Ghoulian

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.

I will do this if I get time!

Great to see a Helvetian filmed video! And a brilliant song. Glad it made it out of the pop semi.

Wow that was tense! Thanks Dobago for demoting me from public enemy no 1 to no 2 within 5 minutes! I thought “Wax & Wane” making it after 0/4 Q predictions was quite something but this one made it to 0/5! That plus being in a 2/4 situation with Aeroche and Hendinia and it’s hard to fancy your chances. I think we were definitely a beneficiary of the draw as I realise the track’s appeal won’t be all that broad. Thank you for the votes anyway! <3 We won’t expect much in the final but it’s great to be there again. And many commiserations Leww and Rob, and congratulations for how far you did take those streaks. As I said before I’m totally in awe - finding 4 good tracks in 4 months has been hard enough. As for our votes we lost 5 Dalisska 4 Trifoski 2 Lentyll With Jadakissnia just missing in 12th. A tough one!

This made our shortlist of 12 but we didn’t quite point it in the end. Sorry it missed by such a small margin!

Week 41: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,887,000 2,990,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 1,838,000 2,520,000 3 3 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,190,000 3,370,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 1,139,000 1,750,000 5 5 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 1,099,000 1,340,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 1,043,000 1,420,000 7 7 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 1,020,000 8 8 Zara Larsson Lush Life 976,000 4,020,000 9 9 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 976,000 2,310,000 10 10 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 953,000 1,700,000 11 11 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 845,000 1,620,000 12 12 PinkPantheress Stateside 841,000 970,000 13 13 Sombr Homewrecker 821,000 14 14 Djo End Of Beginning 808,000 1,990,000 15 15 Tame Impala Dracula 808,000 940,000 16 16 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 777,000 810,000 17 17 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 775,000 870,000 18 18 Sombr 12 To 12 769,000 1,300,000 19 19 Bruno Mars I Just Might 757,000 20 20 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 751,000 920,000 21 21 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 706,000 4,230,000 22 22 Alex Warren Fever Dream 704,000 23 23 The Killers Mr Brightside 700,000 7,500,000 24 24 Harry Styles American Girls 698,000 25 25 Dominic Fike Babydoll 638,000 1,380,000 26 26 Taylor Swift Opalite 628,000 1,040,000 27 27 Sombr Back To Friends 627,000 1,540,000 28 28 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 605,000 1,330,000 29 29 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 601,000 5,160,000 30 30 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 600,000 4,540,000 31 31 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 581,000 3,510,000 32 32 Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 581,000 33 33 Harry Styles Aperture 580,000 34 34 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 571,000 1,710,000 35 35 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 554,000 1,360,000 36 36 Milky Just The Way You Are 549,000 660,000 37 37 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 548,000 2,360,000 38 38 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 543,000 1,780,000 39 39 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 539,000 1,280,000 40 40 Dominic Fike White Keys 528,000 540,000 45 49 Olivia Rodrigo The Cure 490,000 52 53 Ariana Grande Hate That I Made You Love Me 470,000 55 57 Olivia Rodrigo Stupid Song 460,000 58 61 Malcolm Todd Earrings 448,000 480,000 59 65 Stella Lefty Boston 446,000 60 64 Shakira & Burna Boy Dai Dai 446,000 84 85 Taylor Swift I Knew It, I Knew You 387,000 88 90 Florence And The Machine Dog Days Are Over 378,000 3,740,000 90 96 Sienna Spiro Material Lover 376,000 100 - Drake Janice STFU 362,000 - 100 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 361,000 1,280,000

