Just catching up, 'Capitol' was my 18 pointer in BJSC 100 so was unsurprisingly thrilled with that winner 'Butterfly' is wildly different to that haha but I think it was on my podium as well, very nostalgic and euphoric, so we have some good crossover there. This also extends to BJSC 101 as 'Bánh Trôi Nước' was my 18 as well 🤩 I'm pretty sure that ended up being my favourite entry of the year, so didn't take very long to find that when it was sent to the first contest. The switch-up still gives me goosebumps every time but agree the whole experience is strong.

IC3PEAK mentioned, we love to see it

Can't recall if 'Sofia' was a surprise winner at the time or not but it is a bop, that was a good era for Áskorza, I remember really enjoying their following AQ too.

BJSC 102

Host Country: République d'Ashton

Overview

Onto the next contest where we had to bounce back in a big way and ultimately settled on what was slowly becoming our safe haven in instrumental entries. Again, the semi results were disappointing with 4 of our pointed songs failing to advance to the final (Buzzjack Mountain again our being biggest loss) but after that it was mostly all good news. I remember this contest being absolutely stacked in terms of quality, with a number of songs in the final still being held in very high regard to this day. There was also a first time winner in Ojnoj after having been competing for a considerable time beforehand.

Dobago's Entry

Result: 8th

A side project from famous Dutch DJ Sander van Doorn, this tune instantly grabbed me with it's electrifying synths and an intriguing choral "ah" section commencing midway through the song. As someone who had been in the school choir for 7 years a lot resonated with me about this but otherwise it was simply one of my favourite songs of that year. After faring decently in the semi it went on to perform superbly in the final, earning Dobago their fourth 8th position in just 24 contests and receiving votes from over half of the other countries. A true timeless sounding piece, I still hold fond memories of this song and it takes me back to the time I finally left home and moved to live in London.

Winning Entry

Country: Ojnoj

Another act who would go on to achieve a big commercial hit in years to come but first found success here. Having only been entered 2 contests prior to modest success, Kim Petras roared to a convincing victory in 102 with this very punchy pop track. It's not hard to see why this struck all the right chords to garner wide appeal, the powerful chorus certainly rising highest but the whole package is strong. I gave this a solitary point however as mentioned this contest was sky-high in quality so it would surely have received more if entered in another. Not top tier for me but catchy and memorable enough to still hit the right spots nowadays.

18-Pointer

Country: Beaverdonia

If it's not in it already then this song has to be knocking on the door of my top 10 all time favourite BJSC entries. Of course, the psytrance subgenre had seen many a representative by this point but this particular song has SO much more to offer than that signature bassline. From memory I think I do recall hearing this sometime prior to the contest (whether in part or in full) but certainly not enough to put a name to song nor artist. Nevertheless, it got its day in the sun and my goodness, what an utter joy it was to fully appreciate. I love how the song seamlessly glides from section to section, introducing more and more elements, whilst belying its relatively long runtime. It balances the intense and subtle parts perfectly and builds to a dramatic and breathless fusion of beats, drums and energy. Couple the listening experience with an iconic music video capturing scenes from the Indian city, then it's truly a full package. It sadly finished just outside the top 10 but there was nothing more I could have done to help. Whilst my 15 pointer went to the whimsical eurodance-esque banger 'Paradise' I'd have to rank my 13 pointer above it now, that being the absorbing breakbeat of 'the nature of dying' which sounds even more incredible than it did at the time. 3 other songs also worthy of mention are all outrageously catchy for their respective genres and have stayed with me extremely well ever since, these being 'Ladykiller', 'Faller' and 'Don't Speak' the last of which despite me only awarding 6 points to has grown beyond any sort of comprehension to be in a position which if pushed, I would very likely call my favourite ever pop entry of all time. 102 was easily one of the best contests ever

Pleased to hear that you rate 'the nature of dying' even more now than at the time

I'm a fan of the original Richter piece but the added breakcore elements blew my mind *.* glad it connected with others enough to finish 6th.

I feel it could have easily been a winning contender in many a contest since then! Although perhaps more likely in Club Bizarre/UP. I am not familiar with the original so will need to check that out.

