Ghoulian

Next we’re going back to the beginning with our first few voters. After that there’ll be a switch around. 😮 2/37: @lewistgreen Freestylers featuring Pendulum - Painkiller 18 points: Yelle - Je veux te voir 15 points: The Knife - Silent Shout 13 points: Oxia - Domino 12 points: Basement Jaxx - Take Me Back To Your House 11 points: Sneaky Sound System - Pictures 10 points: Deichkind - Remmidemmi 9 points: Infernal - Ten Miles 8 points: Nelly Furtado - Do It 7 points: Regina Spektor - On The Radio 6 points: Cassius - Toop Toop 5 points: Dannii Minogue - Love Fight 4 points: Saosin - You're Not Alone 3 points: Soul Avengers feat. Javine - Don’t Let The Morning Come 2 points: Islands - Rough Gem 1 point: Evanescence - Sweet Sacrifice

1/37 Last in first out then - here’s our guest vote from @Juranamo Hey, guest vote from me! Shame I didn't think I could enter, though my top song I apparently gave a top score in BJSC YEAAAAAAARS ago, so that's a great rediscovery! +18 | Sneaky Sound System - Pictures +15 | Snow Patrol - Hands Open +13 | Infernal - Ten Miles +12 | Moony - For Your Love +11 | Delta Goodrem - Flawed +10 | The Pipettes - Because It's Not Love (But It's Still a Feeling) +09 | Freestylers feat. Pendulum & SirReal - Painkiller +08 | Regina Spektor - On the Radio +07 | Saosin - You're Not Alone +06 | Nelly Furtado - Do It +05 | Cassius - Toop Toop +04 | Soul Avengerz feat. Javine - Don't Let the Morning Come +03 | Evanescence - Sweet Sacrifice +02 | Dannii Minogue - Love Fight +01 | Basement Jaxx - Take Me Back to Your House

I think Wardy’s just saying some people will be better/worse off with/without any extra person voting. 😆

Welcome to the results thread. Thanks all for a wonderful competition. I’m thinking to do at least some of these this evening now! I’m afraid I haven’t had time to write commentaries. For now feel free to speculate, both about what will do well and who has sent what!

OK you’re in!

I’ve decided to close the vote now all partficipant votes are in. Apologies to anyone who wanted to guest vote.

Country 2: Andorra Poor Andorra - the only country never to appear in a final. They participated from 2004 to 2009, and gave up after 6 straight DNQs. I can’t help feeling that they joined and left at just the wrong time, starting just as the semis came in and then leaving shortly after the chances of qualifying became much better. I only became a big Eurovision geek in 2011 so these songs were all new to me. Overall I don’t think we missed out a great deal by not having Andorra in the finals sadly, although I do think one of their entries comfortably outclasses the others. I also appreciate the number of times they performed in Catalan. Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points 2004 Marta Roure "Jugarem a estimar-nos" Catalan Failed to qualify 18 12 2005 Marian van de Wal "La mirada interior" Catalan Failed to qualify 23 27 2006 Jenny "Sense tu" Catalan Failed to qualify 23 8 2007 Anonymous "Salvem el món" Catalan, English Failed to qualify 12 80 2008 Gisela "Casanova" English Failed to qualify 16 22 2009 Susanne Georgi "La teva decisió (Get a Life)" Catalan, English Failed to qualify 15 8

They would be welcome to of course!

I’m aiming to do as much results prep as I can today, and I’ll give @awardinary and @Doug until the end of the day to either vote or throw away whatever good positions they may be in. 😊

