Noahspike

That performance really exemplified how the middle guy with a six-letter-name-ending-in-N has been carrying the other two six-letter-name-ending-in-N guys all series. Mildly relieved Honey's finally gone.

Clean Bandit really earned that slot given what they did for the prospects of the show's reigning champ. :lol: (Also, obligatory YASSS SAARA <3)

Absolutely all of this. From being sent packing pre-Lives, to her offbeat personality and theatrics, to her blatant foreignness, she's always felt like an obvious sacrificial lamb who'd never be given the chance to connect with the public and fully realise her potential. It's so refreshing to see a deserving contestant overcome these obstacles every week and gradually and organically build a support base, let alone because she's so genuinely in love with performing and so grateful for the continued opportunity to do so. She's almost single-handedly kept my interest in the show since the Lives began, always delivering something thoughtfully crafted and inventive that shows off her vocal and/or performance talent. She's also just an utter sweetheart. To see her now being tipped as a winning contender is pretty incredible given where she started...and I can't help thinking it's especially remarkable to see a complete outsider prosper like this considering the landscape of intolerance that's defined 2016. The perfect underdog story. <3 *Saara gets unceremoniously eliminated* :kink:

Ah, congrats to Lindsey! Solid appointment due both to her activity and the fact she represents a further facet to indie/rock genres, sad as it is to see Jake step down. Hope he'll still contribute as he's always been a huge asset to the forum.

Hello, here's a timely HAPPY THANKSGIVING :wave: to make up for the tardy chart comment :arrr:. Hope you'll get in the seasonal spirit and be ~thankful~ you got anything from me at all though...or however it all works. (talk) :D I know you'll be hella starving for the big meal today, wanting to go from delicious side to side, to turkey, to bacon, trying to get as much into you, but I just hope you occasionally remember to sit still, look pretty cos, in the name of love, your incessant gorging could have you looking closer to a trainwreck if you're not careful! Scars to your beautiful. (Constructed entirely from your top 10 so was a struggle B-)) 'Side To Side' remains a tune. I'm a sucker for a post-album smash, especially when it eclipses its preceding singles, and I'd nearly say it does so in quality too but 'Into You' is just too damn good (as evidenced by your chart run :cheeseblock:). Cool to see 'Trainwreck' enter so high! Last time either of us had that impact on each other was 'Crash' debuting at #1 I think :thinking:. Definitely a clear standout from 'The Altar', and one that clearly exemplifies the deeply hypnotic quality throughout the album. :wub: I love 'My Way' kinda in spite of myself lol. Everything about it seems lazy coming from someone as accomplished as Calvin, and it makes me think of what he'd be producing if closer to his full potential (when this feels like ~60%). :lol: Your two most recent BJSC hits side by side <3. 'White Flag' really reminds me of Heathers, even more so than HAIM ;o and 'Road Less Traveled' surely has to have the record for quickest ascent to 100 points in any contest ever?! That was insane - was trying to imagine the extent of RIP me'ing going down in Ohio but twas impossible. :drama: Both 'Starboy' and 'Kids' slipping in when I thought you didn't care for them :o <3. Also happy to see debuts for 'Cool Girl', 'Better', '24K Magic', 'Cash Flow' and 'Hurts'. Beaut chart~ B-)

Voted with a full 20 minutes to spare so no need to stress~ B-) (Those 20 minutes put to good use by foraging for an UP entry :arrr:)

I meant that it's more disrespectful than not voting at all. I thought you were saying that it'd have been better to submit randomised votes than not vote at all, as Harve has done. (And that you'd meant to say 'participate' rather than 'vote' at the end of the sentence). Apologies if I've misinterpreted.

