Julian_

This Italian thing seems very dated but no doubt will do well regardless.

Georgia not my thing and those vocals were rather wide of the notes in some cases!

Well this Portugal close harmony by a group of men in flat caps and ties is very charming but in 2026?

Oh yes can see why Greece is considered a contender. Song goes in interesting directions and is very well staged.

Sweden I didn’t love but it was very catchy and should do the job. I always enjoy this folk crossover stuff so Croatia is up my street.

Enjoyed Moldova in a trashy way - they always do the fun entries well!

Haven’t listened at all beforehand this year so this will be interesting…

Week 19: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,033,000 2,130,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 897,000 1,580,000 3 3 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 714,000 950,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 696,000 1,300,000 5 5 Alex Warren Ordinary 643,000 2,820,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 617,000 990,000 7 8 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 594,000 1,930,000 8 7 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 592,000 1,340,000 9 10 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 568,000 10 9 Djo End Of Beginning 557,000 1,740,000 11 11 Zara Larsson Lush Life 545,000 3,580,000 12 12 PinkPantheress Stateside 516,000 650,000 13 13 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 481,000 1,260,000 14 14 Bruno Mars I Just Might 464,000 15 15 Sombr 12 To 12 439,000 960,000 16 16 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 428,000 600,000 17 18 Taylor Swift Opalite 397,000 810,000 18 17 Harry Styles Aperture 397,000 19 19 Sombr Homewrecker 384,000 20 22 Tame Impala Dracula 375,000 510,000 21 20 Sombr Back To Friends 369,000 1,280,000 22 21 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 357,000 1,080,000 23 23 Dominic Fike Babydoll 336,000 1,080,000 24 26 Alex Warren Fever Dream 320,000 25 25 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 318,000 1,130,000 26 34 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 312,000 410,000 27 27 The Killers Mr Brightside 309,000 7,110,000 28 25 Haven featuring Kaitlin Aragon I Run 304,000 400,000 29 31 Milky Just The Way You Are 300,000 410,000 30 28 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 299,000 1,020,000 31 33 Harry Styles American Girls 299,000 32 29 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 298,000 1,440,000 33 30 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 295,000 2,110,000 34 32 Olivia Dean A Couple Minutes 288,000 470,000 35 35 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 286,000 4,850,000 36 36 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 283,000 3,210,000 37 37 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 282,000 4,220,000 38 38 Sombr Undressed 279,000 1,160,000 39 39 Olivia Dean Dive 277,000 940,000 40 40 Dominic Fike White Keys 277,000 290,000 43 47 Justin Bieber Daisies 250,000 750,000 48 57 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 233,000 270,000 49 53 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 231,000 60 61 Myles Smith Stargazing 211,000 2,020,000 65 88 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 201,000 3,720,000 66 84 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 201,000 1,440,000 68 69 Alex Warren Carry You Home 200,000 1,240,000 96 97 Florence And The Machine Dog Days Are Over 172,000 3,540,000 98 99 The Verve Bitter Sweet Symphony 172,000 3,150,000 100 - Tate McRae Sports Car 170,000 990,000 - 100 Saja Boys, Andrew Choi Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Your Idol 168,000 790,000

Week 19: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 308,000 590,000 2 2 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 278,000 3 3 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 161,000 1,990,000 4 6 Michael Jackson The Essential 149,000 2,250,000 5 4 The Weeknd Highlights 132,000 1,720,000 6 5 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 126,000 430,000 7 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 124,000 640,000 8 8 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 118,000 420,000 9 9 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 103,000 990,000 10 10 Noah Kahan Stick Season 101,000 820,000 11 11 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 100,000 2,510,000 12 13 Linkin Park Papercuts 98,000 490,000 13 12 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 96,000 730,000 14 14 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 94,000 15 15 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 92,000 3,650,000 16 17 ABBA Gold 91,000 6,230,000 17 18 BTS Arirang 91,000 18 16 Tate McRae So Close To What 90,000 350,000 19 19 Elton John Diamonds 84,000 2,010,000 20 20 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 81,000 5,700,000 21 21 Arctic Monkeys AM 79,000 2,410,000 22 22 Sombr I Barely Know Her 76,000 170,000 23 23 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 75,000 3,610,000 24 32 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 72,000 25 24 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 71,000 1,320,000 26 25 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 69,000 830,000 27 26 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 68,000 760,000 28 27 EsDeeKid Rebel 65,000 140,000 29 28 Pitbull Greatest Hits 65,000 690,000 30 29 Maroon 5 Singles 64,000 1,050,000 31 30 Queen Greatest Hits 60,000 3,270,000 32 31 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 59,000 660,000 33 33 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 58,000 2,370,000 34 35 Sam Fender People Watching 57,000 340,000 35 36 Oasis Definitely Maybe 57,000 3,070,000 36 37 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 57,000 2,490,000 37 38 Calvin Harris 96 Months 56,000 290,000 38 39 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 56,000 550,000 39 34 Mumford & Sons Prizefighter 56,000 40 41 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 55,000 2,090,000 42 43 Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad 54,000 2,580,000 43 45 The Beatles 1967-1970 53,000 1,380,000 46 49 OneRepublic The Collection 52,000 100,000 49 52 Lady Gaga The Fame 51,000 3,640,000 53 55 Green Day Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band 50,000 790,000 61 63 Britney Spears The Singles Collection 48,000 770,000 65 88 Michael Jackson Bad 47,000 4,500,000 68 71 Kanye West Graduation 46,000 1,110,000 70 99 Michael Jackson Thriller 46,000 4,790,000 89 90 Madonna Finally Enough Love - #1s Remixed 40,000 340,000

