Just now, Bror said:

Alt Factor is serious business tho x

Corrected that for you x

Edited Tuesday at 16:262 days by ElectroBoy

!

5 hours ago, Scene said:

Tom is getting Kandy Rain'd. SAVE THE PITS!

I would’ve said More Nicolo Festa x

35 minutes ago, ElectroBoy said:

!

I would’ve said More Nicolo Festa x

But Kandy Rain's elimination was unjust. not that I remember Nicolo much oops.

1. Ceremony – New Order

2. Starburster – Fontaines D.C.

3. Cruel Summer – Bananarama

4. Babooshka – Kate Bush

5. Oh My God – Adele

6. People Are People – Depeche Mode

7. Like I Can – Sam Smith

8. Halo – Texas

9. Electric – Darin

10. Get Over You – Sophie Ellis-Bextor

11. Getting Started – Sam Fender

12. How to Be a Heartbreaker – Marina and The Diamonds

13. Royal Highness – Tom Grennan

14. All the Time – Zara Larsson

15. Intruder – Gary Numan

1. MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker

2. Kate Bush - Babooshka

3. Fontaines D.C. - Starburster

4. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You

5. Bananarama - Cruel Summer

6. Texas - Halo

7. Darin - Electric

8. Depeche Mode - People Are People

9. Gary Numan - Intruder

10. Sam Smith - Like I Can

11. Adele - Oh My God

12. New Order - Ceremony

13. Sam Fender - Getting Started

14. Zara Larsson - All the Time

15. Tom Grennan - Royal Highness

01 Zara Larsson - All the Time (one of the most underrated songs of the 2010s and a killer pop song. Heard this on a night out after seeing her live last year and me & my friend lost our shit. In my top 3/5 Zara songs ever which is high praise for one of my favourite artists of all time so I’m thrilled this is getting a chance. 0/10 soul, 11/10 banger)

02 Kate Bush - Babooshka (a classique! Possibly my favourite Kate Bush song, stands out so much in this pack also. Very zany but packed with melody and joy, what’s not to enjoy?)

03 MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker (one of my fave Marina songs, just a hooky as hell pop song, super singalong and catchy. Probably not the side of her that the indies will enjoy as much but the side that I definitely do)

04 Bananarama - Cruel Summer (I don’t think I realised quite how many of their songs were on the gay bar daytime playlist I used to hear all the time - great song and great production and not one of their less cheesy too, very good choice to keep them pushing along!)

05 Adele - Oh My God (a wise choice at this point, not gonna get you out, won’t win but all you need in Round 1 for Adele. Sounded really good to me today aswell, I was bopping at work!)

06 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You (I’ve always liked this, very catchy pop song - I do feel like in this field of 15, it maybe felt a bit more basic/less fleshed out than some of the other pop songs which is why it’s lower comparably but still a fan and should see you through nicely aswell)

07 Sam Smith - Like I Can (okay so maybe I just like Sam’s back catalogue way more than I thought I did at this point or I’ve just gotten over their overplay in time because, once again, really liking this)

08 Darin - Electric (I do prefer his older style/RedOne sound to some of his newer stuff but I charted this a few years ago and still a solid pop song - hope he can keep pushing just a liiiitle bit longer)

09 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster (really enjoying the Irish accent on this one and one of my favourite Fontaines entries so far - haunting in a way that didn’t feel dreary, which is a problem I’ve had with some of them so far, great punch)

10 Depeche Mode - People Are People (fun production on this one but melodically, although I like it individually, it’s not competing with some of the bigger vocal/singalong moments in this competition, which stick out in my memory to me more when listening one after another)

11 Texas - Halo (think this is a discovery for me? I enjoyed it but not as much as many of their entries so far and I can’t put my finger on exactly why)

12 Sam Fender - Getting Started (this feels quite Sam by numbers, based off the little I know of him/are getting to know and didn’t particularly excite me)