Inaya Day now

For a change my top pick isn’t the obvious one this time. I am generally a Moody Blues fan - I chose “Nights In White Satin” as my favourite hit of the ‘60s, and I hadn’t known this one before but it’s really crept up on me. “Mama” is a very exciting Genesis highlight and I’m a fan of “Come Back And Stay” as well. 9 The Moody Blues Blue World Their only new Top 40 hit after 1972 and a beautifully sultry song with hypnotic flute trills: I absolutely love it 9 Genesis Mama Their highest peaker surprisingly and a fabulously epic and stark track with drum machine and synth effects 8 Paul Young Come Back And Stay Backed by a female duo called The Fabulous Wealthy Tarts, this is a beautiful follow up to his chart topper 8 Heaven 17 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry Their 3rd Top 20 in short order and a great song about the daily grind: the production line feel is really clever 7 New Order Confusion A different but strong follow up to "Blue Monday": the shouted backing vocals do create a sense of confusion 7 H2O Just Outside Of Heaven Their 2nd and last Top 40, reaching #38, and like the 1st it's a lovely track with quite a special lead vocal tone 7 Big Country Chance Their 3rd hit actually out peaking the 1st two: this is slower paced but has a lovely introspective feel to it 6 Ryan Paris Dolce Vita Only hit for this Italian singer who was an international one hit wonder: it's a rather nice electro disco track 6 Gary Numan Warriors The lead from the album of the same name: not one of his best tracks but with his usual quirky stark delivery 5 Cliff Richard Never Say Die (Give A Little Bit More) The lead from his 25th anniversary album: I like the rhythm and it's quite a nice though fairly standard track 5 Truth A Step In The Right Direction Their 2nd and last Top 40: like the other one it's a nice and well produced song but nothing very memorable 4 JoBoxers Johnny Friendly A homage to the crime drama "On The Waterfront" and their last Top 40, it's a slightly jazzy track and not bad 4 Annabel Lamb Riders On The Storm Only Top 40 for this UK singer: a competent cover but the Doors original is too fabulous for this to be needed 3 Status Quo Ol' Rag Blues This has slightly more individual character to it than some of their releases, but it's still fairly unremarkable 2 Stray Cats (She's) Sexy + 17 Their last Top 40: lyrics about admiring a young girl aside it's a fairly uninteresting rockabilly revival style track 2 Peabo Bryson And Roberta Flack Tonight, I Celebrate My Love Peabo's 1st Top 40 and Roberta's last and the highest peaking hit for both: it's a very drippy and slushy ballad 1983 Group 16: #1171 17/09/1983 Culture Club Karma Chameleon 1 3-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-4-8-9-18-29-28-32-35-35-30-35-54-74->20 #1172 10/09/1983 Monyaka Go Deh Yaka (Go To The Top) 14 53-30-16-{14}-18-23-31-45->8 #1173 17/09/1983 Kajagoogoo Big Apple 8 33-12-{8}-12-18-27-44-70->8 #1174 27/08/1983 David Essex Tahiti 8 71-61-41-34-19-13-{8}-10-19-29-52->11 #1175 10/09/1983 Kid Creole And The Coconuts There's Something Wrong In Paradise 35 66-{35}-36-37-47->5 #1176 10/09/1983 Hot Streak Body Work 19 62-38-26-{19}-21-27-38-57->8 #1177 10/09/1983 Men At Work Dr Heckyll And Mr Jive 31 52-39-{31}-33-43-63->6 #1178 10/09/1983 Unique What I Got Is What You Need 27 59-40-30-{27}-27-32-49->7 #1179 24/09/1983 David Bowie Modern Love 2 8-3-{2}-4-8-16-28-43->8 #1180 24/09/1983 Soft Cell Soul Inside 16 21-{16}-25-39-75->5 #1181 24/09/1983 Toyah Rebel Run 24 29-{24}-32-46-74->5 #1182 17/09/1983 Public Image Ltd This Is Not A Love Song 5 47-39-15-{5}-6-11-18-30-37-54->10 #1183 01/10/1983 Siouxsie And The Banshees Dear Prudence 3 17-4-{3}-5-11-15-34-53->8 #1184 17/09/1983 Howard Jones New Song 3 51-44-22-13-5-{3}-5-7-14-26-38-65-60R(6)-65-68->15 #1185 24/09/1983 The Alarm 68 Guns 17 50-23-19-{17}-20-33-48->7 #1186 24/09/1983 Nick Heyward Blue Hat For A Blue Day 14 45-28-24-15-{14}-19-27-51->8

I don’t think it does exist, but I agree it’s a good idea.