BJSC 103

Host Country: Tinnmark

Overview

103 was the contest that we only decided to participate in at the eleventh hour. Life was a bit crazy at this time, having just moved to London and then almost immediately going on a 2 week trip to Japan so the sensible option was to sit it out like we did in 82. However having read more about BJSC's 'holiday rules' etc. I thought I could make it work and just cram in the bulk of the listening on the long haul flight out, then provide a full ranking of both semis together per the relevant instructions. Funnily enough this was actually the first contest that we were offered to host since last month's winner Ojnoj passed up the opportunity, as did all the next eligible countries, but such circumstances made this impossible therefore it went all the way down to last contest's 9th placed nation in Tinnmark. This contest was famous in there being a tie between first and second in the final, with the winners New Lexico (another first time victor) triumphing by virtue of receiving more votes.

Dobago's Entry

Result: 11th

On the face of it, given the late decision to partake in the contest, this was essentially a 'throwaway' choice but it was a song I'd been a fan of for a while so it just happened to fall into place at the right time to send. Another instrumental entry but this time showcasing the beautiful strings of the kamancheh, it's perhaps one of my most standout and unique entries ever although of course falling into a familiar territory of strings-based numbers. It's a simply gorgeous piece of music that evokes both passion and tranquillity, and it was another success in the contest. Finishing 3rd in its semi, it just missed out on the top 10 in the final but for entering this contest haphazardly with zero expectations it was a highly pleasing outcome.

Winning Entry

Country: New Lexico

Interestingly, like previous winner Kim Petras, Bree Runway had also been entered in 100 then subsequently won on their second entrance to the contest. This one is a very quirky pop track with the barbershop-like bebop backing voices ubiquitous throughout but much like with 'Heart To Break', the chorus is the show-stealer once again. That melody really does gets stuck in your head and refuses to budge. Due to the more rushed and condensed listening window I had to work with, the reliance on entries being instant was more pronounced than ever yet despite that I only awarded this song a solitary point (again, just like with the previous winner to keep the coincidences rolling!) however I could not have foreseen that solitary point making the difference between winning and not, as it edged out 'Lost Without Out' (a future UK top 10 hit) by the narrowest of margins. This was quite the relief as that would have gone down as one of my least favourite winners of all time, whilst 'Word Of Mouth' was a considerable post-contest grower and unarguably deserved more points from us than it got.

18-Pointer

Country: Bhangra

In a contest where we sent an Israeli act, we also gave our top marks to an Israeli collaboration. Indeed, Offer Nissim's second song sent to BJSC also hit all the right notes and he became the first act that we gave 18 points to on more than one occasion, although this time the result was rather more modest than first time around, coming home in 24th. Whilst this doesn't have the euphoria and overall punch of 'Miracle', it's still a fantastically produced track with another tender and beautiful vocal. I particularly enjoy some of the more guttural sounding pronunciation in the verses and the whole package is a smooth and entrancing listen. My silver medal went to the excellent deep house tune 'Tell Me' with my bronze awarded to the fantastically furious and frantic 'Heavensent'. Revisiting my votes now however, the big standout that would challenge Rokedet for top place would be the brilliant 'Namesake' which is a true sensory overload in the best possible way. Other highlights further down that have stayed with me very well are the both mysterious and fascinating sounds of 'Yarada Lij' and 'Koto'.

I also gave 'Word Of Mouth' 1 point so similarly feel partially responsible for that tiebreak

Ooh 'Journey' is a right throwback! I knew it pre-contest, as I think the YouTube algorithm fed it to me - 11th was a really good result for it that has got to be my favourite Dobago entry to come up here in a little while, what a beauty.

Aha always fun when the tiniest of differences in someone's points has such a considerable effect.

Yeah I read in my thread that you knew Journey pre-contest at the time, a solid 12 points received from you! 👍

On 22/12/2025 at 08:10, Jade said:

Pleased to hear that you rate 'the nature of dying' even more now than at the time

I'm a fan of the original Richter piece but the added breakcore elements blew my mind *.* glad it connected with others enough to finish 6th.

