Wow Rich, you did amazing job putting that playlist together…everything seems to be where they belong. I would buy that CD compilation any day!!!

That’s also something I was planning doing as well, but once I sent my 200th song .

Thanks for sharing <3

10 minutes ago, Addy! said:

Wow Rich, you did amazing job putting that playlist together…everything seems to be where they belong. I would buy that CD compilation any day!!!

That’s also something I was planning doing as well, but once I sent my 200th song .

Thanks for sharing <3

Thank you <3

I would love to see it, so look forward to 2-3 years time!

BJSC/180/Entry

For our second AQ in three months, but the first we have been aware we were definitely getting since 2014, we have gone a little closer to home than Estonia and selected promising new art-rock group Man/Woman/Chainsaw, a mixed six-piece group hailing all the way from London, with their new single Only Girl. Made up of Billy Ward (vocals, guitars), Emmie-Mae Avery (vocals, keys/synths), Vera Leppänen (vocals, bass), Clio Starwood (violin), Lola Cherry (drums), and Billy Doyle (guitar), the group are all aged around 20 and their profile is currently on the up. Vera Leppänen sings lead vocals on the track, which Stereogram described as "90s pop-rock hooks with some striking violin and piano flourishes".

Ricardo Delta of the RTVN explained the entry choice: "Choosing a home entry to represent you is not the easiest task. It's very easy to get lost or send either the same kind of song that you did before in the hopes of another hit, or something completely different that wouldn't make it through the semis, just because.

"We considered doing all of the above and then threw everything to one side when we heard Only Girl, because we were immediately struck by the violin intro and then the rest of the track grabbed us in much the same way. We can hear shades of acts ranging from The Last DInner Party through to The Cure, but even similarities to some acts we have sent before like FIZZ and The Rua. We love a mixed gender group, we love a violin, and we love a great melody - throw it all together and you have an act that we could see doing rather well in the future. They may be an indie rock act but you can hear the commercial/pop elements coming through on Only Girl, and we are proud to have Man/Woman/Chainsaw representing FSR Rontvia in BJSC 180, here in Constarvan.

Only Girl will be competing in the final for FSR Rontvia as our 10th qualifier of the year, therefore completing the calendar year qualification that we missed out on last year after falling at the final hurdle. The song has made an immediate impact in FSR Rontvia, debuting at No.1. Interest for the contest is at a very high level this month and many of the entries are anticipated to be huge hits in our December chart.

3 hours ago, gooddelta said:

Vera Leppänen

nearly read that as Verstappen and honestly this is the closest we’ll get to Max Verstappen getting entered to BJSC

A magic trick

As was recently revealed, Sweden is the nation that has brought us by far the most success in BJSC over the years, particularly in the early Scandipop dominant era of 2008-2011, yet is a country we rarely call on for entries now, the most recent time being back in 2022 when Ishi Vu and Sally Shapiro both took turns. Four and a half years later, we are proud to be represented by the talented DJ Suzy with the Rontvian Christmas No.1 single for 2025, White Rabbit.

The enchanting indie/electronic performer hails from Stockholm and releases on her own label, Kira Krash. She launched her career in 2023 with her first single, Wings, while White Rabbit is her latest release, hitting the streets in mid December and being the only notable song added to Rontvian airplay schedules in a month otherwise packed with festive hits and the highlights of the year.

Ricardo Delta from the RTVN said: "We don't tend to come across much good new music in December, but DJ Suzy ensured we weren't left with scraps when White Rabbit emerged on our Release Radar. We instantly fell in love with this beautiful single that has the vocal style of PinkPantheress, the pop sensibility of Zara Larsson and the beautiful, wistful production that Robyn is perhaps best known for. We loved it immediately and it wasted no time in debuting at No.1 in FSR Rontvia, where it has remained since.

"There are actually two versions of White Rabbit around; mostly the same but subtly different, with an extra intro pluck and extended string outro on the video version, which we love, but is not available on Spotify. But both versions are masterpieces. There was no other song we considered sending to BJSC 181, and we hope you enjoy. Do you feel the magic in the air?"

Edited January 19Jan 19 by gooddelta

DJ Suzy 🖤

That FSR Rontvia taste doesn't let up

I am your long-lost John Riley!

After a historic year for FSR Rontvia in 2025, which included gold and silver medals and 10 straight qualifications, 2026 got off to a far poorer start with an unfortunate DNQ for DJ Suzy's White Rabbit, a No.1 hit in FSR Rontvia in December. We return with the ethereal sounds of Niteworks from the Isle of Skye. The Electronic/folk/Celtic fusion band were previously sent by Quintessa two years ago, when the song Air Fàir An Là reached the final.