13 Tom Grennan - Royal Highness (I think I’m realising that I prefer his newer stuff to his older stuff - he still has a gravelly voice now but I feel like he doesn’t use it quite as excessively as he does on his older material. The melody of the song is catchy but struggling to get past the verses where he’s singing from the back of this throat so much, sorry)

14 Gary Numan - Intruder (I like the chorus on this but found the verses to be quite melodically repetitive and left the song feeling like it went on longer than it did)

15 New Order - Ceremony (I think I’m realising in this competition how much vocals/vocal delivery matters to me because this is a very production-led song, as are many of theirs so far. And I do like the production, can’t fault it but the reverby/echoing into the backing track style of vocal doesn’t do much for me sadly. It’s a strong round though and this is far from their worst so far, just my least favourite of these 15 unfortunately)

01 Zara Larsson

02 Marina

03 Adele

04 Sam Smith

05 Sophie Ellis Bextor

06 Sam Fender

07 Kate Bush

08 Bananarama

09 Texas

10 Fontaines DC

11 Darin

12 Tom Grennan

13 New Order

14 Depeche Mode

15 Gary Numan

This indeed a very strong selection. -some hit harder than others, but there is no bad song in here.

1. Depeche Mode - People Are People

2. Bananarama - Cruel Summer

3. Zara Larsson - All the Time

4. New Order - Ceremony

5. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You

6. MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker

7. Fontaines D.C. - Starburster

8. Sam Smith - Like I Can

9. Texas - Halo

10. Sam Fender - Getting Started

11. Kate Bush - Babooshka

12. Tom Grennan - Royal Highness

13. Adele - Oh My God

14. Darin - Electric

15. Gary Numan - Intruder

1.      Marina - I've not really got the love for Marina so far I'll admit, but this song is amazing!! Thank you to their mentor for exposing me to it, I loved loved loved it. [FAVE]

2.      Kate - This is my favourite Kate Bush song, I thought it was guaranteed to be #1 when I saw the list, very close and on a different day probably could have been.

3.      Tom - I don't get why people don't like this, it's so good? Hope it can make it through we need more of sexy Tom's voice.

4.      Darin - The revelation of the series, I have actually been seeking out his back catalogue as a result of this contest so thank you to whoever his mentor is!

5.      Bananarama - A classic, this not being top 2 is a testament to how excellent this round is!

6.      Sam S - I love Sam's voice on this, they sound divine and it's a smooth bop!

7.      Adele - Her best song off 30 in my opinion, a strong choice!

8.      Sophie - This is probably my favourite Sophie song so for it to be 8th is just wild! Really shows how much I enjoyed these songs.

9.      Zara - Another great song, one of the best I've heard from Zara in this contest!

10. Texas - Again I genuinely cannot believe I am putting this song in 10th, in most other rounds it would have been an easy top 5! Great song!

11. Sam F - Really enjoyed this, just not quite as much as the above ones but again, really good choice.

12. Depeche Mode - I listened to this a few times and it grew on me the more I listened to it so with more time it could actually rate higher but for now it didn't quite beat Sam F.

13. Gary - I loved his last entry with Cars, what a fantastic song. I didn't dislike this but I'm not sure I'd listen to it again.

14. New Order - This one didn't do anything for me sadly, sorry to their mentor.

15. Fontaines DC - Same as the New Order one, again sorry to their mentor! [LEAST FAVE]

Also, totally seperately, I struggle to hear Babooshka without immediately thinking of this audition and her marching in saying "first of all, I'm not a number, I'm a human being" right after the opening jingles of Babooska 😭

1. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You - love this one from her too, a careless and fun jam of a track!

2. MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker - A hot take but I never cared for her first era oops but this era I was pretty obsessed with and this bop is no exception. Tune

3. Bananarama - Cruel Summer - one of their best of course. Fun classic.

4. Kate Bush - Babooshka - another classic from Kate.

5. Gary Numan - Intruder - I can understand why this is ranked very low for others but I really like a lot of the elements that go on in this and the chorus is pretty good too.

