Welcome to the 19th edition of the Pop Forum Song Contest! The winner of the last contest, RobBot, was unavailable to host this time, so as the runner up for approximately the five hundredth time on here, I will take the reigns, so I'll just plug my entry from the last time here x

So I have used the Pop Art/Art Pop theme before, but that edition was open choice so I'd like to lean more into it here - Art Pop, inspired by the movement of Pop Art's integration of high and low culture, is described as deviating from traditional music norms by emphasising imagery, style and gesture over personal expression.

We will celebrate that genre and related ones in this edition which is all about Experimental, Left-field or weird/quirky pop music. Your entry must in some way be a little unique or different from your typical pop song, it could be in terms of playing with structure like switch up in sound halfway through, it could have unusual vocal or instrumental elements or it could just be lyrically quite enigmatic or be about an odd subject matter. It can really be any song you personally see as slightly weird or quirky and that you wouldn't expect to hear on the radio or in another song contest. Here's a decent summary from reddit of the sort of thing you could look for:

Sonic elements of the genre include a fusion of pop with elements of electronica, baroque pop, chamber pop, classical music, and art rock. The genre often uses eclectic instruments and employs a large number of samples to build out its sound. Many artists use the piano as a key feature, but not always (and often the piano is replaced by some form of synthesizer (sic)). Unique singing styles and complex lyrics detailing a number of themes often unexplored by mainstream pop are also common. There is also often a visual component to the genre, including high concept videos and performances.

Please remember that while dabbling in other genres can count as experimental, the primary genre must be pop and it should still be recognisable as this, as a word of advice try to avoid instrumentals or anything where the instrumental takes over a large portion of the song.

Some artists that you could use as starting points to explore (obvs don't be cheap and confirm any of these x) are Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Lana Del Rey, Lykke Li, Marina, La Roux, Lorde, Caroline Polachek and Grimes and also classic artists such as David Bowie, The Beatles, Kate Bush, Bjork, Pet Shop Boys, some of Madonna's work and Talking Heads. I like to think that makes enough sense, but if you need any further clarification, I'm happy to give some x

Please also take note of the following rules for PFSC:

• Any song entered must not have reached the Top 100 in the Official UK Chart

• Any artist entered must not appear in the Top 100 in the Official UK Chart during a contest's confirmations period

• Any song entered must not have been entered to another song contest on BuzzJack (please remember the song contest entry histories)

• Any artist entered must not have an Artist Forum (Club) on BuzzJack

• Any song considered to have an unfair advantage over others - that may fall under traditional veto rules widely used on BuzzJack, or that is considered to have had wide exposure to BuzzJack members - may be vetoed; furthermore, any song not considered pop that could otherwise be entered to BuzzJack Song Contest, Nuggets or Club Bizarre in line with other genres may be vetoed

• Any artist is entitled to one entry per contest; this will be on a first come, first served basis

Once you have found your entry, please confirm it using this link

You have one week to confirm your entries, until Friday 21st August 23:59 (though I'm open to a weekend extension if people feel they need it), voting thread will follow shortly after this.

Good luck x

Uploading Attachment...

umm you got the wrong link

you saw nothing x

15 minutes ago, uhsting said:

umm you got the wrong link

Nadah to see here

This theme is right up my street so I've confirmed something already.

Submitted something I’ve loved for a while and I think it fits the theme lol.

So happy to see this contest back - it’s been a while!

Sorry about this, but could whoever sent entry with initials MJ - MO please drop me a PM to let me know who you are as you've put the artist name as your Buzzjack username! (unless this is indeed the artist joining especially for this which would be quite a turnout!)

Love this theme!

Confirmed something I think hits the brief pretty well.

i've sent something labelled "art pop" in rateyourmusic x also the artist as their first genre

I’ll give @Jaz13music a nudge for this one too. (No pressure - I know there are quite a few coming at once and you’re going away.)

4 hours ago, Julian_ said:

I’ll give @Jaz13music a nudge for this one too. (No pressure - I know there are quite a few coming at once and you’re going away.)

Thanks again, that’s great! I’ll get my thinking cap on! Friday deadline might be a push, but I’ll give it my best shot.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Jaz13music

Have a feeling this would not have been the theme Rob would have chosen if he had hosted ddd.

(no complaints from me ofc x)

Whoever is hosting gets free reign of the theme! Makes no sense asking them to host a theme they probably wouldn't care about as much as a theme that they could choose.

I know, just making an observation!