Yeah, I took it waaaay too literally thinking about what songs I’d heard in a club and deciding I had nothing outside of Lush Life & Midnight Sun. I was closer to sending Words with Alesso than I was anything else, because it was a dance song. I guess you win some and you lose some with bending the rules because I happily sent a song not on Spotify to a Spotify round 😂

Out of pure interest - would I have gotten away with sending Stateside to this round (or any other for that matter)? I immediately ruled it out for feeling much more like a PinkPantheress song but was I overthinking that too?

17 minutes ago, RobBot said:

Out of pure interest - would I have gotten away with sending Stateside to this round (or any other for that matter)? I immediately ruled it out for feeling much more like a PinkPantheress song but was I overthinking that too?

Gah “Stateside” would have been a high ranker for me (and I’d imagine it would have been allowed).

@RobBot Yeah, as I’ve said you to privately, I’m sorry to say that pretty much any of your options (Eurosummer, Words, Stateside or either of the “big 2”) would have been much better options in my opinion and likely would have seen you through to the next round 🙁

I do think you’ve done incredibly well to get as far as you did though. On paper, at the start I felt like she was potentially a finalist contender but she seemed to have a bit of a rough ride of it throughout the competition. I always thought she was generally loved on here but I often felt like she was catching strays somewhat a little too regularly!

On a positive note, whilst I’ve always been a Zara fan, I would never have really said i “stanned” her or anything. But week after week of delivering bop after bop, has really made me realise actually how much I really love her and how much of a star she is.

Oh and as always, justice for Love Me Land xx

MOTHER

46 minutes ago, jimwatts said:

In this case I'd say something like 'In Our Lifetime' for Texas or 'Eurosummer' for Zara as Rob has acknowledged would have been fine and in keeping with that. However I know some people's mileage may vary and it's down to the mentors on how they want to play the game. At the same time, the broader themes mean a definition like this also allows a place for something like the Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix of 'Confusion', and while I'm well aware it's not to everyone's taste, the fact this is taking place in a pop forum doesn't negate something like this being used when the mentor feels it's right.

I would never have thought to play In Our Lifetime as a club banger, it's too slow (94 BPM) and doesn't feel clubby to me, maybe R&B club in the early hours, depends what club we are at I guess! Summer Son would have worked but has already been played. The original Mr Haze might have just about done it too, but I decided I didn't want any comments for not following the spirit of the theme, and to just lean in with a remix.

1 minute ago, gooddelta said:

I would never have thought to play In Our Lifetime as a club banger, it's too slow (94 BPM) and doesn't feel clubby to me, maybe R&B club in the early hours, depends what club we are at I guess! Summer Son would have worked but has already been played. The original Mr Haze might have just about done it too, but I decided I didn't want any comments for not following the spirit of the theme, and to just lean in with a remix.

I was wondering if you'd play the Wu Tang version of 'Say What You Want' but obviously you'd have wanted to save the original of that for the final. I think you actually played the perfect choice but just got unlucky.

Lesson learnt for Series 4 - push your luck and defend yourself later x

@RobBot Zara was actually my first choice (as I suspect it may have also been for others?) because I thought she'd wipe the floor with the rest of the competition but I'm glad she went to a true Zara stan in the end! Everyone would have played it differently and I wasn't crazy about every one of her song choices but I still think you played a great game. I'm sad we didn't get to hear 'Eurosummer' though!

8 minutes ago, Mangø said:

I was wondering if you'd play the Wu Tang version of 'Say What You Want' but obviously you'd have wanted to save the original of that for the final. I think you actually played the perfect choice but just got unlucky.

Must admit, I really don't like that remix so never would have played it! 🤣 But yeah, Say What You Want was being saved for when I 100% knew I'd be in trouble, which tbf might well have been this round if the judges had voted another way. But I did want to get Can't Resist out too before I departed.

I'd have probably been more likely to play Hi with Wu-Tang Clan, which I do really like. But it was only about 20th in my list of 'could send' songs.

As I said in my post 'Stateside' absolutely feels like a Zara song to me! (Maybe it helps that it blew up in the context of a wider moment for Zara's career in general but I do think she adds a lot to it)

5 hours ago, jimwatts said:

This was while submissions for the last round were open - I very nearly replied to it then to say: "surely the original 'Danceteria' and 'Stateside' would have been fine for this theme too?", and I wish I had now. I just got anxious about perceived impartiality as a judge when it comes to people's selections.

However, I would say to the remaining mentors or for future series, that when there's a theme such as this, I would treat it as a template rather than a rigid structure. This is a pop forum competition after all - not every artist will have something tailor made for every theme, but if you can showcase a side to your artist that leans into that direction I think most people will respect that. In this case I'd say something like 'In Our Lifetime' for Texas or 'Eurosummer' for Zara as Rob has acknowledged would have been fine and in keeping with that. However I know some people's mileage may vary and it's down to the mentors on how they want to play the game. At the same time, the broader themes mean a definition like this also allows a place for something like the Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix of 'Confusion', and while I'm well aware it's not to everyone's taste, the fact this is taking place in a pop forum doesn't negate something like this being used when the mentor feels it's right.

See I disagree with this personally, I think if there is a theme it should be specific and stuck to. So the last round should have been a remix for everyone, for instance, so it doesn’t leave it open for debatable club bangers.

I do think if people make a theme fit for them, then fair enough, but I do probably judge their choices a little harsher for it.

Each to their own though. ❤️

 

4 hours ago, RobBot said:

Yeah, I took it waaaay too literally thinking about what songs I’d heard in a club and deciding I had nothing outside of Lush Life & Midnight Sun. I was closer to sending Words with Alesso than I was anything else, because it was a dance song. I guess you win some and you lose some with bending the rules because I happily sent a song not on Spotify to a Spotify round 😂

Out of pure interest - would I have gotten away with sending Stateside to this round (or any other for that matter)? I immediately ruled it out for feeling much more like a PinkPantheress song but was I overthinking that too?

The thing that solidified you as 200% Zara for me! 😂 I’m still not convinced Rich asked then question about it! 🤣

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Spiceboy

3 hours ago, Bror said:

As I said in my post 'Stateside' absolutely feels like a Zara song to me! (Maybe it helps that it blew up in the context of a wider moment for Zara's career in general but I do think she adds a lot to it)

The more you know! I remember I got voted down for “cheating” and it feeling “not in the spirit of the competition” with Eric Saade in Series 2 when I sent Imagine - a song where he had joint credit, so he actually contributed more to the song than Zara does to Stateside. Unless that’s just because Tone Damli was a woman in the male category?

Yeah I think smuggling female artists into the solo male category will always raise some eyebrows tbf (see Tinashegate).

4 minutes ago, Bror said:

Yeah I think smuggling female artists into the solo male category will always raise some eyebrows tbf (see Tinashegate).

I think Tinashe was a bit different because Calvin’s vocals aren’t present on the song at all.

HRVY and Darin both sent songs with female features (and I’m expecting Normani to pop up at some point with Sam) and I don’t think there was any issue with those?

Female lead artists I should say! (Although then Tinashe was the featured artist lol but yeah, that is a bit different with her being the only vocalist on it).

Obviously at the end of the day it's not against the rules but it's also not against the rules for people to decide to penalise such entries either x

Sits here quietly knowing some of my songs featured a very prominent female vocal….