Chez VampireBat

Hopeful that myself and my guitarry and long song favourites can make it through, I thought (unlike others seemingly) that this was a really good semi, though not expecting a full house as a few of my votes had quite bad predictions. I'm wondering if Semi 1 could get a null pointer with y'know, that song? (I wasn't at the listenthrough though, maybe some people liked it x)

Sorry about this, but could whoever sent entry with initials MJ - MO please drop me a PM to let me know who you are as you've put the artist name as your Buzzjack username! (unless this is indeed the artist joining especially for this which would be quite a turnout!)

you saw nothing x

Welcome to the 19th edition of the Pop Forum Song Contest! The winner of the last contest, RobBot, was unavailable to host this time, so as the runner up for approximately the five hundredth time on here, I will take the reigns, so I'll just plug my entry from the last time here x So I have used the Pop Art/Art Pop theme before, but that edition was open choice so I'd like to lean more into it here - Art Pop, inspired by the movement of Pop Art's integration of high and low culture, is described as deviating from traditional music norms by emphasising imagery, style and gesture over personal expression. We will celebrate that genre and related ones in this edition which is all about Experimental, Left-field or weird/quirky pop music. Your entry must in some way be a little unique or different from your typical pop song, it could be in terms of playing with structure like switch up in sound halfway through, it could have unusual vocal or instrumental elements or it could just be lyrically quite enigmatic or be about an odd subject matter. It can really be any song you personally see as slightly weird or quirky and that you wouldn't expect to hear on the radio or in another song contest. Here's a decent summary from reddit of the sort of thing you could look for: Sonic elements of the genre include a fusion of pop with elements of electronica, baroque pop, chamber pop, classical music, and art rock. The genre often uses eclectic instruments and employs a large number of samples to build out its sound. Many artists use the piano as a key feature, but not always (and often the piano is replaced by some form of synthesizer (sic)). Unique singing styles and complex lyrics detailing a number of themes often unexplored by mainstream pop are also common. There is also often a visual component to the genre, including high concept videos and performances. Please remember that while dabbling in other genres can count as experimental, the primary genre must be pop and it should still be recognisable as this, as a word of advice try to avoid instrumentals or anything where the instrumental takes over a large portion of the song. Some artists that you could use as starting points to explore (obvs don't be cheap and confirm any of these x) are Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Lana Del Rey, Lykke Li, Marina, La Roux, Lorde, Caroline Polachek and Grimes and also classic artists such as David Bowie, The Beatles, Kate Bush, Bjork, Pet Shop Boys, some of Madonna's work and Talking Heads. I like to think that makes enough sense, but if you need any further clarification, I'm happy to give some x Please also take note of the following rules for PFSC: Any song entered must not have reached the Top 100 in the Official UK Chart Any artist entered must not appear in the Top 100 in the Official UK Chart during a contest's confirmations period Any song entered must not have been entered to another song contest on BuzzJack (please remember the song contest entry histories) Any artist entered must not have an Artist Forum (Club) on BuzzJack Any song considered to have an unfair advantage over others - that may fall under traditional veto rules widely used on BuzzJack, or that is considered to have had wide exposure to BuzzJack members - may be vetoed; furthermore, any song not considered pop that could otherwise be entered to BuzzJack Song Contest, Nuggets or Club Bizarre in line with other genres may be vetoed Any artist is entitled to one entry per contest; this will be on a first come, first served basis Once you have found your entry, please confirm it using this link You have one week to confirm your entries, until Friday 21st August 23:59 (though I'm open to a weekend extension if people feel they need it), voting thread will follow shortly after this. Good luck x Uploading Attachment...