Just popping in to say that I had “To France” lined up for a retro contest gah!

2 Shkodra Electronique - Zjerm (2025, 8th) It’s really a wrench to not give this first place and I’m sure I’ll prefer it to many of my country winners to come. Everything that’s great about Albania at Eurovision came together on this truly electrifying song, right from the distinctively Balkan opening riff. I love the melody, the vocals, the beat and the darker spoken section. It achieved a good overall result of 8th though was dragged down from 5th in the televote by the juries ranking it 16th. Just what objective criteria were they marking it down on, as it’s flawless to me? 1 Rona Nishliu - Suus (2012, 5th Rona wrote this herself based on an Albanian folk ballad. It’s an unusually structured song with a bridge of taking the place of a second verse. Most pop vocal parts sit relatively low in the female voice, but here the chorus is very high and the bridge even higher. Rona belts out this chorus with every fibre of her body and you can hear the crowd almost gasping as she reaches the climax. And who needs frivolous things like staging when your performance is this arresting, her unusual outfit and hairstyle being the main visual elements. It’s still Albania’s best result, though even the 5th place didn’t do this masterpiece justice, and I doubt we’ll ever see anything quite like it on the Eurovision stage again.

OK - I probably will take them as I likely won’t do the results for a few days. Looks like it’s just you and @awardinary to come! Thanks everyone else.

Although I’m not going to be too strict I wouldn’t rely on votes being accepted on Monday at this point.

Record companies really intensifying their strategies to use the charts as a marketing tool, and in doing so moving towards held back releases. If you can build up interest through pre release airplay and then funnel a large proportion of a single’s sales into a single week you might get a higher peak.

Still 1/3 of the votes to come and it could go any of several ways!

Second reminder for @Herbs@Roba. @CowTzy @nine¾ @danG @awardinary @Viper* @Cody Rozanov @Doug @RabbitFurCoat@Spiceboy @Bror @dhwe

I do like “Telephone” and might have it slightly higher, but thinking about it it’s the little touches like the jangly intro and the breaking up that I really like rather than the main thrust of the song which isn’t anything that special. It’s hard not to smile at “Club Can’t Handle Me” - it’s a time capsule but a very fun one. I do actually think the 2 syllable “Forget You” scans better aside from any profanity considerations. It was so overplayed but it’s an extremely well written and sung track.

Went for Roll Deep - it’s OK but L&B must be saved.

5 Aurela Gaçe - Feel The Passion (2011, DNQ) I can see why this failed to land after 2 straight years of young ladies doing pop belters - it’s a very different kind of offering and the chorus could be seen as shouty. But I love the intense instrumental and vocal performance - overall it’s a very individual and stylish package. 4 Adrian Lulgjuraj and Bledar Sjeko - Identitet (2013, DNQ) I dismissed this as aging rockers having a bit of fun at the time, as probably did most of Europe. It was deeply unfashionable and without even a catchy hook, and was never going to qualify. But what you have here is quality old school rock from beginning to end - the songwriting, the contrast between the two singers, the delightful Balkan instrumental and guitar solo. Marvellous stuff. 3 Jonida Maliqi - Ktheju Tokës (2019, 17th) I think this sums up what we mean when we say that Albania has carved out its own niche in the show - such an authentic performance. It’s also a very beautiful song and the “ah-ia-ia-ia” chorus is mesmerising. However the top 2 are well ahead of everything else and both big all time favourites. So which will be ahead?

We’ll see if I get a flurry of votes today but it looks like the results won’t be until after the BJSC ones, so further into next week.