On 22/12/2025 at 08:19, Dobbo said:

I feel it could have easily been a winning contender in many a contest since then! Although perhaps more likely in Club Bizarre/UP. I am not familiar with the original so will need to check that out.

the nature of dying would have probably done well in UP considering how Surren Tweek did

BJSC 104

Host Country: New Lexico

Overview

With a good pair of results in the bag, there remained the opportunity to keep momentum going with another strong placing as we jetted off to New Lexico for 104. Nothing particularly significant leaps out to me about this contest other than there being a landslide winner by almost 100 points so straight into the songs...

Dobago's Entry

Result: DNQ (25th in Semi)

Yep. A complete misfire. I had fancied toying with the idea of sending something miles away from what would be considered our regular sound and it was perhaps the performance of 'Lost Without You' from the previous contest that egged me on to submit a ballad for the very first time, if anything just out of curiosity but with semi-reasonable hope it would capture enough interest to at least qualify. This however very much did not occur, with it crashing out in the semi and equalling our worst result to date. It's a nice enough song with an extremely well-sung vocal but for BJSC it never really had a hope and it unquestionably goes down as an entry to regret, ranking right down at the bottom of the barrel.

Winning Entry

Country: Niceland

I somewhat recall this being the first winner since I started competing that didn't receive any "direct" hype whatsoever (by which I mean any glazing in the nation's personal chart nor in the semis/final threads) however it was up among the winning contenders in the odds and it was a complete no-contest in the end, with it absolutely dominating the final and adding another new country to the winner's rostrum. It's definitely the sort of song that has the potential to be extremely wide appealing and thus so it proved, Dobago ourselves awarding 13 points on its way to a 94-point winning margin. There's so much to enjoy about this one, a fantastic fusion of instrumentation along with an amazing vocal delivery. It's also quite an unusual structure which goes off on an unexpected tangent from the midway point onwards which adds to its replayability factor. Definitely one of my favourite winners of this period and would be pushing hard for the gold medal if re-ranking today.

18-Pointer

Country: Cor Lupus

At this time, uplifting trance was always going to be an immediate contender for our gold medal and this track ticked all the right boxes to achieve exactly that. Whilst my blanket affection for anything trance has waned somewhat in recent years (much like with the contest in general) I still appreciate the sheer joyousness songs of this ilk bring. It's essentially an instrumental with a few angelic vocal inflections to break up the pace but does everything right with the gradual build-up and forceful impact of the main drop. I'd still rank it above my silver medallist (the luscious Latin-string laden tones of 'Marbella') but a couple of others aside from the winning song would push it down a few spots now. 'Fortress' and 'Ends Of Time' both have held up better but you have to go all the way down to our 4-pointer to find the song that has stayed with me most in the subsequent years, that being the utterly delightful electro swing anthem 'We Are What We Are'.

BJSC 105

Host Country: Niceland

Overview

Approaching the mid-way point of the year and it was off to a relatively new nation at the time in Niceland. 2 DNQs down already meant this was a year to write-off already in aiming for the upper echelons so the pressure was off, meaning our submissions were very much whatever was the flavour of the month. This contest featured one of my favourite ever formats in final vote reveals, with all the DNQ-ing nations being posted in order of receipt and then votes revealed from each current last place nation in the standings, culminating in a nail-biting finale. It was to be a fourth consecutive first-time winner, with Land of DW this time taking the spoils.

Dobago's Entry

Result: 27th

One benefit of not really caring about EOY stats is the lack of pressure to send something "hit" sounding and instead send something leftfield with the possibility of picking up a select few big fans. This is exactly what transpired here with our first rap entry. I had made quite a few French friends at this time and somehow, somewhere was introduced to someone who is apparently considered a legend in French hip hop. This was a more recent release of his and grabbed me instantly, with very intensely spoken verses and a funky, electronic breakdown. It only just qualified, finishing lowest of the advancing entries but performed more admirably in the final by avoiding the bottom 10. Surprisingly, this still remains to this date my best ever result in BJSC with an entirely male vocal song.

