Iz様 🌟

yes tbh I will stan everyone

So aside from the obvious, no Japan, this is at least a decent lineup, no obvious countries who are only doing this for trophy hunting and dictatorship pleasing, no India or China to immediately dominate the first edition, hosted in one of the better Asian countries. I saw some reports that the winner wouldn't host, which, if that's the case, sort of dooms this to be yet another edition of the various 'Asian music festivals' that have been tried a while back, though at least happening annually?

yes, all the Asian entries, none of the European entries wbk (i know why you've done it but my thread autism hurts)

I'd have probably seriously considered pointing all of these :/ huge loss of great songs in semi 1, especially that middle 3 of Wholune, Ennea and Aelandor which I think would have been all in my top 5 if I were in that semi. I think the only one of my votes I lost in my semi was Abeltesfayon which is much better going. Mostly good results but a lot of faves I couldn't vote for lost :(

I'm not sure what's not getting through now and there's absolutely going to be a few that no one saw coming 😱

Yay! Thank you! Sometimes the line between what might be a hit and flop seems so narrow these days I wasn't sure, very glad to get this one through though.

Frostline <3 this is going very very well thus far. suspicious.

HAHA YES GET IN STEEL BALL RUN

oh let me pray to all the rock gods that I got the cross over I need 'the heron' was definitely one that needed to be through

Very shocking, you must imagine that whatever it is, it is severe enough that there's no 'suspending pending investigation' or anything of the sort, the BBC is sure and they are making a clean break. Someone who it seemed was a pair of safe hands for the BBC for nearly 3 decades as well.

Big Hoops was one of the better Nelly choices for me and I still ranked it low, I think her time was coming to an end IMO still very much enjoying Scissor Sisters here, glad they survive for a little bit longer

even worse, the streaming service funding this (HBO) will be pulling it out of money on their balance sheet, some of which comes from money from their subscribers, so anyone subscribed to HBO is indirectly causing this. Not that that means one should necessarily boycott them because in super capitalism boycotts are worse than useless but even if you're not literally giving money to the next person in the chain, by choosing not to watch it and ignoring it, not giving it engagement is a good signifier for your morality and rejection of JK's. Anyway this will be absolutely derided in all respectable comment sections and websites and will make a bajillion dollars because everyone who doesn't spend their time doing that will tune into what is still possibly the biggest IP on the planet getting a major (if completely pointless) remake.

Kelly Clarkson - Never Again (the best Kelly song, I'm glad this showed up at some point, I love this era so much) Delta Goodrem - Believe Again (very powerful Delta song and one of those that definitely has something more to it, always been a great cornerstone of this site for me) Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova (I also dislike children one of her best songs she has released, got a real kick to it) ABBA - Super Trouper (classic if a little bit below the essential tier but that still gets them #4 so) ROSALÍA - PIENSO EN TU MIRÁ - Cap.3: Celos HAIM - If I Could Change Your Mind The Corrs - Irresistible Scissor Sisters - She’s My Man Florence + the Machine - Hurricane Drunk David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes Nelly Furtado - Big Hoops (Bigger the Better) Conan Gray - Maniac Lily Allen - Madeline Atomic Kitten - Be With You Troye Sivan - Bloom Good round, definitely great hands played from Kelly, Delta and Chappell.

I haven't started listening so this could be entirely out of sync with how it actually ends up (bad idea, bring on the listenthrough), but most of the songs I was most interested to listen to from artist - song title combination have been marked as non-qualifiers by Juranamo lmao also I need rock bloc hype fast

I must admit I knew (to a high degree of certainty) LiSA was Cow as soon as the artist threads went up, so I saw both a good opportunity to do a little deflection, confusion and chaos, and I estimated that I appreciated LiSA a lot in comparison to how I expected Buzzjack to receive her, hence a bit of relentless stanning. Very glad she got this far, she did amazingly and managed to show off some great songs of her, some of which I knew but some I didn't, hence had I been piloting her you'd have seen a few different choices, I'd have probably tried to bring back Ichiban No Takaramono for one x Did motivate me to finally go and listen to some of her albums, her most played songs for me are by far her pre-Gurenge anime themes. amazing as always

The month after a recycling between us went the other way with Pixel Grip, how coincidental I spy a Jojo reference.

That's a good set of three through, I was hoping, of the likely contenders, for Rosalía to make it so I'm pleased she has. Conan also very well deserved and Lily makes sense. Well done to those repping them.

https://fullfact.org/health/keir-starmer-fake-quote-lockdown-meningitis/ I'd be wary of the sources you are consuming media from if a fake claim has made it onto your feed. Meningitis also is unlikely to ever require a COVID style lockdown because the threshold for transmission and infection is far higher than COVID or flu.

