Ghoulian

1983 has been comfortably the strongest year covered in any of my threads so far. I can’t imagine its average of 5.77 will be beaten by any of the 1970s years I still need to cover, or by anything from this century. The question is whether my birth year coming up here can beat it. I only gave 3 1s in the whole year and my worst hit of the year is Kenny Everett - Snot Rap. There were 3 10s and a whopping 33 9s given, leaving room for only 4 8s in my Top 40 of the year. 1 New Order - Blue Monday 2 The Smiths - This Charming Man 3 Michael Jackson - Billie Jean 4 The Police - Every Breath You Take 5 Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart 6 Blancmange - Waves 7 The Cure - The Love Cats 8 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) 9 Ultravox - Visions In Blue 10 Kissing The Pink - Last Film 11 Echo And The Bunnymen - The Cutter 12 The Pretenders - 2000 Miles 13 Elton John - I’m Still Standing 14 Heaven 17 - Temptation 15 Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart 16 Men At Work - Down Under 17 Michael Jackson - Beat It 18 Depeche Mode - Everything Counts 19 The Lotus Eaters - The First Picture Of You 20 The Moody Blues - Blue World 21 Kraftwerk - Tour De France 22 Irene Cara - Flashdance… What A Feeling 23 Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance 24 Genesis - Mama 25 Spandau Ballet - Gold 26 U2 - New Year’s Day 27 Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow 28 The Alarm - 68 Guns 29 Flash And The Pan - Waiting For A Train 30 Eurythmics - Who’s That Girl? 31 Tears For Fears - Change 32 Herbie Hancock - Rockit 33 Culture Club - Victims 34 Michael Jackson - Thriller 35 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Genetic Engineering 36 Imposter - Pills And Soap 37 Toto - Africa 38 Paul Young - Come Back And Stay 39 Carmel - Bad Day 40 The Assembly - Never Never

10 Ansel and Arash - Always (2009, 3rd) I really like the Asian instrumentation and this certainly set a template and brought a well earned 3rd place, but most of the song I find quite pedestrian 9 Farid Mammadov - Hold Me (2013, 2nd) Despite the dubious circumstances surrounding this coming 2nd I do think it’s quite a nice and well performed song, though certainly not remarkable 8 Safura - Drip Drop (2010, 5th) A strong performance and the song has a really nice flow which creates the sense of endless dripping, but it’s still quite standard pop 7 Dihaj - Skeletons (2017, 14th) I think this could be excellent if it had a stronger chorus - it does have really good atmosphere and artistry 6 Nadir Rustamli - Fade To Black (2022, 16th) This has a really intense build and I like the dark and hopeless feel to it

“Party Rock Anthem” is fun trash - I prefer “Sexy And I Know It” actually though. “Swagger Jagger” is terrible and I can’t even say I ironically enjoy it. Think that would be my 3rd bottom ahead of The Finalists and Jason. Pixie in general is one of the more irritating pop stars of the time and this one was average. “Stay Awake” is a bit of a tune actually though does sound dated now. My preferred of his two. “What Makes You Beautiful” is quite basic really but has a sincerity about it and did the job for them as a statement of intent.

Oops I’m waay behind. “Loca People” is rather a one off #1 - would have been a bit higher in mine. “Changed The Way You Kiss Me” isn’t bad but less interesting than some of his earlier singles. I also prefer the follow up. “The Lazy Song” is fairly dull and not really up to Bruno’s usual standard. “Wherever You Are” was written by classical composer Paul Mealor who also did a piece for William and Kate’s wedding. I do rather like it too actually - think your placing for it is pretty fair.

