Chez Wombat

Congrats Doctor Blind! Was my ten pointer and a very worthy winner, I voted for 2nd and 3rd too and happy to see my 12 finish 5th after falling back a bit briefly, well done for being me Oh dear, I am definitely in my flop era for anonymous song contests I was actually hopeful that it wouldn't fade into the background after the positive Synctube reaction, but turns out that translated to only small points to nothing even from people that said they liked it -___ Ah well, in a theme like this I'm taking it as a sign it was too out there and thus fitting the theme the best B-) Thanks Leww for a great contest!

Antifate was a potential of mine for BJSC that I just never got round to sending so I was pleased for a theme like this so that I can finally try it. Has a wonderful atmosphere with the changes of style and abrupt changes in tone...although now I'm thinking it would've better in BJSC when the surrounding entries are less weird :') Whoever sent Christopher Chaplin did a very good job at masquerading as me, would make an amazing winner <3

Hope you all enjoy my first ever foray into hip hop/rap this month (if not, it's never happening again x), I'm separated from pretty much all of my usual crowd, but then this is a different sound for me so who knows. The brutal lyrics, Lynchian references and murky atmosphere really stood out to me. I'm familiar with Isabella Lovestory, but not this song yet, I have loved her material this year though so more good stuff from the host x

I think this ranking is about right so far (I guess that's not too surprising given I was one of just four voters oops x) - Both finales let the seasons down, as I documented in Joseph's thread, and the others, the obvious duff Space Babies aside, were all decent but missing something that made them great, Boom did have a great concept and start, but the ending was so cheesy and convoluted, I had to deduct it points. Now from the top 6, I think we're getting somewhere. Dot and Bubble is really good, I mean it is essentially Black Mirror, but it feels the most contemporary and challenging to the usual message of Doctor Who it's been in a while, there are flaws, but they seem intentional and add to the overall narrative. Lux was a really clever episode as well, even if I do wish there was more they could've done with breaking the fourth wall.

I have also grown to appreciate the Tears for Fears original of Mad World a lot more after initially being a bit confused by it knowing the stripped version better, both versions are still fantastic though and Michael Andrews' version really brings the stark, gloomy reality of the song to life, in contrast to the chaotic and enigmatic sound of the original. Most of these stripped cover versions are pointless, but this is an exception, I think it would rank 2nd for me overall (my favourite is pleasingly still to come x), and of course appreciate the contrast of the Christmas top 2, in what was sadly probably the last fully organic Christmas chart battle. Enjoy everything else in the top 10 too so far, Beautiful is a really strong moment from Christina and continued her sound maturing after Dirrty.

Oh I was sure you weren’t going to count Flo Rida as he wasn’t actually credited on the song, I would’ve gone with him otherwise, blast x

You all BETTER NOT touch Our Velocity until at least round 8 xx

Robbed of a chance to have two winning artists in a row I sent first what with Night Tapes and now James K Understandable veto, but the album is great <3

I did really like the first movie and it's quite nostalgic, even when the show itself was fading in quality not sure how I feel about one now the show's at least twenty years past it's best, would be quite the miracle if it were to match the first one x

Why can I never get this game right? :'(

Visage - Fade To Grey Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight Blondie - Rapture Ultravox - Vienna Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime These are the only 5 here I'd give 9-10/10 to so it worked out well in that sense, but some of these are amongst my favourites of the whole decade, which feels a lot for one week! Scary Monsters... and That's Entertainment got really unlucky here.

