Brer

Samples Mazzy Star's 'Into Dust' - heard this on Radio 1 the other day, it's a nice rework x

James Marriott coming for a #1 album feels so strange to me. I know him well from YouTube and I do enjoy his content there but I really don't think I could ever take him seriously as a musician. Then again it's not as wild of a transformation from his YouTube career as Joji's (or indeed Alex Warren's transformation from his social media career) ~

Not last yasss

Well that twist gave me a very small twinge of hope for a moment but alas the expected outcome x (would still be interested to see how the full 16 songs ranked to see who got lucky from the twist / if I came last anyway, I was definitely looking like it from the earlier votes but I did get a few slightly higher placings towards the end!) Glad that Pet Shop Boys are through despite Rollo's fears, 'Rent' is one of their best songs for me so would have sucked to see that being the end of the line for them. Sad for CHVRCHES though </3 I was moments away from just sending in one of James' weird experimental songs for the Golden Wagner for the lolz but I held back as I remembered another more palatable pick that would be quite appropriate actually. It still has no chance at all of getting through obviously but I want to give one more chance for some of you to not just rank him last by default xx (also I've sent a song from a different album in each round so far and this will be continuing that! Leaves one of his solo albums with no representation but I never even listened to that album so)

lol I finished listening to the playlist and immediately got distracted and forgot to actually type up my votes I have sent them to Calum anyway and I believe he is kindly accepting them x 1 a-ha - Take On Me 2 Mary J. Blige - Family Affair 3 CHVRCHES - Graves 4 Pet Shop Boys - Rent 5 The Saturdays - All Fired Up 6 Avril Lavigne - My Happy Ending 7 Elton John - I'm Still Standing 8 Addison Rae - Times Like These 9 Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding - Miracle 10 Christina Aguilera - Fighter 11 Charlie Puth - How Long 12 Enrique Iglesias - Takin' Back My Love (feat. Ciara) 13 Fifth Harmony - Work From Home (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) 14 Damiano David - Born With A Broken Heart 15 SASAMI - Just Be Friends The top 2 are untouchable classics but CHVRCHES coming through with another great pick there - I'd forgotten about this song a bit so nice to hear it again! and sorry to SASAMI but this song wasn't really doing it for me unforch :'(

The Christina and SASAMI songs appear on the Spotify playlist on my phone but not on desktop

The Olivia song has been growing on me, it gives me similar vibes to 'Love Me Not' so I guess it makes sense that it's also becoming a big hit. Would not complain if it can make a push for #1 (still a way off yet though).

The deadline hasn't passed yet x

Can't believe I'm rooting for Alex Warren to return to #1 but let's go xx

And... that's it, because unfortunately !!! didn't submit votes and we don't have any guest votes, sorry if that's anticlimactic! Her votes couldn't have changed the winner anyway and a 33% deduction doesn't even change the position of her own entry. Said entry comes from American alternative rock geeks They Might Be Giants whose big hit was 1990's #6 peaking 'Birdhouse In Your Soul', though they came very close to a second top 20 hit in 2001 with Malcolm In The Middle theme 'Boss Of Me' peaking at #21. Their entry here predates their chart hits, 'Purple Toupee' coming out in 1989 and not charting anywhere. It's not made much noise throughout the results unfortunately and finishes 3rd from last. (oh and let's clear out all of that Blobby infestation - he's really been nothing but a nuisance as a co-host -_-) FINAL SCOREBOARD 1 120 Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody [danG] 2 105 The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way [Severin] 3 93 Army Of Lovers - Obsession [Addy!] 4 90 Modern Talking - Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love) [Dobbo] 5 76 Classix Nouveaux - Never Never Comes [Ansel] 6 74 The Icicle Works - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) [Suedehead2] 7 73 Cicero - That Loving Feeling [Mangø] 8 71 White Town - Undressed [Jester] 9 65 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat [Chez Wombat] 10 62 Helen Reddy - Imagination [WoW73] 11 59 Mr. Oizo - Stunt [dandy*] 12 58 The Vapors - News At Ten [Jade] 13 57 Annerley - Save Me [CowTzy] 14 52 Nu Shooz - Point Of No Return [AH Gold] (9 votes) 15 52 Donna Lewis - Agenais [gooddelta] (8 votes) 16 49 Young MC - Know How [jimwatts] 17 45 Shocking Blue - Love Buzz [Scene] 18 36 Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason [Bjork] 19 35 Paula Cole - I Don't Want To Wait [Herbs] 20 28 Freiheit - The Land Of Fantasy [King Rollo] 21 26 Zager & Evans - Listen To The People [Brer] 22 25 2wo Third3 - Hear Me Calling [ChrisJK] 23 12.73 They Might Be Giants - Purple Toupee [!!!] {33% deduction} 24 11 Chantay Savage - Betcha'll Never Find [awardinary] (4 votes) 25 11 Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin - Stars [Julian_] (2 votes) Congratulations to danG who officially clinches a first victory in this contest, and here's our winning song, Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody

Vote 24 CowTzy is behind the most recently released song in this contest - British eurodance singer Annerley's 'Save Me' came out as an under the radar release in 2021, but her commercial heyday was in 1999 when, under her former artist name Ann Lee, she got to #2 with '2 Times'. She's been a top 10 threat throughout most of the reveal but has faded in the home stretch and dropped down to 12th. 1 120 Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody [danG] 2 105 The Blobedelic Furs - Love My Way [Severin] 3 93 Army Of Blobbers - Obsession [Addy!] 4 90 Modern Blobbing - Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love) [Dobbo] 5 76 Classix Blobbeaux - Never Never Comes [Ansel] 6 74 The Blobcicle Blobs - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) [Suedehead2] 7 73 Blobbero - That Loving Feeling [Mangø] 8 71 Pink Blob - Undressed [Jester] 9 65 Nick Blob & The Bad Blobs - The Mercy Seat [Chez Wombat] 10 62 Helen Blobby - Imagination [WoW73] 11 59 Mr. Blobzo - Stunt [dandy*] 12 58 The Blobbors - News At Ten [Jade] 13 57 Blobberley - Save Me [CowTzy] 14 52 Nu Blobz - Point Of No Return [AH Gold] 15 52 Blobby Lewis - Agenais [gooddelta] 16 49 Young BlobB - Know How [jimwatts] 17 45 Blobbing Pink - Love Buzz [Scene] 18 36 Tracy Blobman - Give Me One Reason [Bjork] 19 35 Paula Blob - I Don't Want To Wait [Herbs] 20 28 Blobheit - The Land Of Fantasy [King Rollo] 21 26 Blobber & Evans - Listen To The People [Brer] 22 25 2wo 8lob3 - Hear Me Calling [ChrisJK] 23 19 They Might Be Blobbies - Purple Toupee [???] 24 11 Blobbay Savage - Betcha'll Never Find [awardinary] 25 11 Blob-Blob Ma and Blobby McFerrin - Stars [Julian_] And that could just be the death blow for The Psychedelic Furs, they get a point here but 7 points go Alphaville's way giving them a 15 point lead again. It's still Army Of Lovers 3rd but another medal for Modern Talking moves them very close behind in 4th, while a medal also going to Classix Nouveaux sees them finish very strong in these late scoreboards as they're in the top 5 for the first time, up 8-5 and knocking The Icicle Works back down a place to 6th. Another song gets its first 12 (18 out of 25 songs have now received one!), Young MC nonetheless only lifting 1 place to 16th as a result. Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin at last get a second vote and more than double their score but it's not enough to lift them out of the wooden spoon position. Thanks Cow for the highest points yet for Zager & Evans also! BLOBBY BLOBBY BLOBBY

Vote 23 Now that my entry has been revealed I'm sure no one is really interested who's behind the others... oh ok then let's unveil the person who's in the lead. That would be danG who's sent German synthpop band Alphaville, these days probably best known for 'Forever Young' although their one UK hit was 'Big In Japan' which peaked at #8 in 1984. Both songs came from the same album as their entry here, 'Sounds Like A Melody' which is another one that was big across Europe but couldn't crack the UK, not even going top 100 here. 'Forever Young' was in the first edition of this contest where it came 11th, and Alphaville have also come top 15 in BJSC with the SCHILLER version of their track 'Summer In Berlin', but they're definitely on for a much bigger hit here and have been sitting pretty at #1 ever since the 9th vote, at times with a quite commanding lead. We're very near the end now so not much time for the competition to make a comeback but let's see if Dan shoots himself in the foot... 1 113 Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody [danG] 2 104 The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way [Severin] 3 93 Army Of Blobbers - Obsession [Addy!] 4 80 Modern Blobbing - Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love) [Dobbo] 5 74 The Blobcicle Blobs - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) [Suedehead2] 6 73 Blobbero - That Loving Feeling [Mangø] 7 71 Pink Blob - Undressed [Jester] 8 68 Classix Blobbeaux - Never Never Comes [Ansel] 9 65 Nick Blob & The Bad Blobs - The Mercy Seat [Chez Wombat] 10 62 Helen Blobby - Imagination [WoW73] 11 58 The Blobbors - News At Ten [Jade] 12 57 Blobberley - Save Me [???] 13 55 Mr. Blobzo - Stunt [dandy*] 14 52 Nu Blobz - Point Of No Return [AH Gold] 15 52 Blobby Lewis - Agenais [gooddelta] 16 42 Blobbing Pink - Love Buzz [Scene] 17 37 Young BlobB - Know How [jimwatts] 18 35 Paula Blob - I Don't Want To Wait [Herbs] 19 34 Tracy Blobman - Give Me One Reason [Bjork] 20 28 Blobheit - The Land Of Fantasy [King Rollo] 21 25 2wo 8lob3 - Hear Me Calling [ChrisJK] 22 21 Blobber & Evans - Listen To The People [Brer] 23 19 They Might Be Blobbies - Purple Toupee [???] 24 11 Blobbay Savage - Betcha'll Never Find [awardinary] 25 5 Blob-Blob Ma and Blobby McFerrin - Stars [Julian_] Well the potential for greater foot-shooting was there but still, Dan sends some points over to his closest rival The Psychedelic Furs which pushes them over the 100 point mark and puts the gap into single digits, only 9 points separating the top 2 now Army Of Lovers continue to stick in 3rd but it's now a 3rd 12 to Modern Talking who are back in the top 5 once again moving up 6-4. The Icicle Works drop a place to 5th and White Town are down 2 to 7th, also re-overtaken by Cicero who gets another medal position here.

