-Jay-

My intention wasn't to put a dampener on things. I'm pretty shocked that my original post discussing the "top 3 ladies" twist and asking for a consensus has spiralled like it has. Was what I wrote really that bad or disruptive, or a sign I was trying to make Calum feel bad? I struggle considerably with anxiety and depression. I regularly overanalyse and overthink just about everything, to try and make sense of things in my poor brain, and this particular twist didn't make sense to me, and because I saw others say similarly, that's why I messaged Calum and then posted what I posted. Now I feel like I wish I'd not said anything at all and that I'm being interpreted completely wrong, and that's upsetting me.

Meh this is a misrepresentation of what I raised with you. I said to you: "[there's] quite a few people who are confused by it". It wasn't a case of people feeling like they couldn't air it in the thread, just that they were wondering about it, which made me wonder if the "top 3 girls are given a bye" thing hadn't fully landed. That's why I brought it up with you, and why I posted, to find out what the consensus is. None of that is underhanded or intended as something for you to find to be a shame. As I said, I appreciate the hard work for a fun activity, but I'm not happy that you've misrepresented what I said to you.

Oh I know all too well, and you don't know anything about what I've experienced in life... but thank you for the sassy input as always, Pav.

Sorry, I realise that response of mine looks rather defensive, I knew your post was lighthearted! 🫶🏻 It's been a lot of fun trying to figure out which artists we all could be... and trying to keep our identities concealed. 🤐 So far, I'm keeping my thoughts on who others might be to myself - but I'm looking forward to seeing who I'm wrong or right about! ~ Sorry for probably overthinking things by writing the following, but I want to emphasise that I am really enjoying taking part in The Pop Factor and I hope it doesn't come across like I'm not because of my previous posts... it's definitely all fun and games, so roll on Round 3.

I hope everyone here who is trying to get a ticket is successful! Both Mature and Roommates are really good. From a lyrical point of view, I enjoy that they're not just usual subject matters. They have an interesting perspective. Roll on Friday for the album!

I think it seems like a good approach for them to take things steady, not rush into an album. Considering just how long it's been since the previous one, they're wise to try and build up their audience again. The great support they've received from Radio 2 for the single is really encouraging though! I'm happy they're back. In the best possible way, Falling Into You sounds like a continuation of where they were at 23 years ago. It's nostalgic but it really suits them.

Awesome that it's on course to equal the position it achieved 10 years ago, but it would be even sweeter if it could manage a new peak... please get out of the way, Sam/Olivia.

I wish it had managed a week at #1, but regardless it's been such a huge success, and a cultural moment. It's really deserved for what is a great body of work.

Hand on heart, regardless of which category I'm in, or where my artist placed (and whether or not it would be to my advantage or disadvantage), I'd still have questioned this particular logic in how Round 3 is being approached!

I guess they'd save on distribution costs by cutting out the likes of HMV/Amazon & keeping the products as "direct to consumer" through Townsend. So in that sense keeping it "in house" could increase profits?

I haven't ordered it tbh. Currently it costs £58.50 (including postage) to buy both the vinyl and CD together, and I can't justify it unfortunately. I don't find a live album to be the most essential thing to own anyway, so I can live without them! If they sell out then that's ok. If they don't then I'll keep my fingers crossed for them to be in a sale at some point.

Presumably this release will be similar to Kylie (debut album) being midweek #3 on Monday but ending up at #30 on Friday, but hopefully Tension Live manages higher than that. Can't see this having a Top 20 outcome though. A live vinyl/CD restricted to her online artist store, renders this as being quite a niche product, so I suppose they're not too driven by a chart placement, or they'd strive to make it more accessible.