Surely it's equally if not more 'disrespectful' to the contest and its participants to randomise your votes? This has more impact on everyone else in producing a less accurate outcome, and can be the difference between a qualifier on merit being pushed down by something that simply got lucky. If you find you don't have time to vote then at least by not voting you're taking the hit yourself with minimal impact on other participants (the vast majority of whom have put several hours into listening through and ordering). I don't mean to have a go here - I just hate the thought that randomising votes should be in any way encouraged. I do agree though that if you ever foresee yourself having trouble finding the time to participate properly, it's best to sit the contest out (no shade Harve as I've struggled myself!).

OCTOBER Songs http://wallpapers4screen.com/Uploads/30-1-2016/25490/thumb2-jillian-banks-singer-banks-girls.jpg 01 | ** | BANKS | Lovesick 02 | 13 | Emeli Sandé | Hurts (offaiah Edit) [13-02] 03 | 01 | The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk | Starboy [01-03] 04 | 32 | Lilyer | I Was On Your Side [32-04] 05 | ** | BANKS | To The Hilt 06 | 04 | Tove Lo ft. Wiz Khalifa | Influence [04-06] 07 | ** | The Weeknd | False Alarm 08 | 03 | Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj | Side To Side [39-03-08] 09 | ** | Bon Iver | 8 (circle) 10 | ** | Tkay Maidza | Simulation 11 | ** | Bastille | Warmth 12 | ** | T.O.L.D. | 2 Young 13 | 14 | Kadie Elder | First Time He Kissed A Boy [14-13] 14 | 16 | BANKS | Gemini Feed [21-16-14] 15 | 38 | Years & Years | Meteorite [38-15] 16 | ** | BANKS | Trainwreck 17 | ** | Shawn Mendes | Mercy 18 | ** | Little Mix | Shout Out To My Ex 19 | ** | The Japanese House | Face Like Thunder 20 | ** | Bon Iver | 715 - CR∑∑KS 21 | ** | Tove Lo | True Disaster 22 | ** | Kids Of The Apocalypse ft. Wes Period | Better Life 23 | ** | Bruno Mars | 24K Magic 24 | ** | Nadia Tehran | Cash Flow 25 | 02 | OneRepublic | Kids [17-02-25] 26 | ** | Alyss | T S I E R 27 | ** | T.O.L.D. | Live And Let Go 28 | ** | Burak Yeter ft. Danelle Sandoval | Tuesday 29 | ** | Solange | Mad 30 | ** | IDER | King Ruby 31 | ** | Tove Lo | Imaginary Friend 32 | ** | Bon Iver | 33 "GOD" 33 | 09 | Tove Lo | Cool Girl [01-09-33] 34 | ** | Sagi Abitbul and Guy Haliva | Stanga 35 | 11 | Sia ft. Kendrick Lamar | The Greatest [11-35] 36 | ** | Contact | Never Stop 37 | 06 | Meghan Trainor ft. Yo Gotti | Better [14-06-37] 38 | 05 | Alessia Cara | Scars To Your Beautiful [30-05-38] 39 | 21 | BANKS | Mind Games [36-21-39] 40 | 23 | Bad Seed Rising | Fighting Gravity [23-40] 41 | 10 | Jarryd James | Give Me Something [15-10-41] 42 | ** | James Hersey | Miss You 43 | 42 | Calvin Harris | My Way [42-43] 44 | 07 | A R I Z O N A | Cross My Mind [03-07-44] 45 | ** | BANKS | This Is Not About Us 46 | ** | Noname ft. Raury & Cam O'bi | Diddy Bop 47 | ** | Tove Lo | WTF Love Is 48 | ** | Fifth Harmony | That's My Girl 49 | 20 | The 1975 | Somebody Else [01-01-03-06-20-49] 50 | 15 | DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber | Let Me Love You [11-15-50] ~~~~~ Monthly #1s 10/14 | Taylor Swift | Out Of The Woods 11/14 | Josef Salvat | Open Season 12/14 | Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd | Love Me Harder 01/15 | Years & Years | King 02/15 | Years & Years | King 03/15 | Brandon Flowers | Can't Deny My Love 04/15 | Erik Hassle | No Words 05/15 | Ciara | I Bet 06/15 | Miguel ft. Wale | Coffee (Fucking) 07/15 | Years & Years | Eyes Shut 08/15 | Jess Glynne | Don't Be So Hard On Yourself 09/15 | Naughty Boy ft. Beyoncé & Arrow Benjamin | Runnin' (Lose It All) 10/15 | Ellie Goulding | Something In The Way You Move 11/15 | Adele | When We Were Young 12/15 | Zara Larsson | Lush Life 01/16 | Selena Gomez | Hands To Myself 02/16 | SOFI TUKKER | Matadora 03/16 | MUNA | Winterbreak 04/16 | All Saints | One Strike 05/16 | The 1975 | Somebody Else 06/16 | The 1975 | Somebody Else 07/16 | Usher | Crash 08/16 | Tove Lo | Cool Girl 09/16 | The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk | Starboy 10/16 | BANKS | Lovesick

