Julian_

Welcome to the results of Bop Idol 4! We had 23 entrants representing artists who who appeared on TV talent shows. The voting has been quite spread out and 14 of the 23 entries have received 12 points from 1 or more participant! A reminder of the entries: 1 Breathe - Liberty X, Popstars, 13/05/2002 2 Creep - Dannii Minogue, Young Talent Time, 17/03/2003 3 Nolwenn Ohwo! - Nolwenn Leroy, Star Academy, 23/01/2006 4 Damaged - Danity Kane, Making The Band, 29/01/2008 5 Kashmir - Escala, Britain’s Got Talent, 25/05/2009 6 You’ll Never Get To Heaven - Diana Vickers, X Factor UK, 03/05/2010 7 Dub On The Track - Cher Lloyd, Mic Righteous, Zeph Ellis & Ghette, X Factor UK, 07/11/2011 8 Misty Eye - Aiden Grimshaw, X Factor UK, 20/08/2012 9 Think Of You - Christina Grimmie, The Voice USA, 06/08/2013 10 Alone By Heart - Clara Van Wel, New Zealand’s Got Talent, 25/10/2013 11 Chameleon Life - Daithi featuring Raye, All Ireland Talent Show, 06/06/2014 12 Gladiator - Dami Im, X Factor Australia, 08/08/2014 13 California - Amelia Lily, X Factor UK, 07/09/2014 14 Borderline - Tove Styrke, Swedish Idol, 09/10/2014 15 I Do - Only The Young, X Factor UK, 07/08/2015 16 Baby Don’t Dance - Fleur East, X Factor UK, 04/12/2015 17 Blood - Equador (Bo Bruce), The Voice UK, 28/10/2016 18 Bloodstream - Tokio Myers, Britain’s Got Talent, 12/10/2017 19 Rock With Me - Reggie ‘n’ Bollie featuring Ironik and Lauren Murray, X Factor UK, 15/12/2017 20 Domino - Saara Aalto, The Voice Of Finland, 16/02/2018 21 Ladies In The ‘90s - Lauren Alaina, American Idol, 15/10/2018 22 Racing Cars - Ruti, The Voice UK, 05/04/2019 23 I Trance - Agnes, Swedish Idol, 28/06/2019 I have teamed up with Pixie Lott’s brother Copi who has written some commentaries on the songs for me. ChrisJK will be our first voter. In the meantime here’s some interval entertainment sent by Cody:

Voting is closed! I’ll see how it goes but may well do the results from 20:00 this evening.

Only @CowTzy to go, and the winner is not yet decided. No pressure!

All good things come to an end, but some are so good that they come to an end twice. After earning bronze in the #117 survivor Nelly has repeated the achievement 3 rounds later. 3rd: Nelly Furtado - All Good Things (Come To An End) 4th: Beyoncé - Irreplaceable 5th: Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You 14/30 votes (47%) 6th: All American Rejects - Gives You Hell 16/35 votes (46%) 7th: Goldtrix - It’s Love (Trippin’) 16/33 votes (48%) 8th: Hear’Say - Everybody 16/30 votes (53%) 9th: Wyclef Jean featuring The Rock and Melky Sedeck - It Doesn’t Matter 9/29 votes (31%) 10th: Jennifer Lopez featuring Fat Joe - Hold You Down 12/32 votes (38%)

I’m sure it won’t be long until we’ve cried out the loss of Pixie. This reached #12 in December 2009 on the back of 2 #1 hits. However it spent 23 weeks in the Top 75, longer than either of those chart toppers, and ended up matching their sales too. 6th: Pixie Lott - Cry Me Out 16/31 votes (52%) 7th: Beyoncé - Work It Out 14/34 votes (41%) 8th: Scooter - Weekend! 10/33 votes (30%) 9th: Artful Dodger featuring Lifford - Please Don’t Turn Me On 11/33 votes (33%) 10th: Hermes House Band - Country Roads 11/31 votes (35%)

