PeteFromLeeds

Late message given the race finished a week ago! Vingegaard won convincingly in the end, but that's what everyone expected Nice to see Gall get his first Grand Tour podium and Hindley complete the set of coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the Giro. And Eulalio staying in the Top 10 was mightily impressive as well, a worthy winner of the white jersey.

Enjoying this one from Ghana this year (although the pedant in me has to point out the flags aren't correct!)

I was alive for 9/11 but too young to remember it at all. The first thing that came to mind was the 2010 General Election as my parents had it on at home in the morning and then they put it on at school for a bit as well. Looking through 'news events of the 00s' sites the only thing I can remember that marginally beats that was the death of Michael Jackson if that counts!

We No Speak Americano is an aboluste tune, love it as a song (and when I downloaded the song I made sure to download the extended version as the original was too short!) Once is a song I came to much later than when it came out when I had it on a playlist of randomly-selected #1s in early 2019, I enjoyed it quite a lot as it was something a bit different (pleasantly surprised actually given my 9-year-old brain decided to really dislike her on the X Factor for no apparent reason!)

Morocco will be an interesting one - they'll be expected to do a lot better this time round because of how well they did at the last one, but 2022 was a complete surprise performance so I think there's a risk people are hoping for too much from them. They don't have the nicest path either - if they finish second in their group then they'll end up playing the winner of the Netherlands group which won't be an easy round of 32 match!

Fitting to see 'On the Floor' re-enter the charts last week - I think J-Lo and Pitbull would be a fan of this group!

1 [2] Tors - Time (ft. Jade Bird) 2 [1] COSMÓ - TANZSCHEIN 3 [3] LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER - Eins, Zwei, Drei 4 [4] Leléka - Ridnym 5 [6] Kodaline - We Were Only Young 6 [7] Antigioni - JALLA 7 [5] Dan Stirling - Bones 8 [8] Limoblaze - Super Power 9 [13] Ásgeir - Against The Current 10 [11] Jonathan Ogden - Remember 11 [9] Daniel Zizka - CROSSROADS 12 [10] Jonathan Ogden - Again And Again 13 [14] Living Again - Dive Into 14 [16] JONAS LOVV - Ya Ya Ya 15 [19] Satoshi - Viva, Moldova! 16 [12] Lukas Graham - To Know A Girl 17 [17] U2 - Yours Eternally (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia) 18 [22] Delta Goodrem - Eclipse 19 [18] Twenty One Pilots - Drag Path 20 [37] Kensington - Livin' For 21 [15] NEEDTOBREATHE - Strangeness Of It All 22 [20] Antytila - ВІДКОЛИ 23 [21] Dermot Kennedy - Funeral 24 [28] DI-RECT - Won't Fall 25 [24] Essyla - Dancing on the ice 26 [27] NEEDTOBREATHE - Say It Now 27 [NEW] Lukas Graham - Second Chance 28 [23] Jonathan Ogden - Day By Day 29 [32] NEEDTOBREATHE - Take Me Dancing 30 [NEW] overpass - Is This Real? 31 [29] DMA'S - Heatin Park 32 [25] Booshle G. - Not Alone 33 [26] The Fray - A Light That Waits 34 [39] Seafret - Desert Heart 35 [30] Mumford & Sons - Badlands (with Gracie Abrams) 36 [31] U2 - Resurrection Song 37 [63] Dan Stirling - Bruised / To Be With You 38 [33] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - Milarrochy Bay 39 [62] Sheppard - Sayonara 40 [36] Jonathan Ogden - Running

