What's My Name, Alejandro and Anything Could Happen :wub: Can't argue with any of the other finalists so far with the exception of Alicia Keys (58th best song of the past 10 years really Buzzjack?)

 

Much better than that!

 

The one that I'm scratching my head at is Anything Could Happen, I didn't realise it was so well loved! The others so far are bonafide pop classics or on their way to becoming one but I can't say the same for Ellie, as much as I love her.

Go get that new peak, 'Lose My Breath'! :heart:

 

I'm also baffled by 'Anything Could Happen' being so high - solid song but not close to her best for me. Then again, 'Burn' and 'Your Song' also demonstrate that I'm not in sync with the public on Ellie.

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50 NE 2012 Azealia Banks - 212 220 (50)

49 155 2006 Justin Timberlake (feat. Timbaland) - SexyBack 220 (more votes) (116 - 63 - X - 150 - X - 155 - 49)

48 48 2009 Lily Allen - The Fear 220 (more votes) (29 - 10 - 48 - 48)

47 NE 2012 Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe 222 (47)

46 135 2003 Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River 227 (181 - 107 - 53 - 162 - 146 - X - 135 - 46)

 

Two more songs from 2012 have landed, meaning almost half that year's final rep has gone already. The first is 212, which finishes with merely 8 more points than the song's title. Azealia has yet to replicate anything like this, the energy (and the video OMG!!) of 212 is captivating and despite peaking at #12 it was almost everpresent in clubs over the last year for me, which suited me very well. Rumours of a cult dedicated to the song are unfounded but their leader is probably leww (who didn't vote in the final!).

 

The other song's champion, Ryan, did vote and did award 25 points to it, his looning of these sorts of things knows no bounds. It is of course the second-most recent pop song that launched a thousand memes, Call Me Maybe by the pop star who is so floppy she went and collaborated with Owl City. Call Me Maybe enters at #47, far higher than one might expect for something that isn't going to carry a lot of weight with the credible crowd and is so new.

 

Away from last year, we have two Justin Timberlake tracks as the guy finds his glass ceiling. At the beginning of the final it was looking like a Timberlake bottom 2 but thankfully for him they picked up and managed to finish 10 places ahead of that. They both get new peaks, Cry Me A River on a final blaze of glory, SexyBack having three more years but setting itself up well for those.

 

And finally we reach our first of our non-movers in the top 200 (outside of that the only one was Miami 2 Ibiza holding steady at #207 for the second year in a row), Lily Allen's The Fear, which replicates its lowest position yet at #48. The holder of the last 4+ weeker at #1 for almost 2 years, The Fear is one of Allen's most lasting legacies even with everything else that happened in 2009, it still ranks as one of her best singles if you ever do one of those and the way it held Gaga off a complete domination of 2009 I'm surprised it wasn't slightly higher.

HOORAY for 'Cry Me A River' squeezing out a slight improvement on its peak at the last opportunity :D JT's best song and one of my overall faves in the whole contest.

That 50 - 46 section is flawless! What a shame that Azealia killed her own career, 212 is amazing and she hasn't done anything quite like it since.

65 43 Gorillaz - DARE 3.409 (130 - 114 - X - 195 - 169 - 105 - 43 - 65)

64 NE (314) Agnes - Release Me 3.455 (X - X - X - 64)

63 193 Coldplay - Fix You 3.455 (X - 25 - 122 - 61 - X - X - 193 - 63)

62 72 Lady Gaga - Paparazzi 3.455 (40 - 40 - 72 - 62)

61 45 Snow Patrol - Run 3.455 (148 - 55 - 146 - 39 - 17 - 68 - 45 - 61)

 

What a heartbreaking section to just miss the final :( (bar Release Me/Paparazzi which I can live without). Although I'm really glad Fix You did so much better, I wonder why it was this year, of all years, that it took another massive rise rather than last year or the year before where they were more active? I guess its underperformance in the Coldplay rate forced its fans to COME OUT IN FORCE :D

 

Much love for DARE & Run as well, I still await the day that Snow Patrol's Run will outperform Leona's, though with only a year left to do that, it looks unlikely :(

 

(lots of 'years' in that post)

IZ!! #17 was SP's Run peak. I'd feel quite hurt if it was #39.

212 and Cry Me a River :wub:

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45 34 2003 Evanescence - Bring Me To Life 232 (17 - 19 - X - 99 - 68 - 71 - 34 - 45)

44 36 2008 M.I.A - Paper Planes 236 (X - X - 52 - 36 - 44)

43 41 2008 Katy Perry - Hot N Cold 238 (88 - 42 - 18 - 41 - 43)

42 52 2011 Lana Del Rey - Video Games 238 (52 - 42)

41 26 2006 Snow Patrol (feat. Martha Wainwright) - Set The Fire To The Third Bar 240 (X - X - 96 - 131 - 124 - 26 - 41)

 

An extremely strong section for me, just unfortunately shy of the top 40. The other Evanescence song doesn't do that much better than My Immortal. Most of the time I can't decide which one I prefer as they're both among my favourite songs ever, this time I did rank Bring Me To Life lower, but it is certainly the one with a bit more energy, and with a bigger history, having reached top 20 even the times of proto-Buzzjack.