9 Girls Aloud - Biology 4 Sugababes - Red Dress 9 Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For? 7 The Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha (feat. Busta Rhymes) 5 Charlotte Church - Crazy Chick 11 Britney Spears - Toxic 4 Ashlee Simpson - Boyfriend 6 P!nk - Trouble 8 t.A.T.u. - All About Us 6 Rachel Stevens - Some Girls 2 Atomic Kitten - The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling) 2 Louise - Pandora's Kiss 3 Dannii Minogue & The Soul Seekerz - Perfection 3 Mis-teeq - Can't Get It Back 1 Lindsay Lohan - Over 8 Nelly Furtado - Turn Off the Light 5 Ciara - Goodies (feat. Petey Pablo) 10 Amerie - 1 Thing 7 Rihanna - Pon De Replay

My notes: Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points Notes 2008 Elnur and Samir "Day After Day" English 8 132 6 96 An interesting debut with operatic vocals in a rock track, but I don't especially enjoy it 2009 Aysel and Arash "Always" English 3 207 2 180 Top 10 2010 Safura "Drip Drop" English 5 145 2 113 Top 10 2011 Ell and Nikki "Running Scared" English 1 221 2 122 One of the weakest winners of recent times: a rather insipid ballad not inspiringly performed 2012 Sabina Babayeva "When the Music Dies" English 4 150 Host country Top 10 2013 Farid Mammadov "Hold Me" English 2 234 1 139 Top 10 2014 Dilara Kazimova "Start a Fire" English 22 33 9 57 Only qualified thanks to jury votes and it isn't a very exciting track 2015 Elnur "Hour of the Wolf" English 12 49 10 53 A strong performance but the song doesn't quite go beyond ordinary for me 2016 Samra "Miracle" English 17 117 6 185 This is catchy but quite standard, with dubious vocals 2017 Dihaj "Skeletons" English 14 120 8 150 Top 10 2018 Aisel "X My Heart" English Failed to qualify 11 94 Their 1st DNQ with one of those dance pop songs with uplifting lyrics that I don't especially enjoy 2019 Chingiz "Truth" English 8 302 5 224 Top 10 2020 Efendi "Cleopatra" English Contest cancelled Top 10 2021 Efendi "Mata Hari" English 20 65 8 138 Top 10 2022 Nadir Rustamli "Fade to Black" English 16 106 10 96 Top 10 2023 TuralTuranX "Tell Me More" English Failed to qualify 14 4 The twins are sweet but the song is far too safe and lacking oomph 2024 Fahree feat.Ilkin Dovlatov "Özünlə apar" English, Azerbaijani 14 11 Top 10 2025 Mamagama "Run with U" English 15 7 Quite a classic soul style song but I think the performance sank it 2026 Jiva "Just Go" English, Azerbaijani 15 2 I don't think this deserved to do quite so badly, but it doesn't quite manage to be memorable

When are the business class tickets being released? We Helvetians have long legs.

Silly season has surpassed itself in silliness this year, but despite that there is one genuinely wonderful Christmas hit. I also love the rather understated “Victims” much more than the best known Culture Club songs. 9 The Pretenders 2000 Miles A beautiful wintry song with a lilting 12/8 time signature and a criminally low peak, that still sounds just as fresh 9 Culture Club Victims My favourite song of theirs: it isn't instant but a grower that develops incredibly well over the course of 5 minutes 8 Blancmange That's Love, That It Is A small hit but another effortlessly great song of theirs with punchy, pleading vocals over a jangly synth production 7 Tears For Fears The Way You Are A much smaller hit after 3 Top 5s and it doesn't quite grab attention like its predecessors but is still very enjoyable 6 Status Quo Marguerita Time One of their better and more distinctive sounding songs as well as one of their biggest hits: it has a nice flow to it 6 Elvis Presley I Can Help A Billy Swan 1974 song, and this cover was recorded the following year: it's a very good song that suits Elvis well 5 Paul McCartney Pipes Of Peace 530th #1: this is sweet and certainly far better than "Ebony And Ivory", but doesn't really get beyond 2nd gear 5 Elton John Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year) Unlike his Christmas song from 10 years before this understandably hasn't become a classic, though it is nice 5 Billy Joel Tell Her About It A US #1 that's well written as his stuff is generally and has a Motown feel, but isn't one of his more exciting songs 4 Frank Kelly Christmas Countdown A good sketch that I've heard done as a Christmas reading sometimes: preferable to the other novelty stuff here 4 Kool And The Gang Straight Ahead One that I'll struggle to remember: it's fine but a slightly different version of what we've heard many times before 3 Barry Manilow Read 'Em And Weep A Meat Loaf cover: it's a more exciting song than much of Barry's material but he still takes the spice out of it 3 UB40 Many Rivers To Cross A 1969 Jimmy Cliff song: unlike with "Red Red Wine" I don't find they bring much to this and the result is boring 2 Rod Stewart Sweet Surrender This one from Rod doesn't really do anything for me at all: I find it very flaccid and lacking any drama or intensity 2 Jingle Belles Christmas Spectre At least the original tracks in this mash up of Phil Spector tunes are good, but this single serves no real purpose 1 Dennis Waterman And George Cole What Are We Gonna Get 'Er Indoors The Christmas single from the "Minder" comedy duo: I can't say I find it very listenable but it's a time capsule 1 Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees Singalong-A-Santa Again A follow up to last year's medley with a terribly tedious six minute karaoke style mash up of Christmas songs

