I never thought Fly On The Wings of Love would get all the way to the final when I gave it a wildcard, I'm glad I'm not the only one with a soft spot for a bit of turn of the century eurodance cheese x Guilt and Firestone are quite of their time, but I do still enjoy both, the former in particular still holds up well.

I prefer the Bananarama version of Venus, sorry if that's sacrilege x

42. Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) 924pts

Writers - Greg Kurstin, Jorgen Elofsson, Ali Tamposi, David Gamson

Top scores - JackJones 50, ElectroBoy 48, Alex! 48

Low scores - Liamski689 1, Bror 1, danG 2, jimwatts 2

Average score - 21.5

Stronger was originally intended for Leona Lewis who turned it down. It ended up being an eighth top 10 hit for Kelly Clarkson, spending two weeks at number 8 and then returning to that peak position four weeks later. It was also her third Billboard chart topper.

3 bops in a row , shame Kelly isn't higher though 😢

Shame Venus is so low and below the cheesy Bananarama cover! The Boys Are Back In Town is a rock classic, it came on at the pub during a secondary school reunion a year ago and it fit the mood perfectly. I liked Stronger when I was extremely young as it was on the radio all the time but now I don't think it's very good.

I'm not at all surprised that the Bananarama version of 'Venus' is higher and I did know that iteration first, but prefer Shocking Blue's in the long run.

I hope 'Cruel Summer' finishes higher from their two songs. Interesting that the Ace of Base version peaked at #8 too!

I think both versions of 'Venus' offer something different but I do prefer Bananarama's if I'm honest. The Shocking Blue one is good too but it's a bit too out there for me. I quite like Don Pablo's Animals version of it too, and that got all the way up to #4 in 1990 (though I can't recall where it finished in the #4s poll).

'Stronger' is a timeless pop classic, I'm shocked it's gone out this early, I thought it was really well regarded on here!

I wasn't aware that Stronger was intended for Leona Lewis. I think it suits Kelly pretty well though.

Yeah I can't really imagine what Leona would have done with it!

3 minutes ago, Mangø said:

Yeah I can't really imagine what Leona would have done with it!

I just looked it up on Wikipedia. It looks like Kelly Clarkson and Greg Kurstin made a few changes to it and added lyrics to it. So it’s safe to say what Leona was offered wasn’t what Kelly released.

Bananarama’s version of Venus rated higher than Shocking Blue’s is quite a statement!

Famously one of the few examples of both versions reaching US #1

Definitely prefer Bananarama’s version of Venus! But likewise I ranked Cruel Summer higher (though unlike Venus - I like the Bananarama and Ace of Base versions equally - though AoB had two mixes, and I prefer one to the other).

Stronger is the first song from the top half of my votes to go out, though none of the songs in the final who I voted for in the very first round have gone yet (my top 12 - Kelly was 13).

The good old Buzzjack (relative) recency bias with Shocking Blue vs Bananarama, I’m afraid :(

It’s always been a millennial weighted poll to an extent I guess which is fine. There’s never been a winner from before 1985 or after 2005 and I doubt that will change this time!

20 minutes ago, chartjack2 said:

The good old Buzzjack (relative) recency bias with Shocking Blue vs Bananarama, I’m afraid :(

Or maybe Bananarama's version leans in more to people's pop tastes rather than being to do with recency? A 40 year old song isn't really that much more recent compared to a 56 year old song!

4 hours ago, Julian_ said:

It’s always been a millennial weighted poll to an extent I guess which is fine. There’s never been a winner from before 1985 or after 2005 and I doubt that will change this time!

Out of interest, do you think Live Forever should be counted as a 90s song (release), or a 2020s song (chart peak) where it has been placed in the chronological order of the finalists?

Just wondering as I’ve noticed a few people saying they think that it might win the poll?

4 hours ago, Mangø said:

Or maybe Bananarama's version leans in more to people's pop tastes rather than being to do with recency? A 40 year old song isn't really that much more recent compared to a 56 year old song!

I’m sure you’re right. Though I think Shocking Blue’s version was as ‘pop’ as anything else at the time it was released.

5 hours ago, chartjack2 said:

The good old Buzzjack (relative) recency bias with Shocking Blue vs Bananarama, I’m afraid :(

and I'm on Shocking Blue's side. Sorry!

41. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - The Message 927pts

Writers - Edward G. Fletcher, Melle Mel, Clifton 'Jiggs' Chase, Sylvia Robinson

Top scores - Jade 45, Scone1 45, Julian 44, Chez Wombat 44

Low scores - Alex! 2, Leonardo 2, GreyAsh 3

Average score - 21.6

One of the earliest hip hop singles, The Message still features highly in polls and was the highest placed song from the 80s in Rolling Stones' 2004 list of the Greatest Songs Of All Time.

40. The Beloved - Sweet Harmony 936pts

Writers - Jon Marsh, Helena Marsh

Top scores - Julian 50, dandy* 49, jszmiles 47, DaTilt 47

Low scores - ...ready for it 1, ElectroBoy 2, Mack 2

Average score - 21.8

From 1993, this was the only top 10 hit for the London group. One of the models in the video was a young Tess Daly.

6 hours ago, Julian_ said:

It’s always been a millennial weighted poll to an extent I guess which is fine. There’s never been a winner from before 1985 or after 2005 and I doubt that will change this time!

2010 is calling this time around!