Chez Wombat

I knew DR Congo would be tricky, this is giving the same vibes as the Ghana game except we're further behind... Although tbf, an incredible performance from the goalkeeper, a lot of those were heading in.

And like magic, the other dubstep song I was referring to shows up! Definitely a contender of one of the most forgettable number 1s in terms of how it's held up, chart run and completely taking advantage of a summer lull, however I love it and it would be right near the top for me. Their earlier singles, Guilt and Me & You were a lot better, but this had many of those same elements with the banging production and great urgent vocals, as well as a wonderful breakdown at the finish. It's genre might have dated, but it still sounds fantastic.

Wow at Germany, though at the same time I'm almost not surprised as they constantly seem to underperform since their win, also with the way the draw went, it did seem they would've been out for sure against France next round (watch Sweden get through now I've said that x). German economist Joachim Klement who used a mathematical model to predict the outcome of the world cup and accidentally was completely spot on in predicting the winners of the last three tournaments predicted Netherlands this year...given he himself knew it was irrational, he'll probably be very pleased x

Louder is a great throwback to the dubstep sound that was in vogue for a while in that year, I did prefer DJ Fresh's other follow-ups to this one, but it was a decent number one. I'm pleasantly surprised the other dubstep number 1 hasn't come yet as that's one of my favourites x Don't have as much fondness for Stay Awake as I do his other number 1, and was one of many flash in the pan number 1s at the time getting there on front-loaded name power alone, but it is fairly unique at the top in terms of style, 'stick around like Elastoplast' is a lyric for the ages as well x I have a lot of nostalgic fondness of What Makes You Beautiful, it was played in a lot of clubs at uni and almost everyone was singing along with it, I think they did really good to produce a really likeable, anthemic song as their debut, I think that's honestly the only one I really rate from them outside Night Changes, though of course, some great records came from them solo x

I hadn't noticed Lady In Red was yet to come! It doesn't offend me tbh, though it's a little earnest for something so corny and I do prefer some other 80s ballads. Not a whole lot else I have a lot to say about so far, Don't Leave Me This Way is a pretty good cover though not a big favourite.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again Echo And The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me Nena - 99 Red Balloons Very strong start to the year indeed x

08 Girls Aloud - Biology 05 Sugababes - Red Dress 11 Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For? 07 The Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha (feat. Busta Rhymes) 08 Charlotte Church - Crazy Chick 10 Britney Spears - Toxic 04 Ashlee Simpson - Boyfriend 08 P!nk - Trouble 07 t.A.T.u. - All About Us 07 Rachel Stevens - Some Girls 06 Atomic Kitten - The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling) 03 Louise - Pandora's Kiss 05 Dannii Minogue & The Soul Seekerz - Perfection 07 Mis-teeq - Can't Get It Back 05 Lindsay Lohan - Over 09 Nelly Furtado - Turn Off the Light 06 Ciara - Goodies (feat. Petey Pablo) 09 Amerie - 1 Thing 08 Rihanna - Pon De Replay Much better than the last one!

That's amazing for Cape Verde, it's always lovely when you get these underdog stories from smaller countries, Argentina look like a bit of a challenge for that to continue to say the least, but if anyone can surprise, it's them!

Congrats Jim on a first BJSC related win! Got 8 points from me, a really lovely entry and beyond anything I expected from that country, and great to also see my 18 in 2nd and a very inspired top end to the scoreboard. I also voted for four more of that top 10 and Uruguay and Turkiye were in my commiserations, I'll take avoiding the bottom 10 as it was a very low-key song that might have had limited appeal, I'd heard Natalia LaFourcade's name before but had never checked her material out properly and I've pleased to have found another Latin artist to explore more after belatedly going through ROSALIA's discography as well x (edit: and I got an 18 yay x) Many thanks Dan, always a great spin-off and loved the results format!

Brazil was my 18, wonderful to see that do so well *. Quite surprised to see Qatar still in the running, but this is one time I will support them to win!

Oops, last in the group and only just scraping that Round of 32 place ☠️ Portugal are way too low, that was my 13!

Swagger Jagger is terrible but in quite a way it's difficult to not admire it, it's quite unfathomable as a concept yet it's just so audacious and bizarre that I can't dislike it. She was a total one trick pony, but she was an entertaining X Factor contestant on a huge year for the show and her debut was a song suitable of her divisive style on the show. Party Rock Anthem is an absolute time capsule and I think the ultimate example of that dance-pop banger sound that was popular in the mid to late download era, it doesn't hold up great, but it's classic brainless fun.

Well it was destiny we'd get another group stage draw! Just wasn't the team we expected it to be x Ghana played exactly the right strategy and England just couldn't break through, a contrast to last week really where both teams went on the attack, I'm sure Panama will be a bit easier, but a bit of a reality check to remind us some things don't change!

A perfect strategy from Ghana so far tbf, shame it's so boring to watch x Let's hope Tuchel has another firm word with them!