I have 1.01 million estiamated before this week, so should definitely have!

It’s very probable that “Man I Need” will be the year end #1.

We observe that once again the contest is terribly far from the continent of Novatera.

Country 6: Azerbaijan Azerbaijan have participated in the contest every year since 2008. They had an incredibly good early run, opening with 10 straight qualifications. From 2009 to 2013 they neatly and impressively finished in each position from 1st to 5 once. However recently their fortunes have totally reversed, and they are now on a 4 year DNQ run. Generally I’m not a huge fan of their stuff - they seem to pursue the commercial lane with flashy visuals rather than the culturally strong line. However there is enough strong material to create a very decent top 10.

Thanks Dan for the hosting and the exciting reveal! I really enjoyed this - the fact that the theme guaranteed a variety of world music made it really up my street, and there were loads of great songs here. Although it was a long list of songs I also found the division into groups really helped psychologically.

I was knocked out by my 18 (Brazil) which is a good way to go. Looks like I’m around 6th which is a lovely debut. Thanks for all the points for Emel!

Micky Modelle - just quite run of the mill

Love Inc. now for me - “Broken Bones” was their great record.

2 Teya & Selena - Who The Hell Is Edgar? (2023, 15th) Incredible songwriting here, about an incredibly fun and random subject matter. Of course it deserved much better in the competition. I could tell it was going to be lost a little from 1st in the final running order but its televote result was shocking - I suppose the sheer wit and cleverness of it didn’t quite translate on stage. I think it’s still a big fan favourite at least. 1 George Nussbaumer - Weil’s Da Guat Got (1996, 10th) I think I did watch the show in 1996 but I don’t remember this at all, so I’m classing it as my favourite discovery of the whole project so far. This is exactly what Eurovision is all about - a blind singer and jazz pianist performing his heart out with a gospel choir just because. And then there’s a brilliant switch up in the last minute. It’s joyous and a complete one off.

I have saved my 3rd 10 until late this year and so can give it to this magnificent classic. Funnily both “This Charming Man” and “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” had shockingly low peaks. However both will be Top 10 eventually, the first as a direct 1990s re-release and the second as a 2000s remix. 10 The Smiths This Charming Man 1st hit for this UK band to peak higher on re-release: a wonderful track with a jangly riff and melancholy lyrics 9 Yes Owner Of A Lonely Heart Their last Top 40 but a US #1, and a marvelllous Horn produced track with some experimental electronic parts 8 Thompson Twins Hold Me Now Their 1st Top 5 with higher peaks to come, and a gorgeous and tender track with interesting instrumentation 8 Howard Jones What Is Love? His highest peaking hit eclipsing "New Song": a great track and I really like the philosophical nature of the lyrics 8 Genesis That's All A very different track from "Mama" with a more straightforwardly infectious tune, but it's also very compelling 7 Ozzy Osbourne Bark At The Moon His 1st solo Top 40, and a very rousing rock number infused with some synth elements: it's a very strong song 7 Tom Robinson Listen To The Radio - Atmospherics His last Top 40, co-written by Peter Gabriel, and a lovely moody song that will be covered by the Pukka Orchestra 7 Simple Minds Waterfront The chugging one note basslline gives this an urgent energy: otherwise it's a very warm and atmospheric track 6 The Flying Pickets Only You 529th #1: the vocals aren't the finest, but the reimaginiation of this as an a capella group number works very well 6 Abba Thank You For The Music Their last new hit for 38 years, that isn't a highllight but has become something of a classic showtune style song 6 Tina Turner Let's Stay Together There is some very good '80s production on this Al Green cover, but the smooth soulful original is still preferable 5 Slade My Oh My Their 13th Top 5 hit coming a long time after the others: it's good with an anthemic quality, but a little repetitive 5 Kenny Rogers And Dolly Parton Islands In The Stream I have to give this some credit for the huge classic it is and it is a rousing number, albeit a little basic and cloying 4 Tracey Ullman Move Over Darling Her 3rd Top 10 of the year, again with a '60s cover: there's some nice production but I can take or leave this one 3 Wham! Club Fantastic Megamix Their last single before leaving the label and they didn't like it: no new material but the track blend sounds OK 2 Cliff Richard Please Don't Fall In Love Written by Mike Batt who also wrote the excellent "A Winter's Tale", but this one is rather soppy and plodding 2 Roland Rat Superstar! Rat Rapping (Brilliant Isn't It) Not even a 1 hit wonder: the spoken parts are quite grating, but the track itself isn't so bad which saves it from a 1 1983 Group 21: #1251 26/11/1983 Blancmange That's Love, That It Is 33 43-38-{33}-40-52-52-58-72->8 #1252 03/12/1983 Tears For Fears The Way You Are 24 40-31-29-29-29-28-{24}-42->8 #1253 10/12/1983 Culture Club Victims 3 11-4-{3}-3-4-7-22-38-61-75->10 #1254 10/12/1983 Billy Joel Tell Her About It 4 22-8-7-7-6-{4}-8-18-34-49->10 #1255 26/11/1983 The Pretenders 2000 Miles 15 53-44-35-23-{15}-15-16-25-56->9 #1256 10/12/1983 Status Quo Marguerita Time 3 36-25-5-5-5-{3}-7-15-28-45-61->11 #1257 10/12/1983 UB40 Many Rivers To Cross 16 38-24-{16}-16-17-20-32-52->8 #1258 10/12/1983 Barry Manilow Read 'Em And Weep 17 40-20-{17}-17-23-34-58->7 #1259 10/12/1983 Kool And The Gang Straight Ahead 15 49-30-19-19-19-{15}-19-23-36-63->10 #1260 10/12/1983 Elton John Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year) 33 58-37-{33}-33-41-63->6 #1261 17/12/1983 Paul McCartney Pipes Of Peace 1 54-22-22-9-{1}-1-2-7-18-42-51-69->12 #1262 17/12/1983 Dennis Waterman And George Cole What Are We Gonna Get 'Er Indoors 21 52-26-26-{21}-44->5 #1263 10/12/1983 Rod Stewart Sweet Surrender 23 70-46-32-32-32-{23}-26-44-74->9 #1264 24/12/1983 Frank Kelly Christmas Countdown 26 34-34-{26}-51-54R(50)->5 #1265 03/12/1983 Elvis Presley I Can Help 30 72-48-42-36-36-33-{30}-38-58->9 #1266 17/12/1983 Jingle Belles Christmas Spectre 37 48-{37}-37-38->4 #1267 10/12/1983 Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees Singalong-A-Santa Again 39 63-43-{39}-39-47->5

“We’re On The Ball” wasn’t too bad. “Wavin’ Flag” is the best football song of the century but not England related.

