gooddelta

It's definitely Billie's best single ever for me, and I am still hearing it everywhere so I'm not surprised it's riding so high still nearly a year on. It's just a shame it never made it all the way to No.1.

Five of those eight would be in my votes if I was in that semi. It’s like The Hunger Games 😪

Really good track, I didn't expect this production, I was immediately transported back to the mid 90s. Very lush soundscape.

I bought both that week, but Rule The World is one of my top 20 songs of all-time, amazing track. I so wish they'd picked another week to release it.

Voted! Everyone really brought their A game once again this month, both semis are bloodbaths. Lots of great stuff I already knew, lots of brilliant discoveries, I can barely hear five songs that sound like DNQs across the entire two semis, let alone 16. I don't envy those voting in Semi 1 though, I could have happily voted for 20 songs - it sounds like a final in itself.

U2

The Killers for attempt six.

Overload to win!

Week 26: Agreed with the top pick - Stop Crying Your Heart Out was a great, very emotive rock ballad, and yet another example of Oasis releasing something softer, more melodic and better as the second single and me wishing it was the lead so it could have been the token No.1 of the campaign. Hot In Herre was great though, I'm going with a friend (their pick) to see Nelly in concert in June with Eve as support but actually thinking that it will be such a fun night. So many party bangers like this. This is still a song I hear so often. Full Moon and When You Look At Me were really enjoyable R&B, the latter I'm pretty sure finished right next to or near AM to PM in the end of year chart and had an extremely similar chart run too - quite bizarre that they had completely equal appeal. I had very little memory of Get Me Off, but it is a really good track upon relistening, will add to my playlist. No really major opinion on the other indie and rock of this week - Athlete would do the same style better on their next album although the bridge is good, not into Get Free or American Girls, and Sum 41's song I remember the chanty chorus and it's quite fun but not a favourite. I wasn't keen on that Mis-Teeq single either - weren't both songs presented as a medley in the joint music video, with a couple of minutes of each one? Neither were great anyway. At least they preserved the 'hands up in the ay-er' bit. I wonder what that Andy and Denise song was all about, or if it was for some sort of purpose. I remember at the time thinking how random it seemed, and it's certainly no better now. Weeks 27 and 28: Clubbed To Death is the song I predicted you'd put top of this group Julian, it's definitely a sublime instrumental so certainly is a good choice. I even put it on Buzzjack Presents 2002, it seems such an iconic track despite not ever being a major chart hit. I'm glad it got its time to shine in the top 40 eventually. It was cool at the time to see RHCP get their biggest ever hit, that album and era was so good, but then so was Californication, so it was quite an artistically fruitful few years for them. I saw them live a couple of years back and this song was so enjoyable live. Two of the alsorans were my favourites this week though. Kelly Llorenna's storming Eurodance cover of Tell It To My Heart I still love a lot. It was so exciting being such a huge fan of hers at the time seeing her get a solo top ten hit to her name, she'd been trying long enough, and she was also the unofficial face of the Clubland movement that was kicking off around this time. So it was only fair that Kelly and this song opened the first edition. I know it's a cover but I think it works well, Kelly is vocally powerful and her TOTP performance was memorable. A strong live vocal - of course - and starting off singing in a mack that she dropped later. The video quality is awful, but only a couple of years until BBC4 get to the 2002 reruns and we get a better quality version. And I loved that Aurora song too, quite a lot more than Dreaming. That has lovely synths, beautifully subtle verses and then a really powerful chorus for MOR dance music, so good and one of my favourites of the summer. Nice to see the beginning of Amy Studt's career here. I definitely prefer her 2003 singles to Just A Little Girl but it was an interesting introductory single indeed, quite unlilke anything else in the charts in 2002. She beat Avril to her schtick by a few months and then was called 'UK Avril' when she released Misfit... Every time I remember about Shakalaka Baby it makes me smile, that was a very unusual sound for the charts at the time but was so catchy. Preeya later appeared in Eastenders for four years. This is the version of the J.Lo song that was the UK hit - it uses the same recognisable Club Nouveau sample used in I Got 5 On It by Luniz used and a rap from Nas, which I think majorly helped its UK success. The album version with the 80s-esque intro is a bit of a bland production in comparison imo. I don't really like Baby's Got A Temper, I thought it was a very poor comeback after so long, it felt a bit like a parody of their earlier stuff to me and I'm not surprised it came and went very quickly. The 2009 return was so much better. Wherever You Will Go is a great track although I was never overkeen on his very deep vocal, I've heard covers of it that I prefer. The 'run away with my heart' middle eight is fantastic though, with the strings in the background. The Gary Numan song I can't recall but it's a very strong and compelling production, and he was due a commercial comeback after the success of Freak Like Me, driven by his sample. And Idlewild was good too - I remember hearing that on Now 52, like a lot of these other songs. A couple of dance hits I'm not too enthused by in Mother and Reckless Girl, and Gold was a very dull single indeed by Beverley Knight - I really hoped she'd capitalise on the success of Shoulda Woulda Coulda but this wasn't it. Rik Waller's cover is a waste of time - I still think his voice was more pedestrian than media painted it to be at the time, there's not a lot of light and shade to it and he's unpleasantly wailing a bit by the end. I had pretty much forgotten both the Baha Men and Wyclef Jean songs but remember them upon relistening - another dud from Baha Men, but I don't mind the Wyclef song, it's not strong enough to be a lead single but is a fairly pleasant collab with the City High singer. I still find it weird that Bill And Ben had a commercial renaissance in the 00s. This theme is definitely not as charming as Bob The Builder, a bit chaotic and annoying really for me.