Ah, I was hoping this'd be back soon. <3 Reserve le do thoil. B-)

Apologies for the ridiculous delay in replying! All comments and interest much appreciated~ Aw yay, thanks Harry. :D Hey James! Yeah it seems a lot of people have been very pleasantly surprised with 'Starboy' given the names responsible. For me it's possibly better than anything from his last era, and I was a fan of that overall. 'False Alarm' is worth checking out too if you haven't already. Thanks! Hi Mango :hi: Ehhh I can't say I'd have heard Daft Punk in it if I hadn't known already, so no not really! Yeah Sia's got a great hit rate alright. I was asked the other day what my favourite song of hers was and was completely stumped though! Nothing from her commerical rebirth is an undeniable standout for me, so I ended up going for 'Breathe Me' after much deliberation. :o Aw I just find the lyrics so effortless and emotive in 'When You Love Someone'. Really stopped me in my tracks the first time it came up on Spotify and had to re-listen a few more times. :wub: Yeah 'Hurts' sounds like the kind of thing that just commands attention from first encounter so it's odd to see it underperform so much. I've been obsessed with the offaiah remix this past month - would love to see her perform to it at that pace. <3 Seems like you got your wish re: 'Naked'. :D I think 'Meteorite' is just a bit by-numbers and stale sounding as a Years & Years single to catch on. I like it a lot but it doesn't do anything new like their previous smashes have. Am hoping they change their sound up a bit for album #2, much as I adore the debut. Yeah 'Bad Decisions' is pretty Bee Gees now that you say it, and 'My Way' is indeed unremarkable on the surface - something in it keeps me coming back though. Thanks as ever for the comments (and sorry I've been so awful in return)! HI. Ah yeah I get you - 'Cool Girl' has always kind of got under my skin rather than bowled me over with brilliance. Still love it regardless. I've been really liking what I've heard so far from Tove's album but I'm expecting a lot of underwhelmed reactions on here based on some reviews I've read (i.e. limited signature-style bangers). :arrr: Hmm I feel like 'Better' would pack more lyrical punch had Tove written it, but I can sort of hear what you mean stylistically. Yeah, shame for Meghan though - I think the song's my favourite of hers (despite the utterly atrocious rap feature). :o Haha I noticed we had overlap there, yay. 'Tun Up' is a huge jam so I can let inexplicable phrasing slide, and yeah 'Bet U Wish' was a potential of mine once upon a time! Much prefer 'Shhh' though. <3 Thanksssss ;) ;) ;) Hey Jade! Oh yes, I was completely drawn in on first listen. All aspects high-quality and slick as you say, and 'House so empty, need a centrepiece' has to be among the strongest hooks of the year. Haha I disagree on 'Meteorite' actually, despite being a fan! Doesn't strike me as deserving of hit status as it's only more of the same from the band, and they've done it better throughout 'Communion' anyway IMO. Ah cool, we tend to share BJSC faves quite a bit I've noticed, and that continued into the latest contest with 'Better Life' topping both our votes! What a unique beaut. :heart: Thank you. ^_^ Hi John :hi: ...and a belated response to say I'm still playing it on the regular! Find it so cinematic and tender and warm and lovely. <3 TY!