14/5: 1 1 Rein me in (1) 2 2 Man I need (1) 3 3 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 4 6 Dracula (4) 5 4 Drop Dead (1) 6 7 Ordinary (1) 7 21 Billie Jean (1) 8 8 Fever dream (4) 9 5 Beauty and a beat (1) 10 11 So easy (5) 11 29 Midnight sun (11) 12 10 Homewrecker (10) 13 14 Lush life (3) 14 12 Where is my husband! (3) 15 13 Raindance (2) 16 36 Beat it (3) 17 23 American girls (1) 18 9 Daisies (2) 19 15 Stateside (5) 20 17 White keys (14) 21 46 Don’t stop ‘til you get enough (3) 22 26 Nice to each other (5) 23 16 Babydoll (12) 24 19 Golden (1) 25 - Human nature (25) 26 27 Choosin’ Texas (24) 27 24 Just the way you are (8) 28 22 12 to 12 (8) 29 20 The fate of Ophelia (1) 30 - Dirty Diana (4) 31 18 Doors (18) 32 25 I just might (7) 33 31 Mr Brightside (10) 34 - Fine place to die (34) 35 30 End of beginning (2) 36 - Smooth criminal (3) 37 35 No broke boys (3) 38 37 Die on this hill (12) 39 32 Back to friends (7) 40 - Go (40) 41 42 The hardest part (23) 42 - Free your mind (42) 43 43 Love me not (2) 44 - Iris (3) 45 44 Dreams (22) 46 34 Manchild (1) 47 - Man in the mirror (2) 48 50 Dive (28) 49 28 The great divide (13) 50 49 OK love you bye (29)

The hope is that people won’t have heard many of the songs before. That’s why anything that’s too well known and anything that’s done well in a song contest on the site before is vetoed. Of course people might have niche knowledge about certain artists which means they’ll have heard a few of the songs before and have a bias towards them. But even then the idea is to listen to everything as though it’s for the first time. I will certainly give everything a few plays. If you look at the list of previous winners in the OP they do tend to be songs that manage to have appeal across the board, but they’re a diverse group all the same. I don’t think there’s a magic formula for doing well but that’s part of the fun.

And with that we’re up to 30 entries and looking certain to beat the record of 31! 🥳

Certainly preferred Ashlee’s stuff to her sister’s and “Piece Of Me” is good. “My Prerogative” was my last very low score so things are looking up.

