1. CL - Lover Like Me

2. DAY6 - 1 to 10

3. aespa - Savage

4. SUNMI - You can’t sit with us

5. Jessi - Numb

6. Irina Rimes & David Goldcher - Laisse tomber les filles

7. Mindme - Don’t Need It (feat. Emmi)

8. Hedda Mae - Take It Or Leave It

9. Wamdue Project - You’re The Reason (Roy Malone Liquid Mix)

10. salem ilese - 757

 

My 5 K-Pop DNQ’s being my Top 5 favourites, why am I not surprised.

 

EDIT: I’m also still bitter about ‘Laisse tomber les filles’ ending my Q streak when I was so confident in its chances at finishing Top 15 :cry:

Edited June 13, 20232 yr by calxyum

Pre POPHub entries continue to be found rotting x

Pre POPHub entries continue to be found rotting x

 

Yes I’ve made some mistakes in my past, I don’t know why you insist on dragging them back up :cheeseblock:

 

#TerraDiCrapioni

#FederalDistrictsOfAnēnothanks

Savage DNQ was terrible :cry:

 

I agree with the sentiment that pop ballads often tend to be overlooked. It doesn't help when you connected with them so much, only to find out there is little love from the voters.

Savage DNQ was terrible :cry:

 

I agree with the sentiment that pop ballads often tend to be overlooked. It doesn't help when you connected with them so much, only to find out there is little love from the voters.

 

I felt that, when dodie’s Monster was a DNQ for me.

 

The second time after Sheppard that the song at No.1 in my end of year chart had DNQ’d in BJSC :(

 

Never. Send. A. Subtle. Pop. Ballad. To. BJSC.

Zanmatony DNQ's

[BJSC 89] Amber – Sexual (Li Da Di)
My debut entry, I wasn't too sure what BJSC was all about, and this was a retro choice from a free CD from a magazine many years back. I had no idea where I would go from here.
[BJSC 90] Metrik feat. Elisabeth Troy – Chasing Sunrise
A first attempt at D&B which was possibly my favourite of the lot so far in this genre.
[BJSC 93] Schwarz – Home
A ballad, and quite possibly the only one we have ever sent, although it was discovered on Spinnin Records, and I liked how it built, as well as the positive message in the lyrics.
[BJSC 94] The Kenneth Bager Experience feat. Gisli – Fragment One (...And I Kept Hearing)
This was another strange experiment gone wrong. Taken from a 2010 disc of radio hits but I just seemed to think the whistling parts would be an earworm, but not to be.
[BJSC 95] M4SONIC & YDG – About It
My lowest DNQ position to date. No idea how many votes this got, but despite the artist appearing in a masquerade contest as me, it is probably the least enjoyed entry to date, just a big drop that I thought sounded cool at the time.
[BJSC 96] Envio – Touched By The Sun [Rusch & Elusive's Chill Out Mix]
My longest entry to date and one of the most beautiful pieces I have come across and I was disappointed it did not qualify.
[BJSC 134] ABDA – Gold
Apparently this artist now goes by his Christian name Ahmad Abdul, but how I wish Eastovka were in the contest at the time to help me qualify with this one! It was them who I discovered this from thanks to their personal chart on crownnote at the time!
[BJSC 136] SNAILS – Frogbass
I held on to this song for a very long time in the hope it would stand out, but it has all the wrong ingrediants to belong anywhere in BJSC, but I do not regret sending it, but I didn't think it would qualify at the time.
[BJSC 138] Riohv – Green Room
This was a bit of a random discovery, but I was looking for something a bit more instrumental, and this piece reminded me a bit of what Calvin Harris' Love Regenerator era was a bit like. Also the title which was the name of the room we all go into pre-contest!
[BJSC 139] Robots In Disguise – The DJ's Got A Gun
Not the smartest decision I made sending this, it really doesn't sound that great even now so I guess I was looking for something with attitude but this was not my best choice. It's one of my least liked DNQ's to date anyway.
[BJSC 140] ABSOLUTE. feat. Bklava – U4IA
Second attempt at D&B and I really believed this was going to get me a qualifier, but alas, it was not a strong enough entry for this contest, the voters were very pop heavy if I recall.
[BJSC 149] Coldcut – Autumn Leaves
This would currently be my favourite song to have DNQ'd in BJSC, it is an all time classic for me and a wonderful chilled piece of pop music with a beautiful arrangement of orchestral sounds.
[BJSC 150] Fourward feat. Dakota Sixx – How
My most recent attempt to qualify with D&B which proved unsuccessful as per the times before, but this Thelonia recycle was something I was enjoying at the time, but it wasn't as warmly received.
[BJSC 154] XONE – LANTAKLAH
This was my attempt at a foreign entry, specifically asian pop, and it was a great little entry with lots of energy and should have qualified in my opinion. One of my recent highlights.

