gooddelta

Just heard this and it is surely not a DNQ, Erika Vikman vibes and her entries managed fair crossover outside the pop bloc iirc. A brilliantly produced pop song with a great melody and personality like this should sail through regardless of draw. I agree with blacksquare, we will not see 20 alt qualifiers here, the pop is too strong to deny.

Loren Allred’s Never Enough COMMANDS the one hit wonder roster from The Greatest Showman, but This Is Me is better than Lee Mead’s karaoke cover.

I think you should hopefully Q, it was a welcome breather to hear it after that long run of female pop (not that a lot of it wasn't good as there are some great pop songs in there) and Parallel Worlds has a big chorus that has a lot of pop appeal. Also as I often say, just because people send a certain genre one month, doesn't mean they will be voting for only 10 songs from said genre, so I'm sure people will have room in their votes for some of these other sounds and the countries sending pop won't exclusively vote for pop. And the countries sending alt will find space for some of their favourite pop songs (there aren't 10 alt songs to vote for anyway in Semi 1, so they'll have to!). History has shown that usually if there are a lot of songs in the same genre fighting for votes from the same people, some inevitably do get crowded out unfortunately. Which ones that will be, I don't know as most songs in Semi 1 sound like they have a fair shot at qualifying.

The target market responded positively to this one ❤️

Maybe you're trying to break the record for most consecutive contests in my votes, a banger

Answers submitted! Interesting concept, some images jumped immediately to mind for many while others had nothing at all jump to my mind.

The TOTP repeats have reminded me I'm not very fond of that Oasis track, so that.

Possibly a few festival appearances like Mighty Hoopla might be fun, but I'd be surprised if a full tour does well. They had one fairly average huge selling single that sold off the back of a successful TV show (they could have released any song and it would have sold), one criminally underrated and brilliant follow-up No.1 that has been forgotten, a couple of other hits that have been forgotten. What are they going to fill a concert set with? Album tracks nobody wants to hear? I don't get it either and it screams either cancelled or selling tickets for a fiver to get people through the door, unless it's tiny venues.

Remember when these two turned up in One Hit Wonder Bop Idol together Anyway, as much as I love a naff novelty song, I'm voting for Pumped Up Kicks.

Darin - Fantasi - The original is a Swedish classic, and Darin does it justice, a good clubby production on this and I love how well he is doing, more please! The Scandipop style really stands out in this round. Damien Rice - Cannonball - I do not blame Damien's mentor for playing this now, if he nearly slipped out with Amie, which was fantastic. This is a classic of course, and far better than the Little Mix cover. Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One - I do actually really like this classy ballad from Sam, much more than some of their others, the lovely chords have always reminded me a bit of Randy Newman? If it was sped up I could imagine it in Toy Story. This category is really making me look like a Sam Smith stan! Calvin Harris & Sam Smith - Desire - when Calvin decided to go trance for a couple of singles... after I absolutely adored Miracle, I wasn't that huge on Desire but still, it's decent. Sam Fender - Get You Down - Another pretty good Sam song although I'm not super passionate about it, nice production though as ever. HRVY - hesitate - was nice enough but I didn't like it as much as the last few from HRVY, hope he survives though! Tom Grennan - Boys Don't Cry - I remember this, as the slightly shouty chorus reminds me a bit of We Are Your Friends. I quite liked the 80s production vibe he was going for on his recent material, although again, his voice isn't my cup of tea generally. Roosevelt - Montreal - I didn't get too much from this, although it has a nice disco soundscape. Gary Numan - My Name is Ruin - Not my favourite unfortunately, I much preferred his older material.

There’s going to be a lot aimed at the Christmas market as these admittedly boring albums tend to sell better and hang around longer in the compilation chart so it makes sense to do these releases close to Christmas to maximise their profits. They’ve probably run out of ideas for Party albums like they often do so maybe we’re getting this instead. Now GTA would have to be a licensed tie in to use the branding and that would cost a lot to do for very little return. It’s not like Clubland (easy tie in with Universal), I just don’t see that they would get access to such a large global phenomenon as a Now CD. GTA’s producers would do better globally putting out their own soundtrack.

100 songs, it feels like the glory days of 100 Hits! Yes it is pointless but clearly aimed at the Christmas market so doesn't bother me that much for that reason, very uninspired though.

Marina is the winner dark horse I feel, their mentor is playing a blinder. Adele could also win although a lot of big songs have been played, but still many left of course. The Swedish female mentors are really sitting on their artists’ biggest hits, but it could help them in the long run if everyone else is burning through hits. But could also trip them up. An intriguing game of strategy.