Ah Iz, lovely words there! Delighted you made a discovery out of it - makes me all the more thankful the song got over the line so it could benefit from that extra exposure. Thanks for the big points too. :D Over the 100 mark *.*

Two medal positions in a row there for Lilyer! Thanks James, Mattias and our other pointers for getting us as high as 12th for a brief moment. :o Had thought D'yermak'er could be another fan but I can't argue with their top votes. :wub:

I've decided that staying home to follow this justifies scrapping my plans to go to the gym for the first time in ages, so it better be worth it (i.e. that Lilyer at least defies the wooden spoon that the predictas/odds suggest)! On a related note, I've just realised that Desbuanda has qualified in all three Bray hosted semis despite picking up only two Q predictions in total (from Iz and JohnKM re: MONAKR's 'Calling Out'). Definitely something to be said for Persephonia being a good luck charm of sorts~ <3 Looking forward to seeing who claims this victory! Got a fair few I feel are more than deserving. ^_^

I'm not usually good with hearing 'obvious' similarities between songs but I instinctively paused the performance as soon as the chorus hit to figure out why it was so strikingly familiar! A pretty undeniable juggernaut of a pop song not unlike 'Black Magic' (though much slicker and mature, as has been said), so it's cool to see the song soaring to the top spot already. If I'm being pedantic though, their continued Americanisation kinda irks me, from the pronunciation and delivery of the verses in this one to their recent music videos. Would be good for them to embrace their roots via music/visuals/branding a little more in their quest for world domination. Having said that, a premiere of 'Shout Out To My Ex' complete with cross-armed X-sign choreography was a nice nod to their beginnings!

Completely agreed with Jack re: Freddy. Sad to see speculating about and judging people based on their sexuality is still a thing. It seemed to me that she genuinely forgot her name, as indefensible as that is! She had panicked eyes from the beginning of the intro and fluffed another bit, so unless she's a skilled actress I think she was caught off-guard and desperately racking her brain for Saara's name throughout. Clearly she takes next to no interest in the mentoring side of the show, which is pretty obnoxious given the obscene amount she's paid! Glad Saara was saved again, much as Freddy's been slowly growing on me. I still don't get where he'd fit market wise or what kind of music he'd make so wasn't surprised to see him succumb to the death slot. Pleasantly surprised Ryan's struggling though - nothing about him is remotely interesting but I'd expected his fanbase to easily carry him through a few more weeks. Chuffed for Relley and Gifty sailing through unscathed, with the former giving my favourite performance for the second week in a row. :D

Anyone else mildly annoyed by Nicole's "I'm not able to take you through" cop-out of a rejection line, when she's perfectly capable of doing so if she hadn't decided not to of her own accord...though maybe she's actually referring to some sort of PRODUCER FIXING behind the scenes? :o :thinking: That Boys category is looking extremely weak to me! Perhaps it was all down to editing throughout the weeks but I really thought Christian and Niall were surefire picks, and that was solidified by their JH performances. Christian's case reminds me a bit of Josh's last year - hooking the audience in with a sob story and heavy featuring only for a 'shock' fall at the final hurdle (except I was really rooting for Josh :'(). Matt's clearly deserving but ultimately bland - he doesn't strike me as knowing who he is artistically, which doesn't bode well for us all given he'll likely be in the contest for the long haul. Freddy's been pretty ropy in the past and seems directionless, and Ryan defines run-of-the-mill and forgettable (so far). As for positives, I was chuffed to see Saara make it! She's the kind of personality that I'd imagine won't connect and will be deemed 'unlikeable' (which I sort of understand), but I love her energy, and she's incredibly talented. I think there's real scope for her to offer huge, dynamic performances and grow in popularity over the Live shows, if only she'd attract enough support early on to realise this potential. 5 After Midnight is another fave, and I thought they appeared just as polished and impressive as Four Of Diamonds - would've really loved to see the latter given a chance :cry:. The Girls category is interesting, and I'm finding myself rooting for Sam based on her vocals and resilience post-make-up drama. Thought that was actually pretty cruel of Simon to tear down her identity and potentially ruin her confidence like that (despite how well it all turned out in the end)! Gifty's great and Emily's a bit of a sweetheart - her reaction to getting through was my favourite since Rylan's. <3 Heard the latter but not Jake! She's gonna be such good value and I'm not even mad that she stole the token Irish contestant's place *.*