Winning Entry

Country: Land of DW

This is one of those rare cases where a song very much out of the usual "winning formula" sounds manages to appeal far beyond its typical base and achieve near universal appraisal. It's simply an extremely powerful piece of music both musically and lyrically and still very much retains the same impact listening to it now as it did at the time. Even the music "video" is oddly mesmerising to me, with the 6 missiles being fired over and over. 106 was another notably high-quality contest and my overwhelming preference for dance music at this point pushed this song down to 8 points in my rankings but I think this would be receiving a fair few more nowadays.

18-Pointer

Country: Cowtermont

Looking back it really did seem like psytrance entries would near certainly garner strong Dobagan appraisal and this was yet another one that took home the gold medal. This track encompasses soft, intriguing vocal chants with new age style instrumentation and makes use of numerous tempo shifts to exhibit the "going on a journey" feel throughout its 7 minute runtime. A surefire banger but I certainly don't rank it along with the likes of 'Free Tibet' nor 'Varanasi', rather with 'Before' in being a very fun ride but not one I have chosen to relive all too often. This song was actually the lowest scoring qualifier in the opposite semi to ours so we were indeed lucky to be able to point it whatsoever but Cowtermont really were on one hell of a run in 2018. Our 15 points went to the infectious afropop track 'Laissez-Les Kouma' and 13 to the bold, brassy banger and namesake of a former DNQ of ours in 'Flamenco'. Re-ranking now, this may actually be one of our weakest collective top 3s of the year, as the winning song certainly tops them all and there'd need to be quite the reshuffle with 'Sisters', 'Your Eyes' and 'World Of Our Love' faring better than many songs previously ranked higher.

I just looked up the 105 thread to remind myself of the vote reveal and it was indeed an entertaining one *.* I see it was a good month for Jadakissnia/Dobago relations as you gave my entry 11 points (Shpongle) and I also gave yours 11 in return!! I haven't heard 'Sonotone' in ages so that was a fun trip down memory lane just now, a fab risky choice.

Our snap voting patterns that month almost extended to the winner, but I gave it one more point with 9! I agree that it was a powerful champion that did not sound like a typical BJSC winner at all. Quite twenty one pilots-esque sonically. That was one of my favourite winners of 2018 and it was great to see Land of DW becoming a new victorious nation.

BJSC 106

Host Country: Land of DW

Overview

This has to be one of my favourite ever contests. Taking place within the backdrop of an amazing summer fuelled by glorious sunshine and England's surprise run to the Semi-finals of that year's World Cup, all whilst I was living the loud London life, 106 served up one of the highest quality batch of songs for any contest in which I've partaken. Not only that but I sent one of my favourite personal entries in quite some time to reasonable success. I have nothing but good memories attached to this one! The run of debut wins came to end with Fljótavík picking up their 4th victory, edging out Cowtermont (although in that year's Best Of contest it would be the latter who would have the last laugh).

Dobago's Entry

Result: 14th

One of my favourite 'more obscure' entries ever with still only c. 27k views across both official YT uploads. Another instrumental song to bring our tally to 3 for the year so far but this one firmly sat beneath the EDM umbrella, it features an epic build up and release of glorious synths much akin to the likes of deadmau5's 'Strobe' which had in fact been an entry exactly one year prior. I particularly like the higher-pitched 5-note repeating chord which is intermittently sprinkled throughout over the main ongoing progressive riffs, it gives the track an almost playful edge. A true aural pleasure to my ears then and now, it has always remained one of my fondest ever submissions and I was extremely happy to see this qualify comfortably and then go on to finish in the top 15.

Winning Entry

Country: Fljótavík

106 was certainly a contest for dancebloc fans with a whole swathe of entries to support but it was something a little more alternative-leaning that ultimately won out. A rare victory for an instrumental entry, this starts out as a beautiful piano piece but evolves into a truly hypnotising ambush of swirling sounds and tempo changes. Then the final minute and a half is almost like a second song starting then bringing back similar elements such as those piercing, high-pitched intricate notes over added layers of synth before a sudden and abrupt ending. It's truly a unique piece of music that is extremely difficult to compare with any BJSC entries past or present and that is likely why it captured enough of an audience to bring home the win. Such was the insanely high quality of the field in 106, I only awarded this 6 points but I think this would be easily competing for a medal position on reflection now.