Just saw it, I think it was pretty entertaining and very well made as per usual for Spielberg, Emily Blunt in particular was fantastic and the score was typically beautiful. Definitely dragged a bit in places and I think the powers the main duo had were very woolly and the plot quite jumbled and overstuffed. The ending is definitely has that typical Spielberg wow factor and incredibly shot for the recorded footage in particular, but I'm not sure it actually says that much, especially about Extra Terrestrial life. He was clearly going for a Close Encounters... vibe but it felt like everything it was trying to say, has already been done.

I do think Starmer was ultimately fine and in no way deserved to have that short a tenure, he was boring and charisma-free but did at least want to get on with the job and made some positive differences that were sadly just not made clear enough and don't make a good headline (Renters Rights, Train Nationalisation etc.), but a boring centrist in this divided landscape thirsty for drama in politics is never going to last, his PR and doom and gloom message was just terrible, and as well documented, constantly trying to pander to people that will never vote for him was frustrating and I'd have really struggled to support him at an election. It is certainly speaking for the divided and volatile nature of politics that it's been a decade since the PM served their full term (Cameron's first one anyway), it just seems like we want a circus and soundbites rather than people that can just get on with it cos it doesn't sell papers. I would hope Burnham can use his popularity with Labour and with the public to turn public opinion away from Reform, but either way, it's a big gamble for Labour which in the immediate sense, just makes them look like the chopping and changing that the last government did.

I'd have Boris Gardiner and Nick Berry below the two novelty ones, being boring is far more of a crime than being a tacky novelty song for me, I do quite like the piano in the latter but the former I am struggling to remember literally anything about.

I'm still not convinced the press won't just do exactly the same with Burnham as they did with Starmer and he'll be in 'crisis' one year from now, but realistically Starmer's been a dead man walking for a long time now and we would've been walking into a Reform majority, so a leader that's actually popular with the public can't be a bad thing.

Changed The Way You Kiss Me is my favourite to drop out so far and would be a lot closer to my top 10, there were a lot of repetitive sounds in the 'club banger' era, but this electro house-rap mix up did sound refreshingly different to that bog standard pop-dance sound that most of the chart toppers had. I have quite a bit of time for Example's first few years, though he did fall off a bit after this and he is very much of that time. My personal favourite is the underrated Watch the Sun Come Up which introduced me to him. Loca People is a charming quirk of the time, completely dated now and I'd imagine got there purely based on the novelty factor of someone swearing, but a fun one to revisit. Can't say there's much else I care for so far, Glad You Came is OK, but it never was a favourite, Lose My Mind and Gold Forever (which does feel quite poignant after Tom's death) are much better.

I am not used to seeing England play that interestingly, if this is what Tuchel's got in store, then I'm a bit more hopeful! Croatia were always going to be a hard one, and they played really well and certainly got the better of England a few times in that first half, but England definitely came back more dominant in the second half, let's keep that up lads! Also, this is the first match I've seen, hydration breaks? Bloody American TV and their need for commercials x

I have an idea of what your number 1 will be, and if so, it would be the same for me so let's see x The late 80s number 1s were a bit patchy, but I do agree 1986 still had quite a good variety. I can't hate The Chicken Song as it is, perhaps by design, infuriatingly catchy and is such a uniquely British novelty with iconic lyrics, even though it has become the very thing it mocks. There's a certainly few here I'd place below it.

Mine's FriendlyOwl 🦉 I mainly watch any new releases that interest me but I will watch random assorted classics as well, maybe some day I'll try and rate every film I've ever seen before I got letterboxd but it may take a while!

This is enough money to eradicate poverty in some parts of the world and go a good distance towards closing the wealth gap at least temporarily, and he instead chooses to champion far right groups, incite violence and reposting stills from a Batman movie and framing it as immigrants causing riots. Scumbag, it is a sad picture of the world we live in that this is what gets you rich.

I think working with teenagers day to day, I do feel more supportive of this than most in here, I see in action every day that social media can be extremely harmful to crucial general development and mental health. When you are below 16, you haven't yet fully developed social and critical thinking skills and these can be exploited heavily by the algorithm and make you particularly vulnerable to misinformation and being led down the wrong paths, as well as just a general disengagement with the world around you. I've seen the worst of it in action and it genuinely can ruin family lives. Having said that, I do agree that it is just a policy that's designed to look good and generate headlines while not actually challenging the big tech firms to actually regulate their platforms, putting it in action effectively in a way that makes a positive difference for children is another thing entirely and one I'm not convinced this government has the ability to deliver.

Roland Rat Superstar! - Rat Rapping (Brilliant Isn't It)* Dennis Waterman And George Cole - What Are We Gonna Get 'Er Indoors* Frank Kelly - Christmas Countdown Jingle Belles - Christmas Spectre* Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees - Singalong-A-Santa Again* But I guess these ones are also kinda good x Michael Jackson - Thriller Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now The Smiths - This Charming Man The Flying Pickets - Only You The Pretenders - 2000 Miles xx Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart