jimwatts

Me to anyone who thinks my BJSC entries are either too "pop", or not "pop" enough 😀 (There's nothing I disliked here, I'm just going by what I'd be likely to seek out again.)

Stephen Sanchez had the only one I liked enough to vote for.

#90 -> #81 #90 Eli Mich - I Told You (153 points) [08-11-13-16-19-26] #89 Eagles & Butterflies, Annie - Next 2 U (156 points) [19-17-17-15-15-21-27] #88 SASAMI, Clairo - In Love With A Memory (158 points) [25-16-13-18-19-20-25-34] #87 SASAMI - Just Be Friends (159 points) [26-24-16-13-15-19-23-33] #86 Patrick Wolf - Dies Irae (160 points) [35-31-31-31-31-27-26-26-26-26-28-30-32-34] #85 Ruthlss - Ascension (160 points) [06-10-12-15-18-25] #84 The Weeknd - Open Hearts (161 points) [15-12-10-11-19-26-33] #83 Lady Gaga - How Bad Do U Want Me (162 points) [37-37-34-30-30-30-30-25-19-19-19-23-38] #82 Nao - Wildflowers (164 points) [11-13-11-13-15-19] #81 Dexndre - 100 wings (166 points) [02-04-10-14-20-30] A few of this section peaked in week 1, in most cases at the start of February when I basically refreshed my whole chart, so they may not have gone as high otherwise, still the DnB vibes from Eli Mich and arresting looped vocal hit the mark. Annie appeared in last year's EOY, and guests here with Eagles & Butterflies on a summery dance tune that went pretty much unnoticed. SASAMI was my entrant in Buzzjack's inaugural Pop Factor contest last year, and I sent her two songs here in rounds 3 and 4 respectively - both pre-album releases which I'd overlooked at the time even though I liked her releases the previous year ('Honeycrash' just missed my 2024 EOY as an #11 in June), but clicked into place with the Blood On The Silver Screen album which is wall-to-wall with great pop songs, while the verse from Clairo on the former may have helped give the songwriting the traction it deserves. Patrick Wolf has the lowest peaking song in this EOY which gallops through the verses with Celtic tinged instrumentation, until the stirring coda where its message to face your fears while you can is brought home. Ruthlss were another beneficiary of the February refreshed chart, but their dance instrumental had some staying power. The Weeknd dropped his purported final album under that moniker, from which this song, despite not charting officially, was undoubtedly one of the highlights (should there be a part two to the greatest hits of that name). Lady Gaga made four appearances on my chart this year from MAYHEM, all of which wind up in this EOY, and this was the slowest to climb but, Taylor-lore notwithstanding, it's the post-album hit that could have been in the real world. The breezy R&B courtesy of Nao that you can hear above was a discovery from the Radio 1 playlist. The ravey synths of rapper and producer Dexndre caught my ear in 2024, and I held this one back to send to the 2025 edition of Unknown Pleasures, hence the high entry on my chart.

'Seventeen Going Under' has been reset 5 times! 2021 original run: 12 weeks 2021 album boost: 4 weeks 2021 went viral: 18 weeks (including its peak) 2022 Glastonbury boost: 7 weeks 2023 tour dates(?): 4 weeks 2024 'Homesick' boost: 4 weeks 'Cruel Summer' had 4 resets (two each in 2023 and 2024) for various reasons.

Switching to Take That, not that keen on 'Shine' so wasn't looking for a part two

Switching to 'Poppiholla' - it's good but it's no 'Hoppípolla'

Labrinth. I liked Debbie's song 'Rain' from a couple of years ago, noting the title's theme here.

Has to be Bruce, if only for using his platform for something so relevant again, even if it may ultimately end the week below the streaming era peak of his Christmas song.

LUNA has my favourite of these

Inevitably mine's a Harry / Arctics double vote

It's grown as the week has gone on: Friday similar to the same day last week Saturday up by about 10% Sunday up by about 40% Monday up by more than 50% Granted that averages out close to 25% so far, but unless it drops off considerably in the next couple of days, it will do enough.

One song that definitely looks like it will be reset is 'Stick Season' as it's more than 50% above where it was last Monday.

New peak for 'A Couple Minutes' at #20, maybe it won't be going to ACR this week after all. The Bella Kay song which debuted officially last week makes its Spotify debut at #138.

Voted Dusky in the main poll, Grum in the tiebreak

#100 -> #91 #100 Jax Jones, Ado - Stay Gold (140 points) [16-13-11-14-21-31] #99 DJ_Dave - Hard Refresh (143 points) [19-16-12-14-19-23] #98 Joone, Kat Koan - Burned In Time (144 points) [24-22-17-15-16-20-29] #97 Humanoids - Mindroid (146 points) [27-22-18-16-16-16-26] #96 VACUUM MAN - Alimut (146 points) [08-10-13-16-23-30+] #95 Joji - Past Won't Leave My Bed (149 points) [22-22-20-20-18-18-18+] #94 KÄSSY - i-i-i (151 points) [34-14-09-10-17-20-32] #93 Jasper Tygner - First Light (152 points) [22-20-20-20-20-20-22-32] #92 Cruel Sister - IRON PILLS (152 points) [35-31-26-22-24-19-17-18-25] #91 Kathleen Edwards - Save Your Soul (153 points) [23-10-11-13-20-26-31] An electronic-heavy section to start with. It will be a while until the first commercial hit appears - Jax Jones has at least had some in the past, but few as good as this, thanks to some huge vocals from Ado. Making an EOY appearance for the second year in a row, DJ_Dave coded up this frantic banger. A more darkwave turn next for Joone (not to be confused with the then-similarly named Joon Gloom, now Ms* Gloom, whose BJSC hit-predating 'Jinx!' just missed this countdown at #109) with the spoken vocals of Kat Koan creating some late night drive vibes. The most trippy so far comes from Humanoids over a six minute tranccey instrumental, interspersed with a child's freakishly chopped up spoken vocal. The first BJSC hit to appear is one I discovered in the contest itself, from Bré's nation Persephonia, as VACUUM MAN move from a banging bass-heavy intro to an acid outro via some vocals I can't translate but fit the medium perfectly. Joji had one of my favourite songs of 2022 in 'Glimpse Of Us', and it's another heartbreak ballad from him that wove its way in this time. One of my own BJSC entries is next from KÄSSY as it became my most recent one, but despite 12 voters in the semi, this sparkling indie-pop song of hers went no further there. Jasper Tygner would be a more reliable hitmaker in such a contest, but for now we can enjoy the elegant electronic instrumental above. More unsettling vibes are next from Cruel Sister with the longest chart climb of anything so far. As if for complete contrast, Kathleen Edwards rounds out this first section with a slice of radio-ready rock that could have been huge in the 90s.