15/10: 1 1 Patient zero (1) 2 2 Rein me in (1) 3 3 Man I need (1) 4 5 Great expectation (3) 5 11 Babydoll (5) 6 16 Stop the wedding! (6) 7 4 Stupid song (2) 8 9 Choosin’ Texas (4) 9 12 Boston (6) 10 8 Movin’ to the sun (4) 11 14 The cure (3) 12 13 Ordinary (1) 13 15 Nicole Kidman (9) 14 17 Training season (5) 15 20 My body isn’t ready (15) 16 22 Die on this hill (12) 17 24 Ain’t in LA (17) 18 19 Mr Brightside (10) 19 25 Dai Dai (2) 20 21 Free your mind (8) 21 30 Raindance (2) 22 23 Hate that I made you love me (1) 23 27 Homewrecker (10) 24 28 Where is my husband! (3) 25 26 So easy (5) 26 31 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 27 29 Material lover (19) 28 32 Bloodstream (27) 29 33 Midnight sun (8) 30 - Draw you out (30) 31 34 Iris (3) 32 18 The fate of Ophelia (1) 33 41 Golden (1) 34 39 Dreams (22) 35 42 Nice to each other (1) 36 43 Earrings (26) 37 37 Drop dead (1) 38 40 Billie Jean (1) 39 44 12 to 12 (8) 40 47 Willing and able (40) 41 36 Loser (19) 42 50 Beautiful things (1) 43 - Solar eclipse (43) 44 38 Wonderwall (2) 45 - Talk to you (5) 46 48 Orbiter (40) 47 45 Lush life (3) 48 - Love me not (2) 49 - Fever dream (4) 50 - Dracula (4)

49 / 43

Sad about all 3 eliminations. It wasn’t the best song for any of them but even with that none of them were below half way in my rankings. Roosevelt is one of the more interesting artists that I didn’t really know at all before this. I really like his sound and just thought this track could have developed more.

1 Damien Rice - Cannonball: a little overexposed these days but it is a classic for a reason 2 Gary Numan - My Name is Ruin: this is a wonderfully bleak and powerful discovery 3 Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One: I do think this is well written and performed 4 Sam Fender - Get You Down: a good track with raw energy and decent storytelling 5 Roosevelt - Montreal: it’s a lovely sound world but I wanted more from this 6 Darin - Fantasi: this does have personality, but it’s veering towards cheesy 7 Calvin Harris & Sam Smith - Desire: this was never particularly good and the synthetic flute type noise really dares it 8 HRVY - hesitate: it manages to avoid the naff factor of some of his others but is unremarkable 9 Tom Grennan - Boys Don't Cry: seems like an inferior “Youngblood” by 5SOS

The Gamu round strategy will likely be use a huge, well known and well loved song or you’ll have no chance. And if you don’t have one or you’ve used it too bad. In last year‘s Paige round everyone who came anywhere near winning a return spot had only just been knocked out in the battles and hadn’t actually missed any rounds. It could be a very different prospect if you have artists who have missed as many as 6 rounds making the live shows, but we’ll see.

Gah getting behind. I think “Tsunami” is my favourite out so far: I agree Tinie doesn’t really help it but it’s still decent. “Bang Bang” is maybe the second best: a decently written pop song but has a bit of a look how many stars were throwing at this feel. Should it be “one less problem” or “one fewer”? That mental debate is all that happens in my head while that song plays. “Me And My Broken Heart” and “The Man” are both pretty bland, and I find the lyrical message of the latter a little trite. “I Will Never Let You Down” is better than the party and party and party one at least, but beyond the rather nice bassline I don’t particularly enjoy it. Hard to call which of Cheryl’s #1s this year is worse but I think “Crazy Stupid Love”, while naff, at least has something to it.

The lyrics: Look into the night sky Looking towards the big lights Looking out to be free Suddenly something passes by my window I feel it in the darkness I get to feel it sometimes Following the street lamps Wondering how were ever meant to hide Going to take a spaceship Fly back to the stars Alien observer in a world that isnt mine It was the title and opening track of her 7th album, written after a break up and leaving her job. I’ve listened to the whole album and some of the tracks are longer and explore the sound world a bit more. However we have stuck to the title track as we love the lyrical theme and the simple but beautiful presentation.

I love the madness of this too!