The stunt has been aborted as “The Ladyboy Is Mine” has been eliminated. This was a mash up of Modjo’s #1 hit “Lady” from the previous year, and the 1998 #2 hit “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy & Monica. It reached #10 in March 2001 and was the only hit for this group of DJs. 9th: Stuntmasterz - The Ladyboy Is Mine 14/30 votes (47%) 10th: Ronan Keating & LeAnn Rimes - Last Thing On My Mind 13/35 votes (37%)

I can confirm ChatGPT did worse than both Gazing Gooddelta and Soothsaying Scene so there’s hope for humanity yet.

Some more great stuff: I’d have expected The Korgis to top the bunch but the Gabriel track is a huge discovery. Interesting to read that he was inspired by Steve Reich’s minimalist classical composition. 9 Peter Gabriel No Self Control A much smaller hit than "Games Without Frontiers but every bit as brilliant: demonic and terrifying with various experimental effects 9 The Korgis Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime Biggest hit for this UK band and a much covered and sampled track but this original is beautiful with its dreamy synths and simple lyrics 8 Siouxsie And The Banshees Christine "Now she's in purple, now she's a turtle": an excellent track about a lady with multiple personality disorder laden with synth effects 8 The Manhattan Transfer Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone Incredibly different from some of this US jazz group's early hits, this spooky track has a great aura to it, especially the instrumental parts 7 Judas Priest Breaking The Law Their signature hit and most streamed track on Spotify: it's a very enjoyable punchy track with much more impact than their last hit 7 Thin Lizzy Chinatown Phil Lynott is back with his band: I really enjoy the instrumental solos and the dark lyrics backed by suitably menacing swirling guitars 6 Electric Light Orchestra I'm Alive From the "Xanadu" film soundtrack: it's their usual big production and futuristic feel: it's lovely but I feel it lacks a touch of oomph 6 Surface Noise The Scratch Only Tip 40 for them and it's a very groovy instrumental led by an infectious flute melody: feels more like background music but fun 5 Stiff Little Fingers Nobody's Hero/Tin Soldiers "Tin Soldiers" is great fun with the raspy vocals and military style drums, so that's a 7 but "Nobody's Hero" is only a 3 so we end up at 5 5 The Lambrettas D-a-a-ance Only other Top 40 after their "Poison Ivy" cover: the "d-a-a-ante" chorus is catchy and it's a nice little song but not very memorable 4 The Detroit Spinners Body Language The "your body, my body" part sampeos "Let's All Chant" by the Michael Zager Band: that's the best part and otherwise it drags a little 4 Teena Marie Behind The Groove 1st and biggest Top 40 hit for this US soul singer: I quite like the funky production but it lacks melody and sounds slightly forced vocally 3 Liquid Gold Substitute Another Top 10 for them: I quite enjoy the sad lyrical story, but this Iacks the fun factor of their other big hit and is a little forgettable 3 Elton John Little Jeannie This sounds quite similar to "Daniel" to me, but that has a lot of feeling whereas this rather plods and is lacking in interesting features 2 Iron Maiden Sanctuary It will be a while before they really break through with a big hit: this second minor one has a flurry of guitars but really nothing distinctive 1 Cockney Rejects I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles They'll have more releases but this is their 2nd and last Top 40 with West Ham references as they grimly groan out the classsic tune 1980 Group 11: #152 31/05/1980 Rod Stewart If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right) 23 51-40-27-24-31-{23}-23-33-45->9 #153 14/06/1980 The Police Six Pack 17 31-{17}-34-50->4 #154 14/06/1980 Queen Play The Game 14 34-18-16-{14}-17-22-30-72->8 #155 07/06/1980 Elvis Costello New Amsterdam 36 47-{36}-43-39-42-66->6 #156 07/06/1980 The Stranglers Who Wants The World? 39 57-{39}-44-65->4 #157 31/05/1980 B.A. Robertson To Be Or Not To Be 9 71-44-40-28-25-{9}-12-11-27-37-57->11 #158 14/06/1980 Splodgenessabounds Simon Templar/Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please 7 42-22-{7}-7-10-15-40-71->8 #159 14/06/1980 UB40 My Way Of Thinking/I Think It's Going To Rain 6 72-29-19-8-7-{6}-10-14-34-52->10 #160 14/06/1980 Stacy Lattisaw Jump To The Beat 3 57-31-11-6-{3}-3-4-8-17-32-53->11 #161 14/06/1980 The Sex Pistols (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone 21 43-35-29-34-28-{21}-34-42->8 #162 31/05/1980 Darts Let's Hang On 11 61-49-44-37-36-29-24-16-{11}-13-18-21-46-68->14 #163 21/06/1980 Olivia Newton-John And Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu 1 39-14-3-{1}-1-2-4-13-20-35-47->11 #164 21/06/1980 Saxon 747 (Strangers In The Night) 13 40-27-19-14-{13}-15-35-55-71->9 #165 21/06/1980 Paul McCartney Waterfalls 9 53-20-11-11-{9}-16-25-45->8 #166 21/06/1980 Odyssey Use It Up And Wear It Out 1 56-30-12-2-2-{1}-1-3-9-18-31-52->12

