t even one of my choices from the Yours Truly round so I’m fine with that going too. Good start!

Posted by: Jay ☆ 25th July 2019, 07:06 PM

No saltiness please! Believe it or not I gave it my first ever listen today (still not given her debut album my full attention ) and I wasn't overly impressed with it. Didn't really strike me as a missed opportunity in her career!

Sweetener the album definitely had the best 3 songs released as singles (maybe Ariana is one of the few people in the world who'd think otherwise? ) and I definitely don't think we missed out on Sweetener being given single status.

Posted by: sergejdordij98 25th July 2019, 07:21 PM

I'm sorry, but I didn't like "sweetener" at all.
"Tattooed Heart" isn't bad though.

Posted by: Juliano 25th July 2019, 08:26 PM

'sweetener' fared just as well as I predicted really, so no surprise there. I think it'll be interesting to see how the rest of her earlier material fairs, especially compared to the 2017 edition.

Next two out will be revealed tomorrow!

Posted by: LewisGT 26th July 2019, 01:03 PM

I'm surprised Sweetener even made it to this round. I didn't think it was even that popular.

Tattooed Heart was easily my least favourite of the choices so I'm glad that's out early too.

Posted by: Juliano 26th July 2019, 01:47 PM

On to the next two!



9. everytime (55 points)
LewisGT (12pts)
Lowest: Jade, Jonjo (0pts)



8. Piano (60 points) [05-08]
Highest: Cameron (10pts)
Lowest: HausofTove (0pts)

Both 'sweetener' AND 'Yours Truly' have quickly dropped out of the game. Next out at #9 is my personal favorite album track from 'sweetener', it's 'everytime': The only Max Martin and Ilya production, not to make it as a single from the album. The song gives an emotional ballad vibe, with a trap beat and a catchy chorus, clearly sounding the most radio friendly compared to the rest of the non-singles. It managed to chart in 9 different countries worldwide, making the top 40 in Australia, Hungary and Portugal. As Jade mentioned before, I think it was pretty clear that the 3 chosen singles were all we needed and couldn't have been touched, if there was a fourth single though, I can see why the majority of us would have picked this. It picked up the full 12 points from LewisGT and the infamous nul points from both Jade and Jonjo.

Next out is the uplifting bop that is 'Piano', fairing a bit worse than the 2017 edition where it made the top 5, however with two albums extra competition, Piano has managed to hold strong. There were many middle of the board scores here, with Cameron's 10 points being it's highest, but only receiving one nul points from HausofTove. 'Piano' is such a nice and catchy sing-along song, a clear standout from Ari's debut. Although a little cheesy, there was quite a lot of cheesy pop floating around the charts at the time, but it was quite clear that Ari's team wanted to hone in more on an R&B sound.


Yours Truly: 2/2
My Everything: 0/2
Dangerous Woman: 0/3
sweetener: 2/2
thank u, next: 0/2

Posted by: Jade 26th July 2019, 02:00 PM

Not surprised in the slightest that 'Yours Truly' and 'Sweetener' are the first two albums to drop out!

'everytime' is lovely and one of the only viable options left on the album for single treatment, but yeah, I wasn't particularly desperate for it to be a single. I think 'breathin' fit the mid-tempo emotional quota very well as a single on its own and was the perfect way to round off the era.

I definitely would've liked 'Piano' as a single though! I think my ideal run for her debut era would've been:

01. The Way
02. Baby I
03. Tattooed Heart (to break up the up-tempo songs)
04. Piano

That would've been a fun way to close the campaign. I like 'Right There' but I think these two missed opportunities that we've selected would've made better singles. 'Piano' is just so joyous and cute, it never fails to put me in a good mood

Posted by: LewisGT 26th July 2019, 02:13 PM

Everytime is out far too early

Piano, on the other hand, is probably about right.

Posted by: Juliano 26th July 2019, 04:09 PM

LOVE that singles run, that definitely should have been it!



I love Everytime, would have been so happy to see it released if it wasn't for 'thank u, next'. But yeh with Piano, again love it to pieces, but at this stage of her career she has stronger and obviously there are fresher tracks in our minds.

