Of the 3 categories this feels increasingly wide open.

Actually worried for Tom Grennan and Lewis Capaldi as they are not getting the top scores that Calvin and Damien have been getting

Just now, Herbs said:

Of the 3 categories this feels increasingly wide open.

Actually worried for Tom Grennan and Lewis Capaldi as they are not getting the top scores that Calvin and Damien have been getting

Yeah all the actually pop acts will be eliminated come the finals :D

4 minutes ago, ElectroBoy said:

I was going to put it last as it feels like a cheat tbh. But then the same thing happened with Fred again last year when they basically used a Romy track one round to help swerve an elimination.

Tbf other males have used collabs in previous rounds (Darin, HRVY to name a couple). I don't blame team Calvin after being robbed of Promises last round lmao.

Yeah this is probably the hardest round to call!

1 minute ago, Scene said:

Tbf other males have used collabs in previous rounds (Darin, HRVY to name a couple). I don't blame team Calvin after being robbed of Promises last round lmao.

Aye but the difference being they're the lead vocalist.

I get it’s a sort of grey area. But it does feel like a cheat.

Same as if David Guetta was used

Edited October 2Oct 2 by ElectroBoy

1 minute ago, ElectroBoy said:

Yeah all the actually pop acts will be eliminated come the finals :D

I mean Ngl I would prefer some variety

I was heavily into cheesy pop before I discovered indie pop and more singer/songwriter artists. All are examples of pop music

3 minutes ago, ElectroBoy said:

Yeah all the actually pop acts will be eliminated come the finals :D

What does “actually pop” mean though? I feel like for some people it means “the stuff I’m familiar with”.

Just now, Julian_ said:

What does “actually pop” mean though? I feel like for some people it means “the stuff I’m familiar with”.

I get there are different sorts of pop and it’s probably a can of worms given there are loads of grey areas. Everyone’s probably got their own definition.

21 minutes ago, Herbs said:

I mean Ngl I would prefer some variety

I was heavily into cheesy pop before I discovered indie pop and more singer/songwriter artists. All are examples of pop music

I’m not sure I’d class Damien Rice as Pop in any way shape or form really.

Singer/Songwriter acts belong in the alternative forum if you ask me (I’m aware no one did 😂)

5 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

Singer/Songwriter acts belong in the alternative forum if you ask me (I’m aware no one did 😂)

Yikes! Bye bye both Sams, Adele, Jessie Ware, Dido, Marina…

2 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

I’m not sure I’d class Damien Rice as Pop in any way shape or form really.

Singer/Songwriter acts belong in the alternative forum if you ask me (I’m aware no one did 😂)

I mean wouldn’t multiple artists in the competition fall into alternative/alt-leaning?

Gary Numan

Damien Rice

Roosevelt

Kate Bush

Iamamiwhoami

M83

And I wouldn’t class numerous others as pure pop

I can’t believe me, of all people based on my pop heavy BJSC entries, is one of the people advocating for diversity in pop music!

4 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

I’m not sure I’d class Damien Rice as Pop in any way shape or form really.

Singer/Songwriter acts belong in the alternative forum if you ask me (I’m aware no one did 😂)

Tbf I doubt an Alt Factor or Dance Factor would have the same pull as this contest so I think it makes sense to include non-Pop acts. Also a reminder G4 came second on X Factor lmao!

And also CHAS = pop

2 minutes ago, Herbs said:

And also CHAS = pop

What's a CHAS?

Just like in BJSC and Bop Idol, it seems to me there are a fairly even number of pop and alt voters here keeping things close and variable each week. Although the groups category is surprisingly alt heavy this year leaving little for the pop voters to really go for. It would have been interesting to see the likes of A*Teens, Five, Roxette or a K-Pop group to mix things up.

Female and male categories both seem pretty pop to me although Kate Bush/Marina/Robyn/Jessie Ware/Adele straddle pop and alt tastes, while we have Gary Numan and Damien Rice in here, and I guess Roosevelt leans more that way.

1 Sam Fender - The Treadmill

2 Calvin Harris feat. Tinashe - Dollar Signs

3 Darin - Om du var min

4 Gary Numan - M.E.

5 Sam Smith - Lose You

6 Lewis Capaldi - Heavenly Kind of State of Mind

7 Damien Rice - Amie

8 HRVY - Never Be Us

9 Tom Grennan - If Only

10 Roosevelt - Forget

12 minutes ago, Julian_ said:

Yikes! Bye bye both Sams, Adele, Jessie Ware, Dido, Marina…

Well I’d say most of that above list are singer/songwriters that lean more pop, in the sense that they tend to release quite commercial and generic radio friendly songs. To me that is “pop” music, which I feel Damien isn’t.

I don’t really have an opinion on the old man as I don’t know if his music at the time was the “in” pop sound or not.

It’s all very… hard to categorise and I’m glad Calum doesn’t really police it, as much as some categories might not be the most to my taste, I think pretty much every act straddles pop in some sense.

I think you could call Damien folk-pop, Calvin dance-pop, Gary Numan synth-pop etc. I do feel Fontaines DC are possibly the act that have the least crossover to pop, pretty much any descriptor of them would be rock or alternative, but I agree that it’s unlikely that replicating this contest in another forum would gain much traction, so I don’t really argue with them being here and I don’t think any poster should feel shoved out of such a popular contest/face negativity because their taste doesn’t quite fit inside a narrow box.

Ultimately, it’s just a fun competition and I’d agree with Rich that there’s a good enough balance of people voting and when push comes to shove - our finalists to date have been Avril Lavigne, Pet Shop Boys, Christina Aguilera, ABBA, Lily Allen and Kelly Clarkson who are all undeniably pop so it’s not like the inclusion of these acts often threatens the pop fans in any way.

Elton made it to 11th place in season 1 while Bowie made it to 9th place in season 2. Can this year's Old Man™ break a PF record?

1 minute ago, Scene said:

Elton made it to 11th place in season 1 while Bowie made it to 9th place. Can this year's Old Man™ break a PF record this year?

Gary Numan for 8th or higher!!!