Who? No one is doing that.

Indeed, thanks for starting this, and it looks to be a fun one as local elections seem to take more and more significance (quite possibly outsized) each year. To what extent that is part of the media hatred of Labour, using them as a vehicle to push Reform, or just a symptom of the 24/7 news cycle, nothing conclusive, but yes there is quite an expectation for this one. 2025's local cycle was largely county-wide district council voting, in contrast, 2026's set of local elections is far more urban. Perhaps the most significant set of elections will be those of every London borough, and the full elections in other major urban areas like most of the West Midlands and traditional Labour areas like Sunderland. Most of the major population centres in North West England also have an election, but those are mostly a one-third election, so we're not expecting Reform to flip central Manchester, nor would we outside of the collapse of polite society. Various district councils and cities across the country also have an election, including some that got delayed from 2025, and once again I'm still not voting anywhere. Anyway for those people who do have the opportunity to vote, this is expected to be seen as a test of Greens in fertile environments for them, a test of Reform in mostly rather less fertile environments, though some they have a good chance of flipping, and an opportunity to have a referendum on Keir Starmer's premiership. Though of course, as always, voting like that is very destructive, as if you end up with a bunch of useless party loyalists as your council, you can expect your council to act as if it were run by a bunch of useless party loyalists (see: Kent Council, Warwickshire Council in the last year). Keep an eye out for who's running in your ward and vote for who you think'd be best at doing a councillor's job is, as always, the far better advice, no matter what the media circus about its impact on the national picture is.

Chosen 20. Mostly it's a selection of my favourite entries, though in truth there's about 50 from my catalogue that I think are absolutely perfect and was obsessed with throughout the contest I entered them to, this is definitely true of all 20 of these, I've tried to choose among those some of the most enduring, and tried to cover most of the years and genres I've been entering here. in that if you listen to this you'll get a taste of the kinds of J-pop, rock, swingy stuff, dance occasionally, indie and rap sometimes, that I might enter. Some are artists that I've gone onto become huge fans of, most of these artists I've at least listened to and loved an album from on top of these and it was in part loving an era that led me to enter many of them here. Some did well, some not so well, but I love all of them and they'd all be at the top of my recommendations list if relevant. Also tried to kind of go with a good order. Megitsune opens well, Just is the last track on its album and is a great closer (plus 'shock qualifier announced last' counts for a lot) 1. BABYMETAL – Megitsune 2. Beyond The Black – Night Will Fade 3. Mori Calliope – end of a life 4. Girls Dead Monster, LiSA – Ichiban No Takaramono (Yui. Final Ver) 5. Nao Hiiragi – Requiem (Stygia Bootleg)* 6. Sewerslvt – Jvnko Still Loves You 7. Vylet Pony – Pest 8. San Fermin – Sonsick 9. PinocchioP – I’m Glad You’re Evil Too 10. Diablo Swing Orchestra – Celebremos Los Inevitables 11. Amaranthe – Amaranthine 12. Clipping. – Blood Of The Fang 13. Ado – Odo 14. I See Stars – The Hardest Mistakes (feat. Cassadee Pope) 15. Visions Of Atlantis – Tonight I’m Alive 16. Mikazuki BIGWAVE – Emotional Prism 17. Myuk – Yukiuta 18. DEMONDICE – Alcatraz 19. Eiko Shimamiya – Naruku No Hana 20. MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS - Just *replaced with nanobii - Chipland on streaming services as Requiem is an underground dance remix of an obscure anime inset song that isn't even on streaming services in its original form and Chipland serves a similar niche and is also bloody brilliant. as such I made both a Spotify playlist and Youtube playlist as I'm not not including Reqiuem.

Love this idea, though I'm definitely going to have to go and have a think about it in order to get the best songs out of it, whether that's my entries or others.

voted and excited to see the results, quite a few probably in with a chance here.

another day with a boring old moron as the most powerful man in the world

With the Iranians bombing Qatari gas fields, this war is in for the long haul. Even if all sides cease hostilities immediately it'll take ages to reopen the plants and get them up to full capacity again. Yet of course Trump is still all bluster and without any semblance of a plan lol and as such stocks have fallen, the interest rates have stayed stable, I saw petrol prices go up by 3p at the same station within the space of a few hours, etc etc.