jimwatts

Switching to N-Dubz

After getting 0 final points from the previous two contests, this year in BJSC couldn't exactly get worse for me, but it certainly had a good go! I went for my first self-recycle as I'm hoping some might find this Cult Of Venus song a little more instant than 'Algorithm' from BJSC 175 - it has been on my potentials since the following contest, so for it to be confirmed before me in this of all contests was just my luck (I must have left one of my accommodations just before submissions opened), though Cheiron did give 18 to 'Algorithm' so it checks out - then when I had to resubmit, that song was already taken too although 'Starry Eyed' had only been on my potentials list since BJSC 181, it already has the feel of maybe another big hit I've missed out on, but I got the chance to send my original choice in the end! There are a couple more artists here for whom I'd considered different songs, and I've also charted the Cumulonimbia, Danæviia and FARC entries so they can have some hype too.

Well done to the 3 mentors whose acts went through! As one of the guest judges, I won't comment too much on these acts, but it's nice to see two of them get through after I narrowly voted against them in the battle round, and the third appeared to be heading for one of the biggest shock exits so it's pleasing to see that reversed. I can reveal however that everyone for whom I voted in this round was eliminated: 5 pts: Blondie - Call Me 4 pts: Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart 3 pts: FKA twigs - Two Weeks 2 pts: Shawn Mendes - In My Blood 1 pt: The Weeknd - I Feel It Coming (feat. Daft Punk) I did wonder if Jade had sent Blondie, gutted they're out - many of their songs yet to be sent as Jade mentioned are my favourites of theirs too ('Dreaming' and 'Atomic' especially), though I'm still not sure they would have survived against 'Maneater' last round or prevailed here. Would love to have seen twigs go further but she somewhat beat the odds to get this far, some great discoveries too, thanks !!! The Toni and Shawn songs are my favourites from each so had to have some of my points despite not making it to the battle phase. Sad to see The Weeknd out with so much untapped potential in this contest (as I mentioned at the end of last series, The Weeknd are the first act who came to mind if I entered again, so I'm glad he's been given a run) - I'm afraid 'Can't Feel My Face' isn't a personal fave from him and while I do much prefer 'I Feel It Coming', I'd hoped to have seen some of "the highlights" of the After Hours era when it really mattered, but still some brave choices in the earlier rounds did pay off, so well played Mango. Sad to lose many of the other acts too, especially Erasure as they had plenty more unused hits but couldn't have had a rougher draw in the battle round really and still only lost by one vote, but we've had plenty of discoveries from them anyway, thanks Dandy. Fabulous hosting job so far with so much ground covered, well done Calum 👏

Rik Waller - I Will Always Love You (not an Ethel Cain album title)

Great choice of #1, a unique chart topper that captured the moment but remains memorable. As you may imagine, my own top 10 and the order would be a little different, but I only know for sure that 'Sex On Fire' and 'Viva La Vida' would be my top 2, and both reside in overplayedville (they've even been in the Top 100 in the past 6 months too), so it's been far more interesting to read your reasoning for each placing and commentaries on what these songs mean to you - thank you Herbs! No problem, for a long time I was worried you'd finish this in Feb and I'd be killing the momentum by having to leave such a big gap! As it is, I should be able to start my countdown sometime next week - could be just before Easter, but hopefully not too two-thousand-and-late for those keen to see these rates through to the decade's end!

It has indeed! Wonder if 'Rein Me In' will finally get to #1 in the next Spotify update...

'Grandma's Hands' certified

And 'Star Trekkin'' is that song - as one who isn't that interested in the Star Trek franchise, it's just a fun novelty send-up. Also "it's worse than that, it's physics Jim!" might be one of the best lines in a #1 ever. It might be in the top 4 of the countdown rather than the bottom 4 if I were doing this (...so it's just as well I'm not).

'Rein Me In' might actually make it to #1 on the OCC's Audio Streaming or combined Streaming charts this coming week - it's spent the last 4 weeks at #2 on both, behind 'Man I Need' in the first 2 weeks of each, then Bella in the last 2 weeks on the former, and 'American Girls' followed by Bella for a week each on the latter.