Posted by: JosephAvery 27th July 2019, 07:47 PM

7. Break Your Heart Right Back (70 points) [04-07]
LewisGT (8pts)
Lowest: ...ready for it (0pts)



6. Just a Little Bit of Your Heart (81 points) [09-06]
Highest: coi (12pts)
Lowest: Tawdry Hepburn (0pts)

We lose both My Everything tracks in one go here, first up being Break Your Heart Right Back. Ariana brings Childish Gambino in for a bouncy pop/R&B track which serves up a catchy chorus with breezy, summery production. It's not difficult to see why people consider this a missed opportunity for those reasons alone. The track samples I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross. When talking about the song, Ariana said "There is a song called “Break Your Heart Right Back” which is about a boy that cheats on a girl with another boy. It’s one of my favorites on the album and it’s really funny because I believe it has happened to me. I’m not 100 percent positive but I’m 99.9 percent positive. I would rather he cheats on me with a guy than with a girl any day! If I found out my boyfriend was gay, I would be like “OK!” I’d be so relieved." A definite twist on your usual break-up anthem!

I suppose it's quite apt that the site's resident Harry Styles stan gets to reveal Just a Little Bit of Your Heart's position too. The One Direction star, with Johan Carlsson, wrote the song specifically for Ariana. When Harry offered it to her, Ariana didn't believe it would ever see the light of day! The heartwarming track about being in love with somebody who has cheated on you puts Ariana's voice front and centre, and it's one of her most vulnerable moments on any album. Harry's also performed the song on his world tour, rearranging the production to suit his own style too!

Yours Truly: 2/2
My Everything: 2/2
Dangerous Woman: 0/3
sweetener: 2/2
thank u, next: 0/2

Posted by: coi 27th July 2019, 08:03 PM

Just A Little Bit of Your Heart

Glad that did alright here, it really does feel like a missed opportunity from the My Everything era (although the singles that were released from it were brilliant too!) and it's good that the results reflect that. Break Your Heart Right Back would have been a good choice too.

Posted by: Jade 27th July 2019, 08:37 PM

I love both of those songs! Ariana seems to be good at incorporating samples/interpolations that would seem questionable on paper but actually work, like 'I'm Coming Out' in 'Break Your Heart Right Back' and later on The Sound of Music with '7 rings'. 'Break Your Heart Right Back' is one of my favourite album tracks from any of her eras <3 'Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart' is pretty beautiful also, glad to see that climbing compared to last time.

The wildcard choice making the top 5

Posted by: coi 28th July 2019, 07:14 AM

Also pretty interesting that we’ve only got two albums left - the first two posts were the two sweetener tracks and the two Yours Truly songs, and now we’ve lost the two from My Everything!

Posted by: LewisGT 28th July 2019, 12:47 PM

I preferred 'Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart' at the time but 'Break Up Your Heart Right Back' has held up better for me.

Surprising to see my opinion reversed in these results.

Posted by: Juliano 28th July 2019, 03:00 PM

Both brilliant tracks, could have seen either working. It's all down to her latest albums now, could be tight! Love the Wildcard making top 5, but let's face it, she could have released pretty much everything on Dangerous Woman.