Only winning 63-26 is still embarassing (and I imagine that's the highest Binface has or will ever get in one of these), given there was literally no other alternative competition. I think Farage's hopes of PM are over, I've noticed most of the tabloids are turning back to the Tories now (not the least as the investigation will resume again now which if he is found guilty...he'll have to step down anyway, so God knows what the hell the point of all this was x)

Oh...yeah 😅 I think the fact they're fictional and the song's mainly in English sometimes makes me forget that x

Apologies I've been away and not able to post for most of this, so catching up a bit x I don't care much for anything below the top 20, but I do have a real soft spot for Gabriella's Power of Love. I think it works as a stripped down less grandiose complement to the original which It was weird how for a brief moment the John Lewis Christmas advert was a real moment after that with an anticipated release date, fairly big artists like Lily Allenjoining in and in some cases, number 1s. For my own tastes, I could only tolerate Gabriella, the rest were all way to saccharine, there's only so many times you can tell the same emotional Christmas story encouraging you to buy from this store before it becomes cynical, though I have no doubts they'll still try it! Most of 11-20 is mainly decent or I at least liked them at the time, though I have a particular dislike for Hall of Fame, the lyrics are extremely faux-inspirational and it gives such an arrogant, smarmy vibe with something so genetic, I didn't mind some Script songs, but this would be right down the bottom for me. Hot Right Now was a bit of a uni anthem and definitely suited Rita the best of her three number 1s this year. Part of Me I find quite overhated, I liked the follow-up Wide Awake more, but this was solid too and better than some of her other hits. Call My Name I think's held up the best of Cheryl's number 1s. Bom Bom was quite a unique novelty, not one I listen too now, but fun enough when it turns up. Gangnam Style is still pretty iconic and I love that that was the UK's first taste of South Korean pop, I'm still quite surprised there hasn't been a K-Pop number 1 since what with BTS and Blackpink and their solo members going stratospheric, maybe in time. Spectrum is my favourite to come in the top 10, I liked the original but the dance reworking I think has taken over it and the song lends itself really well to it, I was shocked it got as high as number 1 but so glad Florence managed one. Though I don't get much from Sweet Nothing even if that's a very hot take, Florence's parts are still good, but the production and breakdown is very dull. Overplay didn't admittedly help it much. Lastly, great to see One Day Like This repeaking highlighted, that song had felt like a timeless classic with an unjustly low peak for some time and I was so glad the Olympics changed that. I did enjoy The Seldom Seen Kid a lot, but I did kind of lose interest in them as a band after that. I volunteered at the Paralympics so have a lot of memories of hearing Harder Than You Think, I'm not too familiar with their depth of work but I enjoy what I know and this was a fantastic choice to use for background music.

Given some of the RIP plays I thought I’d miss, that works out well for me! (Although gutted we’ll even have to hear them ofc. </3)

I just psychically knew that the month I go for the fourth longest song, we were going to have pages of discourse about it 😎 I guess it’s a good thing no one sent Yeule’s The Things They Did for Me Out of Love at the time (y’know I have been exploring her discography…)

Uses Generative AI as well, if we needed any more reason to flush this turd x

Congrats Dan! That always seemed like a likely winner, was a huge standout, the whole of the top 3 made my votes so very good stuff! Thanks for all who voted *teeth, I knew this one would be too much of an acquired taste to trouble the upper reaches, but top 20’s not too bad a finish given how badly it was doing at the start, it was a random pick that came up on my playlist a while back, but it was such an immersive and lush listen, even if it never really changed up much, that it stuck with me. Thanks to Allstar for hosting!

A very bland, uninspiring list, a lot of these feel like they’re there just on name alone, I really don’t think this reflects the most culturally and critically acclaimed music of the last 12 months as a whole, a great feat for Jade though.

Saw this today as well (morning screening was probably the only one I could find that wasn't packed out!), and it's really impressive, see it on the biggest screen possible if you can, it's truly a film that just enriches all your senses in a great way. Truly a masterpiece of filmmaking even for Nolan, having just read the book, it did really enhance it and it was wonderful seeing things like the cyclops, underworld and sirens come to life, and the additions were interesting and took the themes a bit further than the text was known for. One thing I have been seeing criticised that I did agree was that the dialogue did feel a bit too modern, I wish they'd not used 'dad' in particular, it took me out of it a bit and felt like a standard historical epic, which yes I know it is but for the original one of these, I'd have wanted it to stand out more! Still, that time flew by, highly recommended.

