jimwatts

Catching up on the top 10 thus far. 'Don't Cha' is certainly one of the year's memorable #1s so a fair placing, 'Jailhouse Rock' is Elvis' best #1 for me, and as the first chartable release in the series it was an enjoyable novelty to see it back at the top. 'Push The Button' is probably my favourite Sugababes #1 neatly crafted by Xenomania. I've rarely thought about the next two rap songs in the last 20 years - I could never really get past the Martika sample in 'Like Toy Soldiers', so unlike his opening quartet of #1s, his lyrics here didn't feel as front and centre as they probably needed to be given the weight of the underlying message, though 'Ghetto Gospel' was a remarkable #1 for both Elton and 2Pac whose seemingly endless slew of posthumous releases in the years after his death had cooled a little by this time. 'The Importance Of Being Idle' stands as arguably the last great Oasis single, genuinely inspired in sound and lyrical delivery, and would make my top 5. Whereas 'Dakota', which would have been my guess for #1 here, would be a little further down for me - I bought the first two Stereophonics albums and can't help but feel that they gradually drifted from the small-town energy of their debut that made them unique, although I agree this was an improvement on the singles of their earlier 2000s eras, and lands a genuinely anthemic moment that I suspect they had long been trying for.

Haha, I'm actually going with Australia on this one!

Congrats Rich on another contest win I hadn't realised Black Box Recorder had an even poppier song than 'The Facts Of Life'! Thanks Cow for the last of my points. My run of top 10 finishes in Bop Idol is over - only 7 or 8 points short this time, but these kind of ballad tempo songs tend to have limited appeal, so I'm glad it found a few fans. Great variety this edition and many good finds - thanks Addy for hosting!

Thanks Dan for a silver score, and Jester, Dandy & Bré for the other points.

Semi-Final One +25 Kygo (feat. Conrad Sewell) - Firestone +24 Glass Animals - Heat Waves +23 Chemical Brothers (feat. Q-Tip) - Go +22 Wolf Alice - The Last Man On Earth +21 Ghost - Mary On A Cross +20 Hozier - Take Me To Church +19 LF System - Afraid To Feel +18 Sia - Cheap Thrills +17 Zara Larsson - Lush Life +16 Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still +15 Peggy Gou - (It Goes Like) Nanana +14 Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal - B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All) +13 Major Lazer (feat. DJ Snake & MØ) - Lean On +12 Alan Walker (feat. Iselin) - Faded +11 Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding - Miracle +10 Grimes - Kill V. Maim +9 xx - On Hold +8 Olivia Rodrigo - Good 4 U +7 Lana Del Rey - A&W +6 Dua Lipa - Training Season +5 1975 - Somebody Else +4 Artemas - I like the way you kiss me +3 Olivia Rodrigo - Bad Idea Right? +2 Kendrick Lamar & SZA - All The Stars +1 Wet Leg - Chaise Longue Semi-Final Two +25 Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved +24 SAINt JHN - Roses (Imanbek Remix) +23 George Ezra - Paradise +22 Clean Bandit (feat. Anne-Marie & Sean Paul) - Rockabye +21 Dominic Fike - 3 Nights +20 Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better +19 Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars) - Uptown Funk +18 Weeknd - In Your Eyes +17 SZA - Kill Bill +16 Rema & Selena Gomez - Calm Down +15 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster +14 Adele - Hello +13 Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits +12 Joel Corry (feat. MNEK) - Head & Heart +11 Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine +10 Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna) - This Is What You Came For +9 Doja Cat (feat. SZA) - Kiss Me More +8 Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile +7 Ariana Grande - We can't be friends (wait for your love) +6 Mike Posner - I Took A Pill In Ibiza (Seeb Remix) +5 Taylor Swift & Bon Iver - Exile +4 Metric - Doomscroller +3 Rita Ora - Let You Love Me +2 Au/Ra & CamelPhat - Panic Room +1 Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles

Thanks Wardy for points and Rollo for another top score

Thanks Jade & Chez for the first points, and Rich for the top marks maybe top 10 will be a bit of stretch, but a long way to go.

That's a lot of good songs still on zero

Hoping to keep my 100% top 10 record in this contest intact! Anything beyond that would be a bonus - although both the songs that different people had guessed were sent by me also had contender predictions, so that bodes well...

It only dropped out for 3 weeks at the end of last year.

Madonna quite easily, although the Baha Men chart run was extraordinary to follow in 2000.

'Say My Name' might not be my favourite Destiny's Child song, but it's by far their most streamed and gets my vote here. Happy to see these polls continue!

BJSC 179 Roxy Music - Do The Strand Result: DNQ (SF2: 25th, 15) Well I lasted 28 contests of competing in BJSC without getting a disgraceful result, but the double whammy arrived of going from second in the semi of the previous contest to second last in this one - my first time in the bottom four of any semi - and taking 20 points off my previous lowest semi points total of 35. I can hardly blame the semi draw either as it looked favourable, but I can't have any regrets about sending it - the song is a key part of Roxy Music's early influence (only this week, I heard on a Sex Pistols documentary that "The Strand" was one of their former names, taken from it), but translating that to this contest was in hindsight a hard sell. It leaves me with a mountain to climb in BJSC 180 to make the EOY top 20 as I have in the previous two years, but I have my entry ready and will give it a shot. Points given 18 | Cumulonimbia | Ushko - COMET 15 | Deandria | Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms 13 | Persephonia | VACUUM MAN - Alimut 12 | Neliönoir | Nightbus - Angles Mortz 11 | FSR Rontvia | SADU - Luukered 10 | Aelandor | Phantogram - In A Spiral 9 | Elëdan | holybones - These Are The Rooms 8 | POPHub | Jane Inc. - what if 7 | Baleghde | TSHA - In The Night 6 | Mothertopia | Lexie Liu - X 5 | N DNTN | Planningtorock - Get Your Fckin Laws Off My Body 4 | The Spodic Empire | Tracey Thorn - It's All True 3 | Sovarasma | Lemondaze - o(type) 2 | Dobago | Pendulum - Vault 1 | Jadakissnia | Sara Zozaya - Blu

We have all been well and truly Luukered congrats Rich on your first win in a long time! After three second places even in my relatively short time here, I'm glad this was the one to go one step further, and break the 300 barrier in the process! All 7 songs over 200 points either made my votes or commiserations, so this has turned out pretty great with a mixture of pop and not-pop up there. Was hoping for Neliönoir a little higher, but I guess it'll be an interesting showdown with Danæviia for the EOY. Even without having a song in the final, it's been fun to see plenty of activity around these parts this last few weeks. Thank you Jade for a wonderful job hosting!

The wait for first final points to Bronzil from Lotunia will continue into a fourth year...