I made a Spotify playlist just for my DNQ's if anyone wants to have a listen;



As for how I would rate them all now;

1. Coldcut – Autumn Leaves [BJSC 149] [23rd (38 Points)]
2. Envio – Touched By The Sun [Rusch & Elusive's Chill Out Mix] [BJSC 96] [22nd (52 Points)]
3. XONE – LANTAKLAH [BJSC 154] [22nd (40 Points)]
4. ABDA – Gold [BJSC 134] [26th (44 Points)]
5. Metrik feat. Elisabeth Troy – Chasing Sunrise [BJSC 90] [30th (19 Points)]
6. Fourward feat. Dakota Sixx – How [BJSC 150] [23rd (27 Points)]
7. ABSOLUTE. feat. Bklava – U4IA [BJSC 140] [24th (39 Points)]
8. Schwarz – Home [BJSC 93] [23rd (39 Points)]
9. Riohv – Green Room [BJSC 138] [27th (34 Points)]
10. Amber – Sexual (Li Da Di) [BJSC 89] [23rd (47 Points)]
11. The Kenneth Bager Experience feat. Gisli – Fragment One (...And I Kept Hearing) [BJSC 94] [29th (16 Points)]
12. Robots In Disguise – The DJ's Got A Gun [BJSC 139] [23rd (30 Points)]
13. SNAILS – Frogbass [BJSC 136] [30th (19 Points)]
14. M4SONIC & YDG – About It [BJSC 95] [33rd (18 Points)]

Can't really contribute to this. So sorry. :blink:

Can't really contribute to this. So sorry. :blink:

39/112 so 34% for me which I guess isn't too bad considering (I was probably at a lower rate before the end of last year )

 

I ranked my entries last year for my 100th so I'll just go with that for now, although sadly quite a few new ones to add, I'll reflect where I can

 

01; Pale Blue – Breathe (BJSC 124) (Still gutted at this one, one of the most, intense experimental and deeply thought provoking acid house tracks I've sent, I accept it's not everyone's thing but I really didn't think this would do as bad as it did :/)

02; Crywolf - Home We Made Part II (Skrux Remix) (BJSC 74) (Probably my most 'infamous' in as much as that can be, it did get some justice in Rejects but still x)

03; U.S Girls - Woman's Work (BJSC 81) (Every one of you that now stan her and didn't point this can sod off, sheep xx)

04; Haiku Salut - Glockelbar (BJSC 53) (

as it's gorgeous and one of the main reasons I sent this, did better than I expected considering it was just a xylophone-led short track)

05; Goblin – Suspiria (BJSC 110) (This one hurt a bit, there were people I thought would be really into it that weren't and it's one of the most iconic horror soundtracks of all time)

06; Varien - Lilith (BJSC 94) (Incorrectly announced as a DNQ when it wasn't, my only one of these! I did go on to get her into the final with a track I liked much more)

07; Fïx8:Sëd8- Human Harvest (BJSC 133)

08; Apparat feat. Soap&Skin – Goodbye (BJSC 105) (TV soundtracks clearly aren't BJSC's thing Part 1)

09; Parachute Youth - Can't Get Better Than This (BJSC 44) (Patient Zero of the Terra Avium DNQs and first of a row of seven in 2012 :x)

10; Vancouver Sleep Clinic – From a Distant Dream… (BJSC 139) (This was heartbreakingly close to qualifying, although I was glad something as subtle did as well as it did, and a whole EP at that lmao)

11; Sung - Cosmic Road (BJSC 148) (Probably the least appropriate semi draw I've ever been in :'()

12; bdrmm - Three (BJSC 146)

13; Keep Shelly In Athens - Flyway (BJSC 58) (This was a shock one I recall, had a few win predictions! Lovely, dreamy track)

14; Cusco – Orpheus and Eurydice (BJSC 100) (Wrong contest completely as there was a crazy amount of entrants in the 100th, but I don't regret it, awesome new age track)

15; OOFJ - You're Always Good (BJSC 71)

16; Desire - Black Latex (BJSC 147) (I really thought I was onto something here but got blanket DNQ predictions and I still don't get why? :/ We've had top 10 hits that sound like this)

17; Alev Lenz - Fall Into Me (BJSC 91) (TV soundtracks clearly aren't BJSC's thing Part 2)

18; Essaie Pas - Le Port du Masque un Rigeur (BJSC 87)

19; Conner Youngblood - The Warpath (BJSC 93)

20; WALK THE MOON - Anna Sun (BJSC 49) (Completely hit chasing here given it was Radio 1 playlist and had already been sent to Unknown Pleasures (which I hadn't joined yet in all fairness x), probably got my comeuppance, but does baffle me in retrospect it couldn't even qualify, especially given they had a top 5 hit soon after!)