The first group of 1983 where I’m not quite moved to give a 9, but happy to give Bob a win nonetheless. 8 Bob Marley And The Wailers Buffalo Soldier Surprisingly #4 for this makes it his highest peaking hit and it's not one of my very favourites but again marvellous 8 Blancmange Blind Vision Another wonderful song here, though doesn't quite have the majesty of "Waves" or the quirkiness of "Living…" 8 The Creatures Miss The Girl Another dark and very strong single from this Siouxsie led group: I love the xylophone and it's short and snappy 7 Thin Lizzy Thunder And Lightning Their last Top 40 for a long time: this is quite thrilling and I much prefer it to the other heavy metal tracks here 7 Pink Floyd Not Now John Their last hit for more than a decade: an interesting track where Gilmour and Waters play different characters 6 The Belle Stars Sweet Memory Their last Top 40 and much less successful than "Sound Of The Times", but a very good slice of slightly jazzy pop 6 Modern Romance Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm Their 7th hit in less than 2 years and one of their more successful ones: the jazzy salsa style comes together well 5 D Train Music (Part 1) An 8 minute soul track: all in all it's not a bad track with some interesting disco style production and punchy lines 5 Hot Chocolate What Kinda Boy You're Looking For (Girl) The last time they'll make the Top 10 with new material: this is very much their usual style but nicely performed 5 The Beat Can't Get Used To Losing You Their last and biggest Top 40 with a decent reggae cover of a song that reached #2 for Andy Williams 20 years ago 4 Kiss Creatures Of The Night 1st Top 40 for this US band: I enjoy this a little more than the heavy metal track just below but still find it ordinary 4 Daryl Hall And John Oates Family Man This is the last time they'll make the Top 20: this is a Mike Oldfield cover and the original has more of a punch to it 3 Saxon Power And The Glory Their last Top 40 though they'll be releasing misses for a while: it's rousing but for me this is generic heavy rock 3 David Grant Stop And Go 1st solo hit for this UK singer who had led Linx: their material was rather more interesting and this passes me by 3 New Edition Candy Girl 521st #1: only really big hit for this US teen group which seems to be a Jackson 5 imitation and is slightly grating 2 Julio Iglesias Hey! Both Spanish and English versions of this mid tempo ballad in his usual style, which as ever is twee and saccharine 1983 Group 9: #1062 14/05/1983 Wham! Bad Boys 2 37-12-5-{2}-2-3-5-9-16-24-36-45-54-75->14 #1063 21/05/1983 Yazoo Nobody's Diary 3 20-8-4-{3}-5-9-20-28-35-57-71->11 #1064 14/05/1983 Forrest Feel The Need In Me 17 69-28-20-{17}-21-30-45-63->8 #1065 14/05/1983 Al Jarreau Mornin' 28 58-33-{28}-28-40-53->6 #1066 21/05/1983 Manchester United FC Glory, Glory, Man United 13 35-{13}-13-25-49->5 #1067 07/05/1983 Rush Countdown/New World Man 36 48-50-{36}-38-50->5 #1068 07/05/1983 Robert Wyatt Shipbuilding 35 74-45-37-{35}-42-47->6 #1069 21/05/1983 JoBoxers Just Got Lucky 7 38-16-{7}-7-12-22-34-50-74->9 #1070 28/05/1983 The Police Every Breath You Take 1 7-{1}-1-1-1-2-9-20-28-40-58->11 #1071 28/05/1983 The Style Council Money Go Round (Part One) 11 12-{11}-13-26-47-74-74R(7)->7 #1072 28/05/1983 Booker Newberry III Love Town 6 19-8-{6}-8-13-25-35-52->8 #1073 21/05/1983 George Benson Lady Love Me (One More Time) 11 57-25-15-{11}-11-11-19-25-37-61->10 #1074 21/05/1983 Flash And The Pan Waiting For A Train 7 48-33-21-12-10-{7}-11-18-25-37-54->11 #1075 28/05/1983 Big Country In A Big Country 17 34-18-{17}-21-26-37-57->7 #1076 14/05/1983 Mtume Juicy Fruit 34 59-44-40-{34}-36-38-40-54-71->9

Great to have 25 entrants with 3 days to go! A no pressure tag for some entrants from the last couple of editions. @Addy! @RobBot @Juan Carlos @dandy* @WoW73 @Juranamo @Mangø @uhsting@brave lil toaster Plus @Bror and @Jade who I know are on the case!

If you go through all the 1,000 plus #2 hits in history you’ll find there aren’t nearly as many dreadful ones as there are #1s, and “Whip My Hair” is easily in the top 5 worst. I think of “The Time” alongside “The Club Is Alive” for doing something with a well known tune that would never be associated with electronic pop, that would be ingenious if the song was actually good. It’s nowhere near as bad as the JLS track but a big comedown from their 2009 #1 trio. Yep “When We Collide” is the okayest one of its kind.

With a heavy heart I’ve decided to veto this as it’s just a little too well known. Great song though!

Only on Buzzjack is that Saturdays nothingburger still here.

Will now for me.

“The Flood” might even be the best thing Take That ever did - certainly up with “Back For Good” and “Rule The World”. I’m actually not sure which of these JLS #1s is worse you know. At least “The Club Is Alive” has something to it even if it’s ill advised and unpleasant.

I’d have given “What You’re Made Of” quite a high score. This one isn’t so great but still pleasant and the first to drop that I might listen to voluntarily.

Thanks to the 18 participants so far. The first 16 entries from Thursday have survived the first mod screening. Hopefully we can get to 20 soon!

Nothing really to add about “The Climb” or “Everybpdy Hurts” here. A little surprised at several people expressing indifference towards the original which is up with the most moving records of all time for me!

Hooray that I’m not in the lowest scorers for the first time as I gave “What A Girl Wants” a whopping 3. It’s really very meh though.

I’d enjoy listening to you but suspect the average listener would find you unusual.