dandy*

Six of my favourite eight acts have been drawn against each other, those three ties are a nightmare 😢 Also an act I'm really not that fussed on have sent my favourite song of theirs, whilst being up against an act I love but has sent my least favourite single of theirs, and I think I'm going to have to be fair and vote for the former Finally, as it happens my two least favourite songs of the round are up against each other as well.

Interesting. It feels like the emphasis of the song has really changed, her original version was definitely about being in love with someone but it feels like this version has been re-focused to be about her love for her son? Just checking the comments on youtube and it seems like a couple of other people agree with me as well. For comparison, this was the original from back in the day... This and Keep This Fire Burning are by some distance the best from the album.

Patiently waiting for 18:30 to arrive so I can see if I like the new version of Blow My Mind

...although on the plus side there's only two songs I need to familiarise myself with!

I'm glad that I had already accomplished what I hoped to before going out - this is a ridiculous round!

No I was saving that for the next round, sorry

I was bored and couldn't resist! 🤭

50 Robyn – Dancing On My Own 49 The Beloved – Sweet Harmony 48 Pet Shop Boys – Rent 47 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Enola Gay 46 McAlmont & Butler - Yes 45 Visage - Fade To Grey 44 Radiohead – Karma Police 43 The Smiths – This Charming Man 42 Plastic Bertrand – Ça Plane Pour Moi 41 Amy Winehouse – Back To Black 40 The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up 39 Mary J Blige - Family Affair 38 Rufus and Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody 37 Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal 36 Oasis - Live Forever 35 Muse – Time Is Running Out 34 Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell 33 The Beatles – Yesterday 32 Sister Sledge – We Are Family 31 The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On 30 The Stone Roses - Fools Gold / What The World Is Waiting For 29 Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia 28 Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 27 Eurythmics – Here Comes The Rain Again 26 The Veronicas – Untouched 25 Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You 24 Linkin Park – In the End 23 Black – Wonderful Life 22 Bananarama – Cruel Summer 21 Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - The Message 20 Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) 19 Shocking Blue – Venus 18 Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing 17 Arctic Monkeys – Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? 16 Depeche Mode – Just Can't Get Enough 15 Lady Gaga – Judas 14 Pink - Try 13 Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town 12 Eagles – Hotel California 11 Len - Steal My Sunshine 10 Bananarama – Venus 09 Kygo featuring Conrad Sewell - Firestone 08 Nero – Guilt 07 Blink 182 - I Miss You 06 Evanescence – Going Under 05 Avril Lavigne – Sk8er Boi 04 Katrina and the Waves - Walking On Sunshine 03 Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends 02 XTM & DJ Chucky presents Annia - Fly On The Wings Of Love 01 Kylie Minogue - Padam Padam

Herbs could be announced as being behind the winning act at the end and I would still argue that he is behind the Chicks

It would be great if it did spark fresh interest in her back catalogue. She's treated so harshly at times and it's ridiculous that her best ofs aren't as successful these days as the likes of Elton John etc

I don't mind this... I just hope they also go quite bonkers with the staging so it is all out madness, it needs something like the furby organ etc so it stands out

Interesting! Lots to gamble on... strong acts do they dare to send something below their most popular in the knowledge it would still beat most of the others... do less popular acts play the strongest they have but then potentially lose anyway due to the act they're chosen against, and then have nothing left for the thing that's like the Golden Wagner but not the Golden Wagner.

Will people know who they are up against or will it be an unknown battle like last year?

OMG this is my perfect theme

The countdown is on, only 44 minutes left until Rob votes

Really looking forward to seeing what Fred Again, FKA Twigs and Erasure send to unplugged week

01 Blondie - Sunday Girl - the #1 when I was born, can't not put this one at the top! 02 Erasure - Chorus - probably my favourite here really but not my birthday #1 so tough 03 HAIM - Want You Back - good memories of this from seeing them live. Wasn't huge on it at first but it's really grown on me over the years 04 Florence + the Machine - My Love - Strong choice again, so consistent that she has material up with her best from so many albums in 05 ABBA - Take a Chance on Me - fun track, one of their better ones 06 The Corrs - Summer Sunshine - not a bad choice, it's a bit MOR radio for me but it is definitely pleasant 07 Scissor Sisters - Let’s Have a Kiki - not my fave from them, it's fun but it's quite throwaway 08 The Chicks - Julianna Calm Down - sorry Chicks, I've liked a lot of the things sent so far but this one doesn't do it for me as much 09 Atomic Kitten - Eternal Flame - apologies to whoever is behind the Kittens, I've never been a fan of this cover. The album track choice remains my favourite pick so far

01 Nelly Furtado - Try - I've always loved the sound of Nelly's first two albums, and this was a definite high point 02 ROSALÍA - Reliquia - great choice, one of the absolute highlights of Lux 03 LiSA - Akeboshi (明け星) - probably my favourite choice of hers so far so wanted to reward it 04 FKA twigs - Stereo Boy - Brave choice but one I like! 05 Chappell Roan - After Midnight - Not one of my favourites of hers tbh, but it's okay 06 Delta Goodrem - Eclipse - I haven't warmed to this yet, but again it's okay 07 Kesha - RED FLAG. - production better than vocals on this one for me 08 Kelly Clarkson - Haunted - I've never managed to get on board with this era from Kelly, and this doesn't change my mind much. I think I prefer her pop moments. 09 Lily Allen - 22 - this has always been my least fave of Lily's singles I'm afraid

01 David Bowie - Lazarus - I get why this doesn't appeal to everyone but it's a wonderful song imo, once I had the tragic realisation that it was a man dying it made so much more sense. 02 The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk - Starboy - back to good stuff from him again this round, his tracks with Daft Punk were great 03 Romy & Fred again.. - Strong - Love Romy, her vocals can lift anything for me 04 Ruel - I Can Die Now - This was my favourite of his to date I think, I enjoyed the production in particular 05 George Michael - Jesus to a Child - I like this a lot more now than I did when it was out, I thought it was so dull at the time - still only mid George for me though. 06 Les Rythmes Digitales feat. Nik Kershaw - Sometimes - thought I was going to like this more than I ended up doing, it didn't really do a lot for me at all 07 Tone Damli feat. Eric Saade - Imagine - not my kind of pop really, but the duet element rose it above the ones below 08 Conan Gray - Caramel - think this was my least favourite of his so far I'm afraid, it didn't have the same magic as some of his earlier entries 09 Troye Sivan - Angel Baby - Wasn't a fan I'm afraid, I'm not huge on this style of song and I didn't really like the lyrics either

ALTHOUGH what a song to be paired with in 11th <3

Not me missing the top 10 by one place 😢

Downloaded! 🙌🏻

Breaking the Circle deserved better. The production is my favourite thing about it but it’s definitely among the best of her later singles

I voted for all of the original top 3 so good results on the whole - and the K Rep track was good too so happy to see that be the one that was promoted to third. Admittedly I was hoping for my 18 to win but it did seem unlikely once they got a deduction - Haute and Freddy were a good winner regardless though so congratulations John! Love Rob’s observation that there’s been 20 different countries in the first two top 10s of the year, great to see a variety of people getting success <3