5 Conchita Wurst - Rise Like A Phoenix (2014, 1st) This feels like a huge winner when it comes to cultural significance. It’s a fantastic performance of an excellently written Bond style song. I don’t absolutely love the song - even as a Bond theme it wouldn’t be one of my favourites, but it certainly has all the drama and passion that a great winner should have. 4 Zoë - Loin D’Ici (2016, 13th) Every bit of this is lovely to listen to, and it has a fresh and timeless quality to it. This didn’t really pop on the stage but I think it has deservedly become something of a classic of the contest, and I’ve heard it in the wild quite a bit more recently. 3 Udo Jürgens - Merci, Chérie (1966, 1st) After a 6th place and a 4th place he gave Austria their 1st winner with this. His other entries are good too but a bit too similar to this so I left them out of the ranking. I love the rawness of this, as he sits at the piano almost in tears and gives such a sincere and straightforward performance, while the beautiful orchestration does its thing.

Week 25: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,294,000 2,390,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 1,181,000 1,870,000 3 3 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 843,000 1,080,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 842,000 1,450,000 5 5 Alex Warren Ordinary 812,000 2,990,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 759,000 1,130,000 7 7 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 739,000 8 8 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 715,000 2,050,000 9 9 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 707,000 1,450,000 10 10 Zara Larsson Lush Life 695,000 3,730,000 11 12 PinkPantheress Stateside 641,000 770,000 12 11 Djo End Of Beginning 641,000 1,820,000 13 13 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 598,000 1,370,000 14 14 Bruno Mars I Just Might 561,000 15 16 Tame Impala Dracula 554,000 690,000 16 15 Sombr 12 To 12 546,000 1,070,000 17 17 Sombr Homewrecker 523,000 18 18 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 510,000 680,000 19 19 Taylor Swift Opalite 477,000 890,000 20 22 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 465,000 560,000 21 21 Alex Warren Fever Dream 463,000 22 20 Harry Styles Aperture 463,000 23 25 Dominic Fike Babydoll 446,000 1,190,000 24 23 Sombr Back To Friends 445,000 1,360,000 25 24 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 445,000 1,170,000 26 26 Harry Styles American Girls 435,000 27 27 Milky Just The Way You Are 417,000 530,000 28 28 The Killers Mr Brightside 413,000 7,210,000 29 31 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 396,000 3,920,000 30 29 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 396,000 1,200,000 31 30 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 382,000 1,520,000 32 32 Dominic Fike White Keys 377,000 390,000 33 34 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 376,000 4,940,000 34 35 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 375,000 4,310,000 35 33 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 375,000 1,090,000 36 38 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 371,000 410,000 37 36 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 370,000 2,180,000 38 37 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 367,000 3,300,000 39 41 Justin Bieber Daisies 354,000 860,000 40 40 Olivia Dean A Couple Minutes 353,000 530,000 49 60 Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 304,000 55 63 Michael Jackson Beat It 288,000 2,530,000 64 68 Vance Joy Riptide 269,000 5,010,000 78 82 Michael Jackson Dirty Diana 245,000 1,380,000 82 88 Michael Jackson Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough 237,000 1,940,000 88 92 Harry Styles Sign Of The Times 229,000 2,420,000 94 96 Stereophonics Dakota 223,000 2,980,000 95 97 Hozier Too Sweet 222,000 2,410,000 100 - Tate McRae Just Keep Watching 217,000 680,000 - 100 Gunna & Burna Boy WGFT 216,000 430,000