21; Shields - Mezzanine (BJSC 50) (Again,

<3)

22; Synecdoche Montauk - Где бы ты ни был (BJSC 155) (I thought this was risky, but again some songs that have sounded like it have really caught on before so...oops :'( I blame the Spotify version being a lot more inferior to the video version)

23; Kate NV - oni (they) (BJSC 151) (iconic x)

24; Epic Soul Factory – Everdream (BJSC 111) (First time I knew classical instrumentals weren't invincible </3)

25; Sidewalks & Skeletons feat. CASHFORGOLD - Name in Blood (BJSC 159) (Hit chasing, but can you blame me when I was on four in a row x again, this was one where I thought people that'd be really into it just weren't :'()

26; Mentrix – If (BJSC 142) (The AQ that never was </3 (AKA literally snatched at me just before the semis went up, the seething x))

27; Milk & Bone - Pressure (BJSC 77) (At least they've got justice now with Bigger Love I guess, I will confess I do prefer that one to this x)

28; Jonathan Young feat. Malinda Kathleen Reese – The Phantom of the Opera (BJSC 121) (*_____* Not sure what I was thinking here but iconic x)

29; Miami Horror - Colours in The Sky (BJSC 65) (I don't rate this hugely now but I was so sad when I was sure I was onto a hit and it completely bombing, at least popchartfreak still gets it!)

30; Llamas In Need - Did You Ever See a Llama (BJSC 60) (AKA the Llama song...from 2004 which is making me scared a few of you may not recognise this now :mellow: Troll entry so impossible to rank, but iconic x)

31; Bloodgroup - Cut Out Your Tongue (Girl Unit Remix) (BJSC 63)

32; Neev – Staring Through (BJSC 129) (Closest I've ever got to 0 points with just 3 from one poster! Not sure it deserved that, but admittedly probably wasn't the wisest choice)

33; Strawhatz – Koto (BJSC 103) (Probably the closest an entry of mine has come to not resembling a song at all,

)

34; BURNS - Limitless (BJSC 55)

 

And bless my younger self, but I'm not sure what I was thinking with these next few x

 

35; Summer Heart - U Got All I'm Looking 4 (BJSC 68)

36; Forss - In Paradisum (BJSC 46)

37; Starsmith - Zeros (BJSC 48)

38; The Bullitts - World Inside Your Rainbow (BJSC 47)

39; I Am A Camera - Factory Boys (BJSC 45) (I passed on Of Monster & Men's Dirty Paws before they got a big hit with Little Talks for this average electropop song in search of a hit, which will never not annoy me as that's a real favourite, been wondering if I could sneak it in these days with how irrelevant they've become, but won't chance it x)

 

I've certainly had a fair variety of failures if nothing else x

11/82 DNQs so approx 13%

 

Rank:

 

01: SOLDOUT - Do It Again (feat. GOOSE) [92] ~ this is hands down my most shocking DNQ! it was really high in several odds, back when people used to do them for every song pre-final and SOLDOUT had a great track record for me already, as my Worldvision winning act. Robbed :'( I remember having Tearist and this as potentials, thinking this would be safer, but the other came 12th!

 

02: Finnegan Tui - Once I'm Gone [137] ~ this is an absolute beauty but can see why it DNQed as folk is extremely difficult to get success with. To add insult to injury this also had a muted reception in Rejects, rude x

 

03: Panther Modern - Creep [141] ~ the one time a spooky banger of mine fell a bit flat with BJSC audiences, maybe the vocals weren't the most accessible? still a tune

 

04: Josin - Once Apart [113] ~ oh this was gorgeous, I remember thinking that she has a haunting Thom Yorke-esque quality to her voice - shame on you BJSC voters

 

05: Stranger Cat - Unzip Your Skin [80] ~ I didn't really see this DNQ coming so it was pretty disappointing at the time :'( I still think it's a lovely synth song, maybe a bit too subtle for the contest, but I was still finding my feet

 

06: Elena Temnikova - Kazalsya Strannym [103] ~ oh this was disappointing too as it came off the back of a long streak of 10 Qs in a row. I did hope a mature, dancey direction from an ex-SEREBRO member would go down well but maybe it wasn't in-your-face enough.

 

07: STACEY - D.M.T. [128] ~ the time I tried going for a female psychedelic 70s style entry way before Daisy Jones & The Six was a thing xx sadly this dreamy one fell flat

 

08: TWINS - Stuck [145] ~ like a time machine to the 80s with those drum machines and Tears For Fears-esque vocals, maybe a bit too depressing even for my nation :kink:

 

09: Tuna - Seret Aravi [86] ~ this was a major swerve, I think I wanted to send something eclectic to the Beaver hosted contest :lol: I did think it was a bop though and do still find it pretty fun, but can definitely see why this DNQed and wasn't too bothered as I was on holiday at the time

 

10: DJ Maphorisa, RudeBoyz and Distruction Boyz - Midnight Starring (feat. DJ Tira, Busiswa and Moonchild Sanelly) [111] ~ justice for Busiswa!!! my first time DNQing during the first contest of the year, so 2019 didn't get off to the best start :lol: something a bit different for me but not a major favourite nowadays

 

