Julian_

A tough round of course. Leona I can mostly take or leave but “Better In Time” is one of my favourites so it was nice to get that. Agnes certainly has moments of brilliance and I wondered if we’d be getting a second Bop Idol winning song in here at some point. For me iamamiwhoami has been the most interesting artist discovery of the competition (with Roosevelt second). I have to feel for Years & Years even though they’re less to my taste as they’d probably have got through a full vote. Despite being a singer songwriter fan I don’t know Damien’s work as well as I should so it’s been lovely exploring more. And the competition wouldn’t be quite the same without its twink representation. That does feel like the category where a full vote would have most likely aligned with the result though.

“She Looks So Perfect” isn’t bad really but fairly basic. I do really like “Thinking Out Loud” and think it’s one of Ed’s very best. It has a pace and charm to it that totally works. I don’t like “Perfect” much though, which is cut from the same cloth but I find much more cloying and missing the charm.

Sorry I fell behind with this but well done for finishing on schedule. I’m definitely going to check out the playlist as I don’t even know either of your latest top 2 oops!

“Smooth Operator” is absolutely Sadie’s best. I’m sure they will get a seat.

Thank u baby x

It will be interesting to see how different the judging panel dynamic is this time. Last time it was so well balanced that almost every decision went to deadlock. I think Jaz is a good replacement for Jim and their taste won’t be all that far apart. On the other hand Lee hasn’t been replaced at all, so the panel could be less pure pop leaning overall but we’ll see.

A definite step down here but there probably aren’t that many all time great male duets and “Easy Lover” is up there. 8 Philip Bailey And Phil Collins Easy Lover 547th #1: debut solo hit for this Earth, Wind and Fire member and an excellenet and dynamic collaboration 8 Go West We Close Our Eyes 1st and biggest hit for this UK duo and another very strong and dynamic track that's still heard around quite a bit 7 Madonna Material Girl Her early hits are quite bubblegum but classics nonetheless with very distinctive and influential pop production 7 Paul Young Every Time You Go Away His 7th straight Top 10 hit: it's a slightly syrupy track but something about his voice and performance elevates it 6 Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy Kiss Me 1st of a couple of hits for this UK singer: nothing too adventurous but very nice with interesting Bublical lyrics 6 Daryl Hall And John Oates Method Of Modern Love After a few misses they're back with this which is their final Top 40: it's slightly quirky with some nice production 5 David Essex Falling Angels Riding His last Top 40 apart from a duet, and it's quite an interesting military style song used in his "Mutiny!" musical 5 Sheila E The Belle Of St Mark Only hit for this US songer known more for her drum playing: a fun song written by Prince with his production style 5 Little Benny And The Masters Who Comes To Boogie Only hit for this US funk band: it's an enjoyable piece of backing music rather than something really essential 4 ZZ Top Legs Another track from their 1983 album belatedly becoming a Top 20 hit: I slightly prefer the others but this is fine 4 Shakin' Stevens Breaking Up My Heart A catchy and moderately enjoyable Shaky track, though I still find the vocals and exuberant style slightly grating 3 David Cassidy The Last Kiss Last Top 40 for the one of the radio friendly Davids here who I generally enjoy less, and this is a slightly soppy one 3 Loose Ends Hangin' On A String (Contemplating) 1st Top 40 for this UK R&B band, and like much of this genre this drags a bit and doesn't leave much impression 2 New Edition Mr Telephone Man Their last Top 40 for more than a decade: it's not unpleasant but a fairly naff song that doesn't really go anywhere 2 Jermaine Jackson Do What You Do His last Top 40 coming long after the others and a surprisingly big hit, as it's a dull and dated for its time track 1985 Group 5: #1625 16/03/1985 Alison Moyet That Ole Devil Called Love 2 11-{2}-2-4-6-14-24-35-54-64->10 #1626 16/03/1985 Nik Kershaw Wide Boy 9 15-12-10-{9}-11-18-29-48->8 #1627 16/03/1985 Billy Bragg Between The Wars EP 15 33-{15}-15-25-28-51->6 #1628 09/03/1985 Starvation Starvation/Tam-Tam Pour L'Ethiope 33 44-36-{33}-36-48-73->6 #1629 16/03/1985 The Power Station Some Like It Hot 14 37-17-{14}-15-21-28-43-58->8 #1630 02/03/1985 The Alarm Absolute Reality 35 48-43-40-{35}-48-70->6 #1631 23/03/1985 Sarah Brightman And Paul Miles-Kingston Pie Jesu 3 14-{3}-3-4-10-26-37-61->8 #1632 09/03/1985 Big Daddy Dancing In The Dark EP 21 73-45-25-{21}-23-29-46-62->8 #1633 23/02/1985 Phyllis Nelson Move Closer 1 69-58-48-44-28-19-14-8-4-3-{1}-2-2-4-6-17-25-29-39-52-73->21 #1634 02/03/1985 Glenn Frey The Heat Is On 12 66-45-41-34-23-17-14-{12}-18-28-45-63->12 09/03/1985 Third World Now That We Found Love {1985} 22 64-46-37-25-{22}-31-35-55->8 #1635 23/03/1985 King Won't You Hold My Hand Now 24 38-26-{24}-24-25-33-47-66->8 #1636 23/03/1985 David Grant And Jaki Graham Could It Be I'm Falling In Love 5 39-24-12-10-7-{5}-10-15-30-45-62->11 #1637 23/03/1985 The Cool Notes Spend The Night 11 40-31-18-13-{11}-16-21-35-59->9 #1638 30/03/1985 Frankie Goes To Hollywood Welcome To The Pleasuredome 2 5-{2}-2-5-12-24-39-56-69-72-72->11 #1639 30/03/1985 Tears For Fears Everybody Wants To Rule The World 2 16-5-3-{2}-2-3-4-9-15-25-36-51-70-75-73R(34)->15