Still to vote: @vibe @CowTzy @dandy* @Cody Piastri @jimwatts

I have added up the scores with 10 sets of votes outstanding… and it’s all to play for! Rumours of a landslide winner may be unfounded.

Rich has about a half dozen right which is pretty good. Scene slightly fewer. 😊

“Family Matters” and possibly “Mystical Magical” next week.

Week 28: 1 1 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,202,000 2 2 Lola Young Messy 1,045,000 1,220,000 3 3 Rosé and Bruno Mars APT. 984,000 1,340,000 4 4 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 873,000 1,320,000 5 5 Gracie Abrams That's So True 861,000 1,300,000 6 6 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Die With A Smile 792,000 1,430,000 7 7 Chrystal The Days 718,000 880,000 8 8 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 699,000 2,490,000 9 9 Billie Eilish Birds Of A Feather 683,000 1,900,000 10 10 Chappell Roan Good Luck, Babe! 655,000 1,860,000 11 11 Gigi Perez Sailor Song 602,000 1,200,000 12 12 Teddy Swims Lose Control 599,000 2,430,000 13 13 Sabrina Carpenter Espresso 598,000 2,350,000 14 15 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 592,000 15 14 Sabrina Carpenter Taste 588,000 1,380,000 16 16 Teddy Swims Bad Dreams 560,000 800,000 17 17 Tate McRae Sports Car 546,000 18 18 Teddy Swims The Door 543,000 1,210,000 19 19 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 538,000 650,000 20 20 Myles Smith Stargazing 512,000 1,520,000 21 21 Shaboozey A Bar Song (Tipsy) 504,000 1,840,000 22 22 Hozier Too Sweet 480,000 1,950,000 23 24 Alex Warren Carry You Home 470,000 770,000 24 25 WizTheMc & Bees & Honey Show Me Love 469,000 25 23 Kendrick Lamar Not Like Us 464,000 2,980,000 26 26 Noah Kahan Stick Season 461,000 2,980,000 27 27 Lady Gaga Abracadabra 444,000 28 29 Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & D.O.D. Somedays 439,000 910,000 29 28 Sabrina Carpenter Please Please Please 438,000 1,580,000 30 30 Sabrina Carpenter Bed Chem 414,000 800,000 31 31 Sabrina Carpenter Busy Woman 414,000 32 32 Doechii Anxiety 407,000 33 33 The Killers Mr Brightside 405,000 6,470,000 34 35 Ed Sheeran Azizam 402,000 35 34 Chappell Roan Hot To Go! 394,000 1,050,000 36 41 Sombr Undressed 388,000 37 37 Gracie Abrams I Love You, I'm Sorry 381,000 860,000 38 39 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 380,000 4,190,000 39 36 Kendrick Lamar & Sza Luther 380,000 480,000 40 38 Sam Fender People Watching 375,000 480,000 48 49 Sombr Back To Friends 356,000 69 70 Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng, Shenseea Shake It To The Max (FLY) - Remix 279,000 72 74 Sonny Fodera & Clementine Douglas Tell Me 267,000 87 - Calvin Harris And Clementine Douglas Blessings 250,000 93 - Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 242,000 - 100 Ed Sheeran Perfect 231,000 5,830,000 - 93 Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Defying Gravity 230,000 360,000

