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Florence + The machine - spectrum (favourite) The Chicks - Gaslighter Haim - pray to god Scissor Sisters - filthy/gorgeous Atomic Kitten - I want your love The Corrs - So Young Blondie - Denis Erasure - Sometimes ABBA - SOS The 1975 - The Sound Ace of Base - Cruel Summer (least fav) That top 4 is so good !!! Probs my fav Chicks & Scissor Sisters songs! With The Corrs & Blondie being two great discoveries In fact this whole round was very competitive. I even like the Ace of Base song but I think the fact that the OG version is better hinders this a little. Lorde actually performed a cover of Cruel Summer on the Solar Power tour and it was amazing!! Let’s get that cover on streaming!!

GASLIGHTER!!! PRAY TO GOD!! SPECTRUM!!! FILTHY/GORGEOUS!!! The groups, once again, did not come to play!!

Explain it to me like I’m dumb…because I am. Is there a reason why, if every category has 11 competing artists after this round, only the girls get 3 of their groups sent through? Or is it just to make up for Branch pulling out?

George Michael - Freeek! (Favourite) Nik Kershaw - gone to pieces Conan Gray - Killing Me David Bowie - Young American Eric Saade - every minute Troye Sivan - strawberry and cigarettes Shawn Mendes - lost in Japan Markus Riva - Forever The Weeknd - a lesser man Ruel - Not what’s going on Guitarricadelafuente - midsummer pipe dream Fred Again - Berwyn (all that I got is you) (least favourite) A top 3 and a bottom 9. Was unfamiliar with the Nik & George songs before this and am very impressed by both of them! The Shawn track would have been higher if it was the OG and not this remix! That bottom 5 though… lets hope there’s some better material sent going forward

Is it the top 3 in all categories or just the girls that are getting through the next round?

Kesha - Blow (favourite) FKA Twigs - Glass & Patron Kelly Clarkson - Gone Lily Allen - Who’d have known Nelly Furtado - who wants to be alone Michelle Branch - you set me free Chappell Roan - Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl Rosalia - Diablo Delta Goodrem - Sitting on top of the world Toni Braxton - you’re making me high LiSA - Gurenge Nadia Oh - taking over the dance floor (least favourite) Good selection overall here! Some personal favs as well as some really good discoveries/rediscoveries in Kelly, Nelly & Michelle! Ms Branch is my fav discovery of this category so far! …that Nadia Oh song though. Ow.

The Chicks - Not Ready to make nice (favourite) Florence - Queen of Peace Haim - I know alone Atomic Kitten - if you come to me Girlicious - over you 1975 - Love me Ace of base - beautiful life Blondie - hanging on the telephone The Corrs - I never loved you anyway Scissor Sisters - Take your mama ABBA - Hole in your soul Erasure - So the story goes (least fav) As I said when the songs were announced, the groups are once again the most competitive category! That top 3!!! So glad The Chicks bucked up their ideas with this round and sent this banger… I’m still holding out hope for a Gaslighter era song from them! And the FATM pick is such an underrated gem! I think Girlicious are becoming my fav discovery of this category! Both songs went straight into my bops! Honestly it’s a shame we’ll lose some of these groups before most of the men because that group is…weak.

Lily, Kesha & Twigs all upping their game this round! Whereas Chappell has already used her ace so might struggle in future rounds! Not familiar with a bunch of these so looking forward to expanding my knowledge of some of the other acts too!

Again I think this category is the most stacked! Already love the HAIM, Chicks and Florence entry, and know of an additional 3! The groups are not playing!

I only know 2 of these in advance so excited to have a listen through and make some new discoveries! Sad to have lost Luke Black as that was my fav male discovery of round 1!

I always love me some Brer stats! Will this include an updated streak count? Im itching to see where Mother is right now xx

Wow congrats Cheiron!! Gorgeous song from a gorgeous album - everyone just go listen to Palomino as celebration! 6th for Mother!! Thrilled with this result. My 3rd top ten finish and 2nd highest placement ever!! And my first ever Semi win!!! I can never tell how a semi is going to go so very happy with that!

Wowwwww just caught up and currently top 10! Let’s just stop the count here! Thank you to everyone who’s voted so far! And come on Faouzia!! You can do it !!

