Julian_

Joss Stone - it’s a little shouty.

Country 12: Cyprus Cyprus weren’t involved in the very early days of Eurovision but did join as early as 1981. Since then they’ve only missed 3 years, leaving them with 43 entered songs; the most of any country that has not won. In 1988 they withdrew their own entry because it had contravened their selection rules, in 2001 they were relegated and in 2014 they withdrew due to financial pressures (not helped by a run of mostly DNQs). Overall I feel like with the odd exception Cyprus’ entries could be much stronger than they are, especially since the turn of the century. Occasionally they do really dip into Greek or Middle Eastern sounds but there’s a lot of fairly lightweight pop without a very strong identity. There are some very enjoyable moments here and there in both the earlier and later years.

Going with “Sexyback” which I appreciate but have never been mad on like his earlier singles.

We feel like the combination of Séyetana and Neliönoir is pushing us towards sending something dark. 🖤

Not quite as stellar a bunch as some others this year, but some really good stuff all the top. “Ain’t Nobody” is Chaka Khan’s classic but “I Feel For You” is a very interesting and innovative record. 8 Chaka Khan I Feel For You 540th #1: an extraordinary cover including features such as rapping from Melle Melz and Stevie on harmonica 8 Limahl Never Ending Story His last hit and a beautiful track recorded for the film of the same name, with lovely backing vocal interplay 8 Ultravox Love's Great Adventure Their last hit for a while and it's an excellent one with their soaring, emotive vocals and warm production 7 Bruce Springsteen Cover Me I like how different this is from his previous hits: quite a raw sounding, enjoyable and stomping rock track 7 Kim Wilde The Second Time The lead from her new album not setting the charts alight, but it's a very strong track with pulsating synths 6 Julian Lennon Too Late For Goodbyes His 1st hit: his voice sounds remarkably like his father's on this and it's a nice song with a slight reggae feel 6 Billy Ocean Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) His 1st Top 40 for 7 years and a well remembered and very highly streamed song that I respect but don't love 5 Feargal Sharkey Listen To Your Father Debut solo single for the Irish singer: it's quite an enjoyable and bouncy track, though nothing remarkable 5 ZZ Top Gimme All Your Lovin' Originally charted last year but now becomes a big hit: it's a decent track but I can't really say it excites me 4 Spandau Ballet Highly Strung Their lowest peak since 1981: the track itself isn't bad but nothing special, and some of the lyrics are banal 3 Lionel Richie Penny Lover A 5th single that doesn't really leave much impression, and he's very much back to the moribund ballad style 2 Eugene Wilde Gotta Get You Home Tonight 1st for this US R&B singer: I find this very similar in style to "Sexual Healing", but a far less interesting track 2 Status Quo The Wanderer A 1961 song by Dion, and I really can't see what this rendition adds, but it manages to outpeak the original 1984 Group 19: #1524 03/11/1984 Duran Duran Wild Boys 2 5-3-{2}-3-9-19-29-32-31-26-23-39-50-70->14 #1525 27/10/1984 The Pointer Sisters I'm So Excited 11 44-28-16-14-{11}-16-22-39-51-60-61->11 #1526 03/11/1984 Iron Maiden Aces High 20 32-{20}-25-43-71->5 #1527 27/10/1984 Heaven 17 This Is Mine 23 46-36-28-{23}-29-42-69->7 #1528 03/11/1984 Gary Numan Berserker 32 38-{32}-37-45-66->5 #1529 27/10/1984 Chicago Hard Habit To Break 8 60-39-21-11-{8}-8-11-24-29-34-39-44-73->13 #1530 03/11/1984 Jim Diamond I Should Have Known Better 1 40-13-3-2-{1}-2-6-18-20-19-28-46-57->13 #1531 10/11/1984 Depeche Mode Blasphemous Rumours/Somebody 16 29-{16}-17-32-54-64->6 #1532 03/11/1984 The Dazz Band Let It All Blow 12 50-35-28-14-{12}-14-27-30-36-38-38-59->12 #1533 17/11/1984 Nik Kershaw The Riddle 3 17-5-4-{3}-8-8-12-11-14-32-55->11 #1534 03/11/1984 Eurythmics Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) 4 62-44-24-7-6-{4}-9-17-17-17-22-47-72->13 #1535 17/11/1984 The Temptations Treat Her Like A Lady 12 26-{12}-13-18-28-31-41-33-42-66->10 #1536 27/10/1984 Alvin Stardust I Won't Run Away 7 68-75-51-31-18-11-{7}-10-16-18-22-30-67->13 #1537 10/11/1984 Matt Bianco Half A Minute 23 50-34-28-{23}-33-45-52-62-62-75->10 #1538 17/11/1984 The Human League Louise 13 36-26-14-{13}-15-24-28-27-36-61->10 #1539 17/11/1984 Slade All Join Hands 15 38-20-{15}-20-23-25-27-29-52->9

Presumably Dolly has a pretty good chance of the official #1 next week with “Rein Me In” more likely than not going to ACR and nothing else doing more than 30k.

An absolutely ghastly mash up - “Blurred Lines” is far better. The only 1D song I really like a lot is “Night Changes”. A few others are OK.

It will be mentioned in the update if it ever enters.

Week 34: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,657,000 2,760,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 1,576,000 2,260,000 3 3 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,039,000 3,220,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 1,024,000 1,630,000 5 5 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 992,000 1,230,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 930,000 1,310,000 7 7 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 910,000 8 8 Zara Larsson Lush Life 880,000 3,920,000 9 9 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 875,000 2,210,000 10 10 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 855,000 1,600,000 11 11 PinkPantheress Stateside 773,000 900,000 12 12 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 748,000 1,520,000 13 13 Djo End Of Beginning 741,000 1,920,000 14 14 Tame Impala Dracula 723,000 860,000 15 15 Sombr Homewrecker 709,000 16 16 Bruno Mars I Just Might 692,000 17 17 Sombr 12 To 12 676,000 1,200,000 18 18 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 663,000 760,000 19 19 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 638,000 810,000 20 20 Harry Styles American Girls 621,000 21 21 Alex Warren Fever Dream 619,000 22 22 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 603,000 4,120,000 23 23 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 602,000 640,000 24 24 The Killers Mr Brightside 581,000 7,380,000 25 25 Taylor Swift Opalite 571,000 980,000 26 26 Dominic Fike Babydoll 566,000 1,310,000 27 28 Sombr Back To Friends 551,000 1,460,000 28 27 Harry Styles Aperture 547,000 29 29 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 546,000 1,270,000 30 30 Milky Just The Way You Are 524,000 630,000 31 31 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 507,000 4,440,000 32 32 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 503,000 5,060,000 33 34 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 492,000 3,420,000 34 33 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 492,000 1,300,000 35 35 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 488,000 1,630,000 36 36 Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 488,000 37 37 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 475,000 2,280,000 38 38 Dominic Fike White Keys 474,000 480,000 39 41 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 467,000 1,710,000 40 39 Justin Bieber Daisies 465,000 970,000 50 51 Noah Kahan Stick Season 391,000 3,640,000 52 56 ANOTR featuring 54 Ultra Talk To You 389,000 53 60 Prospa & Cloonee Free Your Mind 384,000 65 74 Olivia Rodrigo The Cure 353,000 67 73 Malcolm Todd Earrings 350,000 380,000 74 84 Ariana Grande Hate That I Made You Love Me 344,000 92 93 Chemical Brothers Go 316,000 750,000

Week 34: 1 2 Michael Jackson The Essential 455,000 2,550,000 2 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 455,000 730,000 3 3 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 378,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 274,000 2,100,000 5 5 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 254,000 6 6 The Weeknd Highlights 233,000 1,820,000 7 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 218,000 730,000 8 8 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 195,000 500,000 9 10 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 189,000 10 9 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 189,000 490,000 11 11 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 181,000 2,590,000 12 12 Linkin Park Papercuts 174,000 570,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 165,000 890,000 14 14 ABBA Gold 161,000 6,300,000 15 15 Elton John Diamonds 159,000 2,090,000 16 17 Michael Jackson Thriller 157,000 4,910,000 17 16 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 157,000 1,050,000 18 18 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 154,000 3,710,000 19 19 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 146,000 5,760,000 20 20 BTS Arirang 142,000 21 21 Drake Iceman 139,000 22 22 Michael Jackson Bad 139,000 4,590,000 23 23 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 134,000 770,000 24 24 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 131,000 25 25 Arctic Monkeys AM 130,000 2,460,000 26 26 Tate McRae So Close To What 129,000 390,000 27 27 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 126,000 3,660,000 28 28 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 124,000 1,370,000 29 29 Pitbull Greatest Hits 123,000 750,000 30 30 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 122,000 820,000 31 31 Sombr I Barely Know Her 117,000 210,000 32 32 Maroon 5 Singles 115,000 1,110,000 33 33 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 114,000 880,000 34 34 Calvin Harris 96 Months 107,000 340,000 35 35 Queen Greatest Hits 105,000 3,310,000 36 36 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 104,000 2,140,000 37 37 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 103,000 2,410,000 38 38 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 99,000 2,530,000 39 39 Oasis Definitely Maybe 98,000 3,110,000 40 43 Katy Perry The Ones That Got The Plays 97,000 65 66 Phil Collins The Singles 79,000 1,010,000 69 70 Madonna Finally Enough Love - #1s Remixed 77,000 380,000 76 87 Sienna Spiro Visitor 74,000 86 - Ariana Grande Petal 69,000 92 93 Luke Combs The Way I Am 68,000 - 98 Gorillaz The Mountain 63,000

27/8: 1 1 Rein me in (1) 2 2 Man I need (1) 3 3 Dai dai (2) 4 4 Choosin’ Texas (4) 5 5 Movin’ to the sun (5) 6 7 Stupid song (2) 7 6 Ordinary (1) 8 14 Boston (8) 9 8 Hate that I made you love me (1) 10 9 Talk to you (5) 11 10 Free your mind (8) 12 11 Great expectation (11) 13 17 The cure (3) 14 16 Where is my husband! (3) 15 15 On 2nite (15) 16 12 Billie Jean (1) 17 20 Midnight sun (8) 18 22 Mr Brightside (10) 19 29 Loser (19) 20 21 So easy (5) 21 19 Material lover (21) 22 24 Lush life (3) 23 28 Homewrecker (10) 24 24 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 25 34 Animal (25) 26 25 Golden (1) 27 30 Drop dead (1) 28 18 Petal (5) 29 31 Raindance (2) 30 39 Dracula (4) 31 35 Nice to each other (5) 32 33 Earrings (26) 33 43 Iris (3) 34 32 The fate of Ophelia (1) 35 41 Die on this hill (12) 36 - Hootie frutti (36) 37 42 Wonderwall (2) 38 36 Dreams (22) 39 40 12 to 12 (8) 40 26 American girls (1) 41 38 Fever dream (4) 42 45 Beautiful things (1) 43 27 I knew it, I knew you (1) 44 46 Beauty and a beat (5) 45 44 Bloodstream (43) 46 - Oh yeah? (46) 47 47 Beat it (3) 48 49 Everywhere (4) 49 50 Janice STFU (3) 50 48 I just might (7)

Was never a big fan of the song and it’s aged poorly. I’m not convinced it deserves cancellation any more than a lot of other stuff though.

2 Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim (2024, 2nd) Listening to “Ich Will” by Rammstein (a wonderful track), it’s pretty clear that the chorus of this was heavily inspired by that. Nonetheless I think this is a brilliant and off the wall entry that deserved its popularity. It won the televote but 3rd place with the juries brought it to 2nd overall. 1 Let 3 - Mama ŠČ! (2023, 13th) Apparently it’s an anti-war song, although they deliberately weren’t too explicit about it to avoid any controversy. Anyway it’s an extraordinary and unusual song and performance. I don’t think there’s been anything that sounds quite like this before or since. It has a military sounding verse but then erupts beautifully into a triumphant chorus. The audience really did get behind this and it came 7th in the televote, but was rather sunk by being 2nd last with the juries.

Lowest since the ‘00s certainly but I don’t think we’re in danger of a sub 20k #1 at this stage.

I wonder who would have sent a 9 minute song by 10cc. 🤔