Chez Wombat

Loved this, the trailer made this look slightly generic, but it was one of the most unsettling films of the year and still managed to get some humour in. The use of space, silence and sudden jumps was amazingly done and very impressive for a first time director to master a trope that's been so overdone. Brilliant performance from Inde Navarette as well that's surely made a name for her. The characters felt very authentic too which made it's toxic masculinity themes all the more resonant.

I guessed the -1s would've prevented Crazy in Love from winning, but 7th is quite insulting on this CD for one of the biggest classics and most influential songs of the 21st Century x (though this does give a further chance for my favourite to win I guess)

Doop is unashamedly one of my favourites of the year, it's seen as a novelty song but I think it's quite a genius fusing of styles, I don't think any other 90s dance song sounds quite like it.

California Gurls was I think the first song I was around on Buzzjack for where it felt like a real event release, I remember how it was in everyone's signatures and everyone cheering it on as it went to number 1 on iTunes (those were the days x). It was quite fun at the time, but it's a complete gimmick now and has aged pretty poorly. I remember It felt huge at the time but it's vastly overshadowed these days by what came after it, Teenage Dream is definitely up there with her very best and indeed definitely deserved number 1. Please Don't Let Me Go and Start Without You were again fine at the time, but have aged very poorly and were sub-standard X Factor singles (although I'm glad you've picked the one remaining as the highest as it's easily the best of them), of course, Olly would go on to do much better but Alex really was shafted a bit. Most of the rest of these are quite forgettable one-week wonders which barely raise a reaction these days.

01; Setting Sun 02; Hey Boy Hey Girl 03; Block Rockin' Beats 04; Let Forever Be 05; Galvanize 06; Star Guitar 07; Go 08; It Began in Afrika Very close between the top 2, all are absolutely fantastic except for the last one which I'm not that familiar with. (Although how has no one voted for their number 1s yet?! I mean I know they're all good, but Setting Sun is still absolute peak Chem Bros)

Depeche Mode - Everything Counts Herbie Hancock - Rockit Spandau Ballet - Gold Kraftwerk - Tour De France Genesis - Mama A lot of the classics today weren't big favourites of mine (I'm Still Standing aside which just missed out), Herbie Hancock and Genesis were really good discoveries though. Also enjoyed Asia, New Order, Style Council and Paul Young. Tiebreak: Irene Cara

Well thank God, the contest survives another year at least x Actually very pleased with that winner, was in my top 3 and stood out for miles in a very weak year, Not even close in the televote either and almost 100 ahead of the nearest competitor! It's a joke that Israel are just going to continually do this well though regardless of quality, the juries really should've seen this coming. Voting on the song alone feels pointlessly noble given if they host it in their current state, it will be the end of the contest. Elsewhere, great to see Romania and Greece in the top 10, would've been nice to see Serbia and Croatia a bit higher but not bad considering. And lol oops at the UK, I can't say I'm surprised at all, I still think it's quite fun but a hit it is not.

Bulgaria literally look like the only hope at the moment if they have a good enough televote score, we'll have to pray x

Israel is quite worryingly high with the juries so far given we know how the public vote will go :x

My ranking for tonight: 01. Croatia 02. Serbia 03. Bulgaria 04. Romania 05. Norway 06. France 07. Greece 08. Finland 09. Sweden 10. United Kingdom 11. Austria 12. Moldova 13. Albania 14. Australia 15. Italy 16. Poland 17. Lithuania 18. Ukraine 19. Cyprus 20. Belgium 21. Denmark 22. Germany 23. Malta 24. Czechia 25. Israel Even with my reduced interest, it did feel quite an underwhelming set of songs, think it was only my top 4 that I could say I really liked, you all need to grow some new ears with all this hate for Serbia x Australia, like most of Delta's material, isn't really my thing, but she gave an excellent performance so if it can beat Israel, I'm all for it x Finland feels more of an odd choice of favourite, but I did really like the violin part in the second half. Israel's song at least sounded more distinctive than the last few years and quite inoffensive, but I can't really distinguish any of the bottom songs with how bland they were so they get it just because default x Particularly groan-inducing hosting this year, I know this isn't new but still x