11: Muhsinah - Luv w Luv [77] ~ my first DNQ, very quickly learned that R&B is not the recipe for success in BJSC. This song was merely a back-up after I was beaten to Koven - 'Get This Right' (which came 3rd </3 I waited 11 more contests to get a bronze), I don't think it deserved to bomb quite as badly as it did (still my worst result ever) but admittedly I don't go back to it much at all

 

 

Which of my DNQ would you like me to rank or reflect upon? :lol:

won't go into detail with ranking them (i'll be doing that in an upcoming thread xx), but it's probably not spoiling much to say nelward's Ghost is our favourite non-qualifier

 

Well I have 42 DNQ's (about 29%) out of 143, so I won't be really doing full countdown for each one of them but I am definitely giving you the best 11 songs that were done dirrty and injustice :P

 

2NE1 - I Am The Best - this got some justice by winning Best Of Rejects but still baffled how it did not Q!!!

Jewel - Intuition - I love this country pop crossover...Jewel did it before Taylor Swift!!!

Gin Wigmore - Black Sheep - I thought dark pop sound was in at that time but BJSC crowd wasn't here for it!!!

Armand Van Helden and Hervé - Power Of Bass - I think this would probably do much better if sent 20-30 contests later!!!

Era Istrefi - E Dehun (feat. Mixey) - This DNQ'ed but BonBon almost won?!!!

Push - Universal Nation - I love this classic trance, I feel it would fare much better if send now.

Gülşen - Bangır Bangır - I know Turkish bops are hit or miss but this one really had everything on it and yet it didn't work in BJSC!!!

Eros Ramazzotti & Tina Turner - Cose Della Vita (Can't Stop Thinking Of You) - I hope you're all feeling guilty now for not giving Ms. Tina Turner a BJSC hit (or at least a qualification). Too late now. :kink:

M¥SS KETA - GIOVANNA HARDCORE - This I think is one of my most played song of 2022. Probably it's my favorite of DNQ's. So good!!!

Julian Muller and CAIVA - Without You - Same as above with this one. I don't know what was missing for not making it to the finals (at least).

The O.T. Quartet - Hold That Sucker Down - My fave from my retro sounding offers. Thought I was going to smash with it!!!

 

And now to What the hell was going in my head when I sent these:

 

Kardinal Offishall - Dangerous (feat. Akon)

NRG Band - Rina Rina

MKTO - God Only Knows

CeCe - FUEO - I sincerely thought this would smash lol BIG chorus and pop!!!

 

 

The rest:

 

Solid HarmoniE - I'll Be There For You

Anggun - Saviour

Sarah Connor - You Are My Desire

Besa - Engjëjt Vrasin Njëlloj

Tuna - I Asaj

Yelle - L'Amour Parfait

Nora Istrefi - Le Mama (feat. Gena and Jean Diarra)

Michel Cleis - Hey Lady Luck

Greta Svabo Bech - Shut Up & Sing

Dafina Zeqiri and Ledri Vula - Got Ur Back (feat. Sardi DJ)

Enca - A Po T'Pelqen

Elvana Gjata - Afër Dhe Larg

Sash! - Adelante

Adrian Gaxha - Kalle (feat. Lindon)

!!! - Freedom! '15

Raving George - You're Mine (feat. Oscar And The Wolf)

Anitta - Bang

I Am Aisha - Yeke (feat. Jayh)

Red 5 - I Love You...Stop!

LP - When We're High

SLANDER and SAYMYNAME - I Can't Escape (feat. Feli Ferraro)

20 Fingers - Lick It (feat. Roula)

Playahitty - The Summer Is Magic

Kito and Empress Of - Wild Girl

Mo-Do - Eins, Zwei, Polizei

Cristobal Tapia De Veer - Renaissance

Edited June 13, 20232 yr by Addy!

2NE1 - I Am The Best - this got some justice by winning Best Of Rejects but still baffled how it did not Q!!!

from the old stats thread you sent it the contest right before Yu joined... that was HORRIBLE timing

I have 49 DNQs out of 91, a magnificent 53.8%! I'll just borrow my ranking from the 'rank your entries' thread:

 

(69)

>An all-time fave which predates me joining Buzzjack and BJSC. The full version is over 6 minutes which is very unlike me!

(72)

>Some of you know I love 'White Walls' by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and I wanted to send Hollis to BJSC. This is her!!

(104)

>Easily my biggest shock DNQ. Still sounds like a winner, must have had a seriously bad semi draw. If I could have just one do-over </3

Sarai "Ladies" (75)

(96)

>Another big shock, I loved 'Indigo' and thought this had clear potential to be even bigger!

P-Money feat. Vince Harder "Everything" (70)

Morgan Page feat. Lissie "Open Heart" (76)

Ben Hazlewood "Wanted" (80)

Megan McCauley "Die For You" (85)

Lipstick Gypsy "The Cure" (82)

Joseph "Fighter" (118)

The Rocket Summer "So Much Love" (68)

Black Atlass "Do For Love" (136)

Sizzy Rocket "Need Somebody" (83)

Anoop Desai feat. ADHD "Love War" (66)

A Silent Film "Tomorrow" (74)

Selah Sue "Always Home (Sörry Remix)" (124)

(115)

>Another surprise DNQ, I remember thinking it sounded like RUFUS DU SOL and would catch on just as much as their entries.