SEPTEMBER Songs http://wwwimage.cbsstatic.com/thumbnails/photos/files/asset/10/00/25/82/the-weeknd-720.jpg 01 | ** | The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk | Starboy 02 | 17 | OneRepublic | Kids [17-02] 03 | 39 | Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj | Side To Side [39-03] 04 | ** | Tove Lo ft. Wiz Khalifa | Influence 05 | 30 | Alessia Cara | Scars To Your Beautiful [30-05] 06 | 14 | Meghan Trainor ft. Yo Gotti | Better [14-06] 07 | 03 | A R I Z O N A | Cross My Mind [03-07] 08 | ** | ALMA | Karma 09 | 01 | Tove Lo | Cool Girl [01-09] 10 | 15 | Jarryd James | Give Me Something [15-10] 11 | ** | Sia ft. Kendrick Lamar | The Greatest 12 | ** | James TW | When You Love Someone 13 | ** | Emeli Sandé | Hurts 14 | ** | Kadie Elder | First Time He Kissed A Boy 15 | 11 | DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber | Let Me Love You [11-15] 16 | 21 | BANKS | Gemini Feed [21-16] 17 | ** | Sarah Mark | Tun Up 18 | 07 | Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber & MØ | Cold Water [34-07-18] 19 | ** | The Heydaze | Hurt Like Hell 20 | 06 | The 1975 | Somebody Else [01-01-03-06-20] 21 | 36 | BANKS | Mind Games [36-21] 22 | ** | Raye | Shhh 23 | ** | Mysterious Nug Nug Artiste~ | Mysterious Nug Nug Sang~ 24 | 22 | NEIKED | Sexual [22-24] 25 | 02 | Suns | Catalyse [04-02-25] 26 | ** | Astrid S | Hurts So Good 27 | 18 | Dua Lipa | Blow Your Mind (Mwah!) [18-27] 28 | 43 | Greyson Chance | Back On The Wall [43-28] 29 | ** | Sons of Sonix ft. Melanie C | Numb 30 | ** | Garrickson | Floating Around 31 | 04 | Usher | Crash [01-04-31] 32 | ** | Lilyer | I Was On Your Side 33 | 09 | Hailee Steinfeld & Grey ft. Zedd | Starving [47-09-33] 34 | 12 | Alicia Keys | In Common [02-03-05-12-34] 35 | 05 | Midnight To Monaco | One In A Million [05-35] 36 | 27 | MØ | Final Song [34-06-10-27-36] 37 | 13 | Olly Murs | You Don't Know Love [02-13-37] 38 | ** | Years & Years | Meteorite 39 | ** | Mokita X Cade | Monopoly 40 | --- | Two Door Cinema Club | Bad Decisions [48-xx-40] 41 | ** | AlunaGeorge ft. Popcaan | I'm In Control 42 | ** | Calvin Harris | My Way 43 | 08 | JoJo ft. Wiz Khalifa | Fuck Apologies [07-08-43] 44 | ** | Jamie T | Power Over Men 45 | ** | Matoma & Becky Hill | False Alarm 46 | ** | Frank Ocean | Self Control 47 | 10 | BANKS | Fuck With Myself [12-10-47] 48 | ** | Lady Gaga | Perfect Illusion 49 | ** | Joey Purp ft. Chance The Rapper | Girls @ 50 | ** | Zara Larsson | Ain't My Fault ~~~~~ Monthly #1s 10/14 | Taylor Swift | Out Of The Woods 11/14 | Josef Salvat | Open Season 12/14 | Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd | Love Me Harder 01/15 | Years & Years | King 02/15 | Years & Years | King 03/15 | Brandon Flowers | Can't Deny My Love 04/15 | Erik Hassle | No Words 05/15 | Ciara | I Bet 06/15 | Miguel ft. Wale | Coffee (Fucking) 07/15 | Years & Years | Eyes Shut 08/15 | Jess Glynne | Don't Be So Hard On Yourself 09/15 | Naughty Boy ft. Beyoncé & Arrow Benjamin | Runnin' (Lose It All) 10/15 | Ellie Goulding | Something In The Way You Move 11/15 | Adele | When We Were Young 12/15 | Zara Larsson | Lush Life 01/16 | Selena Gomez | Hands To Myself 02/16 | SOFI TUKKER | Matadora 03/16 | MUNA | Winterbreak 04/16 | All Saints | One Strike 05/16 | The 1975 | Somebody Else 06/16 | The 1975 | Somebody Else 07/16 | Usher | Crash 08/16 | Tove Lo | Cool Girl 09/16 | The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk | Starboy