The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death - Most of the other problems of the next season finale are also present here, it's a shame as the first part is well done and left a great cliffhanger with a lot of tension, but the second part is a hell of a whimper. I agree pretty much with all problems stated, and I still maintain that if Russell wanted to appear clever with this twist, he should've made it so it makes sense, like how she makes it snow when she's around or the fact the God of bloody Death couldn't see that she was just ordinary (though given he was beaten by putting him on a leash, maybe he wasn't so smart). Kerblam! - One of the better ones from this season, the robots actually looked properly threatening and it was good to see the fam actually all have things to do, they really messed up with the ending though, by making Charlie commit an act of terror, you're literally making us think the corporation was in the right, it's like Jeff Bezos suddently interfered with the writing, not good x The End of Time - A very messy and over the top finale which probably was a bit below par for Tennant's last adventure given how iconic he was and still is, RTD was running out of ideas and I just don't think we needed yet another Master story so soon after the last one but the Gallifreyans were quite fun. I did still get some enjoyment out of it and Tennant carries it well, I think the resolution with Wilf is a good conclusion to his arc of him getting too arrogant, and 'I don't want to go' still gets me :'( Joy to the World - Mixed bag, the Time hotel is a good concept but not enough is done with it and the conclusion is both rushed and feels incredibly cheesy with the star and the pandemic reference. I love the sequence with Anita and think that's one of those quieter, human moments that the show really does well, and it shows how he needs that human connection after Ruby, I'm mixed on the way he treats Joy before the climax as it did seem a bit uncharateristically cruel. Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children - Another one with a decent first part before completely quashing it in the second half, the Cybermen look good but they're completely underused, Ashed is dealt with way too quickly and insultingly given how good a character he was and the final with the Time Lord cybermen looked like cosplayers and they just pressed a button and that was that, and that's not even covering the big reveal and the exposition dump that led to it. I don't mind the concept of the Doctor having past lives that weren't known to her, but it was delivered hoakily and I feel he just abandoned it after seeing the amount of backlash, it's barely mentioned in the final episode and hasn't been called back to since! One of the many reasons why I hate the toxic discourse around the show these days. The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky - I think this one wasn't bad, it just suffered from being in a really high quality season, it just doesn't stick in my mind much, despite the fact it had UNIT. The Sontarans were well designed but not as well done as other classic villains. It's not often I say this, but Chibnall did it better as they were much better in Flux (and Strax under Moffat, bless him x) The Doctor's Wife - And I thought Daleks in Manhattan being so high was egregious!! I admittedly haven't revisited it in a while so I'm basing this on memory, but this is one of my favourite Smith stories and would be top 20 minimum for me. It gets both the horror aspects and the emotional aspects down brilliantly, I get chills watching Amy and Rory become more and more tormented by the uncle twisting reality and the graffiti scenes are terrifying. As for the Doctor and Idris, Suranne Jones was a great choice and I think it's really powerful seeing the Doctor finally talk to who will always be his companion. Moffat was born to write a story like this, for shame xx The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon - Ooft, what have you got against the Smith era? x Again, basing this on memory, but it was a great introduction to the series and set the timey-wimy stuff up very well, it would get a bit old but it certainly caught my intrigue and managed to be a great dramatic piece as well. The End of the World - Now this is one I have revisited recently along with all of S1, and while it isn't amongst the best of that season, it's a very good first space episode that I think did well showing what the current show could do with showing space that wasn't possible in the classic era. It's a simple but effective story, though it is secondary to the chemistry between the Doctor and Rose though, they are figuring each other out and the slower pace allows them to reveal more of who they are, the final scene is great as well with Rose responding to the question with wanting chips, just showed how excellently cast they both were.

30; Let's Eat Grandma - Falling Into Me 29; Billie Eilish - When the Party's Over 28; CHVRCHES (feat. Wednesday Campanella) - Out of My Head 27; Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower 26; Drake - Nice For What 25; MK - 17 24; Jade Bird - Love Has All Been Done Before 23; 1975 - Love It If We Made It 22; Mark Ronson (feat. Miley Cyrus) - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart 21; Virtual Self - Ghost Voices 20; Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper – Shallow 19; Jax Jones (feat. Ina Wroldsen) - Breathe 18; A$AP Rocky (feat. Skepta) - Praise The Lord (Da Shine) 17; Ariana Grande - Breathin 16; Marshmello & Bastille - Happier 15; Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa - One Kiss 14; Travis Scott (feat. Drake) - SICKO MODE 13; Au/Ra & CamelPhat - Panic Room 12; Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next 11; Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To Cry 10; Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes 09; Charli XCX & Troye Sivan - 1999 08; Drake - God's Plan 07; Arctic Monkeys - Four Out of Five 06; 1975 - It's Not Living (If It's Not With You) 05; Bring Me The Horizon - MANTRA 04; Silk City & Dua Lipa - Electricity 03; George Ezra - Paradise 02; Kendrick Lamar & SZA - All The Stars 01; Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin - I Like It