(122)

>Actually this is the one I'm most bitter about, because it was my first foreign language entry and I still think it's insanely catchy!

(133)

>I'm still not sure how this one flopped either!

Dinovski feat. Caitlyn Scarlett "Island Of Sin" (105)

Black Atlass "If They Only Knew" (117)

Daniella Mason "Cover The Earth" (100)

Bailen "I Was Wrong" (126)

Sally "Calculated" (114)

Ripe "Settling" (146)

Robyn Sherwell "To Give Up" (134)

Michigander "Better" (141)

Lily Rose "Villain" (132)

Marc E Bassy feat. Kyle "Plot Twist" (103)

(119)

>This was just a few months before Sophie And The Giants became quite popular on Buzzjack...what can I say, I'm ahead of the curve! Also, 'The Light' is still one of their best songs.

Neon Dreams feat. Kardinal Offishall "Marching Bands" (137)

Wilder Woods "Patience" (153)

TelyKast & Teddy Swims "Loveless" (144)

(116)

>Likewise, this was before she blew up with 'Supalonely'. I just wanted to send something of hers and figured 'Soaked' would be too cheap.

Northeast Party House "For You" (94)

(65)

>My second ever entry, and it's a Beastie Boys cover of all things...but I still don't disown it!

Caroline Jones "Lawless" (154)

Leland & Vincint "Middle Of Love" (123)

Melody Gardot "Who Will Comfort Me" (152)

Kari Kimmel "Can You Feel It" (97)

Marc Scibilia "Over You" (150)

Dominique Pruitt "To Win Your Love" (67)

Malory "Rapture" (102)

Jillian Jacqueline "Reasons" (95)

Natalie "Goin' Crazy" (151)

TKA "Maria" (130)

(81)

>I don't really go for novelty anymore after this backfired :lol:

Sadye "Biblical" (155)

>Not actually my least favorite, just too recent for me to rank properly!

Already There is one of the big BJSC shocks, I agree - it sounded huge. I feel like it would have flown through the other semi and come top 10 in the final, so a true lost hit.

I have 46 DNQs out of 119, 38.7% is better than I thought I was doing.

 

i'll go through in chronological order then try and rank them

 

37 - The Wrecking Queens - Middle & Between - bit of a non-descript if rocky debut, appropriate average title if nothing else

47 - Ruby Frost - Porcupine - a bit too soon after my other Ruby Frost entry, which it's nearly as good as but not quite, I followed Ghosty's advice on entering it at the time, and while yes it was too soon to recycle, also now my current philosophy is that it's good to listen to more than one song from an artist actually, which is why I try at least to put in other tracks from my artist in my national thread when I post about my entry now

50 - Saint Saviour - The Rain Falls On The Just- still better than the other Saint Saviour tracks y'all were just too slow

52 - Jannika B - Pohjanmaan Tuulia - my first victim of BJSC racism against foreign language pop, and for a long-time my worst position at second-last in the semi, absolutely did not deserve either of those, it's an easily accessible ballad with a great build

53 - San Fermin - Sonsick - I think this is still one of the technically best songs I've ever sent to BJSC, a few others have more emotional value but this is really something you do not get anywhere else, San Fermin are still a favourite band for me, the multi-instrumental build and explosive chorus is really unparalleled. I was so mad at the time.

55 - Z.Hera - Peacock - first ever Asian entry and I wimped out by sending the English version, I absolutely deserved the DNQ, I've not really gone back to it

57 - Echosmith - Come Together - lol this is so bad

59 - Antti Railio - Ruostunut Ankkuri - you never appreciated the random Finnish Meat Loaf singing about a rusty anchor I found enough - great ballad, I'm not sure I've been able to find it extant anymore though. It was so close to qualifying too!

61 - Arion - Seven - Arion have also become a favourite band since sending them, they have a few better than 'Seven' including the later qualifier I had with them but this is still a huge anthem, I thought an upbeat cleanly sung rock song would have at least a decent chance

63 - BABYMETAL - Megitsune - it was clearly just too early for them - as I said when I entered them for my 100th, this is perhaps the most important entry of mine for shifting my strategy to the contest and throwing me into J-Pop world every other contest or smth. I feel like it did get thrown into a wrong semi though, and niche entries like, ahem, kawaii metal (at the time!) suffer most from that

67 - KNDR - You Can't See The World In Silence - I've no idea why I entered this, a very un-me entry that's pretty much just sub Lost Frequencies

68 - Team Me - The All Time High - was convinced this would be a contender at the time so was sad when it didn't make it. It's very uplifting but

would have been a better entry.