6. Zara Larsson - All the Time - solid bop but not top tier for me.

7. Darin - Electric - seem to have had the opposite opinion as haven't quite got too much from his songs ... until the last couple of rounds. This was fairly decent actually.

8. Sam Fender - Getting Started - good but has regressed a little checking today.

9. Tom Grennan - Royal Highness - I'm on the quite like it side. Nothing amazing but okay.

10. Fontaines D.C. - Starburster - also pleasant and okay.

11. Depeche Mode - People Are People - Didn't think I knew this before hearing it today but it sounds recognisable slightly. Again ok but not an essential from them.

12. Adele - Oh My God - I probs did like it back in 2021 but checking it again now, doesn't quite stand out as anything special from Adele for me sadly.

13. Sam Smith - Like I Can - again did quite like it at the time but didn't sound memorable to me now and their voice is fairly irritating on it too.

14. Texas - Halo - I like a lot of Texas songs and whilst there was some nice musical stuff in there, this one didn't grab me enough sadly.

15. New Order - Ceremony - good musically but not particularly keen on the vocals on this occasion I'm afraid.

1 Fontaines D.C.

2 Gary Numan

3 Kate Bush

4 New Order

5 Bananarama

6 Sam Smith

7 Adele

8 Sam Fender

9 Depeche Mode

10 Sophie Ellis-Bextor

11 Tom Grennan

12 Texas

13 Darin

14 Zara Larsson

15 MARINA

the top 3 are well clear of the rest for me, but the New Order song is very good too (was a good discovery from the 80s sessions and nice that it's got used here, a bit of a risky choice but hopefully bailed out here by there being other not so safe choices as well), and 'Cruel Summer' is one of the best Nana songs. Solid picks for Adele and both Sams (both of those are better than I remember them being), pretty good if not a major highlight for Depeche Mode, I also liked the Sophie song a bit more than I remembered and the Tom song is actually quite a decent discovery as well, some questionable vocals on it but the actual tune of it is solid so he avoids last place for me again. Texas and Darin both ok. Find the last two both a bit annoying (the Zara song's hook is cool for a minute or so but it gets grating being on loop for the entire song). I thought I remembered not minding the MARINA song at the time but it's clearly not aged well for me oops!

1 Bananarama - Cruel Summer · They've gone big with this! Could have easily been saved for the final IMO but this is one of the definining songs of the 80s for me, there was no question of it not being top of my votes.

2 Sam Smith - Like I Can · One of my favourite Sam Smith songs, if not my favourite. Effortlessly brilliant.

3 Darin - Electric · Amazingly I still haven't discovered a Darin song in this contest that I didn't like! This is maybe not the absolute best he's sent but it's still solid and I really hope he's back next week. We want more!

4 Tom Grennan - Royal Highness · I much prefer early Tom over the more recent watered-down stuff and this is a great example of it. I'm absolutely baffled as to why it's struggling?!

5 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You · Basically Sophie doing what she does best - a catchy floorfiller with a solid chorus and an inescapable hook.

6 MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker · There are a small handful of Marina songs I like more than this but this does the job perfectly this week and will see her safely through.

7 Adele - Oh My God · I'm not crazy about 30 as an album but this is an obvious highlight from it, something a little different from her.

8 Kate Bush - Babooshka · I was wondering when this classic would be played. She should sail through with this but I do fear her mentor is running out of safe songs.

9 Sam Fender - Getting Started · Never been a huge Sam Fender fan but this is one I like, it's very Springsteen.

10 Depeche Mode - People Are People · I've always cringed a bit at the lyrics for this but otherwise it's decent enough.

11 Gary Numan - Intruder · The only one of his songs apart from Cars that I know/like!

12 Texas - Halo · Texas were on top of their game in the late 90s and I know this is highly regarded but there has always been something about it that I've just never quite connected with.

13 Zara Larsson - All the Time · I'm aware it's a bit of a fan fave but this is a rare Zara dud for me I'm afraid.

14 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster · There's only a few Fontaines songs I like and sadly this is not one of them. I think there's three I really like and none of them have been played yet!

