nine¾

Ennea voted

I have no idea who’s won yet, I’ve only just counted up to V. But I do know that some upcoming clue looked like an easy one, yet quite a few people still got it wrong because they didn’t read it carefully enough. xD

Only 4 letters left! Leaderboard after V:

The Zutons released the original version of Valerie in 2006, and it reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was inspired by Valerie Star, an American friend of the band's Dave McCabe, who was unable to come and visit him because she had run into legal trouble in the US. A year later, Mark Ronson released a new version featuring Amy Winehouse. It became even more successful than the original, peaking at #2 on the UK Singles Chart Vindaloo It did reach #2 on the UK Singles Chart, but that was the original Fat Les version. The title refers to the dish vindaloo, rather than a friend of the songwriter who had been in trouble with the law, and there wasn’t another artist’s version that reached #2 the following year.

A song that became associated with a so-called 'curse' because of events that coincided with its success. Umbrella became one of Rihanna’s biggest hits, spending 10 consecutive weeks at #1 on the UK Singles Chart in 2007. Its unusually long reign happened to coincide with a period of exceptionally heavy rain and severe flooding across the UK. The coincidence did not go unnoticed, and the British media jokingly began referring to a 'Rihanna Curse', suggesting that the song’s continued success was somehow responsible for the bad weather. Similar coincidences were later reported in other countries as the song reached #1 there. Unforgettable The only connection I could find is the so-called 'Kardashian curse', a pop-culture/media joke suggesting that men who date members of the Kardashian/Jenner family tend to experience problems in their careers or personal lives afterwards. French Montana, who previously dated Khloé Kardashian, was once asked about the supposed curse and dismissed the idea, pointing to his own success, including having a major hit like 'Unforgettable', as evidence against it. So, if this was the connection intended, 'Unforgettable' was actually used as an argument against the supposed curse rather than becoming associated with one because of events surrounding its success. Unchained Melody Song was closely linked to the film Ghost, so I can understand the association with something supernatural, but there are not any actual 'curse' associated with the song or with events that coincided with its success, which is the specific condition in the clue. U Sure Do? The song did become a major hit after its re-release, reaching #4 in the UK, but I couldn't find any events surrounding its success that led to it becoming associated with a curse.

Despite being one of the most successful and recognisable artists of her generation, Tina Turner never achieved a UK Number 1 single as a solo artist. She had more than 40 singles reach the UK Top 75, including 11 Top 10 hits, but the top spot always eluded her. Her highest-charting solo singles peaked at Number 3. Travis Scott has more than 40 UK Top 75 singles but has never reached No. 1, so he fits the clue perfectly. The Glee Cast The Glee Cast actually fits the clue statistically, as they had more than 40 UK Top 75 singles without ever reaching No. 1. However, since T was already given as the letter, the answer should also begin with T, and as the “The” prefix doesn’t count, The Glee Cast would fall under G.

I don’t know if you read his entire answer, but he wrote the full name of the video game character who is credited and whose song I was looking for. And I gave him 1 point for that.

Imagine we're on some kind of TV show where there always has to be one strict judge! I don't have a colleague, so I have to be that person now 😂😂

A hit that featured a video game character in its artist credit. Released in 1992, Supersonic was a dance track inspired by the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. Unusually, Sonic himself was included in the official artist credit, with the single credited to H.W.A. featuring Sonic the Hedgehog. The song reached #33 on the UK Singles Chart, making a fictional video game character part of the credited act behind a UK Top 40 hit. Supermarioland This was a very close connection. The track is credited to Ambassadors of Funk feat. MC Mario, but MC Mario was a persona used by rapper Colin Case. MC Mario isn’t actually a video game character, Mario is. So, I can’t award the point for that part of the clue. With Supersonic, the credit is literally H.W.A. feat. Sonic the Hedgehog, so the name in the artist credit is the actual fictional video game character, rather than a stage name or persona of real performer. Looking strictly at how I worded the clue, the condition was that the video game character itself had to appear in the artist credit. So while I can completely see the connection behind Supermarioland, it technically doesn’t fulfil that condition. Sonic / Sonic the Hedgehog -1 point. You identified the correct video game character and clearly made the right connection, but the clue was asking for the hit itself, so the answer I was looking for was Supersonic. Since you found the right connection but gave the character rather than the song title, I’m giving 1 point instead of 2. Street Fighter There was actually a UK-charting single called 'Street Fighter II'. However, that was the song title and the artist was credited as World Warrior. Street Fighter is also the name of the game rather than a specific character, while the clue specifically asks for a video game character to appear in the artist credit, so unfortunately this one doesn’t fit. Steve's Lava Chicken Jack Black performs the song as Steve from Minecraft. However, on the UK chart, Steve’s Lava Chicken is credited solely to Jack Black. Steve appears in the song title rather than the artist credit, which is what the clue specifically asks for. Stay with me I'm not quite sure which version of Stay With Me was intended here. There are songs with that title that have connections to video games, but the clue specifically requires a UK hit where a video game character actually appeared in the artist credit, so the title alone isn't enough to establish the connection. Smokin Out The Window but Silk Sonic and Bruno Mars (Sonic the hedgehog) ?! I was completely confused by this at first haha, I mean, I still kind of am 😂 But if I ignore the left-hand side of the answer, even though Spiceboy got there through a completely wrong association, he somehow still managed to land on the right character. So I’ll give him 1 point for that. Smokin Out the Window is a song by the duo Silk Sonic, consisting of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. The song’s official page credits the artist simply as Silk Sonic, while some other services list Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic. However, Sonic the Hedgehog has nothing to do with them.