More greatness from Kraftwerk here and another slightly cheesy favourite in “Gold”. The Carnel track has been a very enjoyable and interesting discovery, and it’s great to see The Kinks having another hit. 9 Kraftwerk Tour De France This will chart again next year: the heavy breathing is so clever and it's another superb dreamy single from them 9 Spandau Ballet Gold Kept off #1 by "Give It Up", this is a powerful and uplifting song: I love the soaring held note before the chorus 8 Carmel Bad Day 1st Top 40 for this UK jazz group led by Carmel McCourt: a wonderful track that really stands out for its time 8 The Kinks Come Dancing Their last new Top 40 and 1st since 1972: a very lovely song about going to the dance hall with a warm, retro feel 7 UB40 Red, Red Wine 526th #1: originally a Neil Diamond folk song but this stands up on its own and really suits their reggae style 7 The Style Council Long Hot Summer/Paris Match Their highest peaking hit and a strong double A: "Long Hot Summer" is classy and the other a nice jazzy number 7 Madness Wings Of A Dove A lovely calypso style track with assistance from a gospel choir and steel drums, giving them yet another big hit 6 Level 42 The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) The lead from their album stalled at #41 but this strong follow up with a compelling chorus is their first Top 10 6 Kim Wilde Love Blonde A much jazzier direction for her: it's fun track and she carries it off well, though its success is modest for a lead 5 Asia Don't Cry Only Top 40 for this UK supergroup whose previous efforts missed: it's quite a nice dramatic prog rock track 5 Modern Romance Walking In The Rain Last of their 8 hits and surprisingly a ballad: it's quite a staightforward track but a very sincere perfornance 4 Shalamar Disappearing Act Their 10th Top 40 but the success is starting to diminish: it has decent energy but nothing about it grabs me 3 Whitesnake Guilty Of Love A typical style track from them with fast paced guitars, but there's nothing about it that really piques my interest 2 Rod Stewart What Am I Gonna Do Another big hit to follow "Baby Jane", but unfortunately I think the Rod naff factor is back and I don't enjoy it 2 Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon Wait Until Tonight (My Love) Their debut which charted much higher was only OK and this is a notch weaker than that: quite forgettable 2 David Grant Watching You Watching Me His 2nd solo hit and somehow it went Top 10, but its even duller than his debut for me and I can't get into it 1983 Group 15: #1155 20/08/1983 The Moody Blues Blue World 35 47-{35}-39-55-75->5 #1156 20/08/1983 Peabo Bryson And Roberta Flack Tonight, I Celebrate My Love 2 68-36-16-7-{2}-3-4-7-14-22-30-49-63->13 #1157 06/08/1983 Stray Cats (She's) Sexy + 17 29 74-50-55-37-32-{29}-29-43-65->9 #1158 13/08/1983 H2O Just Outside Of Heaven 38 69-45-{38}-38-46-74->6 #1159 03/09/1983 New Order Confusion 12 17-{12}-14-22-36-48-62->7 #1160 03/09/1983 Genesis Mama 4 20-5-{4}-5-6-11-19-28-38-59->10 #1161 03/09/1983 Big Country Chance 9 22-15-12-11-{9}-14-22-35-46->9 #1162 03/09/1983 Gary Numan Warriors 20 30-{20}-21-37-67->5 #1163 03/09/1983 Cliff Richard Never Say Die (Give A Little Bit More) 15 36-23-20-{15}-21-30-45->7 #1164 13/08/1983 JoBoxers Johnny Friendly 31 66-67-42-37-35-{31}-48-69->8 #1165 27/08/1983 Annabel Lamb Riders On The Storm 27 41-40-34-{27}-28-48-73->7 #1166 03/09/1983 Ryan Paris Dolce Vita 5 45-21-{5}-6-7-17-20-29-43-71->10 #1167 10/09/1983 Status Quo Ol' Rag Blues 9 24-11-{9}-10-20-29-41-61->8 #1168 10/09/1983 Paul Young Come Back And Stay 4 27-6-{4}-5-6-13-23-35-53->9 #1169 10/09/1983 Heaven 17 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry 17 28-{17}-17-18-23-34-60->7 #1170 27/08/1983 Truth A Step In The Right Direction 32 56-44-37-{32}-33-47-56->7

“The Cure” is sounding very up my street on 1st listen!