Week 25: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 375,000 650,000 2 2 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 324,000 3 3 Michael Jackson The Essential 314,000 2,410,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 209,000 2,040,000 5 5 The Weeknd Highlights 172,000 1,760,000 6 6 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 164,000 680,000 7 7 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 155,000 460,000 8 8 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 154,000 460,000 9 12 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 130,000 10 9 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 130,000 2,540,000 11 13 Linkin Park Papercuts 128,000 520,000 12 10 Noah Kahan Stick Season 128,000 850,000 13 11 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 128,000 1,020,000 14 14 ABBA Gold 120,000 6,260,000 15 15 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 118,000 3,670,000 16 18 Elton John Diamonds 116,000 2,040,000 17 16 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 115,000 18 17 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 114,000 750,000 19 19 BTS Arirang 113,000 20 20 Tate McRae So Close To What 106,000 370,000 21 21 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 106,000 5,720,000 22 22 Michael Jackson Thriller 106,000 4,850,000 23 - Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 103,000 24 23 Arctic Monkeys AM 100,000 2,430,000 25 24 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 97,000 3,630,000 26 29 Drake Iceman 95,000 27 28 Michael Jackson Bad 95,000 4,550,000 28 25 Sombr I Barely Know Her 94,000 190,000 29 26 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 94,000 1,340,000 30 27 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 92,000 790,000 31 30 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 87,000 850,000 32 31 Pitbull Greatest Hits 86,000 710,000 33 32 Maroon 5 Singles 84,000 1,070,000 34 33 Queen Greatest Hits 80,000 3,290,000 35 34 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 77,000 670,000 36 36 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 76,000 2,390,000 37 37 Calvin Harris 96 Months 76,000 310,000 38 38 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 75,000 2,110,000 39 35 EsDeeKid Rebel 75,000 150,000 40 39 Oasis Definitely Maybe 73,000 3,090,000 62 63 Avicii Avicii Forever 61,000 130,000 - 100 Hozier Hozier 47,000 1,070,000

25/6: 1 1 I knew it, I knew you (1) 2 - Stupid song (2) 3 5 The cure (3) 4 2 Rein me in (1) 5 3 Man I need (1) 6 17 Drop dead (1) 7 4 Hate that I made you love me (1) 8 6 Billie Jean (1) 9 - Honeybee (9) 10 - My way (10) 11 - Maggots for brains (11) 12 - What’s wrong with me (12) 13 - U + me = heart (13) 14 - Expectations (14) 15 - Begged (15) 16 8 IloveitIloveitIloveit (2) 17 10 Ordinary (1) 18 11 Beat it (3) 19 9 Dracula (4) 20 - Less (20) 21 12 Midnight sun (10) 22 7 Janice STFU (3) 23 25 American girls (1) 24 15 Where is my husband! (3) 25 13 Go (5) 26 16 Choosin’ Texas (16) 27 18 So easy (5) 28 - Purple (28) 29 19 Fever dream (4) 30 14 Lush life (3) 31 20 Homewrecker (10) 32 21 Human nature (9) 33 22 Raindance (2) 34 23 Free your mind (23) 35 26 Golden (1) 36 - Cigarette smoke (36) 37 26 Earrings (26) 38 29 Don’t stop ‘til you get enough (3) 39 31 Nice to each other (5) 40 28 Stateside (5) 41 27 The fate of Ophelia (1) 42 35 Material lover (35) 43 30 Beauty and a beat (5) 44 33 Mr Brightside (10) 45 32 Just the way you are (8) 46 34 Babydoll (12) 47 37 Dirty Diana (4) 48 - Iconic By Mistake (48) 49 38 12 to 12 (8) 50 43 Talk to you (38)

Oh nice! Well done Jim.

10 Simone - Keine Mauern Mehr (1990, 10th) There’s a very warm sound to this, especially from the harmonies in the chorus. It’s a joyous and memorable pop rock number that really stands out among some of the stern ballads they sent in surrounding years. 9 The Milestones - Falter Im Wind (1972, 5th) An absolutely gorgeous folky number here with flutes and guitars and lovely, earnest and passionate singing. It reminds me of “Rainbow” by Marmalade which is one of my favourite early ‘70s songs. 8 Trackshittaz - Woki Mit Deim Popo (2012, DNQ) Apparently this was written to keep people’s spirits up during the European debt crisis. And a huge pleasure it is too that I keep guiltily coming back to - how can it not get into your head. A hugely undeserved semifinal last place to add to there (mostly more deserved) 7 final last places. 7 JJ - Wasted Love (2025, 1st) Their 3rd victory which won the jury vote and came 4th in the televote. The concept of the operatic twist wasn’t novel by this point, but I do think it’s a very well written song with the way it switches up, and a brilliant vocal performance. 6 Cesár Sampson - Nobody But You (2018, 3rd) It was the jury winner but only 13th in the televote, finishing 3rd overall. It’s a very classy and well delivered self written soul ballad. The genre can be hard to make engaging, but this has a memorable chorus that helps it to deliver a punch.