Amazed Taylor’s total CD single sales are so low. I suppose the majority just weren’t issued on CD, I definitely bought Love Story back in 2009, maybe it’s worth more than the £3 I paid now! I guess The Joker and The Queen doesn’t count, I can’t remember if she was credited on it. Also glad that the Now Jukebox sequel didn’t do that well, we don’t need any more of those. Very poor that they repeated several tracks that were on the previous edition.

Week 23: Extremely poor week, thank goodness loads of football songs doing well became a thing of the past not long after this. There are some good ones around but certainly not these tracks from DJ Otzi, The England Boys, and Bell and Spurling, and the Dario G one was pointless. Must admit though, I was always quite fond of the Ant & Dec song. I can shamefully perfectly recite that whole middle eight that names all the footballers of the time. It felt like a bit of a novelty to see Ant & Dec getting another hit at the time too as they were well into their presenting career. I really don't mind Ozzy's Dreamer, it was also huge in Europe, one of the biggest selling hits of the year in Germany. The Orbital and Ferry Corsten tracks are both really good dance - both very solid picks as favourites on a limp week. Light My Fire is fine. Will sounds great on it, but the production is pretty bland and I don't think he needed a cover of a famous song out so soon personally (followed by another in that Gareth duet). Weeks 24 and 25: I don't think I'd ever heard Ready Steady Go - good track. Spotify says Ashley Walters is on the vocal - of So Solid Crew and more recently Adolescence fame. Southern Sun was always a really lovely track. Some big favourites in this batch. At the time I bought Dove by Moony - loved her and was so happy this went top ten, the guitar section at the end is great and it's so summery and joyous with the video too. I also bought Kylie - mainly for the excellent mash-up Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head on the b-side as I already had the Fever album. But either way, the a-side is a Kylie classic and another US hit for her to boot! And I love both sides of Get Over You/Move This Mountain, the latter was always an album highlight but not an obvious hit single so I see why they wrote a new track in Get Over You, which is great - especially the verses/bridge. The Logical Song was brilliant! I loved its increasing success too, as that 7-5-2 opening run was unusual at the time. I think it worked so well as a Clubland song, with HP Baxxter's musings over the top of the sped up Supertramp sample which felt fresh at the time. And Scooter had been trying to break through here for ages. Some good rock stuff too - Papa Roach and Jimmy Eat World, and Blurry by Puddle of Mudd was brilliant, so atmospheric in the verses, and a driving and angsty chorus - a nu-metal classic which has a lot of nostalgia for the period for me. Buy my favourite rock hit here was Hero - another surprising compliment for Chad Kroeger but this is quite a delicate rock ballad in parts, very tenderly sung almost evoking Seal's Kiss From A Rose in parts of the melody. Josey was a good addition too, despite Chad only giving him half of the second verse on his own before he swings back in. LOVED that Spiderman film too, one of my favourites of the year, I need to rewatch that! Some really solid dance too - Starchaser was around everywhere at the time, in the background of TV shows etc, and is a good track. Love Story is brilliant, I love that bassline so much, and the Elvis track was massively overplayed but worked really well and was everywhere that summer. Was quite cool to have another Elvis No.1 too, the only time in my life that my dad's favourite singer had a contemporary 'new' No.1 hit. Paffendorf were led by the guy who was also Fragma and Bellini under other aliases. Quite a knowingly ridiculous 'sexy' vocal on that really which always made me laugh, but the production is great. And Hella Good was a brilliant No Doubt track, this was a great era for them, some really strong singles, shame it couldn't quite make the top ten. I'm still a bit behind...but I will catch up eventually. Have had a fun Good Friday morning reminiscing about 2002 anyway ❤️