Damien Rice - Herbs Darin - RobBot Zara - LeeJ Milica - Uhsting Wardy - Sam Smith (could be Calvin, I can't decide) Jade - Fontaines DC Julian - Kate Bush Lindsey - Marina Lukuzz - Tove Lo Addy - Agnes Paddington James - Adele Mango - Texas Iz - M83 Rollo - Ultravox (could also be Gary) JimWatts - Gary Numan (could also be Ultravox) Dandy - New Order (could be Depeche Mode) Dan - Depeche Mode (could be New Order or Calvin) Jay - Bananarama (no idea who would send them, maybe Mango too) Vibe - Sade Scene - Leona (or so I thought until that Collide ranking oops) Pavi - iamamiwhoami Roba - Dido Still trying to work out the rest.

MARINA - I Am Not a Robot - This is such a beautiful song that has basically been going round my head a few times a week since I first heard it in 2010, I love it a lot and it's lyrically relateable too. Leona Lewis feat. Avicii - Collide - I always loved this, moreso than Avicii's Fade Into Darkness, I just love hearing Leona on a dance track like this. That backing track is wonderful and her vocal soars on it, I wish she had done more stuff like it. Zara Larsson - Can't Tame Her - reminds me of that Eurovision opening party in Liverpool where Zara performed it live. Definitely the best song from her khia era and deserved a much better peak, but it's hard to get a mega hit when everything is working against you. My long overdue first high ranking for Zara! Adele - Chasing Pavements - a lovely song and a strong first big hit from Adele, you don't hear it as much these days so it was nice to hear it again. I did really enjoy the singles from 19, before she went stratospheric with big production values to match. Kate Bush - Cloudbusting - A classic song, of course, with a unique almost shuffling/marching vibe in places, deserved a better peak than No.20. Agnes - 24 Hours - A very strong song and one I saw her perform live earlier in the year but there are others I love even more from this album. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - you can tell this is another Freemasons production as it's cut from the same cloth sonically as Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer, I think I did expect this to peak higher at the time. Jessie Ware - Hot N Heavy - good, catchy disco, sorry to rank it so low, I just really like that top eight but do enjoy this too. Robyn - Keep This Fire Burning - Beverley Knight's note for note cover of this amuses me somewhat, I guess she felt she could get away with it as it was from Robyn's wilderness years. The song is decent, not a huge fave of mine from either artist but it is funky.

Bananarama - Love in the First Degree - a gold plated 80s pop classic and my favourite Bananarama song, an absolute joy and one of the best SAW productions Texas - Black Eyed Boy - I have vivid memories attached to this wonderful song. It reminds me of summer 1997 and going to a Cartoon Network-hosted Scooby Doo roadshow in late July on Brighton beach (along with Scooby Snacks by Fun Lovin' Criminals, of course) Sade - By Your Side - I always thought this was an absolutely beautiful track, I remember it from the time well as it was on Hits 2001 Fontaines D.C. - Marianne - I remember reading somewhere recently that the chorus melody is reminiscent of Take That, and I definitely get that - it's pretty poppy and mainstream for Fontaines, almost like Embrace in places too - not a bad thing for me at all Depeche Mode - Precious - a strong, brooding and atmospheric mid-00s hit from Depeche Mode, I really like the piano line in this New Order - Crystal - decent track, I remember this from a Hits album at the time too, nice to see something 21st century from them Years & Years - Sanctify - nice chorus, but I do prefer a lot of other singles from them iamamiwhoami - t - nice but wasn't as grabby for me as their last few songs Ultravox - All Stood Still - I vaguely know this already but it's not really a favourite of mine

Oh yes, my mistake, Calvin getting his own back then (unless the song doesn't do the business).

Not when I send them! Justice for Land Of The Tyrants' DNQ. Justice for Loss Is Not Infinite! Justice for North Circular by Real Lies when it didn't even crack the top 30, yet their next 49 entries all did.

Intriguing. Maybe he was your third choice?

Dido being first choice, but Damien second, I guess. At least you've got further than her (pre-Gamu, anyway).

Ooh I think the Darin song is a cover of Free Style, an 80s Swedish classic, hope this is treated well! Cannonball is not a surprise, I expected this or one of two other songs but this does seem a safe option when he was so close to being out. Sam Smith finally playing a ballad, let's see how that goes. I love how they've had two more songs than everyone else in the competition so far now as Calvin's mentor loves playing them so much.

Wow, Keep This Fire Burning. At least with the recognisability factor from the Beverley Knight cover it should help it but there are some incredible songs in here. Robyn could be a bit of an underdog. Happy to see Collide played for Leona as I didn't know if it would be, but I love it. Oh and I fully expected Cloudbusting from Kate. Was clear she was getting into trouble and needed a large smash to see her through, and this will do it.

Ooh some of the groups are treating this round like a final. Everybody keen to get further! Fontaines and Bananarama are very well played as I don’t think they should be in trouble with those. Love the Sade song. And that Texas classic <3

Also somewhat weirdly, on the Now Yearbook: The Vault 1983 CD where I first heard it (which features a disc of US hits that never charted in the UK), just before I Melt With You is your (massively underrated) entry Suddenly Last Summer by The Motels!