Chez VampireBat

01; HAIM - If I Could Change Your Mind (One of their best <3) 02; David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes 03; ABBA - Super Trouper 04; ROSALÍA - PIENSO EN TU MIRÁ - Cap.3: Celos 05; Delta Goodrem - Believe Again (The best I've heard from her so far easily) 06; Florence + the Machine - Hurricane Drunk 07; Lily Allen – Madeline 08; Nelly Furtado - Big Hoops (Bigger the Better) (This is still a complete mess but also a lot more enjoyable than I remember it, I wouldn't have risked this, but hope it's not out x) 09; Atomic Kitten - Be With You 10; Kelly Clarkson - Never Again 11; Scissor Sisters - She’s My Man 12; Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova 13; Conan Gray - Maniac 14; The Corrs - Irresistible 15; Troye Sivan - Bloom

Walking on Sunshine and Bat Out of Hell are my favourites to fall before the top 20, both over the top and cheesy in their own ways, but they always bring my spirits up. This Charming Man is also a real classic that deserved top 20.

I think separating art from artist becomes harder when that artist is actively profiting and having their platform strengthened by investing in their work. She is one of the most powerful and influential people in the country in terms of controlling the media narrative, and when that power's being used to make life harder for minority groups, the best way is ignoring them. I don't judge anyone else for not doing that, it's a huge IP that meant a lot for my generation growing up (probably helped that, while I did enjoy the films, I wasn't overly interested in the books and it wasn't an instrumental part of my growing up), but the brand is forever tainted for me in a way that can't currently be split. But keeping the thread on topic - I wouldn't have any interest whoever produced it, the casting was near perfect in the films and I'm not convinced there was a lot of worthy material left out of the adaptation (the SPEW storyline in Goblet of Fire sounds questionable to say the least and the books seem to reflect the author's narrow neoliberal worldview), I have zero interest in a pointless remake using that as a crutch to milk an IP, it will invite comparison so much until you wonder what the hell the point is when you have the original films. It'll be huge, probably the biggest of the year, but I will be pretending it doesn't exist.

I do agree it's been very overblown and the stories given feel a bit conflicting and exaggerated for attention so I don't think we'll really know the full story. It's a pointless thing to get angry about really, I'm somewhere in the middle - she's entitled to privacy at breakfast and I think parents should make that clear to children, but it definitely didn't need security intervention if indeed that is all that happened. Saying that though, these constant dramas do seem to be a bit of an ongoing issue for Chappell - I'm honestly on her side and I don't think it's unreasonable of her at all to want boundaries from fans and not to want a parasocial relationship, I think her problem is how she comes across, she lacks a filter and some of these outbursts (the 'men have never made good music' thing for one) just really don't help her case and make it easy for the media to blow things out of proportion and paint her a certain way. I'm aware her condition would likely influence her behaviour and that nuance is really missing in conversations about her, but it is a shame that this seems to be an endless cycle for her.

Better Venus version etc. Untouched has one of my favourite intros and opening verses, the chorus sadly doesn't quite live up to it but I do enjoy the song as a whole. Not a fan of Judas, Edge of Glory from the same album was much better.

Reet Petite is a classic from an iconic performer, it was good he got his chance at number 1 even if it was just because of the claymation video. Although my favourite from him is Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher).

I think my favourites to drop out are Never Leave You, Jenny From The Block and AM to PM, all pretty fun and iconic bops, top 10 is definitely largely correct though x

I Feel It Coming and Careless Whisper were my top 2 so that eliminatom stings a bit, but some great stuff sent by both artists (not sure I'd have sent Blinding Lights that early mind!)

I did think Blondie might be a curveball pick from Jade actually! (and that definitely confirms the identity of ROSALIA ), that's real rotten luck going up first against Nelly Furtado's biggest song and then against all those others hits, again, really enjoyed discovering their lesser known work.

I suspected dandy* was Erasure, I really enjoyed discovering some of their work this contest and the current one here actually got a vote from me despite not knowing it before, Was such an unlucky draw to leave from. Really enjoyed the fred again... and FKA picks this contest too, FKA another one getting a really unlucky draw.

I thought TOMORA would show up eventually and I was actually considering sending another song from them (The Thing) but thought it might be a bit too cheap...it didn't even get discussed in the end so I was clearly too cautious there! This is admittedly my least favourite of the ones I've heard, but it's still a fun, repetitive banger x I have really been struggling with finding an entry from 2026 this year, so have another one from the 2000s, Need my cult indie crew gathering round me x

Oh Nadia being Seven does make sense actually, she was a very fun addition and ended as iconically as she started x Addy being Ace of Base ay, truly shocking x

Conan a very unexpected one amongst the other two there, but I did like this one and it's good to see a surprise! Sad for The Weeknd as that was one of my favourites from him </3 Blondie out is a real shame too

I will be very annoyed if My Doorbell goes out early here, by far the highlight of an awful list Rik Waller first, obviously x

I'm intrigued to read the book as I hadn't heard of it prior, but apparently it's a very faithful adaptation. Really good film, a few slower moments and not the most original overall, but so, so likeable and Ryan Gosling and Rocky makes for an absolutely wonderful on-screen pairing. There was a huge amount of screenings for this so hope it does well and gets people into the cinema as this really needs to be seen on the big screen.

Votes are in, I was pleased to be able to include a discovery in there (a slightly strange choice in terms of getting through, but was lovely to hear it), this was at the expense of one excellent song I already knew so apologies in advance if you were one point off qualifying x

Ooft, my favourites taking a beating. The Message is a classic of hip hop with an iconic riff, it's a great contrast with how upbeat the song sounds and how dark the lyrics are and the ending paints a harrowing picture that it still very resonant.

I never thought Fly On The Wings of Love would get all the way to the final when I gave it a wildcard, I'm glad I'm not the only one with a soft spot for a bit of turn of the century eurodance cheese x Guilt and Firestone are quite of their time, but I do still enjoy both, the former in particular still holds up well. I prefer the Bananarama version of Venus, sorry if that's sacrilege x

I'm based just on the outskirts in South London so this hits really close to home, really quite shocking how quickly it's spread.

Congrats Rollo! Actually quite surprised a song like that won, but it's deserved, beautifully atmospheric and an excellent build-up, and Pestolia 2nd with a Mario instrumental definitely highlights the wonderful diversity of the spin-off *. Very pleased with 7th, thanks all for voting, it was one of my favourite albums I belatedly checked out from the year before last and this trip hop and gospel combination was a real highlight. I voted for all of the top 5, and most of the top 10 were good too, pleased to see Eledan top 5 as I did always wonder how that would do. A shame my personal top 2 of Dobago and Jadakissnia couldn't quite make it in, but all of my top votes were great discoveries. Thanks for bringing this idea to life, Noche, one of the most unique listenthroughs we've had in a while

Thank you for the very generous points from my dedicated indie crew, a lot of 18s there <3

Jack Your Body is a classic of it's genre, I can see how it's an acquired taste, but I think it was quite a watershed moment before a certain other song later would take it to a whole new level. Star Trekkin' is the song I was referring to earlier I'm not actually a Trekkie at all, I've never seen even an episode (more of a Whovian x), but I do have a soft spot for this sort of kitsch novelty. The progression of the track is actually quite funny and fits into the theme well, even if the rest of the lyrics is every obvious gag you can think of.

Oh that's a really disappointing last placer, Fools Gold is a classic, it does a wonderful job slowly building over it's runtime and a classic riff throughout. Admittedly my vote was mainly for that rather than the other side, but you can't go wrong with debut era Stone Roses. I like the other two as well - Going Under is another epic single from Evanescence and was a nice contrast to the stripped back My Immortal, and I hadn't seeked out Ça plane pour moi, but I recognised it instantly from being on an advert when I was younger, fun song x

I would say one of each category for fair representation, but given the make up of the live shows is already unbalanced, I think option A is probably the only option at this stage.

Atomic Kitten/George was definitely a case where I preferred the opposite artist but I was voting on the song and Whole Again is a better song so I went that way, well played! (Are we allowed to reveal how we voted now? Pretend you didn't read that if not x) There's certainly one other George Michael song that could seal it for him.