Thank you to the 28 people who submitted an entry for the 14th edition of the song contest. The list has been accepted so we're all good to move on to the voting stage of the competition.

Below you will find a list of all the submitted songs. You have two weeks to listen to them and decide which ones you love the most, I'll be closing the voting period at 23:59 on Saturday 29th August. Hopefully I should then be able to present the results on the bank holiday weekend.

To vote, simply send me a PM with your favourite TEN songs listed in the following order as per the traditional Eurovision voting system:

12 POINTS: (your favourite song)

10 POINTS:

08 POINTS:

07 POINTS:

06 POINTS:

05 POINTS:

04 POINTS:

03 POINTS:

02 POINTS:

01 POINT: (your 10th favourite song)

Anyone is welcome to vote. However if you submitted a song you must send through some votes or your entry will face the horror of having its final points total reduced by one third. And nobody wants that.

Without further ado, I present to you your competitors:

01 Đorđe Balašević - Ne lomite mi bagrenje - (1986) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyMIrlUt37M

02 Ani DiFranco - Untouchable Face - (1996) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ham2PqGjUzY

03 Sibylle Baier - I Lost Something in the Hills - (1972) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-oERBst8L0

04 PJ Harvey - 50 Ft Queenie - (1993) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKLiU7Hq93w

05 Natalie Merchant - Wonder - (1995) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zpYFAzhAZY

06 Elvis Costello - I Want You - (1986) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CykE5DFJVr0

07 Melanie - Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) - (1970) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1sFa2ilgN4

08 Dory Previn - The Lady With The Braid - (1971) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaXZY-ZuhVQ

09 Rufus Wainwright - April Fools - (1998) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIF6f3tFxBw

10 Tom Waits - Downtown Train - (1985) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtZKkCIVmI

11 Iris DeMent - Let The Mystery Be - (1992) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlaoR5m4L80

12 Kate Bush - Ken - (1990) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ns_I5rsHRA

13 Leonard Cohen - First We Take Manhattan - (1988) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTTC_fD598A

14 Exuma - Dambala - (1970) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q4rXpaOhAU

15 Laurie Anderson - Sharkey's Day - (1984) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqRt6tBnX-0

16 Gabrielle - Forget About the World - (1996) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKGGFnNu1p0

17 Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colours - (1971) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyP0Sy9KFf0

18 Fish - A Gentleman's Excuse Me - (1990) - https://youtu.be/WAmaCvHx4mg?list=RDWAmaCvHx4mg

19 Noriyuki Makihara - Mo Koinante Shinai - (1992) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naz0-szzYXk

20 Alanis Morissette - That I Would Be Good - (1998) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0noUjTwghM

21 Laura Nyro - Captain For Dark Mornings - (1969) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRzs-OtL6gw

22 Scott Walker - Such a Small Love - (1967) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXfUlDEXZuA

23 Aimee Mann - Stupid Thing - (1993) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTm7aZE6u6w

24 Joan Osborne - St Teresa - (1996) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbAeTywPiP4

25 Youssou N'Dour - The Lion (Gaiende) - (1989) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxnkYygQrZU

26 Buffy Saine-Marie - The Big Ones Get Away - (1992) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5o8gwt26To

27 Stina Nordenstam - Little Star - (1994) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMaivdJ2jc

28 Jewel - Foolish Games - (1995) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RlDaqtFHtA

Happy listening all!

D*

PLAYLISTS

(Note if you use the Spotify or Apple playlists you will still need to watch the Kate Bush track on YouTube as it isn't available on either platform)

If someone does make Apple or Youtube playlists then I'll edit them in here

I know 21 out of 28 artists (not these particular songs in some cases)

I knew 21 of the acts already too!

Although there's only 8 (including my own) where I'm really familiar with the songs chosen.

So excited to listen to these songs.

I also considered three of the other artists here. For one of them I had a particular song in mind (dandy* will know 😉), one of them I ended up re-listening to three albums in full to potentially find an entry and although I love the albums, nothing screamed out at me to enter, and the third was just an artist I had in mind but without any particular song choices.

I can host a synctube listenthrough on Monday 24th August if that's alright with everyone. The BJSC will have finished by that time.

Hopefully I’ll be around and at my laptop. Sadly they’re just not worth joining on my phone

In case anyone finds it interesting or makes a nice discovery... From artists that are not represented here, I also considered these two songs:

I did think Joni Mitchell was a glaring omission from the entry list. I was tempted myself but couldn't decide on what I would send from her, I think a lot of her songs are brilliant but they're often growers.

