dandy*

Yay! Did you watch the video as well, that elevates it even more for me 😂

Awwww Reet Petite deserves a bit better than a 3.5... I'll wait and see what else is to come before deciding how much higher I'd place it but I think it's really fun and can't fault the vocals or production really considering its age

Frank does the odds. It’s in the constitution. End of discussion.

Yes is another brilliant track to drop out! I hadn't spotted the low scores being racked up so was expecting it to finish a bit higher than this - although equally I was surprised by the amount of people who were also rating it highly as it always feels very much like a forgotten gem from the 90s.

btw the biggest shock of the reveals for me was Jade being behind Blondie and not Rosalia - I had Pav down as Fred Again as I didn't think Dan would choose him if he went with a dance act.

Shock horror Erasure was me! I just wanted to send an act I loved from my childhood and decided from the off that I wanted to send tracks that represented each of their key albums from their breakthrough to when they started to wain in popularity... and I achieved that so I'm happy enough with how it went. I also decided from the off that I wasn't going to solely rely on their biggest singles, so went with... Drama! (from Wild!) - this was the song that really got me in to them so it seemed like the perfect one to open with. I had it on a best of 1989 compilation that I had for christmas with my first walkman. This emerged as my favourite track on it and so began my obsession over the next few years... So The Story Goes (from I Say I Say I Say) - when I bought the album I wasn't expecting anything to top Always but there were a few album tracks that I really loved from it, namely Take Me Back, All Through The Years and this one) so I decided to represent the album with one of them to show they were more than just a singles band - I think they are overlooked in terms of albums and their first 3 from the 90s are particularly strong imo) Sometimes (from The Circus) - I wouldn't have chosen this if it weren't for the theme as it isn't a huge favourite of mine, but I decided to play by the rules and send one of their main signature hits. Sono Luminus (from Erasure) - I really like their self titled album, even though moving away from 4 minute songs to sprawling tracks pretty much killed their career. I could easily have chosen Rescue Me, Angel or A Long Goodbye as more commercial sounding tracks from that album too but Sono Luminus is really lovely and thought I'd make use of the lobster whilst I still had it. Chorus (from Chorus) - Chorus was my first CD album and I was absolutely obsessed with it, it's the album that turned me from a fan to a bit of a stan. The album is quite Moroder-esque in production and this was the first single lifted from it, I love the siren to announce its arrival and the choir of Andys in the breakdown - could have easily gone with many others from the album too but I was a bit nervous so went with one of the singles as I thought it was basically either them or the Chicks to go! A Little Respect (from The Innocents) - not going to lie, I was gutted when I saw what they'd been drawn against... and ultimately was quite chuffed when I saw they'd only lost out by one vote (I think?). Classic single and easily my favourite from this album, and this completed my aim to send one song from each of their peak eras. The one thing I did think about the draw against Heroes was I could imagine that all the people who probably voted Erasure reasonably highly in the other rounds would probably go for Bowie, where as I could imagine many of the people who had consistently rated Erasure lowly would prefer this to Bowie. No grumbles about losing to Heroes though. Rock Me Gently (from Erasure) - I actually really wanted to use the lobster to send this during the rounds I could but it never fitted any of the themes so I wasn't able to - I think it's a beautiful song that showcases them being a bit more experimental with ambient breakdowns etc, and it's also really special to me as it was out at the time when my grandma passed away and it reminds me a lot of her and how much I miss her. I gathered from the reactions in the thread that it may have been a bit of a WTF choice but realistically they were never going to make it and I'd rather send something that meant more to me, and hopefully was new to most other people than just send a big single that most people would already know. Was really nice to see a few people mention it in a positive way as the voting thread progressed though. It's a shame they didn't make it through the battles as I did think I'd left enough of their bigger hits to give them a fighting chance of making it through a few live shows, and I still had a handful of album tracks I think were strong enough to showcase as well. I'd probably have sent Always to the ballad round that seems to be being teased, and I'd have gone for Fingers & Thumbs for the flop round (a relatively upbeat track that seems like it's about a relationship but is actually about Andy finding out he'd contracted HIV and lamenting that he was paying a huge price for one mistake)... I was saving their #1 in case there was a covers round (would have been Lay All Your Love On Me, not the awful Take a Chance On Me cover though!) and Love to Hate You would have been played if we had to send a big OTT song. Finally - one major plus was that I got to own the Rebecca Ferguson Lobster of Resurrection! What an honour indeed! 😂 - and I imagine everyone was wondering how on earth I worked those clues out?!!!! Well, the answer is that I worked out within about 2 minutes that they were impossible and thought instead that the only way to try and solve it was to turn to the votes to decide which acts seemed to have no major support, plus I stuck to my initial guns for A1 when I first opened the act reveal thread and thought "Who in their right mind would send A1 of all acts?!!!" - it was nice to see that I wouldn't have actually needed it though.

Karma Police is amazing and deserved to get them another top 10 finish in these, the singles from OK Computer are all 10/10 moments for me.

This makes me very happy! It passed me by entirely last year but I heard it whilst giving the album a try and was absolutely mesmerised by it, at first I was like WTF but then I realised how clever and well humoured it is... it's going to be one of those entries that I'm really nervous about all contest because I absolutely love it (and the video)

Darn. Spoken word entries deserve to have FSR Rontvia in the same semi as them.

Aeroche would be able to reinvigorate the early 00s trend that the Beatles started and do a compilation album of #1s

The pronunciation really is incredibly jarring. It lets it down which is frustrating as it’s great fun

Sweet Harmony is such a classic, out way too early. The production is dreamy and then has the sax to round everything off perfectly. I was a huge fan of the Conscience era from them, there’s some lovely songs on the album

So we've watched the first 3 episodes and I think it's a step up from last year, there's been quite a few things that have made me laugh. The cast are all really likeable as well, really enjoying them

2010 is calling this time around!

I thought this could be a fun idea to see what entries we all consider to be our favourites from the back catalogues of our entries. If you had to limit yourself to a selection of your own entries for either a 20 or 40 track playlist, what would you include? Equally happy to see compilations of your 20 or 40 favourites from entries by other countries if you'd like... or split it and go disc 1 of your own entries and disc 2 of your favourites from others. Including a spotify or apple music playlist or any artwork you'd like to use would be great too so we can listen along ☺️ and always great to see any commentary around why you've chosen the songs you have

For once I’m just ready for the contest to start, I need to see the reaction to my entry! I’m hoping it will be divisive rather than get universal WTF. I also don’t know if people will have already heard it given it’s a bit old now

Jester is the anti Reynolds Girl, he’d rather Fleetwood Mac than Jack

I won’t grumble too much at anything so far. Jack Your Body is fine but I don’t enjoy it as much as I respect it.

French

Informer is by far my favourite so far, I actually like that more now than I did back then. Pray would be next best and Boom! after that as it is at least a bit fun. The rest I couldn’t care less about.

I shall be awaiting a Robyn victory. And if something else wins then I’ll be editing Rollo’s posts with the correct result.

I’m not going to get chance to definitely participate so I’ll sit this out, even though the theme is brilliant. Will still submit guest votes if I do have time (and if that’s allowed, can’t recall in this!)

Stereophonics is the worst, quite easily. The other two are actually pretty great... with one in particular being MILES ahead of the rest of the field for me.

Viva la Vida would probably have been my number 1, I've tired of many Coldplay songs over the years but that was has managed to avoid getting old for me.

I really dislike that Boy George track, it's just sooooo dull.