Welcome to Pestolia!

 

Country overview:

Capital city: San Álvaro

Official language: Pestolian

Demonyms: Pestolian / Pestoler (archaic)

Population: 15,000,000

Important settlements:

San Álvaro (city of 5,000,000)

Batisele (city of 1,000,000)

Varocopo (town of 50,000)

Caliamino (town of 40,000)

Portovia (village of 5,000)

Main exports: Red pesto (35% of GDP), green pesto (35%), the little jars that pesto comes in (20%), and other pesto-related technologies (10%)

 

~ all information courtesy of the Pestolian Tourism Board ~

Edited August 26, 2024Aug 26 by Ansel

Results:

140 │ Jae Stephens - got it like that │ 39th │ 81 pts │ SF1: 19th │43 pts

141 │ Mareux - The Perfect Girl │ 20th │ 159 pts │ SF1: 11th │ 69 pts

142 │ Axolotes Mexicanos - Doble Check │ DNQ │ SF2: 22nd │ 29 pts

143 │ Dora Jar - Polly │ DNQ │ SF2: 27th │ 9 pts

144 │ Four Phonica - Human All Too Human │ 27th │ 137 pts │ SF2: 17th │ 49 pts

145 │ El Columpio Asesino - Preparada (David Kano Remix) │ DNQ │ SF2: 23rd │ 37 pts

146 │ Tennis - Runner │ 29th │ 141 pts │ SF2: 15th │ 50 pts

147 │ Mahawam - Hoping No One Notice │ 16th │ 196 pts │ SF2: 17th │ 51 pts

148 │ Твоё далеко - Теперь не страшно │ DNQ │ SF1: 26th │ 39 pts

149 │ Bibi Flash - Histoire D'1 Soir (Bye Bye Les Galères) │ 24th │ 158 pts │ SF1: 8th │ 69 pts

150 │ Lo-Fang - #88 │ 37th │ 86 pts │ SF2: 17th │ 54 pts

151 │ sangiovanni & Aitana - mariposas │ 13th │ 184 pts │ SF2: 7th │ 84 pts

152 │ When In Rome - The Promise │ 4th │ 291 pts │ SF1: 4th │ 104 pts

153 │ Pearly Drops - Call For Help │ 22nd │ 172 pts │ SF2: 12th │ 71 pts

154 │ Furfriend - Fist f*** │ DNQ │ SF2: 31st │ 14 pts

155 │ Rafa Villalba - Chiquetere │ 19th │ 170 pts │ SF1: 14th │ 68 pts

156 │ OBK - El cielo no entiende │ DNQ │ SF1: 30th │ 16 pts

157 │ Cecile Believe - Bitch Bites Dog │ 33rd │ 147 pts │ SF1: 16th │ 63 pts

158 │ jaboukie - BBC │ 42nd │ 118 pts │ SF2: 10th │ 78 pts

159 │ SIMONA - PLUSH │ 34th │ 138 pts │ SF1: 14th │ 66 pts

160 │ 8485 - 3cheers │ 40th │ 93 pts │ SF2: 14th │ 63 pts

161 │ ThxSoMch - When The Devil Speaks... │ 38th │ 82 pts │ SF1: 9th │ 67 pts

162 │ Suki Waterhouse - OMG │ 4th │ 229 pts │ SF1: 2nd │ 97 pts

163 │ DJ SG - Sosban Fach │ DNQ │ SF1: 30th │ 16 pts

164 │ Dry Cleaning - Anna Calls From The Arctic │ 22nd │ 169 pts │ SF1: 7th │ 72 pts

165 │ Emilia - GTA.mp3 │ 22nd │ 161 pts │ SF2: 13th │ 69 pts

166 │ Larry Tee & Princess Superstar - Licky (Work It Out) (Hervé Radio Edit) │ DNQ │ SF1: 27th │ 17 pts