Ricardo Delta from the RTVN explains the entry choice: "A Scottish friend reminded us about Niteworks recently. Air Fàir An Là was a sizeable hit in FSR Rontvia after it was sent to BJSC, and indeed we have sent similar acts like Valtos and Daithí in the past, to scant success it must be said, but we absolutely adore John Riley and think it's worth another go with this genre, if nothing else to introduce such a special track to anybody that may like it.

"John Riley is actually a 17th Century English folk song, and is beautifully sung here by Scottish singer Beth Malcolm, from Perth. Add to the mix Niteworks' brooding and building dance production, which sounds a little like Delerium and Faithless having a DJ battle at a medieval country fair, and the stunning video, and we knew this is an entry we had to send."

John Riley peaked at No.1 in FSR Rontvia in January.

Habibi, I need your touch

After a quite unexpected top ten hit last month with Niteworks' beautiful John Riley, FSR Rontvia is proud to present Ya Habibi by Ziyad Al-Samman as our third entry of 2026!

Brought up in Amman, Jordan (ticking another new country off our list!), Ziyad Al-Samman is described as a singer and songwriter delivering psychedelic disco-pop with a middle Eastern flavour, infused with raw emotion and global influences. He now lives in London and cites influences ranging from Roy Orbison to Edwin Collins. Ya Habibi was the lead single from his EP Pleasure Complex.

Ricardo Delta explains the entry choice: "Our entries tend to err on the more serious and downtempo side a lot of the time and we were quite keen to send something fun and joyous to Altyr's contest. When we first heard this it grabbed us immediately, and has proven such an earworm that it has refused to leave our heads since, debuting in the Rontvian charts at No.2 last week behind Delta Goodrem's Australian Eurovision entry Eclipse.

"Ziyad is a crossover indie/alt/pop artist who produces swirling disco with strings, stabbing synths and guitar ad libs all in the mix. We loved the melting pot of influences in this track, and especially the incredibly catchy chorus, which Ziyad delivers with a convincing punch, but it is still an optimistic, uptempo love song at heart, and the video and dance routine are also a lot of fun. Imagine Daði Freyr doing Madonna's Celebration with some Future Nostalgia production influence and you're halfway there!"

If I rise, we rise together

To celebrate the beautiful Live at Union Chapel version of Frances' 2016 single Don't Worry About Me being released on Spotify after all these years, we have decided to finally send it to BJSC. Singer/songwriter Sophie Frances Cooke, from Newbury in England, released this beautiful piano ballad a decade ago, at which point it topped the Rontvian charts and was No.4 in our end of year chart, however we didn't send it at the time to BJSC partly because the song had reached the Radio 1 B-list and had been expected to chart, but didn't, although it made the top 15 in the Flanders part of Belgium. Frances subsequently had notable success as a songwriter for others, with writing credits for artists including Dua Lipa, Katy Perry, Grace Davies, Holly Humberstone, Maisie Peters and Elton John.

Ricardo Delta reveals more: "Don't Worry About Me is so stunning but various things stopped us sending it at the time. It's no less beautiful exactly a decade on and with the version we absolutely adore now on Spotify we have been hammering it again recently, and the song has returned for another outing in the Rontvian top three. The live version starts off acapella, with Frances commanding the full attention of her audience, before the beautiful but hopeful piece builds, paired with a gorgeous vocal delivery from Frances. This is a bit of an old skool style Rontvian entry – it's been some time since we've sent a piano ballad (Freya Ridings is now eight long years ago) – but we're very proud to finally add this song, and Frances, to our canon.

Hail to the thief

A month after poor Frances failed to impress and reach the BJSC final, our second miss already this year, we are doing an about turn for the 185th contest hosted by Zephyra Continuum and going down our well trodden road of the spoken word piece. While it may look like a reaction to the recent win by Mum Does The Washing, in fact it is just another of our regular spoken word outings along with the likes of Public Service Broadcasting, Real Lies, Daithí, DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ, Swim Deep, Self Esteem, The Rhythm Method and God Colony/Roy, all but one of which made the final, although none made it higher than Self Esteem's glass ceiling of 10th – I Do This All The Time nonetheless setting her up to become a big star later that year.

