Brer

Has been extended by a day anyway!

I don't think editing PMs sends a notification, but you can add a reply onto a previous PM and it will show up provided the recipient hasn't deleted the original PM. (I know from my own hosting of the retro song contest that if you do add a reply onto a previous PM that's already been deleted it will not show up so it's safer to just send a new one if possible anyway!)

Confirmed (not leaving looking for a song until the last minute for once!), have gone Finnish which I think is actually a first for Persephonia! Am way overdue an update of my OP in the 'nationalities of your entries' thread x

I must have snuck my votes in just before your inbox filled up then as I was able to get them in a couple of hours ago! (with the new site now automatically saving sent PMs the same as received ones I had to go delete an old PM myself just to send my votes lol - I went back and deleted a bunch of old ones now though so should be fine for a while again x)

Olivia's star has been steadily rising all year (her last release 'Lady Lady' didn't make a huge impression but given it's been followed so soon I guess that was more of a promo single and they're pushing this one more). Her album could be pretty big at this rate.

Just remembered I'd not done this yet! I did listen to the songs I missed from the session later in the evening and it ended up bumping my number of playlisted songs for the week to a new record of 24 - added Queen/Madness as I already knew I would, Stevie Wonder which I did know and is another great classic but just didn't recall it straight away from the title, and 3 more discoveries, enjoyed both of the other XTC songs quite a bit and I will happily take the Splodgenessabounds version of 'Two Little Boys' and forget Rolf Harris had anything to do with it (not that it was his song in the first place anyway). Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds Madness - Baggy Trousers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay Queen - Another One Bites The Dust XTC - Generals And Majors ...so that's 3 of my 5 votes for the week being songs I missed on SyncTube oops! XTC the only one I didn't already know well ofc. Just missing out from songs I already knew are Stevie Wonder, Motörhead and Adam And The Ants and next best discoveries of the week were Kate Bush, The Specials' 'Stereotype', XTC's 'Towers Of London' and Sweet People. (is it just me that didn't particularly like 'Fashion' then oops)

x

I did wonder if this was the first time an album had dropped exactly 1-40 - obviously the list of albums with drops from #1 to well outside the top 20 is massive at this point but felt like that'd be something I'd have noticed if it happened before.

The new Ed song really doesn't sound like a 2025 hit at all, sounds plucked straight out of the early 10s and we're not at the nostalgia cycle for that era yet. Think it only made the top 40 at all because of Ed still having some lingering name power, I'd be surprised if it made much of a recovery in coming weeks. Obviously he can still get big hits (not at the level of his previous hits I know etc.) with the right songs (i.e. 'Azizam' and 'Sapphire') but this one isn't it.

I guess Jonas Brothers might have had some sales disqualified for whatever reason but they clearly weren't banned from the chart entirely as they are there on the sales/physical/download charts. Quite a remarkable falloff if they really did just sell that few copies.

Tbf I think there is usually a sentence explaining this in the OP of the spinoffs (actually I think we usually have a rule banning UK top 10 hits outright, otherwise we are a lot more lax with what is allowed than in the main contest as there's no other formal rules per se but mods have discretion to veto anything that's egregiously cheap). We have had a couple of spinoffs in the past that intentionally had no restrictions at all (minus not sending songs that had been sent before) but not for a while.

Just having a look at the confirmations so far... I'm going to give a certain person the opportunity to reconfirm of their own volition before I make the rare step of intervening to issue an official veto for a spinoff for the first time in a very long time xx (the regular veto framework doesn't apply to spinoffs but there are limits!!)

The currently ongoing contests really said no to the alt bloc (fair, shall just have to sniff out some melodies xx)

Ah thanks Miri! May have forgotten saying that I was going to make a playlist myself hehe Here's the YouTube playlist though:

Oops I shall be running slightly late but yes x https://sync-tube.de/room/ApAM3t-I Final listenthrough shortly

Sorry but this really does just give C-tier Eurovision slop, I can only assume it somehow hits harder in context of the film? I do like 'Your Idol' though.

I think Dan who usually makes the Spotify playlists is away at the moment, I'll make one later today if no one does before me x Will do the final listenthrough this evening (+ post a YouTube playlist then as well)!

10/10 album title

...is that not the American Amazon chart? x

Was it only Yehesi who didn't vote btw or did someone qualify with a deduction?

If we had actually done a One Big Final there could have been the potential for a number of very low scores with how low some of the semi scores were as it is!

Poor brave Scene being sacrificed to the Cor Lupus engagement bait xx ('NAZARETH' was another one I hoped to be a grower for me whoops, I will still give it another listen along with the rest of the semi anyway though) From my semi votes/ranking: 12 Q 10 Q 8 Q 7 Q 6 Q 5 Q 4 Q 3 Trifoski 2 Flynnonda 1 Q 12th Yehesi 13th Taahino 20th Ben's Sanctuary 22nd A-Konohagakure Happy that I did get all of my top 7 through as they were the main essentials but whoops lost quite a few of my second tier faves there. (will edit in my ranking of the semi 1 faves after relistening but Lookylion and Scotland 2 were the main losses from my first impressions) edit: 6th Scotland 2 8th Lookylion 13th East Rukahavian 14th Cheiron 16th Bronzil 19th Herbilore Scotland 2 & Cheiron both did indeed grow on me on second listen x

Aw - Taahino another one that didn't quite make my votes but would have got points out of the other semi, it was one that grew on me a decent amount on second listen as well, reminded me a bit of Florence + The Machine.

My 2 pointer from my semi gone as well (Flynnonda), hoped this one might make it through for them but ah well, I guess it wasn't too far off. Yay Pestolia ~ rooting for Taahino and Cor Lupus for the last two spots x