Posted by: Jade 29th July 2019, 06:16 PM

05. Be Alright (87 points) [02-05]
Highest: ...ready for it (12pts)
Lowest: Jordan Lee, John-James (1pt)



04. Thinking Bout You (91 points) [06-04]
Highest: John-James, HausofTove, Jay (12pts)
Lowest: ...ready for it (1pt)

We've been used to double whammy exits from songs on the same album so far and here's yet another one of those! In 5th place is 'Be Alright', the first song to drop out from Ariana's third studio album 'Dangerous Woman'. This takes a bit of a tumble compared to the last time this contest was ran, as it scooped a silver medal on that occasion. However, both 'thank u, next' songs are still in the race and that album was not released while the first edition of this competition took place. As you can imagine from the title, 'Be Alright' is a comforting song about looking ahead to the future in a positive way, despite any struggles. This made it a perfect inclusion in her 'One Love Manchester' set. A particular favourite lyric for me is "The hard times are golden, because they lead to better days". Aside from the inspiring lyrics, it felt bang on trend sonically in 2016 due to tropical elements of the production. I really think it could've worked as a summer smash. The people have spoken as 'Be Alright' is actually certified in the U.K. despite merely being an album track! A fan favourite for sure and one that Ariana is particularly fond of, as back in 2017 she was asked what her favourite song was out of her three albums at the time and she named 'Be Alright' as that song. This received one gold medal courtesy of '...ready for it?'. Now, the next song received quite a few 12s as a bit of a cult favourite on BuzzJack! A certain 12 (*cough cough* from Jay x) actually ensured that 'Thinking Bout You' finished just ahead of 'Be Alright' in the end! This just falls short of the top 3 but has done incredibly well, as it only scraped through to the final as a wildcard and improves on 6th place last time! BuzzJack (and the world) just have a lot of time for the 'Dangerous Woman' album it seems. 'Thinking Bout You' is the grand finale of the record and what a beautiful one it is! It has always packed an emotional punch but even moreso nowadays after what we know Ariana has publicly been through. Lyrics like "I don't have you here with me... but at least I have the memory" are admirably strong but haunting at the same time. Speaking of the bridge, that is the vocal highlight for me. Those elongated notes are magical. 'Dangerous Woman' gives us a bit of everything, from all out bangers like 'Into You' and 'Greedy' to a mid-tempo inspirational anthem in 'Be Alright', a dramatic powerhouse in 'Don't Leave Me Lonely' and rounding off the whole project is this beaut. I can definitely see why it is so loved and it would've been something a bit different in a singles run that was heavy on uptempo songs.

'bad idea' vs. 'bloodline' vs. 'Greedy'

Yours Truly: 2/2
My Everything: 2/2
Dangerous Woman: 2/3
sweetener: 2/2
thank u, next: 0/2

Posted by: Juliano 29th July 2019, 07:56 PM

Oh how I wish 'Be Alright' was released post Manchester, would have been quite the statement and definitely smashed, it's probably sold about the same as 'Focus'. Looking at her singles timeline, it would have been perfect to have 'Greedy' in March/April, then 'Be Alright' in June/July.

'Thinking Bout You' is also a stunner and I could really see it rounding off the era in the Autumn/Winter. It's likely the songs would not have hit the top of the charts, but would have been well certified by now.

Excited for the top 3? We'll be revealing them one-by-one starting tomorrow.

Posted by: John-James 29th July 2019, 08:30 PM

Thinking Bout You is up there as one my favourite Ariana songs, so beautiful

Posted by: coi 29th July 2019, 08:40 PM

Wow at Thinking Bout You finishing above Be Alright! Very happy with that result, always preferred that one. I wonder how well Touch It would have done if that had won the wildcard round instead. And yep, the songs in the top three are no surprise at all but I'm still not sure what will win!

Posted by: LewisGT 29th July 2019, 11:26 PM

Surprised ‘Thinking Bout You’ is so high. Amazing song but I never really thought of it as a single.

Be Alright

Posted by: Juliano 30th July 2019, 10:02 AM

03. Bad Idea (104 points)
Highest: Jade, Jack (12pts)
Lowest: Jordan Lee (0pts)

Apologies that this is quite early, I have work this afternoon until midnight, so gotta get it done!
Kicking off the top 3, a new entry, our first track with over 100 points, is this beauty! Charting well all across the world, it's hard to "imagine a world" where 'bad idea' wouldn't have smashed. It really goes off live! Sonically it's the most similar to anything that 'sweetener' had to offer, I often hear/see comparisons to 'no tears', which is what we all needed! A real catchy highlight from the album, 'bad idea' became a fan favourite instantaneously, with only 'bloodline' from the same album still in the game. It received full marks from Jack and fellow mod Jade, whilst Jordan Lee put it at the bottom of his list. Overall it received strong marks across the board. So it's 'Dangerous Woman' vs 'thank u, next', still in the game (the clearly superior albums), seems like this could be a close one! Who would you like to see on top? Our current reigning catchy pop treat 'Greedy' or the summer smash that never was 'bloodline'?