18-Pointer

Country: Summericia

The Dobagan hit that got away! Indeed, a song I've referred to a number of times recently in discussions relating to missed opportunities and the like, is this simply gorgeous deep house gem. Very much cut from the same cloth as other Eastern European deep house tracks we had sent in previous years, this combines those signature production techniques with a fantastic vocal and amusingly-prophetic lyrics as I would very much find myself in such a situation less than a year later! This was a song I had come across very soon after its release but probably didn't enter it to BJSC for 2 main reasons of subconsciously wanting to explore and evolve away from this sound and because of my penchant for not wanting to self-recycle (although ironically I would recycle my artist for this contest only 5 contests later but that point is for another day) - Brianna of course was the unfortunate vocalist on our first ever DNQ 2 years prior. Of course this was an absolute lock on for my gold medal as soon as the contest opened but truthfully, I look at my entire list of votes and I can recall and hum almost all of them which virtually never ever happens! 'This Wild Darkness' and 'No Times' got my silver and bronze (the latter has stayed with me more since the contest) but 'U Already Know', 'Freewheelin', 'Always Gonna Be' and 'Nero Bali' all deserve shout outs as well. You even had one of my favourite songs from then relatively unknown singer Tom Grennan in the mix! A special contest indeed both for the music and personal memories attached.

BJSC 107

Host Country: Fljótavík

Overview

A first trip to Fljótavík for us was on the menu for 107. At this point we were having a bit of fun with the contest (as our entry may allude to!) and were simply hoping for another one consisting of similar quality to the previous edition. This did not turn out to be the case but there were still some big takeaways. The final results have to go down as one of the most breath-taking and insanely close reveals of all time, with only 12 points separating the entire top SIX, Summericia edging out FARC by a sole point to score yet another maiden win in 2018. I remember loosely following the results thread whilst moderately drunk in a club in Krakow.

Dobago's Entry

Result: DNQ (28th in Semi)

On reflection you can certainly call this going from the sublime to the ridiculous but what the heck. This 'pearl' was a truly random discovery from the deepest confines of YouTube that managed to wriggle its way enough into my affections to jump to the front of the submission queue and, given there was little jeopardy for maintaining a strong run of results during the year, I cannot call sending this one a regret! It's a religious soft pop song that is apparently quite famous in Indonesia, so how and where the algorithm spat it out to me from remains somewhat of a mystery but it certainly has an intriguing charm to it. That's about all the praise I'm willing to give it as I've barely listened to it back ever since. Oh yeah, it not so surprisingly did not qualify and became our worst performing entry up to that point.

Winning Entry

Country: Summericia

As mentioned, edging the win one of the closest finals ever seen was this quirky pop tune with very watered down Crystal Castles-esque production. Summericia of course had received our 18 points in the previous contest but we afforded them nothing this time around, which also brought an end to our streak of pointing every winner so far that year. I certainly see the appeal of this song but it's just not for me. The production I actually find rather irritating and the vocals aren't anything special enough to compensate for that. I've forgotten how it goes as soon it's over truth be told. Looking back, I actually do remembering having the runner up 'Stay Too Long' on my potentials list for a while before its eventual entry into BJSC but I never loved it enough to press the button. I gave that 9 points but I definitely wish I had added 1 or 2 more as that would have certainly been a far more preferable winner.

18-Pointer

Country: Persephonia

A true diamond that feels like it always gives me something fresh and different every single time I listen to it. This is probably one of my earliest discoveries of what is considered IDM (intelligent dance music) and I remember simply being in sheer awe of the complexity and intricacy of all the intimate parts and sounds that made up the track. The paradox between the calm, serene background music and the furious barrage of percussion is a truly engrossing listen and expanded my mind even further regarding what music is capable of being so I can definitely call this a seminal piece in my musical discovery journey. Interestingly it didn't get my top score in the semi but made up for that by receiving the gold medal in the final, switching places with my eventual 15-pointer, another hair-rising instrumental piece in the orchestral epic 'Luna's Moon Dance'. Making it a top 3 of instrumentals, the bronze went to serial impressers Cowtermont with the gritty and chaotic 'Multiverse'. Dance mostly dominated my votes as usual but I'd still stick with this top 3 now in the same order so a rare case of stability this time around!