15 New Order - Ceremony · This didn't do much for me unfortunately. There's so many New Order songs I love though, hope we get to hear more of them!

01. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You

02. Adele - Oh My God

03. Sam Fender - Getting Started

04. MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker

05. Darin - Electric

06. Zara Larsson - All the Time

07. Fontaines D.C. - Starburster

08. New Order - Ceremony

09. Sam Smith - Like I Can

10. Tom Grennan - Royal Highness

11. Kate Bush - Babooshka

12. Depeche Mode - People Are People

13. Texas - Halo

14. Bananarama - Cruel Summer

15. Gary Numan - Intruder

FAVE

15 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You 

14 Sam Smith - Like I Can

13 Zara Larsson - All the Time 

12 Darin - Electric 

11 Tom Grennan - Royal Highness

10 MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker

09 Texas - Halo 

08 Adele - Oh My God

07 Kate Bush - Babooshka 

06 Bananarama - Cruel Summer 

05 Gary Numan - Intruder

04 Sam Fender - Getting Started 

03 New Order - Ceremony 

02 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster

01 Depeche Mode - People Are People
LEAST FAVE

Sophie and Sam S sending potentially my favourite songs of each of theirs!

Mother Larsson also delivering another banger!

Darin and Tom were both great new discoveries! It was hard to separate them but Darin in his leathers just about edged it

Marina, Texas, Adele and Kate all solid bops. Again it was hard to separate these 4!

The Bananarama track is pleasant but doesn’t do all that much for me sadly. Gary was actually better than I expected! 

Sam F I never really cared for when it was first released but it played a big part in Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win so I do have a slight appreciation for it! ❤️

The bottom 3 just weren’t for me sadly, sorry!

Ngl bit gutted for Tom if he leaves

1. Sophie Ellis Bextor - Get Over You - an absolute bop and forgot how amazing that video is

2. Marina - How To Be A Heartbreaker - how this was never a hit in the UK is beyond me. Superb song

3. Sam Smith - Like I Can - had completely forgotten this song! tuuunage

4. Tom Grennan - Royal Highness - a great pop song with a good hook

5. Bananarama - Cruel Summer - great choice from them

6. Kate Bush - Babooshka - great to see her back in and doing well. Still gutted I didn’t get to vote for my fave song of hers

7. Texas - Halo - great choice that will keep them in

8. Depeche Mode - People are People - didn’t know this one and it grew on me with multiple listens

9. Adele - Oh My God - one of my least fave Adele singles but still has some good qualities

10. Zara Larsson - All The Time - liked but found it to be slightly forgettable

11. Gary Numan - Intruder - love the song, just want it to be bigger

12. Darin - Electric - good but average

13. Sam Fender - Getting Started - it happened

14. Fontaines DC - Starburster - I tried but didn’t like sadly

15. New Order - Ceremony - so here’s the thing. I found a lot of Joy Division’s output offputting because of the vocals. This felt like an extension of that

26 minutes ago, Herbs said:

Ngl bit gutted for Tom if he leaves

1. Sophie Ellis Bextor - Get Over You - an absolute bop and forgot how amazing that video is

This comment reminded me that the 'Stateside' remix video is clearly inspired by the one for 'Get Over You'! Connecting two of our Pop Factor artists

(love both of these videos 🤩)

I'm going to make a prediction that the bottom 4 will be

two males and two groups

Gary, Tom, Fontaines and New Order

The last one getting booted immediately and perhaps the first two fighting it out against each other.

1. MARINA - How to Be a Heartbreaker [favourite]

2. Bananarama - Cruel Summer

3. Depeche Mode - People Are People

4. Kate Bush - Babooshka

5. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You

6. Sam Smith - Like I Can

7. Gary Numan - Intruder

8. Fontaines D.C. - Starburster

9. Sam Fender - Getting Started

10. Darin - Electric

11. Adele - Oh My God

12. Tom Grennan - Royal Highness

13. Zara Larsson - All the Time

14. New Order - Ceremony

15. Texas - Halo