gooddelta

I got the CD today with the Rough Trade bonus EP, there’s a very special song on that called Walk Away From Her which could have been on the album perhaps over The Go Betweens, which I do like a lot but sounds a little out of place on the project to me.

Very true. And with very inspired and diverse entries too imo, bravo @Freeze ! But that 57/62 figure is just mindblowing @RobBot . You haven't had a DNQ since BEFORE THE PANDEMIC! Which feels like so long ago to me.

Gosh, I think I'd put Dilemma in my top ten, a really effortlessly strong R&B ballad - maybe one of the biggest of all-time of its genre - and great performance by both artists and I loved that their names rhymed. And obviously Kelly texting Nelly on Microsoft Excel in the video was memorable. I always loved Kelly's voice too, and good for her to get the big hit out of Destiny's Child first.

No idea why but it always tickled me for no reason that Will sang 'I've got the will to follow through' on his debut hit. Anyway yes, an ok couple of songs well sung, the biggest selling single of the year (and within the contained decade too I believe) but considering the hype and expectation he could have released anything at this point and had a huge No.1. Evergreen is suitably triumphant and laid the template for that kind of 'winner's single' sound that was copied ad nauseum by X Factor and its winners, slightly odd that it was just a repurposed Westlife album track that they used. Anything Is Possible is quite sweet. I wouldn't put either song much lower or higher either. Dare I say though, that if Gareth had won Pop Idol and released this single, I think the sales could have been even higher, maybe pushing 1.3m first week, as he felt more marketable to me, but maybe Will got the older music buyers on side too, so maybe not. I wonder - if Gareth had won and released this - if Unchained Melody would have been a b-side to that or more likely saved for the second single like Will had Light My Fire as his.

100%, it was such a swerve for them. The only 'Aqua' style bit is the middle eight breakdown (which I love), but the rest is like a timeless ballad that would be held in much higher esteem by critics if it didn't have the Aqua name slapped on it. Vengaboys tried to pull the 'unexpected ballad' trick too with Forever As One, which was lovely but ultimately their lowest peaking single. So it's good that it all worked out well for Aqua as they could so easily have passed straight over it and gone with My Oh My third, or released Lollipop (Candyman) which was a big hit in other countries.

Ugh, the bots always find us in the end ☹️

Wow, congrats Suede! What a way to return! Surprised by Bøtanikkä too, although I didn't see it as a winner, but definitely thought it would be in the final easily. Persephonia was my favourite DNQ, I gave it 8 points!! Shame. Thanks for hosting Dandy! Great show.

Three decent songs among the Semi 1 DNQs there, I thought Lookylion might have snuck in as it stood out but it wasn't meant to be again. I appreciate Wow's entry diversity of the last few months though. Congrats Harry though!

27 is my lucky number <3 Delighted to have made the final and that the people in Semi 1 I hope will enjoy it will get to hear it. Thank you to all of the voters ❤️

I really enjoyed the Atomic Kitten cover of The Tide Is High, they dragged it into the 00s with the new middle eight and somewhat amazingly it is their most played song on Spotify with 240 million streams, which is a quite astonishing figure for a song probably not that fondly remembered on the whole by a British pop band.

Intriguing theme, I shall get my thinking cap on.

All good qualifers so far. Aeroche a contender for the win, and definitely a return to form! Pleased Elëdan made it, apparently against some odds but I did expect it to.

A lovely final album indeed. The singles are great and I like Brand New Me more with every listen. Nice 80s and 90s influences, He's Gone could be from their heyday! Fade is my favourite album track, beautiful strings. I will definitely miss having new music from them.

Good track, they are definitely going out on a high with some strong material. I've ordered the album from Rough Trade as there is a mini bonus disc of remixes with it from there. I'm quite a collector of theirs and try and get a lot of their Christmas fan club releases, no doubt they've still got loads more stuff in the vault even if they're not putting any more new material out. I still really loved their album produced during the pandemic, I've Been Trying To Tell You, there were some fascinating samples on there (Honeyz, Natalie Imbruglia...), and it made for such a gorgeous soundscape.

I'd agree with that placing too, a real plod indeed and I doubt a song either wanted to release, certainly not Will with his third cover in a row. I guess a duet between them was always going to happen but they could have taken any song to No.1 at this point, so I'm sure an original would have been a better option.

Maybe 'much' is a bit generous, but they progressed from a 0 to a 3 with a couple of future releases.

The last place I both expected and agree with. One of my all-time least favourite singles. A very cheap sounding cover with very little charm, but I suppose it was a way to introduce rap to younger teens, my sister was obsessed with them (and this song). Thankfully they had much better material to come. Looking forward to the countdown Rob!

@Addy! @Brer @Calum @Cody Piastri @CowTzy @Herbs @J00prstar @Julian_ @Roba. @Travis @WhoOdyssey and Leww, who I can't tag, plus @HarryGarfield if you are still interested in guest voting (and indeed anybody else who would like to guest vote), you have 26 hours exactly please to send me your votes!

I would say a return to Dan Deacon’s spiritual home of 11-20 is very feasible.

Cool, it definitely won't start any earlier than that as I'm out most of the day myself and will need to finish prep etc first.

Probably start around 7pm, apologies if it's a bad night for people - unfortunately it's the only one I'll be able to do until probably a week later as I'm out myself Monday night and work late Tues to Thurs.

With yourself up there in the mix too again in the top five in the final! I agree otherwise with all your predictions for the top five contenders, and that Semi 2 is much more contender heavy than Semi 1. That said, Hendinia, Kathaldazia, Kluminican Republic and Cor Lupus should all be there or thereabouts. Maybe even Elëdan if it can get out of the semi (which I hope it does).

That's a shame, I'm guessing the BJSC semi results will be Sunday night as the voting closes Saturday for that, so looks to be a busy weekend of contest results.

Voted! I really enjoyed Semi 2, quite indie leaning but it was all good and a smattering of strong pop too.

I’ve got 14 votes in currently and it’s already looking like a very interesting results show for sure, so do tune in on Saturday evening. In the meantime there are about 40 hours left for the other 16 of you (and any willing guest voters) to vote. And this will close at 11.59pm tomorrow. There will be deductions for any votes received after that or not received at all. I’ll try and remember to send reminders at some point in the next 24 hours!