Suzanne Vega was entered but we ended up vetoing both Luka and Marlene on the Wall. A shame we didn't end up with a song of hers in the contest as she has a good back catalogue of potential entries.

@matto interesting to see you choose a 90s Joni track as it's not often referenced among her work - but I really enjoy both the Turbulent Indigo and Night Drive Home albums and Sex Kills would have been an interesting inclusion

I guess I might as well say 'Marlene On The Wall' was the song I originally semi-confirmed - it's a song I've occasionally toyed with the idea of sending to BJSC as a 'forgotten retro hit' moment but I'm not sure how forgotten it really is. I know it very well because my mum played it a lot when I was younger but I'm not sure I've ever heard it outside of the context of that! I probably won't ever send it now if it's been vetoed here but it's an excellent song. Curious to know who the other person who originally confirmed her was (which I guess we may never know now unless they reveal themselves). Tut tut at them actually trying one of her two much more streamed songs though. x

There are actually two (well, one and a half) songs that are on here which I also know well via my mum's playlists - had to check if 'I Want You' was the song I thought it was because it's a generic title and I woudn't have known who the artist was, but it is indeed, TIL that wasn't a hit single. The other one I know is 'First We Take Manhattan' although it's not the Leonard Cohen version I know, I assume it's the Jennifer Warnes version which did actually chart... at the giddy heights of #74. I'm really learning here that my mum was into some relatively deep cuts! I don't think I know any of the other songs although a couple of the titles are vaguely ringing a bell so will see if I recognise them.

Kind of a shame to only see one song from the 60s for this theme tbh.

1 minute ago, Bror said:

Kind of a shame to only see one song from the 60s for this theme tbh.

There are two unless my eyes are deceiving me!

21 Laura Nyro - Captain For Dark Mornings - (1969)

22 Scott Walker - Such a Small Love - (1967)

Looking forward to listening through these I recognise lots of names but not sure about specific songs.

I remember really liking that PJ Harvey one though <3

Oh yes oops - totally missed Scott Walker despite being literally right next to the other one haha.

Kind of a shame to only see *two songs from the 60s for this theme then. x

Laura Nyro was a brilliant artist ❤️ Probably also quite safe to say she was ahead of her time.

I also discovered Suzanne Vega through my mum haha. I mean I knew 'Luka' and the dance remix of 'Tom's Diner' already but I didn't know who the singer was and it wasn't until my mum got a CD of hers that I started diving in.

Some fab entries here. Great to see laura nyro she would have been choice number 2 if number 1 was vetoed. I have entered her songs into bjsc before and ditto buffy. Also lovely seeing iris de ment dory previn as lesser known acts i rate. plenty of faves in the list for me but also loads i dont know. Well done everyone!

I spy a definite top 40 hit in there despite the "no charting songs" rule! Not complaining though as I really like the song. An interesting list of artists anyway, some I know, many I haven't heard of - looking forward to giving them a listen this week.

26 minutes ago, Bror said:

Oh yes oops - totally missed Scott Walker despite being literally right next to the other one haha.

Kind of a shame to only see *two songs from the 60s for this theme then. x

I’d have liked to have seen more from the 60s and 70s as well - but I think people naturally gravitate to the 90s unless the theme specifically restricts them

1 minute ago, Mangø said:

I spy a definite top 40 hit in there despite the "no charting songs" rule! Not complaining though as I really like the song. An interesting list of artists anyway, some I know, many I haven't heard of - looking forward to giving them a listen this week.

Oh there’s more than one… I think there was still 4 in the end. But they all stuck to the 7 figures or less streaming criteria. I was hugely surprised just how low the streams for one of them was, probably the one that jumps out?

As an aside, I’m planning on starting a thread/poll to see what direction people would like the contest to go in soon - tighter veto criteria or not?

8 minutes ago, dandy* said:

As an aside, I’m planning on starting a thread/poll to see what direction people would like the contest to go in soon - tighter veto criteria or not?

I'll be voting against tighter criteria - as long as the song isn't too well known I don't think it should matter that it charted for a week at #37 in 1993 or whatever. I guess a Spotify streams threshold is a better way to do it but even then it doesn't give the whole story of how well known a song is.