gooddelta

Congrats @Lukuzz, amazing run with Atomic Kitten, I so easily could have sent them myself and would have strung together a similar run. I just wanted to thank @Calum for putting this incredible contest together. It's been a genuine thrill to be part of this and strategically choose a new song each week. Obviously I was Delta, and I had four things going through my mind while playing this, all of which I think I managed. First was never to use songs from the same album/era twice in a row so it didn't get samey or too cheap, second was that I didn't just want to play all of her UK hits (not that she had many anyway, six - three of which I used), third was that I only wanted to use songs that I truly love myself and not just songs I thought could do better (therefore I didn't consider the likes of The River, The Power, I Can't Break It To My Heart, which are all fan favourites, although I like but not love all of these), and finally, and fourth there were several songs that I wanted to try and make sure I played at some point, all of which I did manage to fit in. Ultimately I feel like Delta is mostly known for ballads in the UK and I mainly wanted to showcase her doing stuff other than just ballads. Here's why I chose each song at each stage: Round 1: The Earth Auditions - Innocent Eyes (2003) (3rd, 329 points) - I thought it was worth starting with a popular but not her most famous hit, to safely get through the first hurdle before introducing lesser known stuff. Funnily enough, this is my favourite UK hit of hers, so a good starting point Round 2: The Orbit Auditions - Sitting on Top of the World (2012) (7th, 209 points) - This is in her Spotify top five most played and very popular with fans, I actually thought it would go down better than it did so it's good I played it early Round 3: Boot Camp: Part One - Wings (2015) (3rd, 184 points) - this track is amazing, and could have been her Eurovision entry in a parallel universe, I never wasn't going to play this Round 4: Boot Camp: Part Two - Electric Storm (2004) (1st, 251 points) - this is the ultimate Delta album track, as Delta has said herself, it's the deep cut that fans always requests her to play on tour. I wouldn't have chosen anything else Round 5: Judges' Houses - Eclipse (2026) (4th, 195 points) - A little bit cheeky but it was free choice and the track had been released two days earlier and I was spamming it, it immediately seemed strong enough to make it further here so I grabbed the opportunity! Round 6: The Black Hole Battles - Lost Without You (2003) (WIN) - I considered how strong the competition could be at this stage although ultimately Delta got lucky with her opponent so maybe I didn't need to play this so early in hindsight, but against potentially stronger songs I needed her biggest hitter to contend Round 7: The Scoop - N/A Round 8: Live Show One - Believe Again (2007) (4th, 340 points) - My favourite Delta song and my third favourite song of all-time, a majestic song that I was always hoping to play at some point and was keen to get through the first live show Round 9: Live Show Two - Not Me, Not I (2003) (6th, 249 points) - Such a beautiful ballad, and a UK hit from her biggest album, I'd hoped it would do better in the ballad round tbh, it's so stunning, but I'm glad she went further Round 10: Live Show Three - In This Life (2007) (6th, 233 points) - another very good, very fun and optimstic, popular with fans lead single of Delta's and another Aussie No.1, I felt a strong chance that this could go further although again it wasn't exactly safe by miles Round 11: Live Show Four - Back to Your Heart (2023) (6th, 178 points) - I was quite surprised how restricted I was by the rules in the flop round, as the majority of her singles did in fact go top 40 in her home country of Australia. So after much thought, for me it was either I Don't Care, which I enjoy but felt a bit juvenile to go further, or one of her 80s influenced recent hits, and I prefer this one to Hearts On The Run, so I'm glad it scraped through the last round Round 12: The Semi Final - Last Night on Earth (2004) (OUT) - I could see after three sixth places that the writing was on the wall here, and that Delta was basically out almost no matter what else was sent in the strength of the competition. The only act I could see her getting past was Atomic Kitten potentially, but I also expected them to play It's Ok which would have beaten anything left of Delta's. She'd have never won a judges vote either. So with that in mind, I was certain I was playing my last hand so I wanted to squeeze out one more inspired choice rather than just playing a UK single and coming last anyway, so I went with this majestic album track, and another huge fan favourite. It didn't go Delta's way, but that's fine, I do feel like I took her as far as she was going to go, and indeed probably a lot further than many expected with so many people calling her out in the last two shows particularly. For the sake of transparency, if Delta had gone to the final then I'd have chosen between Predictable, Mistaken Identity, Out Of The Blue, and the two other BJSC entries I sent by Delta, Take Me Home and Hunters and the Wolves. But I hadn't fully thought it through, I was winging it a lot of weeks and deciding on the spot. I wouldn't have played Born To Try because the forum apparently dislikes it, going by the Pop Princesses rate, or Almost Here, because I didn't want to play any collabs unless a round of that nature came up, and it feels more like a Brian single than a Delta single. Thank you all, it's been so fun! I'll be back next year with someone less obviously my act hopefully!