Vote 22 Finally revealing my own entry now (Brer), I went for American folk-pop duo Zager & Evans who were a discovery for me from the SyncTube sessions listening through every UK #1, I found their chart topper 'In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)' from 1969 rather unique and striking and always wondered if they had any similarly strong songs elsewhere in their catalogue. They are a true one hit wonder both here and in their native US with that song hitting #1 in both countries but none of their other songs going top 100 in either, nor do any of their other songs clock far above 100,000 total streams on Spotify. I found what I thought to be another pretty haunting track from them in the form of their third single 'Listen To The People' which also came out in 1969. I certainly didn't expect it to be putting me in contention for another win here anyway and indeed it's been pretty near the bottom throughout, currently 4th from last. I hope some of you found it an interesting listen anyway even if you didn't vote for it, and thank you to the 7 people who have thrown it a few points (nothing higher than 4 points so far so cheers to my joint biggest fans AH Gold, Chez, Julian and Rollo plus the further mealworm points from Addy, Severin and Suedehead x). 1 113 Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody [???] 2 98 The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way [Severin] 3 86 Army Of Blobbers - Obsession [Addy!] 4 72 The Blobcicle Blobs - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) [Suedehead2] 5 71 Pink Blob - Undressed [Jester] 6 68 Modern Blobbing - Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love) [Dobbo] 7 67 Classix Blobbeaux - Never Never Comes [Ansel] 8 65 Blobbero - That Loving Feeling [Mangø] 9 65 Nick Blob & The Bad Blobs - The Mercy Seat [Chez Wombat] 10 62 Helen Blobby - Imagination [WoW73] 11 57 Blobberley - Save Me [???] 12 53 The Blobbors - News At Ten [Jade] 13 52 Nu Blobz - Point Of No Return [AH Gold] 14 52 Mr. Blobzo - Stunt [dandy*] 15 42 Blobbing Pink - Love Buzz [Scene] 16 42 Blobby Lewis - Agenais [gooddelta] 17 37 Young BlobB - Know How [jimwatts] 18 35 Paula Blob - I Don't Want To Wait [Herbs] 19 30 Tracy Blobman - Give Me One Reason [Bjork] 20 28 Blobheit - The Land Of Fantasy [King Rollo] 21 25 2wo 8lob3 - Hear Me Calling [ChrisJK] 22 21 Blobber & Evans - Listen To The People [Brer] 23 19 They Might Be Blobbies - Purple Toupee [???] 24 11 Blobbay Savage - Betcha'll Never Find [awardinary] 25 5 Blob-Blob Ma and Blobby McFerrin - Stars [Julian_] The gap between the top 2 is cut down again to 15 points after my medal to The Psychedelic Furs and only small points to Alphaville. The Furs are now on the cusp of being the second act to hit 100 points. Army Of Lovers stay in third, while I give a boost to The Icicle Works who are back into the top 5, up 2 to 4th, knocking White Town and Modern Talking down a place each to 5th and 6th. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds now become the first act to have 3 12s and are finally back in the top 10 as a result, up 2 places to 9th displacing Annerley. I also push Classix Nouveaux up 2 to 7th. #BLOBBYTIDE HAS NEARLY CLAIMED ALL VICTIMS