Regarding the Top 3 female artists not taking part in Round 3, while all artists from the male/group categories are to take part in Round 3... how do we all feel about it? I'm not really understanding the logic of it. So, Michelle Branch's withdrawal midway through Round 2 did indeed take away from the original purpose of the first two female rounds. That being, "determine which female artist gets the lowest points and leaves the competition". With that purpose gone, the female voting for Round 1 & 2 essentially had no point to it, because the Top 11 was automatically established with Michelle's exit. Therefore, I do understand why a new reason was brought in to justify all the female votes, so it didn't feel like a waste of time. The thing is, for the group/male categories, the original intention of Round 1 & 2's purpose, has remained intact (i.e. "determine which male & group artists get the lowest points and leave the competition"). Ultimately for these two categories, it didn't matter where in the Top 11 they placed in the combined results... they simply had to avoid being 12th (last). Now they're all required to compete in Round 3, i.e. no incentive for those that made the Top 3, which is the case for the females. To me, this makes Round 3 seem like it'll be unbalanced, and dare I say not too fair. Wouldn't it make more sense for the Top 3 in every category to be given a bye in Round 3? As things stand, a male or group who placed Top 3 in Round 2 could come last in Round 3 and leave the competition. Whereas the female Top 3 don't risk this happening, when in theory that could happen if they were taking part. But they're not, because of Michelle Branch? This doesn't make much sense to me. Just to be clear, I thoroughly appreciate that hosting an event of this scale is undoubtedy an immense task for Calum, lots of hard work to provide us with entertainment. I'm so grateful for it. So the last thing I intend with this post is to cause any upset. But this is my feedback for Round 3 and I wonder how others feel. If the consensus is that most people don't mind how Round 3 is set to play out, then that's ok.

Great to see that this is on course to get a Top 10 peak in the UK! It's #8 in the first look chart.

I voted last week but forgot to reply. I voted for The Great Divide and Takedown!

I'm happy that they're back! The new track is yet another great one from them. I really like the lyric "Bought your favorite ice cream, left it in the backseat. Just another sweet thing you let go bad", it's so MUNA. Roll on the album!

About time, 9th is a surprisingly high outcome for it Wood is my next vote!

'Sweat' Amazon variant vinyl is currently #1 on Amazon's vinyl store and #2 in their overall music chart... and is still available... which seems surprising if there's only 500 copies?

Six(?) different CD singles is... excessive! Get those sales though, Taylor

Just 500 copies available according to her Instagram story!

So pleased that it's made the UK Top 10

Sorry to see you leave the contest Matto but I'm glad you're good otherwise! It was nice to be reminded of Everywhere (it deserved more than its #18 peak in the UK) and You Set Me Free is great too, I hadn't heard that before this contest. I should probably check out 'The Spirit Room'! Had you decided on other Michelle Branch songs you'd have liked to send in future rounds, or hadn't you thought that far ahead? ~ Random observation: two songs from the 'Love, Simon' movie soundtrack are in the Orbit Auditions: Troye Sivan - Strawberries & Cigarettes, and The 1975 - Love Me.

01 Atomic Kitten - If You Come to Me 02 Blondie - Hanging On the Telephone 03 The Chicks - Not Ready to Make Nice 04 Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama 05 Florence + the Machine - Queen of Peace 06 HAIM - I Know Alone 07 ABBA - Hole in Your Soul 08 The Corrs - I Never Loved You Anyway 09 Girlicious - Over You 10 The 1975 - Love Me 11 Ace of Base - Beautiful Life 12 Erasure - So the Story Goes Enjoyed my listen through, didn't dislike anything. If You Come to Me is towards the top of my favourite Atomic Kitten songs, so that was a very nice choice. I don't believe I'd heard that song by The Chicks before, really good!

I love it when artists have something of an encyclopedic knowledge about their own work. For instance you could ask Mariah Carey about anything from her 16 albums and she'd certainly be able to talk extensively about writing sessions, who she worked with, when it happened, how she felt at the time. She definitely has knowledge about her "rarities". So it does disappoint me a bit when quite the opposite of that is the case, and that's definitely the case with Emma regarding Spice Girls. I know it was fundamentally a job, and she's not necessarily a fan of herself, but gosh... her recollections about the music are so surface level. That could have been an interesting video but unfortunately not.

01 Delta Goodrem - Sitting On Top of the World 02 LiSA - Gurenge (紅蓮華) 03 Chappell Roan - Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl 04 Michelle Branch - You Set Me Free 05 Lily Allen - Who’d Have Known 06 Toni Braxton - You’re Makin’ Me High 07 Kelly Clarkson - Gone 08 Kesha - Blow 09 ROSALÍA - DIABLO 10 Nelly Furtado & Tiësto - Who Wants to Be Alone 11 FKA twigs - Glass & Patron 12 Nadia Oh - Taking Over the Dancefloor Delta Goodrem sitting on top of my votes Ooh that LiSA song is a banger!A great discovery for me. Interestingly it's by far the most streamed song of the 12 on Spotify.