Oh my, I was between two songs here and I see someone else has entered the other one I was considering *.* I won't say which one but it was a great discovery so I guess I'll see what happened had I gone the other way here. And I was considering The Knife too, but I'd already sent them to Club Bizarre last time so held off here but lovely to see that (and I mean who would stoop so low as to recycle themselves across song contests? xx)

A Labour MP stepping down to let the most popular Labour member with the public become an MP and challenge for the PM role only for them to potentially give Reform another MP is beyond ill-judged, it's the stuff of parody, and they promised an end to the chaos...!

Rayner I feel is the only one that could maybe change the narrative at least in terms of being more popular with the public, but given Starmer's treatment by the press, she will get that and tenfold so it won't feel all that different. I'd struggle to find even a muster of enthusiasm in the public for Wes Streeting, and the support from cabinet seems pretty muted, This feels a bit risky and I don't think he'll get the numbers required. Certainly won't get remotely close to solving Labour's issues even if he does manage it.

I didn't even know Eurovision was this week to be honest, advertising has seemed a lot more limited and especially given it's the landmark 70th contest, I do think the boycott has had an effect and even though I'm sure it will still get decent ratings, I think this is going to be hard to shake. I may watch it out of habit, but it'll be a passive one and I won't be voting. If Israel do win, then I'm not even approaching it next year though I will be amused from afar to see how they handle that shitshow x

I think even with all the X Factor/Reality show crap (plus The Time, arguably a bit of a career killer looking back even if it reached number 1), OMG still stands out as a particularly bad number 1. I couldn't believe such a generic and boring song did so well, especially from the man who was a forerunner of his style with Confessions. I guess will.i.am's influence was big at the time. Although he did recover slightly next era with the glorious Climax. Was never that interested in Ne-Yo and Beautiful Monster feels like autopilot, I don't dislike it but it's hard to feel anything towards it.

Well a belated appreciation of Introspective is better than never! That has one of the best visuals I've sent to a contest with it's beautiful Reykjavik setting and it's become one of my favourite entries to return to, a wonderful moody, atmospheric piano piece. Great write-up for Fractal Dreamers, it's a shame they haven't come out with anything since as everything they produced was epic, cinematic dance music (or 'artcore' as it is branded) at its finest, I would recommend the EP Kingdom of Silence and the parent album for Azure on the Horizon. BAYAREA.BMP is a Dobago highlight, a wonderful, frantic instrumental, I think it was my 18 (the perils of not saving my votes x) and that was a nice swap given the contest before x

Irene Cara - Flashdance... What A Feeling Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow Iron Maiden - The Trooper Bananarama - Cruel Summer Heaven 17 for tiebreak Impostor (a lot better than the Elvia Costello song under his own name), Marillion and The Cure were good discoveries.

I am going to choose to interpret this as a piss-take given the rock music speculation, in that it works very well. I seriously hope so because taken as a lead single it's....not great x

Thankfully Reform weren't really a threat at all in Bromley, still Conservative of course but when it's been that way for generations, that's gonna be hard to shake. I'm thankfully in the most progressive part of it and it's stayed Lib Dem (I voted Green as there was honestly not a lot of need for tactical voting and I could never, ever forgive myself for voting Tory even if they are the lesser of two evils in this case). Havering wasn't so lucky it seems...:/ Excellent to see Greens get some great mayoral results in London though. Depressingly high numbers for Reform of course but this was always going to happen, I don't know what else can possibly get through to Labour that their current strategy is just not bloody working, I can't help but doom-wait for the inevitable Farage handover in 2029 at this stage :(

Apple Music if I'm out and about, though I always try to attend the Synctube session (ie. YouTube playlist) if it's in the week as I rarely get the time to listen otherwise.