Vote 21 Next to be unveiled is the current holder of the wooden spoon, Julian_ definitely providing quite a standout entry here but unfortunately not one that's converted to points - the one hit wonder in question is American jazz/a cappella vocalist Bobby McFerrin who is most known for his 1988 UK #2 hit 'Don't Worry, Be Happy'. The song in this contest, 'Stars', comes from a 1992 collaborative album with French-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who has no hit singles to his name. It was the last song to get off 0 points and its 5 points from gooddelta sadly remain the only ones it has received, oops! 1 110 Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody [???] 2 88 The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way [Severin] 3 82 Army Of Lovers - Obsession [Addy!] 4 71 Pink Blob - Undressed [Jester] 5 68 Modern Blobbing - Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love) [Dobbo] 6 65 The Blobcicle Blobs - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) [Suedehead2] 7 65 Blobbero - That Loving Feeling [Mangø] 8 62 Helen Blobby - Imagination [WoW73] 9 61 Classix Blobbeaux - Never Never Comes [Ansel] 10 57 Blobberley - Save Me [???] 11 53 Nick Blob & The Bad Blobs - The Mercy Seat [Chez Wombat] 12 52 Nu Blobz - Point Of No Return [AH Gold] 13 51 The Blobbors - News At Ten [Jade] 14 44 Mr. Blobzo - Stunt [dandy*] 15 42 Blobby Lewis - Agenais [gooddelta] 16 37 Blobbing Pink - Love Buzz [Scene] 17 36 Young BlobB - Know How [jimwatts] 18 35 Paula Blob - I Don't Want To Wait [Herbs] 19 30 Tracy Blobman - Give Me One Reason [Bjork] 20 28 Blobheit - The Land Of Fantasy [King Rollo] 21 25 2wo 8lob3 - Hear Me Calling [ChrisJK] 22 21 Blobber & Evans - Listen To The People [???] 23 19 They Might Be Blobbies - Purple Toupee [???] 24 11 Blobbay Savage - Betcha'll Never Find [awardinary] 25 5 Blob-Blob Ma and Blobby McFerrin - Stars [Julian_] My narrative of a late comeback for The Psychedelic Furs takes a hit as Alphaville pick up 7 points to their 0, re-establishing a 22 point lead. Is it too late now...? Army Of Lovers pick up a few points and close the gap to 2nd to 6 points, still staying in contention for that runner-up slot at least. Pink Blob - er, White Town - stay in 4th and Modern Blo- Talking in 5th (I think the broadcast is being hacked again xx). Helen Reddy climbs again to 8th. Shocking Blue now get their first 12 and rise 20-16.

Vote 20 Bjork sent the legendary American folk singer Tracy Chapman with her 1995 single 'Give Me One Reason'. Over in her home nation this is actually surprisingly her highest charting single, reaching #3 on the US Hot 100 while 'Fast Car' could only manage #6. The latter is of course her one big UK hit, originally hitting #5 in 1988 although not peaking until 2011 after a performance on Britain's Got Talent by some guy propelled it to #4. 'Give Me One Reason' could only manage #95 here and its parent album somehow didn't chart at all despite two of her previous albums getting to #1 here, curious how that happened. It's not been lighting up the scoreboard here earlier having been in the lower half of most of the scoreboards, currently in 17th. 1 103 Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody [???] 2 88 The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way [Severin] 3 79 Army Of Lovers - Obsession [Addy!] 4 71 White Town - Undressed [Jester] 5 67 Modern Talking - Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love) [Dobbo] 6 65 The Icicle Works - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) [Suedehead2] 7 65 Cicero - That Loving Feeling [Mangø] 8 59 Classix Nouveaux - Never Never Comes [Ansel] 9 57 Annerley - Save Me [???] 10 54 Helen Blobby - Imagination [WoW73] 11 52 Nu Blobz - Point Of No Return [AH Gold] 12 51 The Blobbors - News At Ten [Jade] 13 47 Nick Blob & The Bad Blobs - The Mercy Seat [Chez Wombat] 14 42 Blobby Lewis - Agenais [gooddelta] 15 35 Paula Blob - I Don't Want To Wait [Herbs] 16 34 Mr. Blobzo - Stunt [dandy*] 17 31 Young BlobB - Know How [jimwatts] 18 30 Tracy Blobman - Give Me One Reason [Bjork] 19 28 Blobheit - The Land Of Fantasy [King Rollo] 20 25 Blobbing Pink - Love Buzz [Scene] 21 25 2wo 8lob3 - Hear Me Calling [ChrisJK] 22 19 They Might Be Blobbies - Purple Toupee [???] 23 17 Blobber & Evans - Listen To The People [???] 24 11 Blobbay Savage - Betcha'll Never Find [awardinary] 25 5 Blob-Blob Ma and Blobby McFerrin - Stars [???] Alphaville keep racking up points but The Psychedelic Furs outpace them again and the gap reduces to 15 points, could they be slowly but surely clawing back victory? Army Of Lovers are unmoved in 3rd while White Town has another resurgence to the top 5, up 3 places to 4th, knocking Modern Talking down a place, while Cicero drops 2 to 7th. Nu Shooz are the latest to register a first 12, they move back closer to top 10 contention again with a 14-11 climb.