Madonna - not really a classic cover for me but the production was nice.

The contest needs the floaters! Because they usually decide the winner, like you say. A really strong alt/dance/electronic or pop song might be able to command 250 points from its own side if it appeals really well to its niche, but to get over the line you're usually going to need decent points from the people in the middle too (and with any luck, some small points from the opposite side voters that see the appeal even if they don't completely love it). Which is why we so rarely see winners without any crossover appeal to the other side. Not to say it can't happen though, sure if a standout alt song was to get 10 18s then it would be on 180 points already so wouldn't need that much more support to be in the mix. I see BJSC a bit like Eurovision, with countries that tend to sway one way more often than not; the pop vote (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Malta, Australia, UK, Ireland) and alt/dance vote (Ukraine, Lithuania, Albania, Iceland, Finland, Portgual, Serbia, Croatia) and the people that do their own thing completely (San Marino, Switzerland, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria). But you do need that middle ground to balance things out.

Week 20: I hadn't recalled that H & Claire effectively went head to head with Faye for their first solo releases. Anyway DJ was always going to win the battle against a ballad sung partly in Italian, but I prefer Someone Like You personally, I think it's a nice duet. All I Want Is You was the one I bought at the time, Bellefire were very hyped so two No.18 hits must have been a bit disappointing for them, but I would say this was a lovely cover with great harmonies. I struggle a bit to listen to Rock The Boat, and certainly can't watch the music video as that's what Aaliyah went out to film when she died, so extremely sad in the circumstances but obviously a sublime production. Some good rock in this week - really enjoyed Who Needs Enemies? Not one I remember from the time. And Main Offender is good too. Ronan moving into boring territory, not for the first time, but If Tomorrow Never Comes being such a success is surely what moved him so into becoming an MOR country ballads covers artist. I don't really like Follow Da Leader and for a top five hit that was everywhere at the time, it appears to have no legacy at all - 27k Spotify streams is extremely poor. Week 21: Some great classics in this week, my favourite personally being In My Eyes. I really loved all of the three 2002 hits from Milk Inc a lot, all were in my top 20 songs of 2002, just great euphoric Belgian dance music - and there was a lot of it about around this time with Lasgo, Minimalistix, Ian Van Dahl, Dee Dee, Milk Inc, Jessy and several others...not sure what was in the water there. Come Back was my other favourite - a genuinely GREAT, very classy UK Eurovision entry - who'd have thought it. An amazing vocal from Jessica on the night too, and it seemed fitting we would send somebody from Pop Idol, with how much it had dominated the year to that point in the UK. Come Back was performed too early in the draw to contend in Tallinn (she went on 2nd), but did well to finish 3rd, which shows the potential if she'd been up to perform later. The other Popstars though of course had the most memorable single of the week. I was so impressed with Just A Little, as it felt like Liberty X's career was already done, but clearly they were too good for that to be the case, and this track was absolutely everywhere at the time, and for several years after - just a great, catchy pop song and memorable video. Another really good song from P!nk from a classic album, I think the lyrics on this one are strong and I listen to it quite a lot. Make It Good is quite a curious number, it has really quite strong verses and a solid bridge for me but not sure about the limp intro/post-chorus 'when you're weary', it lets it down a lot for me. Still, I was surprised when it only got to No.11 and this was another example of a pop band immediately imploding very soon after scoring one of their biggest hits (911, Saturdays, Eternal), almost as if they had nothing left to achieve so the only way was immediately down. I know A1 had two No.1s in 2000 but for me Caught In The Middle is where it felt like they'd stepped up to a new league, and I was hoping to see them capitalise. Think I agree on I Feel So Fine, I only vaguely remember the song but that forgettable vocal doesn't work on it very well, I feel a lot more could have been done with that instrumental. Escape was pretty good, another that was hammered by radio and TV, I'm always surprised just how big Enrique was