And two more total horrors! A lot of JLS' material was pretty mediocre but that one was absolutely terrible, the autotune makes it very unlistenable and the Sound of Music sample is a baffling choice. I remember despairing at it going to number 1, but it's descent down the charts was quite funny. I heard that version of Heroes before the original, so I actually thought at the time that this actually sounds OK compared to the other Finalist charity singles, however having heard and become more familiar with the original, that swiftly turned around. I agree it's probably the most insulting in terms of completely misrepresenting one of the most complex and iconic ballads of all time into a pro-veterans song. I'm really surprised he signed off on it, although I guess it would've been bad PR. Was a very entertaining series though, although certainly the peak looking back, the weekly dramas and fix scandals did start to get a bit old.

I was in a similar place in life to you in 2010 so have the same sort of nostalgic vibes for this time period, 2010's chart toppers were very of their time for the most part, but I definitely have some fondness attached to them, I was still very into the charts. Would agree with that last placer, there are just no redeeming qualities to it at all for reasons others have already said, poor No Diggity suffers just as much as Shout and it's annoying I can never listen to either without thinking of this monstrosity! I did really like Wavin' Flag at the time, it's very anthemic, I didn't gather at the time how much Coca Cola mangled with the original meaning of the song, but I've still got fondess for it. Waka Waka I think was the best World Cup song that year though, can't believe that one didn't make the top 20.

Link to full spreadsheet for completeness x I can't complain at The Human League winning as I did vote for it, although I was really hoping for a surprise given everyone was expecting it, though I'm pleased it was a bit closer than expected as it did seem like they were quite unbeatable at one point. Mark'Oh was a real surprise package at the start and Travelers getting so close to winning at the end was wonderful to see, really glad to see both rock instrumentals go down well. I liked all of the top 10 even if I couldn't fit them all into my votes, a shame both of the trip hop entries couldn't make it in the top 10 but pleased they at least found varying levels of niche support x I'm pleased with 19th for myself, it's been on my potentials list for a while, and being just an album track and a fairly chill/downtempo one at that, I thought it might struggle to stand out, so pleased it found a few fans in the end, and at least it didn't suffer the same fate as two of the Japanese entries whoops (almost regret not giving a few points to Rainy Day Woman now as that definitely didn't deserve last! </3) I was pleased with how spread out the votes were across years, I thought the 90s may dominate but actually just two making it to the top 10 compared to three 60s songs is an unexpected turnout (two of those three by legacy acts granted, but Master Jack is certainly a surprise), also cool how the 80s bookended the scoreboard, and one good thing about TheSnake not voting was it did allow a 70s song to make the top 10 to make at least one from each decade getting there (apart from the 40s ofc. but the fact that wasn't dead last is something!), it was weird how close together they all stayed, although I suppose those styles would have similar fans. Thanks for the kind comments, the commentaries were just Wikipedia pastes a lot of the time, but always happy to educate!

01. dandy* - The Human League - The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (1981) - 103 02. seven - T-SQUARE - TRAVELERS (1984) - 99 03. jimwatts - Mark’Oh – Tears Don’t Lie (1995) - 96 04. gooddelta - Four Jacks and a Jill - Master Jack (1968) - 78 (13 Voters) 05. Mangø - The Supremes - My World Is Empty Without You (1965) - 78 (12 Voters) 06. Severin - XTC – Dear God (1987) - 77 07. Herbs - Sarah McLachlan – Vox (1988) - 76 08. DaTilt - Innocence – Natural Thing (1990) - 71 (11 Voters) 09. Dobbo - Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (1962) - 71 (9 Voters) 10. Bror - Ashra – Blackouts (1977) - 70 11. Nine & ¾ - Hooverphonic - Eden (1998) - 68 12. Roba - The Bangles - I'll Set You Free (1989) - 67 13. Popchartfreak - The Lightning Seeds – Life’s Too Short (1999) - 66 14. Jaz13Music - Buzzcocks – What Do I Get (1978) - 65 15. matto - Caravan - All The Way (1976) - 60 16. danG - Supertramp – School (1974) - 55 17. WoW73 - Marsha Hunt's 22 - (Oh, No! Not!) The Beast Day (1973) - 53 18. Jade - The Starseeds - Parallel Life (1997) - 52 19. Chez Wombat - POiSON GiRL FRiEND - Slave to the Computer (1994) - 50 20. TheSnake - Moby – Move (You Make Me Feel So Good) (1993) - 48.69 (33.3% deduction) 21. Lee_J11 - Nilsson – Spaceman (1972) - 47 22. Addy! - Goombay Dance Band - Sun Of Jamaica (1979) - 44 (8 voters) 23. Julian - Tülay German - Burçak Tarlasi (1964) - 44 (7 voters) 24. dhwe - Codeine – Cave-In (1991) - 39.95 (15% deduction) 25. Paddington James - The Andrews Sisters - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1941) - 36 26. AH Gold - Joe Meek - I Hear A New World (1960) - 35 27. Suedehead2 - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Onedin Line Theme (Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia) Theme (1971) - 31 (8 Voters) 28. Viper* - Tina and Ike Turner - It’s Gonna Work Out Fine (1963) - 31 (6 Voters) 29. King Rollo - Screaming Trees – Nearly Lost You (1992) - 31 (5 Voters) 30. Jester - Wanda Jackson - Funnel of Love (1961) - 26 31. Scene - Shakira - Dónde Estás Corazón (1996) - 22 32. AllStarBySmashMouth - Tomoko Aran – Midnight Pretenders (1983) - 21 33. CowTzy - Miki Matsubara - Rainy Day Woman (1980) - 13 Sorry, I really got my timings a bit out tonight! I'll do a more full post tomorrow but thanks all for following!