Ah we've reached Hypocrite! The main thing I remember about that contest is me jokingly saying at the beginning of the final results thread that I was around to claim my victory and then it actually happened with a song that I never in a million years thought would make top 10 ne'ermind about win 😂

'Journey' got 15 points from me, quite the enchanting entry and very inspired choice <3 only topped that month for me by Linea Aspera's 'Malarone' which has to be up there with my very best discoveries ever. I thought I remembered voting for 'Sonotone' but appears I didn't, I may just be confusing it with Orelsan's 'Basique', nonetheless I am sure I do remember enjoying it more than the typical French entry. Meanwhile I wasn't sure if I voted for 'Hello E' yet I gave it 11 points (so I'll notch that down as 'need to listen to it again' too), 'Sonotone' has stuck more in my memory out of the two!

102-104 was a run of winners I didn't vote for (not nearly the extent of my current dry spell x) but then followed by two big favourites for me, 'thoughts & prayers' just missed my medals but then 'Hypocrite' got my 18 and definitely stands out as a surprise winner in the best way possible

And ooh for the first Persephonia entry to appear as one of your 18s (and pleasing to see you still hold it in such high regard now, a very flattering write-up there!) - it remains my only entry to the main contest from before the 21st century, and even then I only discovered it because I was specifically looking for a 90s song for the 90s vs. 00s spinoff (the way that concept panned out it wasn't my entry for it in the end, but I still strongly wanted to send it somewhere so I just kept it for the main contest). µ-Ziq is still going strong making bangers to this day, his 2024 album 'Grush' is stacked with tunes. (Yay for 'Yarada Lij' and 'Sisters' being mentioned as well - the former was one I sent with very low expectations and it going as high as the top 20 felt very rewarding, whereas the latter as much as I still enjoy it I think hasn't held up that well and I slightly regret not sending 'Electric Pow Wow Drum' by them instead, I don't know if that one would have made the top 10 but I should have known it'd hold up better in my affections in the long run, it's a rare case of me considering multiple songs by the same artist and my choice being consciously motivated by thinking about which one would do better in the contest which makes it feel like one of my hollower top 10 hits oop)

Can't really say I've checked 'Try To Fight' in a long time oops despite gifting me my first win. Super cheap as nabbed it off PJSC lol.

'Lost In Istanbul' is Dobagan coded so wasn't really surprised you loved it so much but couldn't quite remember if it got your 18 so nice to be reminded of that!

On 02/01/2026 at 19:12, dandy* said:

Ah we've reached Hypocrite! The main thing I remember about that contest is me jokingly saying at the beginning of the final results thread that I was around to claim my victory and then it actually happened with a song that I never in a million years thought would make top 10 ne'ermind about win 😂

You were clearly onto something!

Yes it's interesting to see how the contest & tastes develop because right now I'd say it'd be a lock on for the top 10 if not an outright victory but back then perhaps it would have seemed more of a longshot.

On 02/01/2026 at 19:35, Brer said:

'Journey' got 15 points from me, quite the enchanting entry and very inspired choice <3 only topped that month for me by Linea Aspera's 'Malarone' which has to be up there with my very best discoveries ever. I thought I remembered voting for 'Sonotone' but appears I didn't, I may just be confusing it with Orelsan's 'Basique', nonetheless I am sure I do remember enjoying it more than the typical French entry. Meanwhile I wasn't sure if I voted for 'Hello E' yet I gave it 11 points (so I'll notch that down as 'need to listen to it again' too), 'Sonotone' has stuck more in my memory out of the two!