An artist who signed a four-album record deal as a teenager but left the label without ever releasing an album. RAYE signed a four-album deal with Polydor at the age of 17, but spent seven years with the label without releasing a full-length album. She later said that despite having enough material, she was repeatedly prevented from putting out her debut. In 2021, she publicly expressed her frustration and eventually parted ways with the label. After becoming independent, she finally released her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, in 2023. Ray Quinn He did sign a record deal at 18 after The X Factor. However, I couldn’t find evidence that it was a four-album deal, and, most importantly, he did release an album through the label - Doing It My Way, which actually reached #1 in the UK. So he doesn’t fit the key part of the clue about leaving without ever releasing an album. Rod Stewart This is a reasonable guess, as Stewart did sign a solo deal with Decca while still a teenager and left the label without releasing an album there, although he did release a single. His first solo album came several years later under a different record deal with Mercury. However, I can find no evidence that his Decca contract was specifically a four-album deal, which is a key requirement of the clue. So while parts of the story fit, the answer doesn’t satisfy the clue in full. Rhianna She signed with Sony, and her debut album Get On was indeed released in 2002. Apple Music lists it as a Sony Music Entertainment (UK) release from September 2002, while AllMusic confirms that after signing with Sony, she began recording the album and it was subsequently released. Rhydian Roberts He signed his record deal after The X Factor when he was 24, rather than as a teenager, and he went on to release his debut album Rhydian through the label in 2008. Rita Ora Rita Ora did sign a multi-album deal with Roc Nation as a teenager. However, her deal was for five albums rather than four, and she did release her debut album Ora through the label before eventually leaving. So she doesn't quite fit the clue, which specifically refers to an artist who left without ever releasing an album under that deal.

I never would have guessed too that the phrase is actually English

The phrase 'Que Sera, Sera' sounds as though it comes from a Romance language, particularly Spanish or Italian, but its history is rather different. Variations such as 'Che sera, sera' can be traced back to England centuries ago, where the phrase appeared as a heraldic motto. Despite its Romance appearance, the wording is not idiomatic Spanish or Italian. The phrase was later used by songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for Doris Day’s 'Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)', written for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). The song helped turn the phrase into the internationally familiar expression it is today. Quando, Quando, Quando The title isn’t merely a phrase that sounds foreign, quando is an actual Italian word meaning 'when', and the song itself was originally written and released in Italian. There is also no connection between the phrase quando, quando, quando and medieval England. The clue specifically refers to a phrase that only appears to be foreign but whose documented history can actually be traced back to medieval England, so this answer doesn’t fit. Quasimodo Quasimodo has an interesting historical connection, but it doesn't quite fit this clue. The name comes from the Latin phrase quasi modo, used in Christian liturgy, so its seemingly foreign origin is actually genuine. Que Sera, Sera, on the other hand, only looks like a Romance-language phrase: its earliest known use can be traced to 15th-century England, and the wording follows English rather than Spanish grammar. That's the distinction the clue was referring to. Quarantine Quarantine comes from the Italian quarantena, referring to a forty-day period of isolation, so its origins are genuinely foreign rather than a phrase that only appears to be foreign but can be traced back to medieval England.

A song by a group whose break-up was reportedly triggered by an argument over a jacket. Pure Shores was written specifically for the soundtrack of the 2000 film The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The song debuted at Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, spent two weeks at the top and became the second best-selling single of the year. The jacket was more the final straw than the sole reason for the break-up. Shaznay Lewis and Natalie Appleton reportedly both wanted to wear the same combat jacket for a photoshoot, and the resulting argument became the catalyst for the group’s split. Shaznay later said she never would have expected All Saints to end over a jacket incident, but tensions within the group had already become so bad that when the argument happened, it simply pushed everything over the edge. The members have since clarified that the underlying problems were exhaustion and a complete breakdown in communication. PERFECT I don’t know if Dobbo just randomly guessed Perfect for the song, but that’s actually a correct answer too! 😂 Perfect is indeed an All Saints song. It was released after the break-up referred to in the clue, but since I never specified that the song had to be from before the break-up, it technically fits just as well as my intended answer, Pure Shores. So I’m accepting it as a correct alternative. Patience and Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is All Saints don’t have songs with either of those titles.

Yes, I accidentally forgot to enter it in the table because your message with the answers isn’t in chronological order but the last one, since in the meantime I had messaged you asking you to clarify the clues.

O = At 18, this artist held two UK No. 1s at the same time. In May 2021, at just 18 years old, Olivia Rodrigo became the youngest solo artist in UK chart history to achieve the Official Chart Double. Her debut album SOUR topped the Official Albums Chart in the same week that Good 4 U reached No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart. Otis Redding He did achieve a posthumous UK No. 1 with the album Dock of the Bay in 1968, so that part fits. However, he had already appeared on the UK charts during his lifetime, making his UK Singles Chart debut with “My Girl” in 1965. So unfortunately, he doesn’t meet the first part of the clue. One - Tesseract The clue was matched to the wrong letter, so no points for the connection. However, One is indeed TesseracT's first studio album, so the answer itself fits the wording of the clue.