1995 was a lot better for #2s than #1s for the most part, but the top here shows the best of them. Dreamer is one of the best 90s dance tracks and Some Might Say is a classic Oasis track with just about all the trademarks (big guitars, nonsensical lyrics) that made them iconic. Country House is not one of the best for Blur and I do wish one of Tender or Song 2 would've made it instead, but it's still decent and reflective of a huge cultural chart battle. Gangsta's Paradise is a hip hop classic with timely themes and a great use of a sample and the two Take That number 1s were some of their best material. I think those 3, Dreamer and Some Might Say would make up my top 5 x

Ooh, I may steal that idea for my year x I think I'm in almost total agreement with your ranks, a pretty poor list of #2s and #3s but some great highlights, Move Your Feet is an all time favourite of mine and one I still think is impossible to not feel some joy when listening to, In Da Club is also a standard setter for 00s hip hop, and the top 5 number 2s are all major deserved classics. I mean we all know Fast Food Rockers are the real best, but it's hard to mere songs to compare to that xx

Great to see a retrospective BJSC thread, mine was quite the task so I always appreciate seeing others try too, and you seem to be going for quite a bit more than I was with the winner of the contest (I don't remember some from this year lol) Had to cast my mind back to see if you ever gave me top marks, but didn't have to wait long! Great to see you still like DIA. It's one of my more unique entries in the sense I've not really sent anything like it since, I was just quite captivated by the Bulgarian Futurepop tag and the distinctive array of genres.

Where is the Love would be top 10 for me, a real nostalgic favourite. I get that it's a little cheesy, but it's got a lot of heart to it which I think was needed given the context of the time. They recorded some utter dirge, but I've got a soft spot for most of their earlier stuff. I really enjoy Are You Ready for Love? too, had no idea there was a consensus of finding the chorus underwhelming, even as a kid, I was humming that x Ignition remix is/was probably his big classic and I did enjoy it, but a hard listen these days and though I try to separate art from artist in most cases, hearing what he wants to do after the party given what we know now is...nah x Got a big soft spot for Crashed the Wedding, it's ridiculous but very fun and was played a lot when I was younger. Make Luv I also remember from the time, but I don't hold as much fondness to it, it's quite repetitive and basic compared to other big dance hits this year.

Their last two eras haven't really captivated me, but so far, this might be changing my mind. Everybody Scream was wonderful and I'm really liking the slow progression and sharp lyricism of One of the Greats. Halloween release date bodes well too x

Votes in, I think most of the most out-there entries came at the start, but still a very eclectic and intriguing listen throughout (sorry if I lumped you in with the 'ordinary' pile at the listenthrough x). I have serious entry envy for my 12, really intrigued to see who sent that x

So over the last few days: He completely undermines Charlie Kirk's grieving widow who to her credit, tried to spread a message of unity to make it very clear that this is about hate and defeating the other side, as well as make a ridiculous spectacle out of what's supposed to be a memorial service. Spouts harmful misinformation about Paracetamol/Tylenol causing Autism with zero evidence and urges pregnant women not to take them, both making out that Autism is a disease that needs curing and causing medical professionals to step in to clarify that he is wrong. Uses the UN stage to spread lies about climate change being a hoax, London being under Sharia law and open borders causing the downfall of Europe. Seriously, this is deranged and deplorable even for him, What kind of world do we live in where the US president gets away with this...

Confirmed my first ever rap entry ;o (with a few more classically Terra elements x)