Prince - When Doves Cry Laura Branigan - Self Control George Michael - Careless Whisper Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters Malcolm McLaren - Madam Butterfly (Un Bel Di Vedremo) Malcolm McLaren was a fantastic discovery! Couldn't quite find room for Master and Servant, Dr Beat and Big in Japan

I enjoyed this quite a bit, Diane Morgan can read a whole page of terms and conditions and I'd laugh so that helps, but she's on really unique form here and Sue Johnston gives them a lot to work with. I enjoyed the older side characters, but agree Michael and Renee didn't really add much apart from being really unlikeable and not very interesting to watch, and I saw both their eventual endpoints predictable.

Oh that is a fantastic outcome, my 18 winning! <3 Congrats Harve, I only saw the discussion about it today and would've never thought it could win, it's my favourite discovery in BJSC in a long time and I really must check out the full album. Some of my big pointers from Sovarasma, Jadakissnia, Eledan and Lentyll in the top 10 too is great to see. I didn't like this one as much as her last entry, but quite neat that Dani Sylvia got another 2nd place right after her last one. 33rd for a sixth (!) time it is then, again I knew this one could well get lost in the fray so I'm just glad it wasn't lower, thanks to all who voted, especially @Colm for that top pointer <3 If you don't already know them and liked this one, I would also recommend Sail and Find Love which were new releases this year (this one is an older track finally made available on streaming from their compilation of non-singles and fan favourites From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth, which was a pretty good introduction to them for me x). Thank you Addy, always a great flight experience! Unusually for me, I do actually have a song lined up for next time and it's got a familiar Terra Avium style to it, so let's see if it can break my middling streak x

I knew Skall would be a big beneficiary of that, would love if it could hold on <3

Wasn't totally sure I'd pass 100 prior to the 18s but I'll take it (although I'll be pleasantly surprised if I get more than one)

I guess it doesn't mean much depending on the 18s, but Sovarasma would certainly be a great turn out for the books if it were to win!

It was something of a surprise that I managed to qualify so I am bracing myself for a pretty low finish but thank you to the few of you so far that have not made it a total disaster! No spoilers for my 18 but the scoreboard is looking pretty good right now x

I think that feels like a natural place to end the speculation 😎

RIP & Young aren't bad, but very, very of their time and not really held up, especially with those Calvin Harris style drops and dubstep that seemed to permeate most dance songs around that time (add in a very pointless Nneka sample). Domino is also pretty dated and generic, but I did grow to quite like it at the time and her vocals are palatable on this one unlike some others from her, I have quite a distinct memory of using the intro music in one of my film projects at uni, and then combining it with Chemical Brothers' Setting Sun to reflect a sudden mood change, seamless x

I can literally only do tomorrow so another vote for that!

Yeah, the likes Ariana and Olivia are well established stars with established fanbases that have arguably already peaked commercially, so while they were guaranteed initial success, you can't always capture the same lightning in a bottle after so many times, my point is there are no newer artists breaking through having that killer breakthrough to be on the same level like there have been in previous years, it feels like it's gradually stagnated since 2024 where I would now struggle to name any defining songs and artists of 2026 that were unique to this year.

I think along with the drastic changes to the industry meaning the charts are being dominated by select artists, social media and streaming giants which has never been seen before, I just think it's too hard for new artists to break through with the economy as it is and cost of living skyrocketing, record labels are at risk of going bust if they don't get results and streaming services don't half take advantage of smaller artists, and that's not even taking AI into the equation. Unless you've got industry connections, are a highly marketable prospect or managed to build a small following, it's really hard for up and coming artists. The live/touring circuit is more likely where a lot of the money is these days. I suppose 2026 has lacked a huge undeniable pop culture moment like Brat, K-Pop Demon Hunters etc. or headline-grabbing phenomenon artists like Sabrina Carpenter or Chappell Roan, Could still happen I guess, these things do tend to take us all by surprise.