Last week saw the first new peaks on the Audio Streaming chart for songs either on ACR or starred out in a month, due to Harry's album bomb - all were new entries (positions below) which remain starred out this week: 9 Harry Styles - Taste Back 13 Harry Styles - Are You Listening Yet 14 Harry Styles - Coming Up Roses 15 Harry Styles - Dance No More 16 Harry Styles - Pop 19 Harry Styles - The Waiting Game 20 Harry Styles - Season 2 Weight Loss 24 Harry Styles - Carla's Song 31 Harry Styles - Paint By Numbers

All Olivia's Top 10 hits have had at least a week at #10 now! +5 Zara Larsson - Lush Life +4 Harry Styles - Aperture +3 PinkPantheress - Stateside +2 Sombr - Homewrecker +1 Olivia Dean - Man I Need -1 Sam Fender & Olivia Dean - Rein Me In -2 Harry Styles - American Girls -3 Bella Kay - iloveitiloveitiloveit -4 Alex Warren - FEVER DREAM -5 Olivia Dean - So Easy (To Fall In Love)

Listened to these 3 times over and I'm still not really feeling anything this week - my vote just about went to Chris Stussy

Voted for LUNA - sounds like BJSC bait too, is it too late to change my entry jk, watch it come top 5 for someone else now

Jimmy-Jam votes have been submitted!

My favourites from the top 50: 48. CHASING CARS- Snow Patrol (611,400) 42. TEENAGE DIRTBAG- Wheatus (636,400) 39. YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL- James Blunt (658,200) 34. UMBRELLA- Rihanna Featuring Jay Z (676,200) 33. USE SOMEBODY- Kings Of Leon (698,695) 21. STAN- Eminem (772,700) 14. SEX ON FIRE- Kings Of Leon (903,070) 12. CRAZY- Gnarls Barkley (972,400) 03. (IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO?- Tony Christie Featuring Peter Kay (1,207,300) plus at least one of the 2009 #1s (#spoilers for my forthcoming rate!) Thanks for the informative countdown Gezza!

Congratulations on the new role Harry!

Voted for Muse, it's like they've gone back to 2006 (their best era for me!)

Just ANOTR for me this week. 'American Girls' is just OK for me, but I hope it holds off "I'm Good Part 2" - at least Faithless are credited I suppose.

The Bravery for the win - only one Top 40, but what a song

beabadoobee just ahead of James Blake I think

'In This Bih'' and 'SATA' are both infectious, went for the former.

It'll be close! I assume 'End Of Beginning' and 'The Sick' are #34 & #36 in some order, think they'd both need to overtake.

Another vote for option A. From my ranking each of the songs from 1-24, here's how the ties turned out - the songs I voted for are on the left, in blue if they won their ties or in red if they lost, while those in bold are my favourite by their respective artists: 1 vs. 2: David Bowie - Heroes vs. Erasure - A Little Respect 3 vs. 22: Nik Kershaw - Wouldn’t It Be Good vs. Troye Sivan - YOUTH 4 vs. 12: Blondie - One Way or Another vs. Nelly Furtado - Maneater 5 vs. 6: FKA twigs - Eusexua vs Florence + the Machine - Shake It Out 7 vs. 17: Atomic Kitten - Whole Again vs. George Michael - Fastlove, Pt. 1 8 vs. 16: ABBA - Lay All Your Love on Me vs. The Weeknd - Can’t Feel My Face 9 vs. 23: Delta Goodrem - Lost Without You vs. Fred again.., FKA twigs & Headie One - Don’t Judge Me 10 vs. 11: Chappell Roan - The Subway vs. ROSALÍA - DESPECHÁ 13 vs. 24: HAIM - Now I’m In It vs. Lily Allen - f*** You 14 vs. 18: Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone vs. Kesha - Tik Tok 15 vs. 21: The Corrs - What Can I Do (Tin Tin Out Remix) vs. Ruel - Wild Guess 19 vs. 20: Scissor Sisters - Fire With Fire vs. Conan Gray - Overdrive So 9 of the 12 ties went the way of my vote, although that includes 3 of the 4 close ones for me - 'Heroes' is still strong enough to overwhelm my Erasure favourite, but 'The Subway' vs 'DESPECHÁ' was really tough - both slow burners that peaked at the same place in my personal chart, and the former now my favourite from Chappell which may have just swayed it for me. Most of the Conan songs I've heard in this contest would have got past 'Fire With Fire' for me, but this one just fell short. For the 3 ties which went against my vote, Nik Kershaw couldn't have done any more, but Blondie may have been more competitive with a different song as others have suggested. 'Eusexua' vs. 'Shake It Out' was a nightmare tie as those are my favourites by both artists so I didn't want to see either eliminated on those songs.

Voted for Kacey this week

'Choosin' Texas' has a chance of an historic 6th consecutive week at #35 (no song has had as many in one position outside the Top 4) - although I can only see 2 songs overtaking it (Sean/Keyshia and Bella as they did last week), so it could break the run at #34 unless one more gets past - Djo at a push, maybe ANOTR, or some unexpected reset...