Chez Wombat

01; Can't Get You Out Of My Head -x- 02; I Should Be So Lucky 03; Slow 04; Spinning Around -x- 05; Especially For You 06; Hand On Your Heart -x- 07; XMAS 08; Tears On My Pillow I agree her number 2s are much better overall, Can't Get You... is the only one I really like.

Ooh yes, that is a really good set of songs, that second half is amazing <3 Vengaboys a fairly easy first pick x

I'm like Jade in that I have near encyclopaedic knowledge of my first few years in the contest (it was back in the days of MP3s so still have a lot of them in my library), that gradually tapered off and now, with contests coming so quickly and having to balance day to day adult life around it, I forget the majority of songs after the contest is finished, even those I pointed, though I do store my own entries on a playlist so I never forget them.

With Every Heartbeat definitely my number 1 of the year too, it was quite remarkable seeing a song like that get to number 1, I didn't really know who she was at the time and the song came out of nowhere, but I do remember it getting a lot of plays on the music channels and the memorable video really stuck with me. Over time, I've definitely grown to appreciate the raw emotion, vulnerability and heartbreak she conveys and the shimmering production throughout culminating with strings and then the heartbeat like synth outro, it's wonderfully structured. She'd do this again with Dancing On My Own a few years later, but it's an excellent example of dance pop with real emotion. Mika definitely felt like a name that was everywhere at the time (when Sound Of... actually meant something and didn't just use previous chart success as a deciding factor), I did get a bit sick of his other songs, but Grace Kelly still really works, conveys his very quirky style well and the chorus is a hell of an earworm.

Quite strange that the traitors looked utterly hopeless a week ago and now look in a very strong position. A real shame to lose Jessie, definitely the best faithful this year after Harriet totally imploded, but definitely the right thing to do as she'd have worked up enough for support for Stephen eventually. Really quite surprising he didn't pick up a single vote, and Rachel could easily take the second dagger and this lot don't seem to be able to know any better. Hopefully can go down to the wire (and please not completely destroying the tension like last year's Seer) I do love how Roxy is just always one step away from actually being right and then falters again, worst faithful this year surely unless there's a last minute escalation x

Mellow Yellow's a real classic, shame to see that so low down. Only other of my votes to drop so far is Peanut Butter Jelly, which is still a lot of fun but I'll give you that it hasn't dated the best.

7. Maria Somerville - Projections I technically discovered this at the tail end of 2024, but it still was a great soundtrack to the dark, grey days in the following January. I had never heard of this artist prior to this year so was very pleased to discover another shoegaze/post-punk/dreampop singer-songwriter. It took me until the end of the year to check out the parent album, Luster, but it was worth the wait with it's atmospheric and dreamy nature in much the same way as classic 90s dreampop from Cocteau Twins. Projections is my favourite though, an unfortunate BJSC flop, it has nonetheless stuck with me. Her vocals are soft on this but they are masterful at conveying a mood, with minimal backing and an ambient soundscape with light guitars, it is these alone that convey the sense of longing and the dream-like feel of the song. It's really quite striking and I would highly recommend the album if you like this one x

8. Addison Rae - Headphones On I'm here and there with these young hyped Influencer/Tik Tok, it's not a sphere I'm fully engaged with and sometimes I feel a bit like an old man yelling at a cloud, but I can definitely appreciate when some genuine talent shines through and Addison Rae's debut was a fantastic, diverse pop album with several atmospheric gems, but I wouldn't have checked it out if it weren't for this one. A gorgeous R'n'B/electronic song with Trip Hop influences, the song describes the universal remedy of music as an escape from her problems, you certainly feel the dark and vulnerable undertones to the suffering she must be facing yet the soothing vibe and relaxing feel of the instrumental reflects that joy that comes from music and it really is a comforting track for me as well, and it's aided by a beautifully realised Icelandic-set video which has a clever play on double meaning and music transporting you somewhere else. The whole package could easily fit on a 90s Bjork or Madonna album so...what's not to like x

For all Harriet did there, there still doesn't seem to be a lot of suspicion on Rachel. We'll see if that big stunt was worth it in the long run, but it was certainly fun to watch. Will definitely miss her, but if you have to go, that's certain going out in a blaze of glory and she was absolutely going for the slaughter from the minute she was at breakfast, far, far too direct and smart to last long in the game. I'd have recruited given there was uncertainty with the shields, quite a risky move to murder.

