Herbs

My fave album of all time 1. The Blower's Daughter 2. Amie 3. Cannonball 4. Delicate 5. Eskimo / Prague / Silent Night 6. Volcano 7. Older Chests 8. Cheers Darlin' 9. Cold Water 10. I Remember

Going to go with #25

Yeah and with the next batch it's still going to be miles ahead of the rest

I saw this film at BFI Flare yesterday and I was floored. Happy tears flowed from my eyes on numerous occasions. A superb film about chosen family and a proposed 'lavender marriage'. It's a remake of a film from 1993 (directed by Ang Lee). A great film for Asian + Queer representation. My only critique was that one element of the story (taken from the 1993 film) feeds into a negative trope about the bisexual community. Believe the proper UK release is May 9th - but thought I'd start a thread early! Anyone planning to see this?

Chesney Hawkes & Louise being higher than Sam Ryder seems crazy to me

I'm going to do what I normally do and gradually go through songs in the week leading up to the contest. My first quintet: 1(NE) 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Remember Monday - What The Hell Just Happened? 2(NE) 🇦🇺 Australia: Go-Jo - Milkshake Man 3(NE) 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Claude - C’est la vie 4(NE) 🇦🇹 Austria: JJ - Wasted Love 5(NE) 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Mamagama - Run With U

Gonna need to be ruthless with my final couple of listen throughs! And I'm out tomorrow/tomorrow evening so limited on listen throughs!

This one was quite close for me. I don’t love either (although loved that Atomic Kitten got another big hit from theirs!) Both a pretty lazy covers although I’ll give it to AK for the bridge!

People are voting Feist this early?! Nickleback to go

So I saw her on Wednesday (with Luna & Thera as support acts) Such a good use of a minimal set. Loreen and her team clearly thought about how to create an epic performance. Some clear highlights for me where 'Forever', (a very emotive) 'I'm In It With You', and the introduction to/performance of 'Euphoria'. Makes perfect sense to end with Tattoo. Great to see the love for her too. My only gripe is that I wasn't a massive fan of what she did to Statements (one of my fave Loreen songs). It felt like the punch of the song was diluted a little bit.

David Guetta from the songs left

Ms Dynamite from the songs left

Yeah I am struggling to get a final 10 together. Not a bad problem to have, but also means I know which songs I want to qualify (songs that I'm still listening to to decide) vs songs I have already told myself I am not voting for (many of whom always get full predictions to qualify)

Oh wow, absolute legend of the sport. RIP Eddie

Smash Mouth

No competition for me - The Destiny's Child cover is simply stunning. Each solo is on point (even though Michelle sings like 2 lines).

TBH I don't understand the I Can't Quit NQ predictions. Seems like the sort of song that would get a few votes.....

What an interesting mix of songs. More cheese than I was expecting Also pretty sure I know who sent Same Difference

I hope I am wrong on some of these! I am backing myself, despite being a slow burner in amongst a lot of dance pop songs! 1 ✦ Ajanaeda ✦ Rebecca Black - Twist The Knife 2 ✦ Singerpurear ✦ Split Enz - I Got You 3 ✦ Lotunia ✦ GUNSHIP - When You Grow Up, Your Heart Dies 4 ✦ Herbilore ✦ Zaho De Sagazan & Tom Odell - Old Friend 5 ✦ Terra Avium ✦ Snapped Ankles - Pay The Rent 6 ✦ Hendinia ✦ Nova May - BIG FAT MONSTA TRUCK 7 ✦ Cumulonimbia ✦ Regularfantasy - So Sweet (Spriitzz Radio Edit) 8 ✦ Kyriatine ✦ Matoma & SKAAR - You Found Me 9 ✦ Land of DW ✦ Greg Willen & M¥SS KETA - GUTEN MORGEN 10 ✦ Lookylion ✦ Victoria Silvstedt - Love It! 11 ✦ Why So Sirius ✦ Mel 4Ever - I Can't Quit 12 ✦ République d'Áskorza ✦ PaulWetz - Ode An Den Bass 13 ✦ Summericia ✦ David Holmes - It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love (feat. Raven Violet) 14 ✦ Skall ✦ Kiss Facility - plasma 15 ✦ Taahino ✦ Nxdia - Boy Clothes 16 ✦ Jadakissnia ✦ Kraftwerk - Europe Endless (100th Anniversary) 17 ✦ The Spodic Empire ✦ Elsiane - The Motive 18 ✦ Altyr Muunilinst ✦ flowerovlove - I've seen ur ex 19 ✦ Ultraviolenceland ✦ Katherine Jayne - f*** Elon Musk 20 ✦ Bøtanikkä ✦ Sam Quealy - Watch Me Now (Queen Of The Night) 21 ✦ New Lexico ✦ Cloudy June - if jesus saw what we did last night 22 ✦ Jupiterdonia ✦ John Summit - Focus (feat. CLOVES) 23 ✦ Cheiron ✦ Night In Athens - I Search For A Sign 24 ✦ Macromia ✦ Boogie Belgique - Volta 25 ✦ Mothertopia ✦ SASAMI - I'll Be Gone 26 ✦ Kylienips ✦ Alexia Evellyn - Dark Side