Well I've got thoughts on those two so won't wait until next week! Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks - Fair play, but I can't agree overall,. I didn't enjoy this at the time and time hasn't been kind to it so I'd probably rank it as one of my least favourites of RTD1, it's not so much the story, it had potential, it's more how naff it all feels, the accents are really quite atrocious, especially the girl, and Andrew Garfield hasn't quite it down yet. Both the pig slaves and the Dalek hybrid look rough and the ending is just far too quickly resolved. I will say, the Doctor's final scene with Dalek Caan is a highlight, he really has a lot of pent up anger and was all ready to kill it, something we very rarely saw. Wish World/The Reality War - I have a lot of resentment towards this atm as it's left the show in uncertainty, maybe I'll soften to it over time but I think it's a poor conclusion to a solid series, much like the season before it. Wish World is fine and does leave a decent amount of suspense, but we've seen this kind of thing done before many times (not the least on another Disney show, Wandavision) so it didn't feel that fresh. The Reality War was really where it all broke down, the Rani was a great villain but dealt with far too quickly, they DEFINITELY shouldn't have bothered with Omega given how insultingly easy he went down, and sadly the ending is just a mess with Fifteen's regeneration not making a lot of sense and having far from made his mark on the show, Belinda put in this weirdly random role as devoted mother when nothing in her character suggested that at all up to this point, no real goodbye to Ruby and a fan service- cliffhanger thrown in for good measure. It clearly went through multiple rewrites due to behind the scenes goings on and it shows. I'm just so annoyed that we've been denied a chance to close the era properly due to Disney being wishy-washy, I do hope the show can return soon as while I can see how a break may do it good and the discourse remains so toxic, I'm really not happy with it ending that way, and I think RTD having more freedom and time could be really good as parts of this era have been the best since Moffat's time. Basically, f*** Disney x

The Shakespeare Code - I do always have a soft spot for the historical episodes, this one isn't too memorable though even if I liked it at the time. Lol that line about JK from the Doctor is even more ironic given Tennant's been outspoken in trans rights (and we stan him for it ofc. x) Smile - This one was better than I expected given the concept, there's only so much you can get from Emojibots though (somehow this was a thing in 2017 x), so it's not one I've returned to. The Story & The Engine - Much like others, I do feel there was a lot of potential for this and the first part is really strong and explores black culture in a way no other iteration of Who has been allowed to. I think it's weak point comes from balancing it being a Doctor Who story and something more experimental, the play-like elements work really well, but the sci-fi part is weak and the conclusion with the CG spider is ridiculous and looks rough, I think had it leaned in more to the experimental format, it would've worked better. The Robot Revolution - A good series opener, much better at balancing silliness and threat well. The villain reveal is a little on the nose, but I like that he was finally calling out this crowd as some of these idiots have specifically targeted the show and contributed to discourse about it deteriorating. The humour of the planet name and the polish robot worked well, moreover, Belinda is one of the best introductions to a companion the show has, not enough of them are willing to stand up to the Doctor and be no-nonsense, just a shame that it was quitae literally just for one episode (more on her conclusion when we get to it, gotta say you're being generous with the last two finales, they'd have both gone for me by now) The Halloween Apocalypse - I was very intrigued by the thousand different plot strands at the time and Dan was a decent introduction despite how inconsequential he turned out to be, it's hard to judge now as I know it all mucked up for the finale (similar with Fugitive of the Judoon), but I guess on it's own, it's pretty decent. Knock Knock - I get this and Hide mixed up in my head, both decent Haunted House capers but not quite memorable enough for me to stick them as favourites.

30; Sufjan Stevens - Mystery of Love 29; Coldplay - Hypnotised 28; Wolf Alice - Don't Delete The Kisses 27; London Grammar - Big Picture 26; Dua Lipa - Be The One 25; French Montana (feat. Swae Lee) - Unforgettable 24; Kendrick Lamar - Humble. 23; St. Vincent - Masseduction 22; Disciples - On My Mind 21; Camila Cabello (feat. Young Thug) - Havana 20; Paramore - Hard Times 19; Dua Lipa - New Rules 18; Arcade Fire - Everything Now 17; Lorde - Green Light 16; Killers - The Man 15; Harry Styles - Sign of the Times 14; ZAYN (feat. Sia) - Dusk Till Dawn 13; Carly Rae Jepsen - Cut To The Feeling 12; Calvin Harris (feat. Frank Ocean & Migos) - Slide 11; Lorde - Perfect Places 10; Rita Ora - Anywhere 09; Gareth Emery & STANDERWICK (feat. HALIENE) - Saving Light 08; Clean Bandit (feat. Zara Larsson) - Symphony 07; MGMT - Little Dark Age 06; Drake - Passionfruit 05; Kygo & Selena Gomez - It Ain't Me 04; Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still 03; Calvin Harris (feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean) - Feels 02; Big Shaq - Man's Not Hot 01; Ed Sheeran - Castle on the Hill

Whisper it but I have a soft spot for Mandy, Wouldn't rank it especially high but of all the songs to cover, it suits them fairly well (my babysitter was called Mandy too so I do have distinct memories of it being sung ironically lol x)