9. Sudan Archives – DEAD I really liked what I heard of violinist turned singer Sudan Archives, but this year has been her most in element and The BPM was a fantastic album. The first track on this is still my favourite, opening with her trademark violins, DEAD evolves into something much more as the club beats kick in throwing us into something more intense, as she ponders over which self she is opening up, the main refrain of 'Hello, It's Me' is a gateway to the song embracing high NRG club beats combined with violins to create a great disco soundscape as the tracks fades, make no mistake, this is new Sudan Archives and The BPM fulyl embracing it with it's eclectic style and merging of traditional and modern dance genres and as an introduction to that era, DEAD makes an incredibly striking and confident first impression.

10. Future Utopia feat. Lava La Rue - The Pleasure Trap I think I heard this precisely once on early morning 6Music, so it's a good thing I remembered it as it turned out to be one of my biggest growers of the year. The Pleasure Trap as a concept is a theory for being caught in the same repetitive habits in pursuit of short term comfort, joy that is ultimately meaningless and how companies can sell you things you ultimately don't 'need' in a psychological sense. It's a problem that can hit close to home for me and this melancholy, beautifully produced dance song explores it in a great way. Starting with a single guitar line and harsh, rough vocals about being caught in the pleasure trap, the production slowly blossoms as the synths join in before the singer pleads distortingly to 'take the pain away' and Lava La Rue's sensual, soft vocals come in reassuring him to 'find your healer, comfort seeker', the synths continue to fly high as the chorus repeats, with that same anguished cry and the empty reassurances, it feels very comforting and lush to listen to, but it's masking a darker truth. The video's animated loop also emphasises the repetitive nature of the Pleasure Trap. I've not seen an example this year of how music, visuals and build-up and theme blur so well together and it really kept me coming back, I was hesitant to send it to BJSC as I wasn't sure how well they would take to a more low-key sound, but I was really pleased to see it do decently and itcontinued to be a staple of my listening last year.

Good choice of number 1, it's a classic, over the top ballad, much like Holding Out for a Hero, and the video adds a bizarre feel that makes it a unique package. I quite like Let's Dance, but it isn't that high up my Bowie essentials list, I first knew it through Craig David's sampling on it on his 2007 single Hot Stuff *__ Thanks for running this!

Chas and Dave getting a point 🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

The Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird The Clash - Rock The Casbah Yazoo - Don't Go Dexys Midnight Runners And The Emerald Express - Come On Eileen The way three of these were played in a row x Videoteque and Space Age Love Song also nice

Lot of love for Men at Work, that would be quite high up for me too. Just a very addictive song, a lot of cultural references from the time haven't aged the best, but this one still holds up. Every Breath You Take is a classic too, first knew about it through the (now tainted) Puff Daddy version, the original is certainly very dark but fit the isolated mood of Synchronicity well when the band were in a bad place. Billie Jean would definitely be lot higher for me, MJ himself is a question mark these days, but most of Thriller remains absolutely timeless and this is a good candidate for his best song. The others in the top 10 aren't big favourites, I do have a soft spot for the Phil Collins cover, he certainly sells it enthusiastically even if it's not quite as smooth as the original.

30; XTM & DJ Chucky feat. Annia – Fly on the Wings of Love 29; Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five – The Message 28; Reverend and the Makers – Heavyweight Champion of the World 27; Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Enola Gay (my actual favourite, but it'll make it through no problem) 26; Visage – Fade to Grey 25; Eagles – Hotel California 24; Linkin Park – In the End 23; Oasis - Live Forever 22; Stone Roses – Fools Gold/What the World Is Waiting For 21; House of Pain – Jump Around / Top O' the Morning to Ya 20; Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends 19; The Beatles – Yesterday 18; Coldplay – Violet Hill 17; Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal 16; Robyn – Dancing on My Own 15; Amy Winehouse – Back to Black 14; Blink 182 – I Miss You 13; The Veronicas – Untouched 12; Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell 11; Donovan – Mellow Yellow 10; Katrina and the Waves – Walking on Sunshine 09; Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We're Goin' Down 08; Nero – Guilt 07; Muse – Time Is Running Out 06; The Pogues & The Dubliners – The Irish Rover 05; The Stranglers – Peaches 04; Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 03; Galantis - Peanut Butter Jelly 02; Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine 01; Taylor Swift feat. Bon Ever – Exile

No Sham Rock - Tell Me Ma means this is an invalid representation I'm afraid x (I kid, good work, Disc 2 looks great)