167 │ The Dare - Perfume │ DNQ │ SF2: 21th │ 40 pts

168 │ REYSHA RAMI - black0ut │ 39th │ 108 pts │ SF2: 17th │ 53 pts

169 │ Leah Dou - CATS │ DNQ │ Semi Sue: 26th │ 34 pts

170 │ ieuan - Tokyo Convenience │ DNQ │ SF1: 24th │ 26 pts

171 │ Şenay - Honki Ponki │ 24th │ 141 pts │ SF1: 18th │ 44 pts

172 │ Jane Remover - Flash in the Pan │ 28th │ 137 pts │ SF2: 6th │ 76 pts

173 │ Zahara - ¿Era Esto La Vida? │ DNQ │ SF1: 23rd │ 29 pts

174 │ Jane Remover - Flash in the Pan │ 3rd │ 255 pts │ SF1: 3rd │ 101 pts

Spin-offs:

XMAS IV │ girl in red - two queens in a king sized bed │ 2nd │ 114 pts

Worldvision VI │ Kurs Valüt - Nomer │ 8th │ 69 pts

Masquerade III │ nanobii - Rainbow Road │ 4th │ 190 pts

Pride III │ Lynks - Str8 Acting │ 7th │ 67 pts

Halloween IV │ ieuan - I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM │ 26th │ 23 pts

Worldvision VII │ Winter Severity Index - A Sudden Cold │ 7th │ 63 pts

Movies II │ Camille - Le Festin │ 11th │ 61 pts

Foreign Language III │ Marc Seguí - Al menos ahora │ 20th │ 30 pts

Instrumentals II │ Dan Terminus - Fall of the Ancient World │ 6th │ 78 pts

Xmas V │ Sabrina Carpenter - santa doesn't know you like i do │ 10th │ 80 pts

Collaboration │ Amiture - Touch │ 4th │ 72 pts

Halloween V │ Sophia Bel - You're Not Real You're Just A Ghost │ 25th │ 36 pts

Edited May 1May 1 by Ansel

BJSC140: Jae Stephens - got it like that

 

 

Representing Pestolia in our first contest is Jae Stephens! Her song 'got it like that' sits somewhere between pop and R&B, and was one of my favourite discoveries from last year. Other songs I'd recommend by her are 'what are you doing tonight?', 'hate LA', and What You Need (her biggest hit on Pestolia's national chart although it felt a bit less Buzzjack-friendly x).

Welcome to the contest, loving the flag as well <3

 

Going for an R&B song as your first entry is quite a bold choice, the genre doesn't have a great track record in the contest unfortunately oops but not passing judgement on this particular song yet as I haven't started listening to the songs yet :magic:

Welcome to the contest, loving the flag as well <3

 

Going for an R&B song as your first entry is quite a bold choice, the genre doesn't have a great track record in the contest unfortunately oops but not passing judgement on this particular song yet as I haven't started listening to the songs yet :magic:

Oops at me replying late but thank you! I'm hoping I've learnt from my mistakes this time :lol:

BJSC141: Mareux - The Perfect Girl

 

 

This contest, Pestolia is steering away from the R&B sound - instead, we've gone for something a bit rockier and synthier! It borrows its lyrics from The Cure's song of the same name, but this version feels a lot darker and more atmospheric.

Oops at me replying late but thank you! I'm hoping I've learnt from my mistakes this time :lol:

 

Haha well at least you did well enough to qualify with that first entry, that's a better start than a lot of people get off to!

 

I do think this second entry is a massive improvement though, was excited for it from your post immediately after confirming it and it has lived up to that *.*

BJSC142: Axolotes Mexicanos - Doble Check

 

 

Pestolia goes Spanish this time, with a hyperpop track from the Asturian band Axolotes Mexicanos! I first heard the song in a Netflix movie (Through My Window) a while back - the movie itself wasn't great and I gave up on it halfway through, but luckily I found this song first. Judging by my potentials playlist, it could be the first of *many* Spanish-language entries for Pestolia!

BJSC143: Dora Jar - Polly

 

 

This month Pestolia is represented by Dora Jar! Her song Polly is a lot of fun - the pre-chorus and chorus have a bit of a Gwen Stefani vibe (I'm specifically thinking of Let Me Reintroduce Myself but this is a lot better x). It's a clever, offbeat pop song that will hopefully get stuck in your head - the line 'fraticapatica automatica' has already started playing in my head randomly throughout the day!