69 - Amaranthe - Drop Dead Cynical -a pattern I've often fallen into over the years when getting 2 DNQs in a row is to throw caution to the wind and send something crazy for my next entry - this was the first of those (well technically the second after my original Amaranthe entry :D) and it did feel like going down in a blaze of flames and it was great, one of Amaranthe's best songs and I'm happy it came as close to qualifying as it did.

72 - Owl Vision - Lightshy - perhaps a really really dark sinister heavy electro track wasn't the best for BJSC success, I still enjoy this very much though

73 - PinkiePieSwear - Flutterwonder - thought this would be a huge smash and sort of 'had it in my pocket' for a hit month (sadface), has a really great atmosphere still to this day, I haven't revisited it for ages and listening now it still sounds just as magical as it did then. Got a bit of a mini-fanbase just like Megitsune and Sonsick though so makes up a fitting conclusion to my original trilogy of the 'curse of the third contest'

78 - SCANDAL - Stamp! - my first J-rock entry after Babymetal and I was gutted when this didn't make it, I had little idea that the contest would normally be unreceptive to these things and it blindsided me. In retrospect its guitars are bit heavy for wide appeal (a good thing for me though! I love it when rock bands do this rhythmic guitar slam thing), but it's a really fun summery tune.

80 - Eir Aoi - Ignite - and now my first ever ANIME OP ENTRY™. Which I did agonise over choosing as I was really getting into anime at this time and wanted something that I didn't just like because of its association with a TV show that other participants hadn't seen, so I was aiming for some success here. Unfortunately didn't work out, great pop-rock song and I still love Eir Aoi, she has better like Memoria - that I sent to the Japan spinoff, and Innocence though.

86 - 3年E組うたたん　－自力本願　Revolution - ...and then I completely broke that rule by sending this which fully assumes you do know about the show that it's from. It's really fun and I do still dearly love Assassination Classroom as a show, maybe not the greatest 50th entry though

87 - Beware Of Darkness - Dope - great guitar on this and it bops hard if a little too husky and grindy to really stand a chance

91 - Babyraids Japan - Cinderella Na Jirarenai - great rock entry of mine if maybe too normal among my whole lineup, this is the definition of generic Séyetana J-rock madness

92 - Girls Dead Monster - Ichiban No Takaramono (feat. LiSA) - never expected this to qualify, still love it unconditionally, the sort of song that when I rewatch Angel Beats and it shows up it brings out all the tears again

93 - Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas - Let Me Hear - banger, I apologise for nothing, I've even thought about sending the band again. Nearly made me comfortable with sending harsh vocals here and there - except I chickened out of doing it the contest after and made an edit for Epica just to ensure I qualified again

96 - Konomi Suzuki - Redo - major regret here, I actually should have sent her OP for No Game No Life, '

', which has a far better piano line, Redo is still fine but its structure is a bit all over the place

99 - EGOIST - Eiyuu No Unmei Uta - I nearly sent EGOIST again recently with a far different song, but this one deserved far more than it got, it languished near the bottom of the semi but its structure is to die for, building then stopping, then suddenly getting more frantic but still polished. Great entry. However I should have sent the song from Mob Psycho 100 to this one as it's literally called '99', came out that year in 2017, and is a song just counting to 99 (but make it anime)

100 - Yuki Hayashi - You Say Run - I should stop sending anime music for important contests. Well, I have, mostly. Great soundtrack moment from My Hero Academia but soundtrack music on its own has never done that well in BJSC or been a particular niche of mine, I blame being in India and having limited time to think. Road Of Resistance would have been a far better choice, at least I sent it in the end.

111 - Japanese Breakfast - Boyish - I went a whole year without DNQing. That's never happening again lol. This was also robbed, thought it would be well safe and a nice way to tap into my indie roots. Shame this wasn't a few years after when she released Jubilee and everyone here in the alt forum fawned over it.

112 - Arch Enemy - The Eagle Flies Alone - I was hardly even trying with this one but it did make me feel things and I'm glad I got to send Alissa White-Gluz at least once, her harsh vocals are to die for.

116 - MIYAVI - No Sleep Till Tokyo - mainly sent this because I noticed he released it like a week before I was due to actually go to Tokyo and I was excited. It's good but nothing on 'Flashback' (as UP participants might remember)

120 - YUI - Again - another strategy failure from me I think, but it was 10 years since Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood had released with this OP and listening to it again got me excited about it. This has turned out to have started off a trend of me failing in the last contest of the year with something slightly ill-advised (which I chalk up to contest fatigue, perhaps) - I hope I break out of it this year.

121 - Tristania - Year Of The Rat - I caused COVID by trying to be clever and sending this to coincide with the actual Chinese Year of the Rat. I'm sorry. It's okay but there's a reason it had sat on my potentials list for so long.

124 - Tami T - Single Right Now - I did think this would smash quite hard, it turned out 'Princess' was better for doing that, maybe 'Single Right Now' was a bit repetitive

125 - Avantasia - Moonglow - out of my metal entries that didn't make it through the semi, this one perhaps confuses me the most, maybe it was Tobias Sammet's voice, I love it but I've heard it's an acquired taste. Moonglow is very atmospheric though, great entry of mine

126 - Minami - Ame Wo Matsu - should have sent

, not 'Waiting For Rain' (this one), Crying For Rain got far more attention and is way better. Though both are more standard J-Pop when you get down to it.