17/7: 1 2 Ordinary (1) 2 3 Dior (3) 3 4 Manchild (1) 4 5 Love me not (2) 5 1 Survive (1) 6 6 Pink pony club (2) 7 8 Blessings (7) 8 12 Back to friends (7) 9 7 Victory lap (5) 10 9 Undressed (4) 11 10 Sapphire (9) 12 13 Rein me in (7) 13 11 Family matters (5) 14 15 Beautiful things (1) 15 14 Messy (1) 16 17 Just keep watching (6) 17 18 Nice to each other (17) 18 16 Show me love (4) 19 20 Azizam (3) 20 19 Mystical magical (18) 21 21 APT. (2) 22 22 That’s so true (1) 23 - Acquiesce (23) 24 - Don’t look back in anger (1) 25 - Live forever (9) 26 - Golden (26) 27 27 Birds of a feather (2) 28 23 Shake it to the max (26) 29 26 Can’t decide (15) 30 - Wonderwall (2) 31 24 The days (5) 32 33 Espresso (1) 33 32 Illegal (32) 34 29 Lose control (2) 35 28 Stargazing (6) 36 25 One thing (23) 37 30 Good luck, babe! (2) 38 37 No broke boys (37) 39 - Your idol (39) 40 40 Stick season (1) 41 34 Die with a smile (3) 42 - Dreams (22) 43 - What did I miss? (43) 44 35 Iris (3) 45 46 Taste (1) 46 39 Bad dreams (13) 47 - High on me (47) 48 31 Nice to meet you (12) 49 35 Someone you loved (1) 50 36 Carry you home (16)

Week 28: 1 1 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 369,000 740,000 2 2 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 232,000 340,000 3 3 Sam Fender People Watching 194,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 188,000 1,660,000 5 5 The Weeknd The Highlights 181,000 1,420,000 6 6 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 166,000 470,000 7 7 SZA SOS 163,000 650,000 8 8 Elton John Diamonds 161,000 1,820,000 9 9 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 160,000 2,190,000 10 10 Charli XCX Brat 155,000 440,000 11 11 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 148,000 490,000 12 12 Tate McRae So Close To What 148,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 142,000 610,000 14 14 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 138,000 920,000 15 15 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 135,000 6,040,000 16 16 Lady Gaga Mayhem 134,000 17 17 Michael Jackson The Essential 131,000 1,970,000 18 18 Central Cee Can't Rush Greatness 130,000 19 19 Arctic Monkeys AM 127,000 2,230,000 20 20 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 124,000 3,440,000 21 21 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 121,000 260,000 22 22 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 121,000 2,660,000 23 23 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 116,000 5,420,000 24 24 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 114,000 610,000 25 25 Linkin Park Papercuts 113,000 280,000 26 26 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 112,000 1,160,000 27 27 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 103,000 120,000 28 28 The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow 97,000 29 29 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 97,000 280,000 30 30 Kendrick Lamar GNX 97,000 160,000 31 31 Calvin Harris 96 Months 96,000 170,000 32 32 Benson Boone Fireworks & Rollerblades 96,000 220,000 33 33 Queen Greatest Hits 94,000 3,130,000 34 34 Pitbull Greatest Hits 93,000 560,000 35 35 PartyNextDoor & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U 91,000 36 36 Oasis Definitely Maybe 89,000 2,890,000 37 37 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 88,000 420,000 38 38 Ed Sheeran ÷ 87,000 4,420,000 39 39 Billy Joel Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel 84,000 1,630,000 40 40 Fontaines D.C. Romance 84,000 200,000 71 72 Sleep Token Even In Arcadia 62,000 100 - Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler Private Investigations - The Best Of 49,000 1,380,000 - 100 Bad Bunny Debí Tirar Más Fotos 49,000