that era - he was peddling good but hardly exceptional pop and had one of the biggest selling albums and singles of the year, plus a few other big singles. Week 22: It's OK is my favourite here - thought that was a very nice, polished and catchy comeback from Atomic Kitten and I loved the glossy, summery video. I find it so interesting how their sound changed after Whole Again was so big, there's no way this mid-tempo strummer would have been a lead single for them in their original guise in 1999. It felt like a different band altogether, with the edges shaved off, but nevertheless, I always enjoyed them and this is a nice slice of Stargate pop that sounds interchangeable with the Blue material around at the time but brings back good memories. Reason also got to No.1 in my personal chart at the time though, I loved Ian Van Dahl and sure it was diminishing returns with each single, with each slightly less good than the last, but for me it was still top drawer Eurodance in all of their top ten hits. Spread Your Love is great - actually that unlocks a memory as I often have it in my head but couldn't place who it was by and when it was from, it definitely does sound like a song that could have come from the 70s to 90s. Without Me is clearly iconic, Eminem's 'comedy' lead singles were always good value and I was in Year 10 at school at the time, so you can only imagine how popular this was with my peers. Oh Baby is such a nice soulful pop song, and I love the intro that fades in then explodes into the chorus, but yeah, I guess the arrival of Rihanna would have done her career no favours, not that it was going anywhere anyway it seems. Bop Bop Baby redefines naff lyrically, clearly it's a song in their usual style and it has a nice bridge, but the lyrics do make me cringe. I was definitely shocked when it went in at No.5, as if the wheels had finally fallen off. I don't know what they were doing releasing the same week as Eminem and Atomic Kitten comebacks though as they usually chose their release weeks well, and there were quieter weeks on the horizon they could have waited for. I think I was expecting No.2/3 for it nonetheless, with the memorable video with Vinnie Jones. The problem is that the relative failure of this and then Hey Whatever in 2003 is why they really stayed in their lane after this with the ballads (and mostly covers), they did seem to relatively struggle with uptempos. In fact, they never even released one of their best singles here - When You're Looking Like That - as they were probably too scared at that point to disrupt the ballad status quo. World Of Our Own and Uptown Girl were their only really successful uptempos. Ms Dynamite had rather an insane amount of hype around her, but she was good and I love the production on It Takes More, it still feels pretty fresh hearing it now. Had forgotten about that wet cover of Baby, Now That I've Found You. What a world that stuff like this could chart back then, now it would be lucky to get three sales on iTunes. Take Down The Union Jack...that's the first and last time I'll listen to that, good grief.

I feel nothing, nada After big hype in the last contest, in the end PUNCHBAG's punky pop track ended up in 19th place, which was an underperformance against the odds but still a great result for us and our best of the year to date. For the 174th contest, as we head to Ajanaeda for the first time, we pay tribute to our hosts with a banging new electro-pop anthem. NADA is Lozeak's second outing in BJSC, after she was sent to 158 by Sandénia, with Used To You. The 22-year-old Norwich-born singer recently released her first album, the self-titled Lozeak, and NADA is a standout track. Ricardo Delta explains the entry choice: "It's been a little while since we've sent back to back pop entries but it's Eurovision season and the flowers are blooming we're in a poppy mood. Lozeak's album first caught our attention due to the artwork, which pays homage to the legendary Clubland compilation series, a major success in the 00s in FSR Rontvia. "The spiky 2:11 track NADA, our second entry in a row to clock in at a little over two minutes, was our immediate standout with the biggest earworm of a chorus we've heard this side of Bara Bada Bastu, glitchy electro-pop production that suggests Lozeak had a very Brat summer last year, and with a first line that harks back to I'm Too Sexy. We are not trying to break any mould this month, it's just catchy, fun POP - and we love it!" NADA debuted in the Rontvian charts three weeks ago at No.8 and has steadily made its way up to its current peak of No.2 this week. NADA already has a loyal fanbase in FSR Rontvia, as you can see from the enthusiastic live performance below.