Timbaland definitely was the man of the moment in 2007, his style is definitely of it's time but it was pretty distinctive at the time. Give It To Me was enjoyably scathing, but I was sad it beat Stop Me which was a wonderfully produced mash-up. I did like The Way I Are a lot more, the production on that still holds up, the grammar annoys me a bit and the fact I cannot find a reason why it was used, but I can look past it x About You Now did get very overplayed and isn't in the same league as their Xenomania stuff, but is a very nice and anthemic pop song and certainly much better than what came after. I was really happy to see the Kaisers get a number 1, but this does seem like more of a response to the hype built in their first era rather than a number 1 that reflects their best work, I don't go back to it much compared to their Employment era. Beautiful Liar was decent, but I always thought it could've been more with the names involved, I think I prefer the Freemasons remix more. I was really sad it beat both Arctics and easily the Manic Street Preachers' best moment of the decade. Shine will just always be the Morrisons song for me, but it's kinda charming and do always like Mark taking the reigns.

BBC Sound Of have gone for someone that's already had commercial success? Shocked I tell thee x I did think Geese may have done a bit better than that.

And before this I thought Matthew would be an easy one to murder and wasn't adding much! Great stuff, I think they honestly could do worse than take him up on that, he's not got any suspicion on him and would get rid of a very strong faithful in Jessie. Although they'll need to deal with Harriet, the only one that saw through that Traitor vs Traitor moment. No surprise at that banishment, Fiona made wonderful TV, but she'd definitely let it go to her head too much and the act last night was really bizarre and showed her to be quite mean-spirited.

Ha, I actually considered Headphones On, but couldn't quite bring myself to confirm a UK hit (albeit a smaller one than I thought, I had it in my mind that this was a top 10...what on Earth at this only reaching #24?!), hype to that nonetheless, and CMAT is a great choice too, my favourite from the album. Not sure I've heard any of the others although the names look familiar (I think I checked out Fleeting based on it being confirmed 50 times but I've forgotten how it goes oop x)

This is what I thought, but with Reece not mentioning Rachel and Steven (insert singer etc.) at the portrait, clearly some things are staying hidden for drama purposes! The Traitors launching a civil war was pretty amazing to watch, but yeah I can't see how this is a good gameplan for either Rachel or Fiona and even if they try to bury it, the others have got to sense something's up after that. With the only other one Stephen who's clearly a nervous wreck on borrowed time, they are not looking the strongest. Their best bet at the moment would be to recruit Jessie.

Sorry I haven't been commenting here but I am reading, this basically reads just like my music taste in 2003-05 so a lot of really great moments, and I do still really enjoy them even if just for nostalgia (Lostprophets aside for, y'know, reasons x) I think these are my absolute favourites that have come so far: 2003 Outkast - Hey Ya! Coldplay - Clocks Foo Fighters - Times Like These The White Stripes - 7 Nation Army Linkin Park - Numb Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather For Ducks (I didn't know this at the time, but it's such a unique, quirky hit) Junior Senior - Move Your Feet (an all time favourite <3) Muse - Hysteria (My favourite song from them, wishing they were this good nowadays) 2004 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out blink-182 - I Miss You Green Day - American Idiot (Amazing era, both and Boulevard, a timeless work) The Killers - All These Things That I've Done (very underrated these days, Hot Fuss had loads of classics) Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams The Killers - Mr Brightside Keane - Somewhere Only We Know The Streets - Fit But You Know It Snow Patrol - Spitting Games U2 - Vertigo Scissor Sisters, Killers x2, Chemical Brothers and Oasis are my favourites from 05 so far, the latter was the first song I remember hearing from them which is strange given it is quite distinct from the rest of their back catalogue. Their 2000s era wasn't the best, but this was a standout and agree that it showed they could still be innovative.

An excellent top 10 indeed. I did want to reward #3s that peaked there for the most part so put a lot of number 1s/2s lower, although I'll never qualm at Pogues getting top 10 (and beating Mariah and Wham as they should x), pleased to see the choice of Leona #3 though as I'm really not a fan of the other two! Shame One of Us couldn't quite make the top 10, also a lot of love for Final Countdown, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling and Muller yogurt classic, Ain't Got No (I Got Life) x

Ooh I was actually right about the Secret Traitor! Good choice, she's clearly loving it and seems a bit of a livewire compared to the other two which should create some interesting tensions between them. I don't understand any Reece didn't say anything about the poster given he was literally with Rachel and Steven when they told him to go away, I'm assuming it's an editing choice x