HAIM - Forever (favourite) Ace of Base - all that she wants Florence + the machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise it up) Blondie - Maria Atomic Kitten - The Tide is High Scissor Sisters - I don’t feel like dancin’ The Corrs - Breathless A1 - Same old brand new you Girlicious - Like me ABBA - As Good as New The 1975 - it’s not living (if it’s not with you) The chicks - goodbye Earl Erasure - Drama! (Least favourite) This was so strong in my opinion! I really enjoyed the top 10/11, with the top 7 all being classics for their respective bands! Im a huge fan of some of these groups and I know how strong their discographies are so I feel like we’re in for some strong rounds! I am a fan of some The Chicks songs but this wasn’t it for me! Hopefully some “gaslighter” era songs will be spotlighted further down the line!

Nelly Furtado - I’m like a bird (favourite) Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe Kesha - Praying Kelly Clarkson - Walk Away Michelle Branch - everywhere Delta Goodrem - innocent eyes Cher Lloyd - Sirens FKA Twigs - Ride the dragon Rosalía - MALAMENTE Toni Braxton - You mean the world to me Nadia Oh - Hot like Wow Lily Allen - URL Badman LiSA - Queen (least favourite) This category was always going to be a bloodbath but a lot of these I really enjoy so ranking them was hard. Chappell sending her best song on round 1 still couldn’t beat Nelly Furtado though! Some great discoveries here, with me really enjoying both the Delta & Michelle entries - straight in my playlists! Now…whoever has Lily Allen…what were we thinking with this choice?! I love her, and the sheezus era… but this was…rogue.

Troye Sivan - Got me Started (favourite) The Weeknd - Blinding Lights Shawn Mendes - Teach me how to love David Bowie - life on Mars Luke Black - VOMIT Conan Grey - Actor Markus Riva - You Make Me So Crazy Nik Kershaw - The Riddle George Michael - Faith Guitarricadelafuente - BABIECA! Fred Again - Marea Ruel - what a life Eric Saade - Made of Pop (least favourite) There are 6 songs here that I’d never heard of before! My biggest discovery being Vomit, really enjoyed that one and I have no idea who Luke Black is! That Troye song was always going to be #1 - I just love that song/era!

I would agree that with this first round, this definitely seems like the most competitive set of songs!

final listening showcase ; date and time Thursday 29th January 20:00 gmt sponsored by SyncTube Xx

Christ that was stressful!! Can go to bed stress free now!

Cut my potentials down to 13 but really going to struggle to axe a bottom 3! One more listen through needed !

I only discovered her through this most recent album so maybe I should go back and check out her earlier stuff !

BJSC 181 - Kelly Lee Owens - Higher It’s the first BJSC of 2026 and Mothertopia is going to club! Huge dance banger from us this month - in a semi filled with huge dance bangers… let’s see if it can make it out alive!

01 - 0 02 - 1 (BJSC 167 Coy - Promises) 03 - 0 04 - 0 05 - 0 06 - 0 07 - 0 08 - 0 09 - 0 10 - 1 (BJSC 175 SASAMI - Slugger) 11 - 0 12 - 2 (BJSC 179 Lexie Liu - X, BJSC 180 JT - Girls Gone Wild) 13 - 0 14 - 1 (BJSC 170 Leah Kate - But I Lied) 15 - 0 16 - 0 17 - 0 18 - 1 (BJSC 173 SASAMI - I’ll Be Gone) 19 - 0 20 - 0 21 - 0 22 - 0 23 - 1 (BJSC 176 Emily Osment - Lovesick) 24 - 1 (BJSC 165 Lissie Esau - Impossible + Strange) 25 - 1 (BJSC 166 Nell Mescal - Drive) 26 - 0 27 - 0 28 - 0 29 - 0 30 - 1 (BJSC 164 The Marias - Run Your Mouth) 31 - 0 32 - 0 33 - 0 34 - 0 35 - 1 (BJSC 169 Tom Aspaul - Listen 2 Nicole) 36 - 0 37 - 1 (BJSC 178 Audrey Hobert - Thirst Trap) 38 - 1 (BJSC 177 Samia - Lizard) 39 - 2 (BJSC 171 Joesef - Joe, BJSC 172 Gretta Ray - Upgraded) 40 - 0 41 - 0 42 - 0 Qualified 15/18 contests 2025 entries - Qualified 9/10 contests Bolded entries = 2025 placements Overall, while I’m happy to have qualified 9/10 contests this year, 4/9 being in the 37-39th range isn’t amazing. That being said 4/9 being in the 10-18th range is quite good so swings and roundabouts. Maybe my 2026 goal can be to fill out a couple more top 10 placements!

I would love a last minute top 10 finish for mother!!! So close!!

Mother has voted. Struggled to get it down from a top 20 to top 15! Very strong!