I actually love both of these for different reasons. I'd have to abstain from voting if I was a judge. Can't be denied ABBA have a stronger hand for the final though.

Mightte the vetoes be made public?

Oh my! Conan, congraulations, so impressed with his Pop Factor journey. Sad for Delta, a risk too far. And ditto for ABBA oops being in the vote, but that's sad, that's such a wonderful song that I've always loved (I didn't say while the vote was open but it was a DNQ in BJSC many years ago too criminally).

That's an interesting thought! I was thinking normal shorter songs like we use in Buzzfestivalen but where we just watch and listen live together once, but maybe a second running of it if it's a success could be entirely live performances sent, or other themes down the line etc...

Not much to disagree with in the last few, I broadly agree with the comments and positions for Holiday (would put a bit lower) and Break Your Heart. I did have a soft spot for Oopsy Daisy though, nice melody in the verses and a good chorus. I bought the Peter Kay DVD single as the video is so wonderful and nostalgic (the Fat Controller part being my favourite <3) but the song really just slapped random stuff together that didn't work at all e.g. the Jai Ho dance break? But agreed, it's hard not to be charmed by it all somehow, as the concept is so lovely. Number 1 is another one I really like from Tinchy and it felt like it represented N-Dubz at their peak too - an act I never expected to see anywhere near No.1 (or the top 40) when Better Not Waste My Time first surfaced on Channel U in the mid 00s. I really respect how they fought their way from the underground to the top! Agreed about La Roux, the original deserved the praise that the remix gets.

I have always combined mixes personally to avoid duplicate entries of the same song e.g. DJ Sammy's Heaven in 2002 I listened to both the radio version and Candlelight mix an equal amount but combined the entry. In the case you mention, I'd probably do the same. However, if I dislike an original version and only like a remix/feature, I will specify the version that I like. But I never did multiple entries of the same song in different versions.

Excited for No.188! Just going through what I missed (got there in the end), I have a soft spot for that Jason Donovan song, and its Christmassy vibe. Renegade Master was a strong remix, the edit of it isn’t on Spotify so which was annoying for BuzzJack Presents 1998.

I think Jenny Fisher is long gone, and hasn't been in charge of Now tracklists for at least five years according to her Linkedin Google summary (I didn't go as far as to click on her profile though, sure she gets enough Now fans sending her suggestions).

Wasn't Agnetha's 2004 solo hit, If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind, also a Cilla cover (at least she covered Cilla's arrangement of it)? All roads lead back to Cilla in the Pop Factor.

Thanks so much for all sharing your work on these. @nowmusic1993 yours have had such fun artwork ideas, well executed design (they look like official products), and very well researched tracklists. A lot of songs I'd forgotten about that deserved their place on compilations of the era. The dance ones from @Harrison FB are such a great idea too. If only Now Dance still existed (although they wouldn't be half as good). Hadji's alternative albums also look decent there.

Two can play at that game.

He has form, Southgate is heading to another final! (and then losing, obviously).

The 'thank you baby' memes have been fun and Love Doesn't Have To Hurt is so lovely, so it would certainly be wonderful to see Atomic Kitten progress via making the top four, but at the expense of who? If they end up in 5th or 6th I can't see the judges saving them over their opponent. Brave choice over It's Ok but I really respect that as there's every chance it could sneak in and give them a real shot in the final! If there is any 'shock' though, I think it would be ABBA, as Eagle was quite leftfield too and a lot of the pop voters didn't go for that. I think the alt voters having little else to go for now should save them though and some of the pop voters will appreciate it too. The top three of Because Of You/Not Fair/Laura feels extremely likely to me, with ABBA fourth. I don't think there is a song remaining in Delta's repertoire that could see her past Because Of You/Not Fair/Laura/The Day Before You Came, so it seems pretty unlikely she won't be going at this stage. Last Night On Earth is magnificent for me, one of her best non-singles and incredible to see live last year with a full band, so it's lovely to see it played at what was probably the final opportunity for it to appear. Perhaps the more obvious choice was Born To Try as her biggest selling UK hit but then it's there for the final if she was to somehow sneak in, and if the mentor wanted to risk it (going by the Pop Princesses rate result oops). I can't call how that Conan song will be received at all, but he was first last time - I know Haim went first to last but he clearly has a sizeable fanbase here. I would say 5th, or maybe 4th if ABBA does shock. Atomic Kitten could easily take 4th too though, or Delta if the fans that have seen her through this far are still with her, although that is unlikely. All I believe though is that the top three is very obvious, classic songs that everyone knows well, it's hard to get past.