128 - Yuko Tomita - Auto Ban - I do like retro city pop but this was quite forgettable from me, far from the best choice I've made.

130 - Sewerslvt - Pretty Cvnt - the most 'wrong semi' entry I have but I've obviously achieved justice for it far better than I ever could have hoped with my followup Sewerslvt entry. I like doing better with my past DNQ artists. Still a tune ofc

132 - Holo Bass - Pop On Rocks - I was having a moment, excuse me. Idk it's fun to have these idiosyncratic things in my entry history.

133 - Mori Calliope - Off With Their Heads - wore out the play button on this one quite a bit. Snare snaps, lyrics are still the hardest Mori's ever gone I think (being intimately familiar with her discography etc), probably was a long shot to hope it was going to qualify but at least I did get her a Q later.

134 - FAKE TYPE - FAKE LAND - tbh this one feels like I qualified with it because it was so iconic in getting one spot off of qualifying with 5 votes, 3 of them 12s. Stormer of a 'Moldovan entry that's dressed up as Japanese electro-swing' and no regrets at all

137 - Blood Command - A Villain's Monologue - pretty usual DNQ experience by this point where I go hard to get excited about an entry, the voters do not get excited about it. But it bangs.

140 - Gawr Gura - Reflect - there certainly are some cringey parts to this if you don't know Gura but on the whole it's a very exciting pop song with the back-and-forth and evil twin motif. Probably was pushing my luck a little bit with the vtuber entries.

142 - Diablo Swing Orchestra - Celebremos Lo Inevitable - I love pulling this up and letting it rip out my ears with its exciting crashes. DSO deserve far more than their BJSC record shows. I thought this had a good chance of Qing as well, but sadly it wasn't to be even in quite small semis. Was my favourite entry of last year though.

143 - Moona Hoshinova - High Tide - in retrospect, a really really strong vtuber song sometimes just can't compete. It's one of the best to come out of that scene though, proper production, no overt references, and Moona looks cool as hell in the MV. Like Reflect part 2 in some ways but with a stronger angle to Q, except it didn't.

144 - Midnight Grand Orchestra - SOS - ...except when the vtuber song is Japanese, I count this as more of a success than most of my vtuber brand as it was just really a really strong dance song, and it got a few vocal fans. Did shock me a bit. I've been looking to find a solo song of Suisei's to enter, I can't really decide which is the best one to go with though.

148 - Polkadot Stingray - Rideau - I don't like that this was the one to finally be my first semi-final last place. It's so f***ing cool. I was perhaps pushing my luck by entering it but man.

150 - Kanaria - QUEEN - I wonder if 'King' would have done better. Though that one is so overplayed for me that 'Queen' feels more me. Vocaloid is quite risky anyway so it was fair but man.

154 - Tsukuyomi - Reason For Existence - and there goes my plan to send YOASOBI-likes, maybe I should just enter 'Idol' and blow y'all out (or get my first veto idk). Great song and would have qualified with no troubles if it was in English but in all honestly I'm having a good year so far with qualifying luck, one falling on the outside isn't too bad. I also feel I could have made some other picks from my recent potentials that would have stood a better chance.

 

ranking:

 

~robbed~

1. Megitsune

2. Sonsick

3. Off With Their Heads

4. FAKE LAND

5. Flutterwonder

6. Celebremos Lo Inevitable

7. Ichiban No Takaramono

8. Pretty Cvnt

9. Let Me Hear

10. SOS

11. Boyish

12. Seven

13. Moonglow

14. Eiyuu No Unmei Uta

15. Stamp!

 

~probably fair outs but they're still great~

16. Reason For Existence

17. Drop Dead Cynical

18. Lightshy

19. Reflect

20. A Villain's Monologue

21. Ignite

22. Ruostunut Ankkuri

23. Single Right Now

24. Rideau

25. The All Time High

26. High Tide

27. Queen

28. The Rain Falls On The Just

29. 自力本願　Revolution

30. Pohjanmaan Tuulia

31. Dope

 

~some mistakes were made~

 

32. Again

33. Cinderella Na Jirarenai

34. The Eagle Flies Alone

35. You Say Run

36. Porcupine

37. Pop On Rocks

38. Redo

39. No Sleep Till Tokyo

40. Auto Ban

41. Ame Wo Matsu

42. Year Of The Rat

 

~I disavow~

 

43. You Can't See The World In Silence

44. Middle & Between

45. Peacock

46. Come Together

 

er sorry for long posting

 

but it's really interesting reading everyone's thoughts on their own entries so keep it up

YONAKA Seize The Power was a goodie and it took She Hulk for me to realise that (not even sure I heard it in BJSC, wrong semi maybe).