102-104 was a run of winners I didn't vote for (not nearly the extent of my current dry spell x) but then followed by two big favourites for me, 'thoughts & prayers' just missed my medals but then 'Hypocrite' got my 18 and definitely stands out as a surprise winner in the best way possible

And ooh for the first Persephonia entry to appear as one of your 18s (and pleasing to see you still hold it in such high regard now, a very flattering write-up there!) - it remains my only entry to the main contest from before the 21st century, and even then I only discovered it because I was specifically looking for a 90s song for the 90s vs. 00s spinoff (the way that concept panned out it wasn't my entry for it in the end, but I still strongly wanted to send it somewhere so I just kept it for the main contest). µ-Ziq is still going strong making bangers to this day, his 2024 album 'Grush' is stacked with tunes. (Yay for 'Yarada Lij' and 'Sisters' being mentioned as well - the former was one I sent with very low expectations and it going as high as the top 20 felt very rewarding, whereas the latter as much as I still enjoy it I think hasn't held up that well and I slightly regret not sending 'Electric Pow Wow Drum' by them instead, I don't know if that one would have made the top 10 but I should have known it'd hold up better in my affections in the long run, it's a rare case of me considering multiple songs by the same artist and my choice being consciously motivated by thinking about which one would do better in the contest which makes it feel like one of my hollower top 10 hits oop)

Yeah Sonotone has definitely held up well from this era of mine. 'Basique' was one I really enjoyed especially post-contest.

Even more impressive that it was over 20 years old at the time of its appearance in the contest! Ah yes I remember that spin-off, we had to submit 2 songs and it was a 50/50 choice which one of yours would actually be selected. My 00s choice was 'Played A-Live' but I was happier that I got my 90s choice in the end. Yes 'Hasty Boom Alert' really got me interested in the IDM scene (and the first Squarepusher entry into Club Bizarre from around the same time) so much so that it probably led to my discovery of Minor Science's 'For Want Of Gelt' which iirc you said was one of your favourite ever UP discoveries so I was pleased to return the favour with that one!

BJSC 108

Host Country: Summericia

Overview

Over to the friendly lands of Summericia for the next contest and this one stands out to me for the brutal semi results where a number of fancied songs fell short of the qualification line. We ourselves lost a then joint-record 4 songs from our semi roster. This was another contest where I was on holiday although without the potential concern for voting deadlines this time around. The final results played out as a battle between the 74 debutants, with Cor Lupus narrowly edging out Jadakissnia for their second victory just over a year after their first.

Dobago's Entry

Result: DNQ (20th in Semi)

It was back to ultra-obscure dance for this contest with an entry of fewer than 10K YT hits and a featured singer with barely a hint of an online footprint and a Spotify legacy matching The Frog Chorus. Despite that this song really struck me as an uplifting summery house track (indeed well-suited for this contest) with a very striking vocal overlay that felt like a pretty safe bet for at least progressing to the final. In what was a very tight and competitive semi however it just missed the post by 3 points with an unusually high score for a non-qualifer. As such we suffered our first ever back to back DNQs which was a painful one to take as we really didn't envisage this one having too much trouble but I suspect it fell just a bit too much on the generic side. Or it had a bad semi draw, let's go with that old chestnut. Admittedly, it's another one I've not often revisited but it remains a great shout for a generic summer playlist when running out of more obvious song choices.

Winning Entry

Country: Cor Lupus

Impressively winning with a song with barely more views than our own entry, it was another Cor Lupus victory that unfortunately evaded our points. Again, a very aptly titled song title for the contest but this really does very little for me. It's another one of those pop winners that I file under "nothing stands out" and "immediately forgot how it goes." Much like with the previous winning song, I find the vocal rather irritating especially those weird inflections in the middle 8. Certainly not my cup of tea but as it transpired neither was this contest in general with us in fact snubbing the entire top 3 ('Sinking' and 'Europa' being the other podium songs). 108 therefore also became the first instance of us not pointing the winning entry for 2 contests in a row to add to the mire.

