Chez Wombat

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.

Angela Raynor back as housing secretary! That's a pretty bold move given the scrutiny she might face, but I'm glad to see it as she was a wonderful communicator with some good ideas, that 'scandal' feels a bit of a storm in a teacup in retrospect given how some MPs stayed on for much worse. Early days, but not a bad looking cabinet overall, very pleased to see the back of Reeves and Lammy and I guess Healey is a wait-and-see type of choice, Miliband would've been a target in that position right from the start. I'm not fully convinced on Burnham yet (the North Sea drilling is a really disappointing start) as it all seems a bit idealist without a clear plan, but he seems to have the right priorities, the impractical digital ID being scrapped is a good start. Certainly got faith he can manage PR a bit better than Starmer did.

Well thank the lord for Spain! An awful final and it should've been a higher victory margin, but utterly disgraceful and bad faith play from Argentina throughout. I don't think that first goal should've been disallowed either as there wasn't much of a foul. Tough to see who could beat Spain going forward, particularly not next world cup where they're part hosts, they seem to have the patience and clinical skills in attack and defence that no other team seems to match.

I guess when you combine clinical, patient play with a team that parks the bus until the final minutes when they're behind, it creates the cure for insomnia x I'll take anything for this not to go to extra time atm I missed the halftime show as I was taking out my bins and washing dishes, and I am very proud of that choice, can we please not with that Superbowl nonsense x

Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes Nik Kershaw - I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me Grandmaster And Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Do It) Bruce, Pointer Sisters, Cyndi and Sister Sledge also close, pretty good week x

I take back what I said about the third place being scrapped It may not have come home but it came third at least x Ten goals is just insane!

I'm not watching but...wow! France must be on snooze mode :') Fairly encouraging, even though it's a glorified friendly match that should absolutely be scrapped as there is no prestige attached to it at all.

Biology isn't my absolute favourite Girls Aloud song, but definitely appreciate its innovative structure and classic Xenomania sound. What You Waiting For is such a wonderful pop song, so immediately striking, unique and filled with personality, it was everything you'd hope for from as unique a frontwoman as Gwen (although I knew her solo before I knew she was in No Doubt so can't fully comment on expectations that led up to that, ha x) But Toxic is a worthy winner indeed, not much else I can add about it, one of the undisputed all time great pop songs (or at least I thought undisputed until I saw Jim's score :o) and was always going to slay competition here. Thanks Jade for running these, I never bought these albums, but it's been nice to relive some great female pop moments of the 2000s and the commentary on each song has been really interesting to read.

I haven't seen this yet as every screening is rammed (and BFI IMAX is booked out until next month!), and I'd like to finish reading the original text first (Fittingly, I'm reading the Emily Wilson translation which Nolan used himself as a basis for the dialogue), but do discuss if you have seen it x

If we've got a thread for Cheetah Girls 4, we should probably have one of this too x Christopher Nolan's adaptation of the Greek epic poem that has become one of the most widely studies, recognisable and influential works in Western literature. Released yesterday, it's already looking at some very good numbers. There has been a few controversies surrounding this film and the trailers received quite a lot of backlash for the dialogue, design and casting not reflecting the original source material and it generally looking a bit too Hollywood-ised. Casting of black and a trans actors has sadly led to the usual racist/bigoted grifters also speaking out against it. However, it hasn't hurt the film, reviews are absolutely glowing and it's looking like a very strong opening (not helped by there being very little out to challenge it!).

I agree it's sad that Chris Brown has such a devoted fanbase and career when he's shown time and time again he's a terrible person, I can usually separate art and artist but fortunately here, there's no need to as most of his music is atrocious anyway! Turn Up The Music is so generic and unoriginal, feels like it was one that only got there by chance and I'd be surprised if even his fans hold it up as a classic these days.

Let's not forget that Three Lions was released the year of Euro 1996, not the world cup! I'd say there is still prestige attached to that x

Pretty sure I've read his contract has been renewed for that (unless he steps down cos everyone starts hating him after this lol)

Yeah, sadly this is the same mistake we were pulling throughout the Southgate era with the finals, it might have worked with Mexico, but you simply cannot park the bus with a one goal lead on a team like Argentina, who have gone from 2-0 down to 3-2 in one of their past matches. They were always going to find a way if we stuck to defence and it was naive to think otherwise. Some dirty tactics in the first half aside, I think Argentina played much better in that second half and deserved to win, I still want Spain to decimate them though, they just seem so much more effortless. I'm sure they'll doubtless be pages of criticism, but I think we've actually done pretty well, hit and miss to say the least but our first loss was to a team ranked ahead of us just like the last world cup, I don't think that's anything to be ashamed of and with some finetuning, I think Tuchel can have a good run, Euro 2028 is SURELY our best chance yet being a home tournament?

Yeah, you can never sit back with the world champions, take notes x

The caginess of this match is ridiculous, can't stand these South American 'Dark Art's tactics x

1 Thing is a classic, incredible production and chorus. I don't think I ever thought about how extremely similar Get Right sounded and that they were released around the same time (definitely the wrong one topped the chart), was interesting to read the story behind it and how there was actually something of a bidding war going on. Do enjoy Crazy Chick as well, it was on a Now album I played quite a lot at the time, quite a range going from that Avril Lavigne pop-punk style to opera x Hoping for a Gwen win from what's left, but the others are worthy of their praise too.

2012 was quite a special year for me, my first full year at university and living away from home and definitely felt like my full 'growing up' year - my main memory is of course the London Olympics, I worked as a food service assistant at the Olympics and as a volunteer Games Maker in the Paralympics and I had a wonderful time with both, as stressful as it got at times! I agree that it honestly felt like the only moment of true unity we've had as a country which feels so, so long ago today. I was still following the charts and I was getting out a lot more so do associate a lot of them with memories. Certainly a bit overstuffed overall in terms of number 1s though, some of them classics but not all have aged well. Funnily enough you should say that commercial radio drove you mad at work and made you hate some songs as that's true for me next year but we'll get to that! I certainly wouldn't rank Candy last here, but I can't really come to it's defence either, I don't really have any strong feelings towards it one way or the other and wouldn't really come back to it at all these days, though I imagine hearing it so much would make me hate it. It was probably at it's best from a chart stats perspective seeing Robbie getting a number 1 as late as 2012, especially when his return to Take That couldn't do it, it was quite unexpected. Sing on the other hand I would certainly rank at the bottom or thereabouts - it's sweet to the point of sickening and Gary Barlow's smarm is all over this (I think he was quite desperate for a knighthood at the time), I've never been a royalist and can't say I really cared much for the Diamond Jubilee either, in fact I have pretty bad memories of a bad day working at an event there which doesn't help the song! I'm sure they'll be a lot more I agree with you on, looking forward to it x

Glad to see Moana underperform (although I agree it could well do better with the summer holidays coming up a bit like Mufasa did), that goes to new levels of pointless as well as a shameless money-grab for Dwayne Johnson given the film's not even ten years old and had a sequel just a few years ago! Intrigued for the numbers for The Odyssey, I can't really call it, early critical responses seem to be positive (at least ahead of the embargo tomorrow) but the trailers sparked a hell of a lot of negativity (some of it the usual racist/sexist trash but some I do kind of get, I really hope it's better than that suggests).

So this could potentially be a rematch of Euro 2024 for the final and World Cup 2022 for the third place play-off!