2 days left! @Roba. @Addy! @CowTzy @jimwatts @Herbs @vibe @Cody Piastri @Calum @dandy* We’ve had a full house of votes in every Bop Idol up to now and I hope to continue that.

Looks like Nelly’s on for a second straight bronze medal, which is where I place her in this.

Beyoncé has been replaced at the survivor table by an empty seat. In the #29 survivor this reached the final so 4th here is something of a comedown. The single reached #4 in November 2004, and was the follow up to the chart topping “Déja Vu” but has proved to be much more enduring than that. 4th: Beyoncé - Irreplaceable 5th: Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You 14/30 votes (47%) 6th: All American Rejects - Gives You Hell 16/35 votes (46%) 7th: Goldtrix - It’s Love (Trippin’) 16/33 votes (48%) 8th: Hear’Say - Everybody 16/30 votes (53%) 9th: Wyclef Jean featuring The Rock and Melky Sedeck - It Doesn’t Matter 9/29 votes (31%) 10th: Jennifer Lopez featuring Fat Joe - Hold You Down 12/32 votes (38%)

“Cry Me Out” is the only Pixie song I really like, with its waltz rhythm. In fact I like all 6 and it’s going to have to be Cascada.

A skilled multitasker, Beyoncé is working her way out of 2 survivors at once. This was her very 1st solo hit, reaching #7 in July 2002. It doesn’t even appear in the Top 40 of her biggest selling hits now, demonstrating that it is relatively forgotten. 7th: Beyoncé - Work It Out 14/34 votes (41%) 8th: Scooter - Weekend! 10/33 votes (30%) 9th: Artful Dodger featuring Lifford - Please Don’t Turn Me On 11/33 votes (33%) 10th: Hermes House Band - Country Roads 11/31 votes (35%)

I went for Friday Hill - I think the Stuntmasterz mash up works quite well.

They definitely won’t be last on anyone’s mind in this survivor but they are last. This reached #5 in May 2004 which oddly makes it Leann‘s 2nd highest peaking hit, eclipsing the mammoth “How Do I Live”. For Ronan it was towards the end of his extraordinary run of 3” straight Top 10 hits including Boyzone and his solo work. 10th: Ronan Keating & LeAnn Rimes - Last Thing On My Mind 13/35 votes (37%)

Ah sorry I’d amended the deadline in the main body of the OP but forgotten about the title!

I gave 4 9s this week so also voting for my favourite of the 8s. 1 The Cure - A Forest 2 Blondie - Call Me 3 Lipps Inc - Funky Town 4 Kate Bush - Breathing 5 Jona Lewie - You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties Missing out also with 8: Sky - Toccata New Musik - World Of Water The Mash - Suicide Is Painless