Macho bullshit through and through. Sets a bad example and reinforces a stupid ideal that men shouldn’t show emotion

Of mine - Ciaran Lavery x 3 That Woman (as part of Oh Wonder) Tom Odell Benedict Cork (in passing at MK pride)

I have liked this more on repeat listens. It still sits behind AOMD and IT Girl but hoping it makes the top 40. Also hope it gets some steady streaming so it can make it a second week in the top 100

Gave 'Ordinary' a listen because of all the comments. Like it on first listen but dont love it. A grower maybe?

I wish Maverick Sabre could become relevant again

A few that stand out for me: Falling Slowly (originally sung by Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard) I was at a music festival in Czechia and went to see a solo set by Marketa Irglova. Glen Hansard was not at the festival but Damien Rice was (he's the reason I went to the festival). I knew she had recorded vocals on his new album so hoped he'd make an appearance during her set. Her set started and due to the nature of her songs (very MoR) people were walking in and out frequently. Then towards the end she started speaking about how much the next song changed her career. She then introduced Damien Rice and they performed Falling Slowly together. To this date it is the only Oscar winning song I have seen performed live. Life's For The Living (Passenger) I've seen him live multiple times now (the last time I saw him he sang this as a duet for the 10th anniversary of 'All The Little Lights'). The performance (really the whole gig) that stuck with me was at the Roundhouse in Camden. He speaks at his gigs about what 'Let Her Go' did for his career, but this is a firm fave of Passenger fans. I had goosebumps throughout & have always loved the lyrics. So glad this was used as the opening release of the 10th anniversary album. The Professor & La Fille Danse (Damien Rice) I saw Damien Rice for the first time at the same festival as Marketa Irglova (see above). He came on and this was one of the first songs. I was pretty much front row. The intensity and raw emotion that came out for this song was insane. Mid-song, I became involved in helping a wheelchair user crowd-surf (we did get told off for this). Hallelujah (Oh Wonder) It took me a couple of albums to get into Oh Wonder. Hallelujah was one of the songs that got me into them big time. I went to see them in Nottingham and Josephine's energy was on fire. This was a standout of the gig and it got lodged in my head again after. Selene (Ciaran Lavery) My first ever BJSC entrant! I'd loved Ciaran for years and whilst in Belfast (on a holiday) heard that he was performing at a local venue. Got tickets and went. Sat through a few other acts before he came on and went straight into Selene. The room stood still. My other half enjoyed it and he likes a song to be an upper! (Selene is as far from that as you can get) Killing Me (Luke Sital Singh) This song blew up on itunes a few years back when it was used on a BBC show. I loved it when it was first released (another emotive ballad). I saw him perform this in Union Chapel, where the acoustics of the building, combined with the candlelit set up elevated this song even further. An amazing live performer. Riversong (A Fine Frenzy) Alison Sudol's first album is simply remarkable. Her second album was also solid. But she wasn't very known in the UK. A competition was run to meet her in London. I entered and got the chance to go. She was holding the event to promote 'Pines', her third album, which would be accompanied with a book/series of videos. Riversong was one of my faves on the album. In a room with 20 people max, she performed it live and then chatted to us all afterwards. Was a very special evening. She then became Queenie in Fantastic Beasts!