18-Pointer

Country: Cowtermont

As previously alluded to, Cowtermont's 2018 was probably the best ever year by a nation in all of our time competing. Having already given them 1 gold, 2 silvers and a bronze so far they struck gold again with this peach of a song from long-time fave artist of ours in Darren Styles. Teaming up with fellow trance heavyweights W&W, they went down far more of a eurodance route than their traditional roots and cooked up a truly special song that gets the pulse going in any situation, with an overpowering explosion of joy to boot. It amazingly won its semi (despite us not giving it the full 12 points!) before ultimately slipping to fifth in the final standings which was still an exceptional result for a song that would be certainly considered on the generic side in certain quarters. Without a doubt this was our biggest and best takeaway from 108 and still reigns supreme over our silver medallist, the absorbing trance piece 'Connection Through Sound' and our bronze, which managed to break into the dance stronghold, the infectious desi-anthem 'Sip Sip'. I would likely push up our original 12-pointer (in both the semi and final in fact), the enchanting spoken word 'Liberation' nowadays however. Elsewhere, 'joy' and 'Wriggle' stick out as fun discoveries in an otherwise middling final in terms of overall quality.

BJSC 109

Host Country: Cor Lupus

Overview

The penultimate contest of 2018 saw another return to Cor Lupus. After back to back DNQs and an increasingly hectic lifestyle, this was the first and so far only ever time I considered taking an active break from the contest. Admittedly I was far more bothered about performing well back at this time and was beginning to feel somewhat disillusioned by a lack of success which I had enjoyed in previous years. I remember saying to myself to submit for 109 and if it DNQ'd then I'd probably take a step back which seems unnecessarily short-sighted on reflection as over time I've come to appreciate the contest for far more than simply doing well in it personally. As the year was coming to end, some people were beginning to wonder whether this may be the year without an Aeroche victory however those concerns were duly extinguished as they edged out FARC in what was another very narrow victory.

Dobago's Entry

Result: 32nd

Again, likely as a result of spending much time this year around French company, another long-established artist of theirs seeped their way into my sphere and one of their most recent releases morphed into an eventual Dobagan BJSC submission. This time however it was a rare foray into pop which was certainly a risk given how poorly our last entry from that genre fared. But I was more confident in this one, whose predominant feature was a gradually increasing tempo which I found particularly unique and engrossing, certainly living up to its title. The vocal is heartfelt, passionate and very much captures the "cry for help" call that we ourselves were internally exhibiting. To great relief, it qualified quite comfortably in fact before slipping to an eventual 32nd position but at this point we were in no position to be picky, more simply grateful that we were back on the qualifying horse.

Winning Entry

Country: Aeroche

With no relation to the legendary Italian DJ, it was another pop song that took home the spoils, although this time one for which we did spare a couple of points, bringing an end to that particular mini-drought. I find the vocals a lot more striking and mesh together well with the dark, moody production. Although certainly not a song I'm head over heels about (I didn't recall it from name alone) it's a decent listen and unsurpingly picked up support across the board. The final gap between this and the runner-up was 4 points which incidentally was how many more I gave to said runner-up so I would have preferred a swap at the top (just like with 106 which also saw FARC's entry on the wrong side) but it's a decent track that doesn't at all sound dated despite being over 10 years old now.

18-Pointer

Country: Tinnmark

A song widely considered to be one of, if not the, greatest house tracks ever created. Of course from a well established name in the game, this is the final song on Prydz's only ever studio album, entitled the same. Back then it actually wasn't one I immediately recognised from name alone but it certainly sounded somewhat familiar when I gave it a spin. What is there to say about this? It is simply a masterpiece in EDM production and there's really nothing more for me to add on top of its already eternalised legacy. It was considered one of the favourites for the win immediately from the outset, if only just from the inevitable slew of medal positions it would be receiving from the trusty dancebloc but ultimately had to settle for third which was still nothing at all to be sniffed at. Interestingly, it was pointed out that our own entry shared many similar characteristics which didn't strike me initially but turned out to be a rather amusing coincidence. Obviously there was no battle for our 18 points, with 15 going to the uplifting pop song 'Safe' (rather surprising looking back but I'm a bit of a sucker for Nico Santos' voice (see 83 for more)) and 13 to the glorious 'Im Nin’Alu' which had been a UK top 20 hit over 30 years beforehand.