Indeed, though it’s good going to have got this far into 1980 without a 1. Another brilliant timeless winner here. 9 Lipps Inc Funky Town A 1 hit wonder US group which was a US #1 but #2 here: a fantastic funky track with a timeless riff that still sounds just as good today 8 Jona Lewie You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties 1st hit for this UK singer songwriter: I love the slightly awkward storytelling with his striking baritone voice over a synth pop track 8 The Mash Theme From 'M*A*S*H' (Suicide Is Painless) 459th #1: for the 1970 film "M*A*S*H" and a 1 hit wonder, this track has a beautiful seductive aura to it and lovely blend of voices 7 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Messages 1st hit for this UK electronic band: a lovely track establishing their sound with slightly trippy and dark synths and melancholy lyrics 7 Junior Murvin Police And Thieves Another 1 hit wonder for a Jamaican performer: this is a really striking and different reggae track with lovely scatted falsetto vocals 7 Roxy Music Over You Part of a run of 4 straight Top 5 hits for them, and a rich synth pop track with layers of production and soulful reverb heavy vocals 6 Gary Numan We Are Glass His 3rd hit after hitting #1 with his debut "Cars": this feels like a typical Gary track and is still really good but doesn't quite stand out 6 Crown Heights Affair You Gave Me Love Last Top 40 and biggest hit for the US disco group: the catchy "ooh ooh" vocal riff is my favourite part of this; otherwise it's standard 6 The Specials Rat Race/Rude Boys Outa Jail Their 3rd double A Top 10 hit: I prefer "Rat Race" but both are enjoyable and bouncy ska tracks with good instrumental contributions 5 Mystic Merlin Just Can't Give You Up Originally a magical act who became a serious band, this is there only hit and it's a nice chilled out saxophone heavy dance soul track 5 Matchbox Midnite Dynamos Following their Freddy Cannon cover this is actually an original rockabilly style song: it's a jolly and vibrant old fashioned number 4 Jermaine Jackson Let's Get Serious MJ's brother's 1st and biggest solo hit written by Stevie Wodner, and indeed sounds like a fairly typical but unremarkable Stevie track 4 Don McLean Crying 460th #1: the Roy Orbison original is heartbreakingly beautiful and this cover is fine but doesn't really do anything that Roy's doesn't 3 Roberta Flack With Donny Hathaway Back Together Again Donny had died last year but Roberta recorded an album of duets with his vocals: this was big but is quite a forgettable soul song 2 UK Subs Teenage Again it's the raucous punk style which isn't entirely to my taste anyway, but I can't find much charm in this football chant style track 1 The Four Bucketeers The Bucket Of Water Song This group was from the ITV children's programme "Tiswas": maybe it's amusing in context but it's a not very listenable and grating song 1980 Group 10: #136 24/05/1980 The Lambrettas D-a-a-ance 12 48-20-21-{12}-15-22-25-49->8 #137 24/05/1980 Electric Light Orchestra I'm Alive 20 47-25-22-{20}-20-26-26-53-69->9 #138 17/05/1980 The Manhattan Transfer Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone 25 59-49-29-31-{25}-25-33-68->8 #139 24/05/1980 The Korgis Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime 5 61-31-27-19-6-{5}-5-8-14-35-51-67->12 #140 10/05/1980 Peter Gabriel No Self Control 33 58-44-41-{33}-54-56->6 #141 17/05/1980 Cockney Rejects I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles 35 52-45-{35}-55-69->5 #142 24/05/1980 Stiff Little Fingers Nobody's Hero/Tin Soldiers 36 57-{36}-36-46-70->5 #143 24/05/1980 Thin Lizzy Chinatown 21 63-37-30-30-23-23-22-{21}-29->9 #144 10/05/1980 The Detroit Spinners Body Language 40 69-46-43-{40}-45-50-74->7 #145 07/06/1980 Judas Priest Breaking The Law 12 23-18-{12}-18-28-67->6 #146 31/05/1980 Teena Marie Behind The Groove 6 62-29-17-7-{6}-10-15-30-44-69->10 #147 31/05/1980 Liquid Gold Substitute 8 52-32-21-16-{8}-13-19-37-62->9 #148 24/05/1980 Elton John Little Jeannie 33 62-44-{33}-37-38-43-65->7 #149 07/06/1980 Iron Maiden Sanctuary 29 34-{29}-36-49-67->5 #150 07/06/1980 Siouxsie And The Banshees Christine 22 35-{22}-27-24-24-26-24-56->8 #151 31/05/1980 Surface Noise The Scratch 26 59-38-28-{26}-35-40-62-73->8