 

I take comfort in flops like In Hell I'll Be In Good Company (Dead South, and admittedly very much not a BJSC genre) getting massive TV drama slots and hitting (currently) 364million views, when I introduced it as a foetus interesting video. It's nice when people get enthusiastic about something when you seemed to be the only one rating it at the time :lol:

150 - Kanaria - QUEEN - I wonder if 'King' would have done better. Though that one is so overplayed for me that 'Queen' feels more me. Vocaloid is quite risky anyway so it was fair but man.

King would have probably been in my top 3 if not my top scorer :heart:

So far it's 16 DNQ's out of 123 contests entered so an 87% qualification rate. Had I made any effort at all in 2018, that would likely have been 3/4 fewer.

 

All Time Great Songs

BJSC CIX - Laura Branigan – Solitaire – I had originally intended to send Gloria, but this was vetoed (probably rightly) and was set on sending Laura. Not shocked this DNQ’d as big pop ballads have a chequered BJSC history, plus it’s almost 40 years old so had the odds stacked against it. Still remains an absolute 11/10 song.

BJSC LXXXII - Jess Mills – For My Sins - This was ''the one that got away’’ for me for a very long time, so when my 50th anniversary came around I went with it – I still stand by my choice even though it flopped. There are definitely songs that got vetoed (many, many, many, many of them as the mods will attest) or I chose not to enter that I prefer, but this is still pretty close to pop perfection.

 

Fantastic – 100% deserved to qualify

BJSC LXXIII - Hayden James – Something About You – Altyr are not known for straying too far from a well honed ‘’sound’’, so I was as surprised as anyone by how much I loved (and still love) this. It didn’t help that it seemed to be getting decent hype. It wouldn’t be the first time Altyr hype was unfounded (that’s another long list), but I was genuinely shocked this DNQ’d.

BJSC CXXXVI - Sofia Monroy – Sweet Temptation – The one that broke my record 22 song qualification streak. Sometimes you know it isn’t happening and I definitely did with this one. It’s such a bright and breezy / catchy pop song and I don’t think it was in the bottom echelons of it’s contest but clearly YOU LOT DID.

BJSC CXXXVII - Julie Bergan – We’re Coming Up – One of many ‘just missed out' entries on the list – I think this one DNQ’d around the time they extended the qualifiers to a set 20 from each semi and would have made it under the new rules? It did quite well in TBO so that was some vindication.

BJSC CXIII - Pia Mia – Bitter Love – Is it original? No, Is it earth shatteringly brilliant? No. What it is is a very enjoyable pop song and that is very much the Altyr stock in trade.

 

Still fond, but not essential chapters in the history of FYR-Altyr-Muunilinst-on-the-Wold

BJSC LXVII - Zella Day – East of Eden – Probably a fair DNQ, I had wanted to send the far superior Sweet Ophelia, but as is so often the case it was vetoed (I think I’m on about 30 vetoes in total).

BJSC CI - Amanda Delara – We Don’t Run From Anyone - For anyone paying attention to Altyr in 2018, I gave up, was very much phoning it in and sending anything I vaguely liked a.k.a it was my very own ANNUS HORIBILIS. That was very much reflected in the fact I DNQ’d 5 times that year (and ended up 44th for the year, my first/last time outside the top 16). Anyway, I do think of all my lack-of-effort-entries that year this is the one that deserved more.

BJSC CVIII - Samantha Harvey – Please – Another one with a strong chorus and hook that I feel probably just got a bit unlucky? It feels more like a 33rd in the final that a DNQ (though the margin between these is often wafer thin).

BJSC LII - Viceroy – Dream of Bombay (Feat. Chela) – I had to choose between this and Marabou by Antonia (which Aquafina entered instead) – I chose wrong, but still enjoy the song when it pops up on shuffle.

BJSC XLIII - Darkness Falls – The Void – The very first Altyr (FYR-Vojvodina-on-the-Wold at the time) DNQ, it was also a victim of probably getting a little unlucky. I think it stands up fairly well to time, and is another one that I listen to any time it pops up on shuffle.

 

Serviceable but forgettable

BJSC CIII - Dog Collective – Next To Me (Feat. MPH) – This is a fine pop song, it probably got what it deserved.

BJSC CIV - HEDDA – Reverse – I still remember the day I decided to enter this, I was on my way to work and had a playlist of about 15 potential songs to work through. This was the one that stuck with me most so I went with it. It definitely didn’t deserve to qualify. It’s not a bad song, it’s just generic c-grade Scandipop.

BJSC XCVIII - Moody – Karma – This was not it. It’s that weird sort of ‘’quirky’’ pop that ends up being utterly pedestrian and a bit bland.

BJSC XLIV - Kura – Gógó – My 2nd ever DNQ, it definitely deserved it. There’s literally no audience for it on Buzzjack.

 

What was I thinking:

BJSC LXXXIX - Nick Talos – Crush On You – This sounds like an Eastern European Eurovision entry from about 2014, with a budget of about 3p and undetectable effort levels.