BJSC144: Four Phonica - Human All Too Human

 

 

Originally from Ukraine, Four Phonica is a Berlin-based band who I came across when I was looking for my Worldvision entry. I really loved the dark, brooding sound of this song, which bursts into life when the chorus comes in. It's probably a bit divisive but hopefully catches people's attention after a couple of flops. The title is a Nietzsche reference but I didn't pay enough attention in A-level Philosophy so I've got no clue what this song is about x

BJSC145: El Columpio Asesino - Preparada (David Kano Remix)

 

 

El Columpio Asesino are a Spanish rock band, whose song Preparada features in an episode of the Netflix show Valeria. The song really stuck with me and I've had it in my potentials playlist for ages - then I came across this remix which gives the production a bit more punch and really elevates it. I'd still recommend trying the original, it has a dreamier, rockier sound while this remix is more electronic. I'm hoping for a better result than my last Spanish entry which DNQed, though this is closer to the Mareux/Four Phonica sound so hopefully has a better chance!

BJSC146: Tennis - Runner

 

 

Slightly belated but Pestolia's latest entry has just qualified for the final :cheer: it's a chilled out synthy tune and vocally it has a bit of a Kate Bush vibe which I'm glad a few other people have picked up on! Best of luck to Tennis in the final ^_^

BJSC147: Mahawam - Hoping No One Notice

 

 

Representing Pestolia this month is Oakland-born genre-defier Mahawam! Mahawam (who uses they/them pronouns) often sits somewhere between rap and electronic, with this song certainly following that pattern – it's a fast-paced track that sees the singer reclaim their own insecurities and identity.

I'm absolutely loving this at the moment - a very dreamy and catchy track that is very much DBcore, so much so that I have already bought the track from iTunes and checked out the EP it came from. Thanks so much for the discovery, enjoyed the 360video and ofc very pleased that you've made it to the final. Hopefully your biggest hit to-date incoming!

I'm absolutely loving this at the moment - a very dreamy and catchy track that is very much DBcore, so much so that I have already bought the track from iTunes and checked out the EP it came from. Thanks so much for the discovery, enjoyed the 360video and ofc very pleased that you've made it to the final. Hopefully your biggest hit to-date incoming!

Ah I'm really happy you've connected with it so much! I'm not very familiar with any of their other stuff at all but I just love the energy this song has. Hope you're right about it being a hit ^_^

BJSC148: Твоё далеко - Теперь не страшно

 

 

This month, Pestolia is sending an atmospheric slice of indie-electronic courtesy of Твоё далеко! It reminds me of long dark September nights spent with friends, and feels like the perfect entry for the start of autumn.

BJSC150: Lo-Fang - #88

 

 

After Bibi Flash gave Pestolia its 3rd best result to-date, we're back with #88 by Lo-Fang! This is a song I've been listening to for years and I don't remember how I found it, probably from my Spotify Discover playlist when I used to listen to that regularly. It's Pestolia's longest entry ever, and it definitely justifies that 6+ minute runtime imo, building up to a very atmospheric moment towards the end. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do!

I found when Googling this that Lo-Fang was an opening act for Lorde back in the day so consider me intrigued x

I found when Googling this that Lo-Fang was an opening act for Lorde back in the day so consider me intrigued x

I discovered that recently too while I was checking to see if it might get vetoed! According to Wikipedia, Lorde said this was her 2nd favourite song of 2013 and there's actually

. Hopefully that doesn't make it cheap :lol:

BJSC151: sangiovanni & Aitana - mariposas

 

 

Pestolia is starting off the year with a basic pop banger - this song has actually been a big hit in Spain, I hear it almost every day on the bus to work! So now you all get to have it stuck in your heads too. It's my first time (I believe) recycling an artist - Aitana has been sent to BJSC twice before, DNQing once and coming 37th the second time. Hopefully she can do better this time! I think it's fair to say this doesn't sound like something we'd normally send but it's something fun to kick off what will hopefully be a good year for Pestolia.