Voter 33: dhwe Year: 1991 Song: Codeine – Cave-In dhwe was sadly a bit late to vote so will receive a slight deducation to this great slowcore indie entry. Although the group broke up in 1994 shortly after the release of The White Birch, their subdued and melancholic style helped pioneer the then-nascent slowcore subgenre of indie rock. 103; dandy* - The Human League - The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (1981) 99; seven - T-SQUARE - TRAVELERS (1984) 96; jimwatts - Mark’Oh – Tears Don’t Lie (1995) 78; gooddelta - Four Jacks and a Jill - Master Jack (1968) 78; Mangø - The Supremes - My World Is Empty Without You (1965) 77; Severin - XTC – Dear God (1987) 76; Herbs - Sarah McLachlan – Vox (1988) 73; TheSnake - Moby – Move (You Make Me Feel So Good) (1993) 71; DaTilt - Innocence – Natural Thing (1990) 71; Dobbo - Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (1962) 70; Bror - Ashra – Blackouts (1977) 68; Nine & ¾ - Hooverphonic - Eden (1998) 67; Roba - The Bangles - I'll Set You Free (1989) 66; Popchartfreak - The Lightning Seeds – Life’s Too Short (1999) 65; Jaz13Music - Buzzcocks – What Do I Get (1978) 60; matto - Caravan - All The Way (1976) 55; danG - Supertramp – School (1974) 53; WoW73 - Marsha Hunt's 22 - (Oh, No! Not!) The Beast Day (1973) 52; Jade - The Starseeds - Parallel Life (1997) 50; Chez Wombat - POiSON GiRL FRiEND - Slave to the Computer (1994) 47; dhwe - Codeine – Cave-In (1991) 47; Lee_J11 - Nilsson – Spaceman (1972) 44; Julian - Tülay German - Burçak Tarlasi (1964) 44; Addy! - Goombay Dance Band - Sun Of Jamaica (1979) 36; Paddington James - The Andrews Sisters - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1941) 35; AH Gold - Joe Meek - I Hear A New World (1960) 31; King Rollo - Screaming Trees – Nearly Lost You (1992) 31; Viper* - Tina and Ike Turner - It’s Gonna Work Out Fine (1963) 31; Suedehead2 - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Onedin Line Theme (Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia) Theme (1971) 26; Jester - Wanda Jackson - Funnel of Love (1961) 22; Scene - Shakira - Dónde Estás Corazón (1996) 21; AllStarBySmashMouth - Tomoko Aran – Midnight Pretenders (1983) 13; CowTzy - Miki Matsubara - Rainy Day Woman (1980) On a knife-edge, the status quo remains, Congrats dandy on yet another one of my contests you've won! Full scoreboard coming up in a tick x