Yours Truly: 2/2
My Everything: 2/2
Dangerous Woman: 2/3
sweetener: 2/2
thank u, next: 1/2

Posted by: Tawdry Hepburn 30th July 2019, 10:07 AM

I feel like we have the perfect top 5 here. All of them are sooooo good.

Posted by: Jade 30th July 2019, 10:35 AM

'bad idea' really feels like the ultimate one that got away for me! She was nailing the trappy smash hits and I don't think this would've been any different. They may have had to cut off the outro on the radio (aka the Billie Eilish - 'bad guy' treatment) but yeah otherwise I'm sure it would've clicked with the general public. I can't believe it initially wasn't one of my ultimate favourites from 'thank u, next' - that quickly changed! 100+ points is a fantastic result for it here.

Posted by: LewisGT 30th July 2019, 11:23 AM

Bad Idea is brilliant and feels like the obvious choice for another sinlge of TUN to me.

Hopefully Greedy can beat Bloodline. Bloodline is Ariana's most overrated for me.

Posted by: JosephAvery 1st August 2019, 09:14 PM

02. bloodline (113 points)
Highest: Tawdry Hepburn, Jonjo (12pts)
Lowest: Cameron (0pts)

Another thank u, next track drops out, also revealing our winner but we'll hear more about that later!

bloodline is the fourth track of thank u, next. The track opens with a soundbite from Ariana's grandmother, Marjorie, because she is the "matriarch of the bloodline." The song then goes on to talk about how Ariana likes someone, but not enough for them to be in her bloodline. Chart-wise, the song hit #22 on the Hot 100 and was close to charting instead of needy in the UK, but lost out due to the 3-track rule. Nevertheless, it hit #9 on the UK streaming chart.

You guys showed the track lots of love, with only one voter (shady Cam x) not giving it any points at all, while it had two 12s. It had six further 10s, two of which were behind our eventual winner!

Yours Truly: 2/2
My Everything: 2/2
Dangerous Woman: 2/3
sweetener: 2/2
thank u, next: 2/2

Posted by: Jade 1st August 2019, 09:28 PM

I really think 'bloodline' could've been a 'Side To Side' sized hit for Ariana! Can't believe she didn't do anything with it. That commentary has just reminded me about how close it was to charting in the UK as well, forgot about 'needy' getting two weeks and this not quite sneaking one the new single better be good!

Posted by: Juliano 1st August 2019, 11:39 PM

Bloodline was honestly easily a huge smash. Such a shame.

Posted by: Cameron 2nd August 2019, 05:06 PM

01. Greedy (126 points) [01-01]
Highest: Juliano, Sailor Steve, sergejdordij98 (12pts)
Lowest: HausofTove (2pts)

And here we have it, number 1 - Greedy! I must say, this song was such a missed opportunity and should have been the follow up to Into You. The 80's disco funk infused pop track is so infectious it just makes you want to get up for a boogie. I'm physically obsessed with it.

Yours Truly: 2/2
My Everything: 2/2
Dangerous Woman: 3/3
sweetener: 2/2
thank u, next: 2/2

Posted by: Jade 2nd August 2019, 05:14 PM

A worthy repeat winner *.* my favourite song on ‘Dangerous Woman’ for sure. That key change deserved to be heard by the masses

Posted by: coi 2nd August 2019, 05:16 PM

Greedy was definitely the ultimate missed opportunity! Would have been a brilliant choice of single and no doubt would have done well, glad we've ended up with the right winner!

Posted by: Juliano 2nd August 2019, 06:37 PM

Feels correct! Still can't be beaten, album track wise for me.

Posted by: LewisGT 2nd August 2019, 07:41 PM

The right winner in the end for me.

Greedy was certainly one of the songs that got the biggest reception during the Dangerous Woman tour.