Agreed. User generated Spotify year playlists are a good start though. Also, if Now have compiled Yearbooks for the year that you have, it's worth checking out their tracklists for some of the more obscure choices on the Extras (or Vaults if you got a year from the first half of the 80s). My song is just not competitive whatsoever but I've developed a big soft spot for it so going to keep it.

My Doorbell. Shame to lose Honeyz 😭

1. Delta Goodrem - Eclipse 2. Ziyad Al-Samman - Ya Habibi 3. Joshua Idehen - Mum Does The Washing 4. Helena Bergström - Aldrig ska jag sluta älska dig 5. Dolcenera - My Love 6. Courtney Barnett - Same 7. SIENNA SPIRO - The Visitor 8. FELICIA - My System 9. Bleach Lab - My Favourite Game 10. LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER - Eins, Zwei, Drei 11. Eleh & Kwesta - Ndi A Ni Funa 12. A*Teens - Iconic 13. Robyn - Into The Sun 14. Prefab Sprout - Where The Heart Is 15. Dune - Dark Side Of The Moon 16. No Angels - Let's Go To Bed 17. 4hero & Carina Andersson - Les Fleur 18. Michaela - Take Good Care Of My Heart 19. RAYE Feat. Hans Zimmer - Click Clack Symphony 20. Olivia Rodrigo - The Book Of Love

The Chipmunk song is very weak, so that.

Vanilla Ninja is catchy and we’re in a millennial nostalgia cycle, the Kelly and Katy late 00s pop rock sound is coming back around. I’m expecting a Q! I do think it will flop in the final though, the title is cringey, it won’t be jury bait, public score would be low in the final. No real way it does well after the semis. Cool Vibes still sounds fresher and it’s now legally able to drink in the US.

I think that's the concern with Finland really, juries almost always back English language songs as their favourite (Switzerland won the jury in 2021 but it was a very effective ballad, extremely well sung - the kind of thing jurors eat up) so it's unlikely to win that vote, and Monroe and Delta are surely too good vocally for them not to place above Finland. Both are also very confident and engaging performers, so it's not like they'll just be standing there giving a powerful vocal and nothing else. While over on the televote it feels like Greece and Israel stand a far better chance than Finland, so at best Finland probably would be third on each metric, which could well be enough for a consensus, and I think that's what the bookies are betting on. As it stands, I suspect France or Israel are the frontrunners for the overall win, bearing in mind Australia's usual struggles in the public vote (as delighted as I would be to see Delta smash it for them on the televote in a Sam Ryder fashion), with Greece, Ukraine and Finland also in the mix there, but why Finland is such a dominant odds on favourite, I'm not really sure. It could go several ways but it's very hard to tell what the jury will do with Finland, so feels like a risky favourite.

The Bieber nostalgia is interesting. Fair though, he really tapped into the zeitgeist perfectly there with that set. I don't like many of his early hits, but Sorry and What Do You Mean were untouchable (with Despacito completing my top three, not sorry). We know that everything moves in roughly 20-year nostalgia cycles so it's of no surprise to me that the sound of the late 00s/early 10s is now making a resurgence. New hits about the club and listing names of capital cities may not be far off

Some good bets in there, like Greece and Ukraine. Bear in mind these two songs will also be appreciated by many of this year’s returning countries so the Western countries might be less dominant with no e.g. Ireland, Iceland, Netherlands who would have backed Finland in a big way. Unfortunately Finland is not that amazing for me either but I do understand the odds as I could see it doing well on both jury and televote (without winning either), whereas with everything else they feel more geared to one metric or the other. Blind loyalty would have me put a bet on Australia but realistically I don’t see Delta getting a big enough televote to contend. Hopefully she will pull a legendary staging out of the bag (I already know the vocal will be good). France can’t be ruled out due to this recently turning into the Operavision Song Contest in terms of winners, and Monroe is immensely talented (although this song also isn’t for me, but neither was JJ’s song).

This whole thing is a fever dream for me. Delta covering Loreen!!!!!???! So good too, she's playing it on piano, and I love the middle eight where she strips it back and reins it in. Sister2Sister on the backing vocals too <3

Oops at the Sting repeat, quality control get in here. Apart from that and about three others, I know hardly any of these so lots to discover.

Listened to everything twice, and it was tricky to vote in that for me. My top three was very clear, other four harder to rank.