gooddelta

On paper Party Rock Anthem is everything I hate in music. However, I was going out clubbing a lot in early 2011 and it was everywhere and it went down extremely well in that environment and reminds me of some good nights, so it gets a semi pass on nostalgia.

Once more, Usher.

The Game

I didn't realise that, I own the album too but guess I haven't played the actual CD for a bit. I did funnily enough come across it in one of my CD boxes the other day so will have a listen when I get home. The whistles are certainly quite grating. It reminds me of how Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo's Let's Go used to have a post-chorus adlib that went 'it’s now or never' which is removed these days on streaming.

Got to be honest, this would be in my top ten. I bought it at the time and still find it completely beautifully sung, and a gorgeous composition. It gets lumped in with all the other choir/charity singles by most people but it's not a clunky cover like A Bridge Over You from 2015 for example, but a really lovely original. It was Christmas No.1 in my personal chart too.

The Example song I like although preferred the material from his previous album a lot more, especially Watch The Sun Come Up, which is one of my small pool of BJSC entries turned real-life hits. The Lazy Song i feel similar about, I don't hate or love it but all the other singles from the album are better. It is very odd how it did SO much better than Marry You, I guess the album had been out longer by the time that started to climb.

Coco plays football in the video too.

The Remember Monday song is their best since Eurovision, easily. Great 80s power pop vibe, glad they're supporting it. Ndlovu Youth Choir I sent to BJSC years ago with a song called We Will Rise, intriguing to see them on the playlist with Roger Taylor, probably one of the acts I've sent I'd have least expected to show up on UK radio.

Turkish/Rontvian votes are in. Lots of good stuff here, I'd have happily given 17 songs votes so glad we had the extended voting system in play. I didn't manage to vote for every group sadly, but one group nearly got a clean sweep, however one of the four ranked 19th for me so just missed.

I loved Loca People at the time, ended up just outside my top 40 of the year too. I lived with a couple of Spanish guys that year and they did love partying (and made sure to tell me this every day, and about how dry the UK party scene was compared to Spain), so it reminds me of them. It is such a strange No.1 looking back, feels like a novelty. 'What the f*ck!'

Alf Poier made me laugh. It was the bookies favourite to come last that year but it did stand out and I can see why it appealed. Going from a schlager song into a rock song was interesting. The Secret Is Love was in my top three entries of 2011 and one of my overall favourites from Austria, I thought that was a great Disney-esque ballad delivered with a lot of power, the final minute is brilliant (only weird part is the last couple of seconds). A lot of 'this sounds like' among some of the entries that have gone out, like Say A Word (All Right Now by Free) and We Will Rave (Think About The Way by Ice MC). Halo was decent in studio form but the live was just awful vocally. I didn't think I Am Yours deserved nul points, it's the kind of thing I could imagine doing well in the UK charts and on the radio in the early 90s, I'm surprised juries gave it zero as it was well written and performed.

I included it on the BuzzJack Presents... Dance 1999 spin-off though!

Usher again. This was the way the Gwen track originally sounded, before it was decided to stir that questionable sample into the mix. Sounds a bit 'My Humps', so maybe the sample was added to make the song stand out a bit more. She's lucky it didn't derail the whole album campaign from the off though. The era had some really great songs - 4 In The Morning, Early Winter, The Sweet Escape, so indeed it was a choice. But I still don't mind it somehow.

Oh Taylor. I missed the last hour and wondered how so many pages had appeared. I actually love this track of hers too but that is some high level riggery of the Harry Styles in Space Man week kind. I think the OCC really will need to introduce a rule that a label can’t just drop in physicals at a time that suits their artist. I mean, why not just hold them for Christmas week and give her the Christmas No.1 instead?

Kane Me In (ball into the goal remix)

Shakira with a chart double in 2026 is a turn up for the books. This song is far weaker than Waka Waka though.

I'm surprised the music industry isn't up in arms pleading with OCC for changes. How are they supposed to break new acts at this point?

I've listened to 3 Lions '98 a fair few times since Weds night, although interesting that Three Lions made it in without Thursday streams.

Waka Waka is such a great song, always nice to see Shakira in the top 40. And impressive that she looks to get the only 'new' football song this year, I wonder if any new England, Scotland or Wales specific football songs will ever chart again.

Very poor track, just a bad idea all round of songs to sample/cover. Wow, we really did just buy any old crap in the Club Banger era didn't we! Best Thing I Never Had deserved No.1, such a classy ballad.

Yeah, I thought she was another Lumidee for at least nine months from Pon De Replay. SOS and Unfaithful was a great one-two punch to make a statement after the fairly middling follow up singles from the debut album. Unfaithful was the first one of hers I personally loved (and bought).

The Game, it's the first song in one of these polls in ages I couldn't remember without looking it up. It did come back to me upon listening but I prefer the other eight songs.

It is definitely AI, I pressed play on the preview (for my sins). Artwork is also AI and it's on that telltale Records DK 'label' that a lot of the AI stuff is on.

More AI crap, of course. Now people don't even need to go to the effort of making their own bad song to make a political point.

Another X Factor winner's single I bought for the b-side covers from the show. It's fine, quite a pleasant version of Cannonball but not indicative of what they would go on to do and achieve, and probably a step back after When We Collide really. I see what they were trying to do with another cover of an indie track but not sure Cannonball suits being a group number at all. I don't know why they didn't give the group something more fitting.