30th May 2026 1 [2] Tors - Time (ft. Jade Bird) 2 [1] COSMÓ - TANZSCHEIN 3 [3] LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER - Eins, Zwei, Drei 4 [4] Leléka - Ridnym 5 [6] Kodaline - We Were Only Young 6 [7] Antigioni - JALLA 7 [5] Dan Stirling - Bones 8 [8] Limoblaze - Super Power 9 [13] Ásgeir - Against The Current 10 [11] Jonathan Ogden - Remember 11 [9] Daniel Zizka - CROSSROADS 12 [10] Jonathan Ogden - Again And Again 13 [14] Living Again - Dive Into 14 [16] JONAS LOVV - Ya Ya Ya 15 [19] Satoshi - Viva, Moldova! 16 [12] Lukas Graham - To Know A Girl 17 [17] U2 - Yours Eternally (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia) 18 [22] Delta Goodrem - Eclipse 19 [18] Twenty One Pilots - Drag Path 20 [37] Kensington - Livin' For 21 [15] NEEDTOBREATHE - Strangeness Of It All 22 [20] Antytila - ВІДКОЛИ 23 [21] Dermot Kennedy - Funeral 24 [28] DI-RECT - Won't Fall 25 [24] Essyla - Dancing on the ice 26 [27] NEEDTOBREATHE - Say It Now 27 [NEW] Lukas Graham - Second Chance 28 [23] Jonathan Ogden - Day By Day 29 [32] NEEDTOBREATHE - Take Me Dancing 30 [NEW] overpass - Is This Real? 31 [29] DMA'S - Heatin Park 32 [25] Booshle G. - Not Alone 33 [26] The Fray - A Light That Waits 34 [39] Seafret - Desert Heart 35 [30] Mumford & Sons - Badlands (with Gracie Abrams) 36 [31] U2 - Resurrection Song 37 [63] Dan Stirling - Bruised / To Be With You 38 [33] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - Milarrochy Bay 39 [62] Sheppard - Sayonara 40 [36] Jonathan Ogden - Running 41 [38] AIDAN - Bella 42 [46] Jonathan Ogden - Forever & Always 43 [NEW] Soulwax - Perfect We Are Not 44 [NEW] Hopeful. - Like I Am Yours 45 [34] Rend Collective - Do It All Alone 46 [35] The Temper Trap - Giving Up Air 47 [48] Kadzoura - and then? 48 [45] Rend Collective - Salt And Light 49 [49] Limoblaze & Elle Limebear - JOY 50 [40] Limoblaze - God Did It 51 [43] Jonathan Ogden - In The Light 52 [NEW] Annette Pfab - Wherever I Go 53 [64] Living Again - Let Me Be Yours 54 [56] Johan Asgarde - Rebirth Mark 55 [41] Jonathan Ogden - What If 56 [42] The Snuts - Summer Rain 57 [44] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - All Roads 58 [NEW] Public Service Broadcasting - Go! 59 [52] Seafret & James Morrison - Driftwood 60 [58] Stanleys - Pass The Time 61 [55] Jonathan Ogden - Brighter Day 62 [NEW] Jay Smith & Ingrid - Glasshouse 63 [47] Civilized Creature - Think I'm Ready 64 [60] De'Borah Powell & The Benefactors - Never Far 65 [54] The Red Clay Strays - Demons In Your Choir 66 [50] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - The Tide 67 [51] Muse - Be With You 68 [53] Seafret - Signal Fire 69 [NEW] Cannons - Light as a Feather 70 [59] The Sherlocks - In Your Hands 71 [57] Son Mieux - Dark Before The Dawn 72 [61] Smash Into Pieces - Hollow 73 [65] Theresa Phondo, Esther Chungu & Tio Nason - Daily II 74 [66] Indochine - No Name 75 [67] John Michael Howell - Missing Piece 76 [NEW] Folabi Nuel - Happy Song 77 [71] Jonathan Ogden - My Safe Place 78 [74] Stephen Stanley - Never Mine 79 [NEW] LOVKN - Reaching for the Light 80 [70] Jamie Pritchard - Surprise 81 [68] Stephen Stanley - Change 82 [69] DARA - Bangaranga 83 [72] Praise Lubangu & Briana Bene - i can see ur progress from here 84 [NEW] Jamie Pritchard & April Ballad - Tend 85 [77] Hot Chip - Devotion

Interesting to see Ivory Coast so high - I had sort of markdd then down a bit but that's largely down to the fact they've been absent from the last few World Cups, but if they've done well in other tournaments more recently then who knows! They certainly have a group that should be relatively easy to get out of.

Niceland votes are in! Pleasantly surprised at how much I grew to enjoy the songs I did vote for, even if a number of the songs in the final weren't to my taste - and my Top 4 were all really close in position.

I know they have early rounds for minor nations in some continents but don't think they have the 'big group' format where each team only plays a subset of teams in their group! Also - with other continents the teams that qualify from the lower rounds are almost always booted out in the next round, whereas from the BBC article it looks like a team such as Kosovo which made the playoffs this time round would be in the 'minor nations' part of the split, not sure how fair that feels!

23 please!

BBC SportWorld Cup 2030 qualifying: Uefa to split major and minor...Uefa will create a two-tier qualification process for the 2030 World Cup which will mean major countries will no longer play minor nations such as San Marino, Gibraltar and Andorra. Well this is going to get complicated! Looks like qualifying will now be similar to the current Champions League setup.

