PaulM1983

Nah, that's fake.

I'm struggling to believe that's a legitimate contender. That song reads and sounds like a parody of a pop song. It's so unbelievably awful. It's giving me zero points vibes all the way. What a spectacular fall from grace that would be for us.

You say that as if it's a stupid comment. You literally just acknowledged the song is 30 seconds under the limit. Songs often need to cut or change something from the studio version to fit to the 3 minute limit. This song is just really short and can easily fit in another chorus.

Are you talking about Loreen? What vocoder? I'd be absolutely confident that her live vocal will sound exactly like that snippet. The one thing I love most about her is how she uses her voice like a musical instrument. Even when she's not singing actual words, there's intricacy and melody in all the flourishes she does. She's an outstanding vocalist.

The live version of this is so powerful, it's going to do so well. The studio version lacks a bit of punch though. And it's too bloody short. They could easily have fit in another chorus.

Plenty albums have had much bigger falls, even recently. And it seems like Steps have climbed since that update, so I suppose that's fake too? Make it make sense please.

A done deal for Steps I'd imagine. Aitch only closed the gap by a few hundred and they've extended the lead over Madonna.

He kind of did though. He said it was pathetic if we didn’t see it his way. Getting that hot and bothered over some acts selling a few different versions of an album on what would otherwise be a dead sales week is certainly not how I’m spending my Tuesday evening. Jeez. Get some air.

It's not a fake number 1 when number 1 is determined by who sells the most. If Steps fans buy more copies of their album in the week, then they have the number 1. All of the main contenders this week have multiple formats and bundles available. Madonna included. So Steps don't have an automatic advantage just because they put more options out there. People still have to buy them.

Just an album track for Steps though. No promotion or mention of it potentially being a single.

No.

It hasn't happened yet. Nobody has called anything. For context, we were top 5 in the odds to win it for a week before the song was even officially announced. I hope it does well. It deserves and should get plenty of jury points. But I'm not confident the televote will play in its favour. We'll need to see what the staging is like.

Have been obsessed with this song for the last week. It's our best entry in many, many years and I honestly think he's the best vocalist we've sent in my lifetime (I'm 38). The man is a crazy good singer. Amazing live vocals are not something we need to be concerned about with him. I'm thrilled it's getting a positive reaction and I just hope that they do something really eye-catching and quirky with the staging. It wouldn't hurt to have him singing it high up off the stage, wind machine blowing, mimicking the video. That chorus will really soar over the audience in the arena.

The correct top 2. I would rank them differently depending on my mood. They're just absolutely perfect pop songs. Thanks for all the work you put into doing this. The write ups were great and it was lots of fun!

Folks, that build to the 2nd chorus of Don't Shut Me Down, followed by a key change and an army of harmonies, is life affirming. Absolute perfection. It still gives me goosebumps.