Chez VampireBat

Excellent if expected winner, Dancing On My Own is melancholy pop perfection and I think really influential in helping modern pop become more of a 'credible' choice on par with the usually critically adhered alt and rock acts that happened throughout the 2010s. And trying my hardest to put a positive spin on Calum Scott's abominable cover becoming a hit (one of my least favourite pieces of music ever so not easy), but it does speak to the legacy of the song and I like to think the original will stay in the public consciousness more in the long run x Back to Black is a classic and forever a showcase of what a wonderful yet tragic talent Amy was, and Smooth Criminal is MJ at his real best, I'd put this up there with Billie Jean, everything visually and musically is so slick. Thank you as always for the great hosting Rollo, now let me speculate on what #9s I want to support next year x

A real shame that Gasoline was ended it for Haim, that's always been a good one from the Women in Music era, maybe Summer Girl or Hallelujah could've done better. Great presentation of them though, The Wire and Falling were my favourites to not be sent but I guess they were being saved. I didn't dislike this Troye song despite the lower ranking and have quite liked some of the songs sent here as well. Been nice to get to know him a bit more as an artist.

Oh wow!!!! The Old man lives on

Haim </3 And I think the old man may indeed be out this time D:

01; Scissor Sisters - Mary 02; David Bowie - Five Years 03; ABBA - Chiquitita 04; ROSALÍA - Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti 05; Lily Allen - Pussy Palace 06; HAIM – Gasoline 07; Florence + the Machine - Cosmic Love 08; Chappell Roan - Casual 09; Delta Goodrem - Not Me, Not I 10; Troye Sivan feat. Betty Who – HEAVEN 11; Conan Gray - Forever With Me 12; Atomic Kitten - The Last Goodbye 13; Kelly Clarkson - Piece By Piece (Idol Version) Poor Bowie and Haim, don't deserve all these low scores x

Three of my absolute favourites in a row there, In The End is the best example of how well Linkin Park's sound worked, one of their biggest classics. Wake Me Up When September Ends is one of my favourites from their peak era and great emotional songwriting, I still find myself coming back to it every September! Enola Gay has always been one of my all time favourites, the dramatic, melancholy synths and sad, impassioned vocals fit really well with the historical context to make a really powerful song.

Having heard Fljotavik, I can see how it's getting so much discussion as it's so unique and a fantastic concept (I must have missed when this originally went viral), but it doesn't strike me as an absolute dead cert winner, though I certainly can see it doing so, just might be more of a 'big points or nothing' winner (I absolutely loved it mind, so I'm here for it!)

Pretty much totally the correct top 5 there! I wasn't sure Scandalous would make it that high, but it's one of the best girl group songs of the 2000s and is often overlooked in discussions like that so I'm glad to see it. Thanks for the sparkly hosting, Jade 😎 Not certain how many songs I'll know on the other compilations but let's see!

Well done AllStar on another anonymous contest win! That was my ten pointer so very happy with that winner, I pointed all of that top 3 and my 12 and 8 pointers are in the top 10 as well. Lunatic Calm was used on so many adverts when I was growing up, it was great to be able to finally put a name to it! Oops at being almost entirely snubbed by that last set of voters and falling to 7th, but I'd have felt a bit guilty winning with a fairly cheap name by song contest standards so I'll just enjoy this being my first top 10 in a while here! I must've not remembered Lost Cool from the Substance, but I knew there was a reason I liked it! Great to see that do quite well too x Thanks for hosting, lewis, a fantastic theme that definitely delivered!

Ooh thank you all so far, that's a great start. I was fortunate to hear this on 6Music just around the time the contest started so it fit very well (even if it is a remix of a slower indie song rather than a danceable indie song in it's own right), been a while since I've last done this well here x I liked the vast majority of what's here hence the long commiseration list, pleased to see a few of my votes in the top 10 with me as well! The Femcells is...not who I'd predicted blacksquare to send!

Worth mentioning that BJSC Masquerade is anonymous as the participants are posing as another country, I'm not sure if anyone wants to scour through the points there, but from what I remember of my own, I don't believe my points given or received from certain countries changed much even when not knowing their identity, but hey maybe another one of these will be a good gauge of if things will change x (I would like to see one anyway as it's been a while)

Aww, I'd hoped Fade to Gray may be able to win, but great to see it in the top 10. It's one of the songs I most associate with the early 80s dark synthwave movement and it still sounds fantastic. Live Forever is probably my favourite to miss the top 10, I'm glad to see the tour get it a new peak, Definitely Maybe-era Oasis has aged really well.

Lost three of my votes there: 07 // Pagasa // This Is Lorelei // Dancing In The Club 05 // Zanmatony // Onlynumbers & KLOFAMA // ONLYFAMA 03 // Ben's Sanctuary // SCHILLER // Euphoria: Der Traum (Extended Version) None of them I'm that surprised at sadly, didn't think Pagasa would make it with a deduction but thought it may have done slightly better than that, Zanmatony's was an admirable self-produced video too! Also sad we won't see Aelandor's wholesome video again x

Where's @Bror to help us all keep up when you need him? x

I forgot to shout out Anna Von Hauswolff in the thread, I've just listened to the album from this and was actually considering sending something from there, this wasn't an immediate highlight but I loved the whole album so glad to be able to revisit that one! I can't keep up with who's still to come, but a fair few of my votes yet to be announced with not a lot of spaces left :x

Oh hooray, I got nervous that those two non voters might cost me but pleased to be back in the final! Excellent to see Scotland 2 and Pestolia through, I wasn't sure about them.

FFS Pagasa, I was counting on you for this one after your early hype!!!

I also listened to him quite a bit back in the day on Radio 1 as chart show cover and sometimes his own show and he always came across as a very passionate and down-to-earth person so this is a real shock. Whatever it is, it must be pretty serious and clear if they were to sack such a big name instantly with no investigation...

Iran are pretty much laughing at him right now and his desperate unfound claims that talks are going well say everything we need, we all knew this would happen. Terrible state of affairs for us all of course and I'm not even convinced Iran's regime will be affected in the long run, but if there's one slight positive, it certainly looks like it brings Trump's downfall ever closer.

Sorry just getting to this now. My feelings on the top 5 are fairly mixed - Not a fan of If I Were a Boy, pretty boring song which comes across as a bit shallow lyrically, American Boy suffered a lot from overplay at the time which did make it tire on me, but I can appreciate the production and fantastic verse from Kanye a lot more now. Not a fan of Leona's Run at all, I adore Snow Patrol's original so that comes into it, but I still think that manages to be an epic, emotional anthem without the need for choirs and vocal acrobatics. I much prefer her stripped back version in the Live Lounge which is much more subtle in its approach. The Promise isn't up there with their very best and they have much better songs which missed out (like The Loving Kind, Call The Shots and Untouchable from around the same time), but it does still have some quite charming retro production and the Xenomania eclectic song structure with each of them getting a vocal moment is quite a nice touch. Thankfully, I'm much more positive about your number 1, that was my other favourite I was referring to and I'm thrilled to see it triumph here - I never expected it at the time, I first heard Great DJ from them and thought they were just another one of those indie-pop Radio 1 bands that stayed under the radar so seeing something this unique and adventurous get to number 1 was great to see, nowadays I do prefer Shut Up & Let Me Go and Great DJ (which I so wish would've become a hit), but it's energy and quirkiness is still really standout in the 2008 number 1s. This was a great read even if we have quite differing tastes! This would be my top 10 of the year roughly Coldplay - Viva la Vida The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name Mint Royale - Singin' In The Rain Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire Dizzee Rascal feat. Calvin Harris and Chrome - Dance Wiv Me Estelle feat, Kanye West - American Boy Girls Aloud - The Promise Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake - 4 Minutes Basshunter - Now You're Gone Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl (Oops, I don't actually like many of these x)

I'd never heard of her before last year, but Funny Music came up on my recommended and that led me to Switcheroo, I really liked the eclectic take on indie-electro and it had a great aesthetic. This is another wonderful song from her on first listen - really upping the hazy, psychedelic yet joyful vibes *.

Nelly quite literally falling at the last vote, yikes! I am prepared to struggle a bit in this round, my artist hasn't got any immediate go-tos for this and experimentation is risky!

I think the Corrs were quite lucky to get through to the lives, so I'm not overly surprised to see them out, not a massive fan although I would've probably pointed Runaway quite highly. What a shame for Nelly, she could've easily got to the final with the likes of Promiscuous, Turn Off The Light, All Good Things... and Say It Right not sent yet, but that was always a very risky song choice.

You're absolutely sure when you don't hover your cursor over the right hand side, this doesn't come up?

Is there not a plus button on the right hand side of Music Genres? You just need to press that.