 

Hot N Cold is definitely Katy's best bet here having spent 4 years in the final but 3 of those in this sort of position outside the top 40. It has probably done this well as the clear highlight of the big singles from her first album, I expect Teenage Dream singles to start pervading in deeper in the future. Fantastic radio hit though.

 

Two pop stars who have always been slightly left-of-field, M.I.A and Lana Del Rey are also in this area(it is worth noting that despite coming 1st and 2nd in the 2008 final, M.I.A and Katy finish behind Coldplay's and Leona Lewis' singles here), Paper Planes being the alt anthem (+bullet effects *.*) that's probably so loved on the basis of being M.I.A's only real hit (:(), Video Games being so loved because it.. um.. I've made no secret that I think it's Lana's weakest single but there's something about it that everyone else loves, it's not a bad song by any means, and I like Lana anyway so I'll give it a pass.

 

What is Snow Patrol's highlight by a hundred million parsecs has fallen from its imperial peak last year. Fortunately it isn't quite the final straw, it's so great to see everyone's eyes opened to its beauty in the last two years, it's bloody fantastic and the perfect alt rock duet. Yes, I've lost so much imagination writing these commentaries up to now that I've been reduced to making Snow Patrol puns. You all knew it would happen eventually.

PAPER PLANES. :cry: Should be much, much higher!

Paper Planes and Video Games :heart: I really don't get the hype of that Snow Patrol song though, I heard it once on the chart show and haven't listened to it since.

Video Games :wub:

Paper Planes was 5th after the first 7 votes. It just started to fall down rapidly during the mid-section and only picked up again towards the end.

 

Paper Planes and Video Games :heart: I really don't get the hype of that Snow Patrol song though, I heard it once on the chart show and haven't listened to it since.

 

It's not really a one listen song, quite the opposite, I didn't get it at all for the first ten or so listens then suddenly I got it and ever since it's launched its way skywards into my favourite songs ever.

 

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40 167 2003 Dido - White Flag 240 (91 - 81 - 129 - 123 - 84 - X - 167 - 40)

39 88 2009 Lady Gaga - Just Dance 243 (7 - 41 - 58 - 88 - 39)

38 23 2010 Lady Gaga & Beyoncé - Telephone 260 (26 - 23 - 38)

37 NE 2012 Rudimental - Feel The Love 267 (37)

36 59 2003 Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love? 269 (53 - X - 82 - 147 - 128 - 195 - 59 - 36)

 

Two more songs from 2003 getting final new peaks, White Flag and Where Is The Love, songs that probably couldn't be more different otherwise. White Flag was the last top 5 hit for Dido, and also her biggest. Where Is The Love was fairly big but has been eclipsed by the BEPs later success in 2009. And they're completely different genres of course. Still, nice to see them getting the success they'll never get again.

 

And look who's also shown up, twice. It's everyone's favourite (perhaps) hypestar Ms Stefanie Germanotta, with two of my personal favourite cuts from her, despite not voting for them, but then I didn't vote for any Gaga in the final this time. Just Dance was her debut and has fallen in previous years but bounces back this time, while this is a new low for supastar collab + super acclaimed video artpop single Telephone. Perhaps they're not her most innovative but what they are is unpretentious simply good pop songs, which is what I prefer her to be making.

 

A new entry for Feel The Love already in the top 40 is representative of this song's extraordinary success this year. Starting out from not even being autoqualified for the 2012 final, it smashed its way through every single round we have in this game and has completely earned itself this position. It is the highest song this year that started from the bottom so it's certainly felt a lot of love over this game. Trumpets + Newman COMMENCE.

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35 10 2011 Adele - Someone Like You 271 (10 - 35)

34 28 2007 Rihanna - Umbrella 274 (5 - 2 - 3 - 7 - 28 - 34)

33 35 2005 Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc 276 (40 - 136 - 89 - X - 59 - 11 - 35 - 33)

32 47 2005 Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone 278 (18 - 26 - 19 - 3 - 11 - 12 - 47 - 32)

31 149 2005 Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes 282 (X - X - 100 - 18 - 38 - 102 - 149 - 31)

 

A section filled with past glories here. What most people will notice that right off the bat after a section with double Gaga, we have double Kelly Clarkson for your pleasure. Behind These Hazel Eyes JUST beats out Since U Been Gone (as much of a fan as I am of the latter, how did it ever get to #3?) which is a great victory for KC as Behind These Hazel Eyes is without a doubt to me her best and most epic track she's ever laid down. Despite coming 10th in 2005 and scraping through the playoffs to the final it manages to almost get to the top half of the final which is a lovely turn of events. Since U Been Gone's quite good too.

 

My favourite track in this final was Feel Good Inc. I mentioned Paper Planes was 5th after 7 votes, at that point, this was leading. *.* I never expected it to hold but it's great to see it in the final for a 4th successive year and long may that continue (for the two years it has left). From the perfectly timed rapping to the melancholy chorus, it's a creation of a song like no other and if I had more time and were this thread actually about Feel God Inc I'd never let you leave before you'd all listened to it 20 times and agreed with me.