I see what you did there 😉 I think I’d have preferred all 3 judges voting in each category (to protect them from feeling too much responsibility as much as anything else) but it’s a fun twist anyway!

Starting to feel like I’m drowning in contests but will try and find something that fits the New Helvetian sound world.

#94

Currently: 9 Olivia Dean 5 Michael Jackson 4 Sombr 4 Alex Warren 4 Fleetwood Mac 3 Taylor Swift 3 Olivia Rodrigo Sienna Spiro will end up with 3 Michael could drop to 3

Week 41: 1 1 Michael Jackson The Essential 528,000 2,630,000 2 2 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 512,000 790,000 3 3 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 400,000 4 4 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 330,000 5 5 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 325,000 2,150,000 6 6 The Weeknd Highlights 282,000 1,870,000 7 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 257,000 770,000 8 8 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 233,000 9 9 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 224,000 530,000 10 10 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 224,000 2,630,000 11 11 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 212,000 520,000 12 12 Linkin Park Papercuts 210,000 600,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 197,000 920,000 14 15 Elton John Diamonds 190,000 2,120,000 15 14 ABBA Gold 190,000 6,330,000 16 18 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 183,000 5,800,000 17 17 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 182,000 3,740,000 18 16 Michael Jackson Thriller 182,000 4,930,000 19 20 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 181,000 820,000 20 19 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 178,000 1,070,000 21 21 Michael Jackson Bad 160,000 4,610,000 22 22 Drake Iceman 159,000 23 23 BTS Arirang 155,000 24 24 Arctic Monkeys AM 155,000 2,480,000 25 25 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 150,000 3,680,000 26 26 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 149,000 1,400,000 27 28 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 146,000 840,000 28 27 Tate McRae So Close To What 145,000 400,000 29 30 Pitbull Greatest Hits 144,000 770,000 30 29 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 143,000 31 32 Katy Perry The Ones That Got The Plays 139,000 32 31 Maroon 5 Singles 138,000 1,130,000 33 33 Sombr I Barely Know Her 136,000 230,000 34 34 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 135,000 900,000 35 35 Sienna Spiro Visitor 133,000 36 36 Calvin Harris 96 Months 126,000 360,000 37 37 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 124,000 2,160,000 38 38 Queen Greatest Hits 123,000 3,330,000 39 39 Oasis Definitely Maybe 123,000 3,140,000 40 40 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 122,000 2,430,000 44 45 Green Day Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band 110,000 850,000 69 70 The Cure Greatest Hits 92,000 1,310,000 77 81 Dua Lipa Live From Mexico 87,000 85 86 Ella Langley Dandelion 82,000 86 87 Sade The Best Of Sade 82,000 410,000 92 93 Linkin Park Meteora - 20th Anniversary Edition 80,000 320,000 99 - The Beatles 1962-1966 76,000 1,180,000 - 100 Nirvana Nirvana 76,000 1,630,000

Wondered if it was Princess Jasmine (=Jaz13Music)

I don’t think I knew this before. It’s lovely anyway.

We have 6 songs in the top 100 doing less than 5k per week. The first two will obviously be very safely in the final chart but will miss the top 40. The other 4 are likely to drop out entirely. Aperture Just The Way You Are I Run Soda Pop Think About Us (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me Also struggling in the lower regions and could miss, though still doing 6k per week or so: Dirty Diana Birds Of A Feather Human Nature The Days Go “Janice STFU” may not hold either.