Marina's 'Froot' dropped from #10 to #44. Actually she's never spent more than her debut week in the Top 10 with all three of her albums :/ ('The Family Jewels': 5-16 and 'Electra Heart': 1-13).

Lykke Li's 'I Follow Rivers' comes to mind. Wasn't initially aware it was a remix I was hearing all over Irish radio back in 2011, and I'd still favour The Magician's version over the original.

I saw this thread earlier while browsing on my phone, got unreasonably excited, saw 'Thursday' when I skimmed down, concluded it was starting tomorrow, told my housemate, he immediately got excited, agreed we'd scrap our previous plans to watch it together tomorrow...and then I decided to check the details again. :manson: </333 Anyway, it's been a few hours and I've decided I can deal with the two-week wait now ^_^. Hoping for some offbeat characters in amongst the usual narcissists, and at least one credible candidate who keeps their dignity relatively intact by the end of the process would be cool too.

I kept switching 'Shhh' in and out of a medal position when finalising my votes, so an N DNTN win is something I can definitely get behind. Many congrats Chris! On a pretty stellar run of entries this year in my books~ Cadelicia, Singerpurear, Pupok and Fljótavik are others I'm thrilled to see so high, but that entire top 10 is quality. Stupeflip missing the top 40 is genuinely upsetting though (...Michael <_<). :snif: Huge THANKS to Cody for all the creativity, effort and execution throughout this whole contest. Was a really enjoyable one due to your unique turn as host, even from a mere watcher's perspective. :D If you'd added an extra 'h' there for that topical tie-in you'd have immediately redeemed yourself IMO. B-)

Inspired winner :o. Hadn't seen that coming and now feel obliged to revisit 'Queen Of Peace' and concentrate properly, as I'd always merely thought of it as very good/solid (like the rest of its parent album). As of now I'd favour a more predictable winning track, i.e. any of #2-#4, especially 'Dog Days Are Over'. <3 Cheers for running this, Harry! Was fun to follow.

I also got the nug nug nudge. B-) Was planning on entering anyway but this has given me the kick I needed to get searching properly and ensure I find something on time, so cheers Lindsey!

Happy with his top two biggest sellers (for now). 'This Is What You Came For' is decent but doesn't come close to touching those two tracks - never quite understood its continued level of success, blatant name power aside. Both of his Ellie collaborations don't do much for me either, but it's great to see 'Dance Wiv Me' still holding its own in that top 10 after so many years/subsequent hits, alongside 'Feel So Close' (the superior of the two solo tracks there) and 'Sweet Nothing'. 'Pray To God' remains such a baffling flop single - had everything going for it so a #35 peak still seems so wrong. Thankful for small mercies in scraping the list here at least!