 

Umbrella was one of the biggest tracks of the 00s and everyone remembers it fondly or not so fondly, it was also the track that kickstarted the best popstar in the business. Or if you don't like her, pretend I used 'Bajan' as a second adjective and it'll still work. While not her highest track anymore, that run makes it pretty certain that it was for those first 4 years at least. It falls to a low as its glory days fade into the mists of history for Buzzjack's youth but it's still holding up remarkably well.

 

And then there's Someone Like You. I can't say I think it's a particularly great ballad (there are thousands of ballads doing the same thing better) but it captured the audience of 2011 somehow and it's OKAY. Certainly not sales queen of the decade material but OKAY. In that sense its fall from the top 10 is quite pleasing to me but it's still at a great position. Adele fans, continue your looning. I'll just be in the corner sulking and muttering "It's not better than Set The Fire To The Rain, you heathens. One day you'll listen to me".

Interesting to see Where Is The Love and White Flag pop up together, they were released in the same week, pretty sure it was either the week I started college or a week or two after. I'd expected Dido to get the #1 initially!

 

When I saw Feel The Love bounding up the iTunes chart to replace Euphoria I was loonblinded for a moment and thought 'how dare they' but it didn't take long for the song to completely win me over, a completely defining 2012 anthem. I'd expected it to go to #1 anyway so I wasn't exactly hugely surprised but it took a little while longer to get going than I'd thought which gave me a glimmer of hope for Loreen (although then it didn't even make #2 either!).

 

I agree that Set The Fire To The Third Bar is a huge grower, funnily enough I bought it on CD single at the time as I thought it was rather nice (the only Snow Patrol single I own), but it wasn't until a fair while later that I came to really appreciate it. WAY better than Chasing Cars.

Feel the Love DEFINITELY worthy of that top 40 spot

 

Gorillaz TOO LOW.

 

Umbrella almost feels underrated in terms of Rihanna singles these days :(. Such a classic!

Much love for DARE & Run as well, I still await the day that Snow Patrol's Run will outperform Leona's, though with only a year left to do that, it looks unlikely :(

This is the OFFICIAL "One more year left to get Snow Patrol's 'Run' in the top 5" campaign *.* My 3rd favourite song of all time. So beautiful!

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30 9 2007 Nelly Furtado - Say It Right 282 (2 - 8 - 39 - 13 - 9 - 30)

29 39 2006 Nelly Furtado - Maneater 294 (8 - 14 - 27 - 48 - 47 - 39 - 29)

28 32 2008 Coldplay - Viva La Vida 302 (15 - 51 - 15 - 32 - 28)

27 56 2007 Sugababes - About You Now 303 (24 - 9 - 9 - 21 - 56 - 27)

26 NE 2012 Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child 304 (26)

 

Curious that after two sections with two songs of an artist together we get yet another just ahead of the double KC. It's double Nelly Furtado, another indicator that you just can't pick between these two this time. Say It Right has more of a distinguished history, debuting at #2 and being in the top 10 three times compared to Maneater's 1, but both have a 100% record of being in the final when they were eligible which is impressive for a popstar who hasn't had a decent successful era since Say It Right came out. Both are good songs but the other three in this section are far more loved by me so we're gonna spend most of this section looning over those.

 

Viva La Vida is the highest Coldplay song yet again but who saw that as a surprise. It's so far the peak of their career and I don't think they'll top it ever now, it's a commanding anthem and a call to arms expressed in the way only Coldplay's alt rock vibe can be (and indeed, the most epic that alt rock vibe has ever been). It has as aesthetically appealing a chart one as one would probably get in this game, starting 15-51-15 is a stroke of luck and evenly oscillating around #30 is also quite an achievement. It has some time left to properly rule the world and beat its position of #15 but I'd say I'm quite fine with it being 28th as of now.

 

What I'd probably count as my favourite girlband single ever is up next at #27. About You Now is the Suga's last #1 single, while the fanbase can be a bit divided over it and it isn't their most clever (Hole In The Head gets that for my money) it's the most simple way of expressing what the Sugababes are all about and is just perfect in doing that through a perfect pop song. Sure, it may lack Mutya but it can still manage without them, 3.0 weren't all awful. I can listen to it again and again, I've done so loads of times while counting down this final and it never gets any worse. This is probably the only time I'd ever loon over the Sugababes as much as the likes of Silas might, lap it up.

 

Finally, more anthems afoot as the song that pretty much defined my first year at university and is still giving me chills everytime I listen smashes it at a thoroughly commendable debut at #26. Swedish House Mafia's farewell single has clearly resonated a chord with more than just me, while I might have underranked it in this competition due to it being so new it's working its way up into my affections with every listen, it's a fantastic dance song with some really clear vocals that hammer home the lyrical message just perfectly. Excuse me while I go cry manly tears.

DON'T YOU WORRY CHILD. :wub: My favourite song ever!