Zjerm and I'm Alive are my two favourites from Albania, nice to see the former inside your Top 10!

I mentioned in the other thread about there likely being more squads with no players playing for teams in the country they're representing - so far from the ones announced we have Bosnia, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde and DR Congo with no 'local players' in their teams. Interestingly Haiti, who I said probably wouldn't have any, do in fact have one, as Woodensky Pierre (great name!) who has only ever had one cap before gets picked - he plays for Violette AC in Haiti.

We're into the second rest day today - Vingegaard finally making it into pink, although Eulalio certainly held on longer than I expected! Will be interesting to see how high up the GC he can stay. Vingegaard looks like he's nailed-on to keep the jersey now, but of course you can never say for certain.

Oh I loved Dynamite when it came out - one of the songs I was obsessed with at the time! It was one of the songs I recorded myself singing on my first phone (even though I knew basically none of the actual verse lyrics beyond 'I came to dance' )

Japan have certainly done well in the last few World Cups so could continue the run this time round! I do think the other teams in their group will put up a fight though so it won't be easy.

Here are my rankings from the final (after a week of getting used to the songs) - excluding Israel as I can't really rank that fairly! Austria United Kingdom Ukraine Cyprus Czechia Norway Moldova Australia Belgium Malta Bulgaria Italy France Greece Finland Sweden Albania Lithuania Germany Romania Serbia Denmark Croatia Poland Somewhat of a reverse correlation to where they actually finished - I'm clearly not vibing with the collective ear of Europe at the moment!

23 May 2026 1 [NEW] COSMÓ - TANZSCHEIN 2 [1] Tors - Time (ft. Jade Bird) 3 [NEW] LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER - Eins, Zwei, Drei 4 [NEW] Leléka - Ridnym 5 [2] Dan Stirling - Bones 6 [3] Kodaline - We Were Only Young 7 [NEW] Antigioni - JALLA 8 [NEW] Limoblaze - Super Power 9 [NEW] Daniel Zizka - CROSSROADS 10 [4] Jonathan Ogden - Again And Again 11 [6] Jonathan Ogden - Remember 12 [5] Lukas Graham - To Know A Girl 13 [8] Ásgeir - Against The Current 14 [7] Living Again - Dive Into 15 [11] NEEDTOBREATHE - Strangeness Of It All 16 [NEW] JONAS LOVV - Ya Ya Ya 17 [9] U2 - Yours Eternally (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia) 18 [10] Twenty One Pilots - Drag Path 19 [NEW] Satoshi - Viva, Moldova! 20 [12] Antytila - ВІДКОЛИ 21 [13] Dermot Kennedy - Funeral 22 [NEW] Delta Goodrem - Eclipse 23 [14] Jonathan Ogden - Day By Day 24 [NEW] Essyla - Dancing on the ice 25 [16] Booshle G. - Not Alone 26 [15] The Fray - A Light That Waits 27 [21] NEEDTOBREATHE - Say It Now 28 [25] DI-RECT - Won't Fall 29 [47] DMA'S - Heatin Park 30 [17] Mumford & Sons - Badlands (with Gracie Abrams) 31 [18] U2 - Resurrection Song 32 [23] NEEDTOBREATHE - Take Me Dancing 33 [19] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - Milarrochy Bay 34 [20] Rend Collective - Do It All Alone 35 [22] The Temper Trap - Giving Up Air 36 [27] Jonathan Ogden - Running 37 [57] Kensington - Livin' For 38 [NEW] AIDAN - Bella 39 [28] Seafret - Desert Heart 40 [36] Limoblaze - God Did It 41 [24] Jonathan Ogden - What If 42 [26] The Snuts - Summer Rain 43 [30] Jonathan Ogden - In The Light 44 [29] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - All Roads 45 [31] Rend Collective - Salt And Light 46 [34] Jonathan Ogden - Forever & Always 47 [37] Civilized Creature - Think I'm Ready 48 [56] Kadzoura - and then? 49 [NEW] Limoblaze & Elle Limebear - JOY 50 [32] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - The Tide 51 [38] Muse - Be With You 52 [33] Seafret & James Morrison - Driftwood 53 [35] Seafret - Signal Fire 54 [39] The Red Clay Strays - Demons In Your Choir 55 [40] Jonathan Ogden - Brighter Day 56 [50] Johan Asgarde - Rebirth Mark 57 [43] Son Mieux - Dark Before The Dawn 58 [60] Stanleys - Pass The Time 59 [41] The Sherlocks - In Your Hands 60 [53] De'Borah Powell & The Benefactors - Never Far 61 [42] Smash Into Pieces - Hollow 62 [62] Sheppard - Sayonara 63 [73] Dan Stirling - Bruised / To Be With You 64 [78] Living Again - Let Me Be Yours 65 [46] Theresa Phondo, Esther Chungu & Tio Nason - Daily II 66 [45] Indochine - No Name 67 [49] John Michael Howell - Missing Piece 68 [51] Stephen Stanley - Change 69 [NEW] DARA - Bangaranga 70 [44] Jamie Pritchard - Surprise 71 [55] Jonathan Ogden - My Safe Place 72 [48] Praise Lubangu & Briana Bene - i can see ur progress from here 73 [54] De'Borah Powell & The Benefactors - Open My Eyes 74 [69] Stephen Stanley - Never Mine 75 [NEW] Sal Da Vinci - Per sempre si 76 [NEW] Monroe - REGARDE ! 77 [59] Hot Chip - Devotion 78 [67] The Black Keys - No Rain, No Flowers 79 [NEW] Akylas - Ferto 80 [52] Calvin Harris & Kasabian - Release The Pressure 81 [58] Jonathan Ogden - Circles 82 [65] Lion of Judah - Keep Your Love 83 [61] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - Islay 84 [70] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - The Wedding 85 [71] LUNA & Russo - Voorbestemd 86 [63] Harry Styles - Aperture 87 [64] Zac Carpenter & FOAN - Always Make A Way 88 [66] Rosellas - Beautiful Lonely 89 [68] Druckluft - Karnevalsmaus 90 [72] Strings & Heart - eyes on Him