Benefits are described as a British noise punk band from Teesside in the North of England that is known for its politically charged lyrics and a fusion of punk, electronic, and industrial music, and made up of vocalist Kingsley Hall and multi-instrumentalist Robbie Major. Land Of The Tyrants was the lead single from the act's second album, Constant Noise, which was released last year and took on more dance music and rave elements than their previous material. The album received 4 and 5-star reviews in the music press and Land Of The Tyrants was noted as an electronica song criticising public servants and apathy in the UK. Musically it has been compared to Star Guitar by The Chemical Brothers, as well as Underworld and even 00s Radiohead, no doubt partly subconsciously due to the 'hail to the thief' hook used during the track. Zera Tønin of the queerpop-electro duo Arch Femmesis adds backing vocals that add an extra layer to the track that, in Rontvian terms, is closest to Loss Is Not Infinite.

Ricardo Delta explained the entry choice: "We had originally confirmed something else but were so immediately struck with great force when we heard this that we knew we had to send it. It has debuted at No.2 in the Rontvian charts only behind Delta Goodrem's Eurovision offering, Eclipse.

"The lyrics are a cutting analysis of corruption and frustrations in the UK today that hit really hard when paired with Kingsley Hall's brilliant delivery. We also rate the sinister video that takes its inspiration from the 1980 London gangster film The Long Good Friday."

Edited May 16May 16 by gooddelta

Savage Love (Laxed - Satie Beat)

As we seek to avoid our first DNQ hat-trick since the dark days of summer 2013 (that was how you end a consecutive qualification run of 42 in some style), we turn to our old friend Swedish pop and the brilliant artist Esther with her new single Savage Love.

Stockholm-based Esther (Lennstrand), who incorporates the vibraphone into her electronic pop music, launched in 2019 but only last month released her excellent debut album Fragmentality, which features a lot of lovely and unusually structured electronic pop songs.

Ricardo Delta explains the choice of Savage Love: "Two and a half minutes of pop perfection, Savage Love has twinkly production almost reminiscent of Zero 7 at times, but with an urgency and quirkiness only found in Swedish indie-pop. We saw Esther supporting The Cardigans last month – the band hand-picked her as its support act so you knew she was bound to be good – and good she was; such a talent on the vibraphone, and this delightful track interpolates Satie's classical masterpiece Gymnopédie No. 1. Throw in a video full of charm and we had to take a chance on another Swedish pop entry, and to dare to dream for more than DJ Suzy achieved a few months ago. We hope you enjoy!

Esther has also toured with Lykke Li, Kite, Amason, bob hund, Deportees, and Miike Snow. Savage Love hit the top of the Rontvian charts on release in June, seeing off competition from the likes of Taylor Swift and Delta Goodrem.

Edited July 7Jul 7 by gooddelta

Dance the mushroom

For the first time since summer 2013, we have failed to qualify three times in a row and poor lovely Esther broke Rontvian records by becoming our first ever last placer in the semis, finishing with only 12 points. In an attempt to avoid a record-breaking run of non qualification we have turned to Manchester band HENGE with an eccentric track called Mushroom One. From their 2018 debut album Attention Earth!, Mushroom One has wide-ranging genre classifications online (sci-fi rock, funk, synth, psychedlic, rave) and in truth it is all of those things and more.

The band perform in character as alien ambassadors sent to save humanity, and the lead singer is some sort of cosmic cross between Sam Ryder and Wizzard, if they were stranded on another planet.

The impressive partly animated music video produced in 2020, titled The Illustrated History of Mushroom One, features a mix of live-action and illustration, and a roll call of credits. It famously features dancing mushrooms, and the aim of the video is to act as a history lesson behind how the band came to be and its lore.

While the song is eight years old and has only racked up just over 1 million streams on Spotify, a live version has gone viral on TikTok this week, with the eccentric performance (posted beneath the video) racking up 2.2m views and 216k likes on TikTok since it was posted a week ago.

Ricardo Delta explains the entry choice: "We saw this on RontTok earlier in the week and were so immediately captivated by it that we knew we had to send it and share it with the BuzzJack World. It has been on repeat since at RTVN HQ. HENGE are an absolute riot and the song is such an indie groove with a wide range of influences from the last 60 years, which goes in places you don't always expect. So we won't spoil the surprise, but check this one out - in full!"

Mushroom One has yet to debut in the Rontvian charts as it is such a fresh discovery, but is sure for a high debut when the next chart is published.

Well this is very up my street - hope it ends your drought.

15 minutes ago, Julian_ said:

Well this is very up my street - hope it ends your drought.

Many thanks Julian, here's hoping!