No doubt about the top pick here: what an iconic track. The runner up I wasn’t that familiar with though: a wonderful collaboration. 9 The Smiths How Soon Is Now? The shimmering, swampy instrumental on this is what really makes the fabulous, but the lyrics are also very poetic 9 David Bowie And The Pat Metheny Group This Is Not America Only hit for this jazz fusion band in collaboration with Bowie: it's a beautiful track with exquisite production 8 Don Henley The Boys Of Summer This will be unlucky to reach #12 twice and it's the Eagles member's only solo Top 40: a beautifully written song 8 Dead Or Alive You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) 546th #1: quite the bubbling under early run for this and the first SAW #1: it's an excellent camp disco track 7 Prince And The Revolution Let's Go Crazy/Take Me With U Another double A and the 1st track is a highly energetic gig opener and a US #1, but both are very strong songs 7 Sharpe And Numan Change Your Mind The keyboard player from Shakatak here teaming up with Gary Numan: this works a treat with Gary's sultry voice 6 Killing Joke Love Like Blood 1st Top 40 for this UK band who had 7 prior Top 75 misses: it's quite a powerful track with a slightly Gothic feel 6 Mick Jagger Just Another Night From his 1st solo album proper and he'll have a much bigger hit, but this has an interesting energy and a good flow 5 Howard Jones Things Can Only Get Better The lead from his 2nd album and another big hit for him: it's nice but feels rather similar to "What Is Love" to me 4 Kool And The Gang Misled This was bigger in the US where it was the lead before "Fresh": their usual style and nothing new but nice enough 3 Chicago You're The Inspiration Last of their 6 Top 40s in their usual big emotive style: it's not an unpleasant but a rather sickly sweet song 3 Eddy And The Soul Band Theme From 'Shaft' Only hit for this Dutch group with a cover of the film theme from 1971: it's competently done but very similar 2 Eugene Wilde/Simplicious Personality/Let Her Feel It His 2nd and last hit: he had released the second side before with his group, but I find both tracks interminably dull 1985 Group 4: #1610 02/03/1985 Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy Kiss Me 4 22-{4}-4-5-9-10-15-27-40-41-68->11 #1611 02/03/1985 Madonna Material Girl 3 24-5-{3}-3-7-11-16-31-44-66->10 #1612 23/02/1985 ZZ Top Legs 16 42-26-{16}-18-29-42-63->7 #1613 02/03/1985 Shakin' Stevens Breaking Up My Heart 14 30-15-{14}-22-35-50-69->7 #1614 09/02/1985 Daryl Hall And John Oates Method Of Modern Love 21 66-54-41-33-25-{21}-26-47->8 #1615 23/02/1985 David Cassidy The Last Kiss 6 67-34-11-{6}-8-11-19-33-49->9 #1616 02/02/1985 Little Benny And The Masters Who Comes To Boogie 33 62-55-48-43-36-{33}-48->7 #1617 16/02/1985 Jermaine Jackson Do What You Do 6 64-44-39-18-7-7-{6}-8-12-21-38-46-73->13 #1618 09/03/1985 Philip Bailey And Phil Collins Easy Lover 1 20-2-{1}-1-1-1-3-13-19-34-46-60->12 #1619 09/03/1985 Paul Young Every Time You Go Away 4 26-9-{4}-4-7-9-13-25-36-57-72->11 #1620 23/02/1985 Go West We Close Our Eyes 5 68-44-31-16-9-8-6-{5}-6-9-18-27-43-70->14 #1621 23/02/1985 Loose Ends Hangin' On A String (Contemplating) 13 46-42-37-22-20-{13}-13-17-29-32-44-67-74->13 #1622 23/02/1985 David Essex Falling Angels Riding 29 51-46-38-{29}-31-54-73->7 #1623 23/02/1985 Sheila E The Belle Of St Mark 18 75-56-39-24-{18}-22-31-46-59->9 #1624 23/02/1985 New Edition Mr Telephone Man 19 70-47-40-26-{19}-20-32-43-73->9

I’ll see if I can dig it out!