1 [NEW] COSMÓ - TANZSCHEIN 2 [1] Tors - Time (ft. Jade Bird) 3 [NEW] LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER - Eins, Zwei, Drei 4 [NEW] Leléka - Ridnym 5 [2] Dan Stirling - Bones 6 [3] Kodaline - We Were Only Young 7 [NEW] Antigioni - JALLA 8 [NEW] Limoblaze - Super Power 9 [NEW] Daniel Zizka - CROSSROADS 10 [4] Jonathan Ogden - Again And Again 11 [6] Jonathan Ogden - Remember 12 [5] Lukas Graham - To Know A Girl 13 [8] Ásgeir - Against The Current 14 [7] Living Again - Dive Into 15 [11] NEEDTOBREATHE - Strangeness Of It All 16 [NEW] JONAS LOVV - Ya Ya Ya 17 [9] U2 - Yours Eternally (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia) 18 [10] Twenty One Pilots - Drag Path 19 [NEW] Satoshi - Viva, Moldova! 20 [12] Antytila - ВІДКОЛИ 21 [13] Dermot Kennedy - Funeral 22 [NEW] Delta Goodrem - Eclipse 23 [14] Jonathan Ogden - Day By Day 24 [NEW] Essyla - Dancing on the ice 25 [16] Booshle G. - Not Alone 26 [15] The Fray - A Light That Waits 27 [21] NEEDTOBREATHE - Say It Now 28 [25] DI-RECT - Won't Fall 29 [47] DMA'S - Heatin Park 30 [17] Mumford & Sons - Badlands (with Gracie Abrams) 31 [18] U2 - Resurrection Song 32 [23] NEEDTOBREATHE - Take Me Dancing 33 [19] Nathan Evans & SAINT PHNX - Milarrochy Bay 34 [20] Rend Collective - Do It All Alone 35 [22] The Temper Trap - Giving Up Air 36 [27] Jonathan Ogden - Running 37 [57] Kensington - Livin' For 38 [NEW] AIDAN - Bella 39 [28] Seafret - Desert Heart 40 [36] Limoblaze - God Did It

What is going on with this band? The last time I heard anything about them was 2019!

Guess I'm not too fussed on who wins out of these two - both have had quite a few years out of the Premier League so will be a lesser-seen face there either way. Although I do have some family from Hull so I guess I'd go with them if I had to pick!

Only one Eurovision song in the Top 100 - I can't remember the last time that happened, excluding 2020? We've had years during the streaming era with none in the Top 40 but there's always been at least a couple in the full chart.

Niceland have voted!