I suppose 'Malarone' by Linea Aspera coming 5th just last contest was the most pleasantly surprised I have been with an end result of mine. I went into the contest completely unsure about whether that would be a qualifier or not. I had times where I thought 'hm yeah I think this is actually gonna qualify' and other times where I thought 'nah, I doubt it'. Winning with Allie X - Sanctuary felt kinda unreal as well but I'm not sure I was even as shocked at that.

 

I don't think I've ever been particularly surprised at any of my DNQs.

My Inna going top ten as my second ever Q and just scraping through the semis was a surprise.

 

Most of my DNQs unexpected as well (Lower, Sway). Actually I think the only one of my entries that did about what I expected was my first foray with Smallpools!

I thought the following would be bigger than they actually were:

 

Mira Craig - Headhunted (was a famous DNQ, I was sure this would be an easy top 10 at least)

 

Blank feat Young Ivy - I'm Going For Your Brother (obviously 10th was great but I do think it should have been top three...!)

 

Still Corners - Fireflies (this sounded like a top three going by the sound of the contest at the time, it missed the top ten)

 

DJ Kent feat The Arrows - Spin My World (this remains one of my favourite songs of the decade, I didn't just think it would do a lot better but I was positively - and infamously - distraught that I seemed to be alone in 'getting' it and it DNQ'd. Such a special track to me)

 

Hozier - Take Me To Church (obviously a marmite track on Buzzjack nowadays but at the time I sent it - about a year and a half before it smashed in the UK - to me it stood out so much, both the music and video - and I was sure it was a top five at least, it came 11th)

 

Andy Duguid - 7even (I think Leww was tipping this as a winner! And it did seem to be getting a great reaction so I was a little surprised to see it top out in 15th place, stunning track)

 

Daithi - Mary Keanes Introduction (I definitely didn't expect this to DNQ, though thankfully it made up for it by coming top three in Rejects)

 

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And loaaaads of my entries massively exceeded my expectations, some in relative terms, but these in particular surpsied me by doing so:

 

Uh Huh Her - Not A Love Song (This was my first proper gasp moment, it won when I expected it to come low top 20 or something!)

 

Caro Emerald - A Night Like This (I remember being so chuffed with the 12th place for this, jazz was in no way a recipe for success in BJSC in 2010 and I was certain it would be slept on)

 

Lykke Li - Sadness Is A Blessing (I guess I thought this would be a top 10 but I didn't expect it come near winning for me)

 

Safari - I Need You (this DNQ'd, which was expected, but I thought it would definitely score under 10 points in the semi, it actually came incredibly close to qualifying with more than 40 points iirc, which was astonishing for a Christian gospel song that was my random obsession at the time)

 

Walk The Moon - Shut Up And Dance (I mean I thought this might go top 30 I guess, I had no idea it would come 4th, let alone that it would later become a global phenomenon, it was just a random blog find at the time!)

 

One More Time - Highland (obviously since this point we've had loads of 'old' songs do well, but it wasn't common in 2015 and I thought this would go unnoticed, but it came top 10 *.*)

 

Ortiga - Ilumbarada (I'd set myself up to DNQ with this, I really didn't think anyone would 'get' it. Was amazed and so chuffed when it finished top five)

 

Kosmonova - Danse Avec Moi! (My third oldie in a row, maybe I'm just generally surprised when old tracks do well. Can't say I saw this coming for top five at all)

Good surprises:

Vulcano winning, I genuinely thought it would be like a usual 11-20th enough of a hit to not be a bit put out kind of song!

Are We Awake coming top 5, I had it in my head that it'd be a scrape qualifier and come like 28th in the final so for it to be top 5 and one of my highest pointers was certainly a surprise.

 

Bad surprises:

I really thought I was onto something with Bones by Ginny Blackmore, it had som odds of like 8/1 as well and yet came something like 23rd in the semi :drama: I really thought f*** You by Maria Mena would do as well.

Blush coming top 5 was a shocker to me

This entry not qualifying is the biggest surprise ever concerning the perfornance of my entries imo :( Still love this tune too!

 

 

Really thought it would have appealed to both pop fans with its vocal and dance fans in the competition.

Taahino racism taking a break for one contest and letting me get a top ten with Curious