Chez Wombat

Got to love the Teletubbies, I was 5 at the time so around about the right age, although I kinda wish I could've experienced it at university age as it would've been a whole different experience x

I've never listened to an Lily Allen album, she's pretty much an artist I'd written off as past her peak but I certainly couldn't ignore the buzz here so took a listen - it really hooked me in right from that bait and switch in the title track, really great storytelling and her lyricism is frank and brutal as it's ever been. I agree with the Lemonade comparison, but I think this is a bit harsher and angrier, not really trying to see it from both sides (and so she shouldn't, from what I gather x). I also really like the genre diversity and the progression from harsher genres like D'n'B and 2Step (Ruminating and Relapse are both big highlights) to more quiter moments as she starts to go deeper into her thoughts. I think my only criticism would be it's a little too long for what it is and the later songs don't hit as hard, although I do like that callback to It's Not Me, It's You at the end. That Stranger Things 5 trailer dropped at an opportune time didn't it? 😉

I think the traitors really messed up not murdering Nick instead of Lucy when they had the chance, that would've made it more difficult for Joe to trust other people. I think it's likely to be a faithful win unless they can really convince David. I don't know how they haven't got Alan yet, that's twice he's messed up around them!

24. Shayne Ward - That's My Goal #1 for 4 weeks W/E 31st December 2005 - 21st January 2006 #2 in EOY The second series of the X Factor was where the juggernaut began to form, the ratings rose, the drama continued and the show was starting to feel like must-watch television, while I wasn't quite there yet until next year, I definitely remember the contestants making their mark. While it was still tame compared to how it would turn out, Cowell was clearly seeing what was working. There was drama related to judge's choice of act progressing when Maria Lawson was eliminated in favour of the Conway Sisters, a result that not only was controversial in terms of singing ability between the two, but also an act that happened to be Irish and that judge Louis Walsh happened to save, the headlines wrote themselves. Lawson would be a rare case of an act eliminated early to get a blink and you miss it record deal and a chart hit (and still a favourite of my mum's x), so to did runner-up Andy Abraham, third placed group Journey South and arguably X Factor's first 'novelty' act, Chico Slimani, I'll let my successor tell you about him x There was no arguing with the winner though, Shayne Ward was bookies and audience favourite from the first live shows and though he only narrowly beat Andy Abraham in the final, this was clearly more in line with someone Cowell could work with - a young, attractive singer with wide appeal that could potentially go past the 'pub singer does an album of covers' model and engage with the younger audiences and adapt to the changing times where 'adult contemporary' acts were losing relevance in the digital age. Additionally, his age meant a lack of experience that would make challenging his output less likely. And tbf, Shayne certainly did better than Steve, if minimally so compared to later acts, tapping into that R&B/soul sound to get a few hits, but he never achieved another number 1. He managed two album cycles, but by the time of his third, he couldn't quite keep up with the many other fresh-faced stars that Cowell had to focus on, limping back with a Nickelback cover of all things and his album missing the top 10. He was dropped in 2011 and moved to acting in Coronation Street from 2015 until 2018, he still has a few recent roles according to wiki so seems to have done alright for himself considering x That's My Goal was a rarity in X Factor winners as it was an original song, something that wouldn't happen again until 2016 with Matt Terry's When Christmas Comes Around (lol), but it certainly turned out to be quite a success, despite not being released until Wednesday, it sold over 450,000 copies to easily achieve the conveted Christmas number 1 (something that the show would rent out for a while now), selling enough in the year to be as high as second place in the EOY, only behind Amarillo. It remains the third highest selling winners single of all time and fastest selling. I do think this song certainly has its merits and is probably above average for an X Factor's winners single, and you can see how it established so many after it - he sings it well, it's fairly decently paced and has suitably gradiose production and the 'Shayne!' moment with the key change and choir sets a precedent for many winners singles to come and I ironically enjoyed it every time, it's a world away from Against All Odds for sure, there's only so much praise you can put on these calculated, formulaic winners singles though, it's still got trite lyrics, a predictable, boring structure and a lack of any sort of distinction, emotion or substance that can allow you to see through the pound signs, this clearly was all they had to give as an original song and they went back to covers after this where the formula would get worse and worse. It's not particualrly unlikeable as a song, but what it inspired makes it so.

Tom Ewing from Popular who's reviewing all the UK number 1s (slowly x) did a great piece on Candle in the Wind 1997 and Diana's legacy so to speak: https://popular-number1s.com/2014/03/27/elton-john-candle-in-the-wind-97-something-about-the-way-you-look-tonight/#debug5 The whole hysteria has never quite sat right with me, but song-wise, it's always been boring, though I don't doubt the authenticity of how he was feeling when he sung it. I actually didn't mind the R Kelly and P Diddy songs, but have no desire to revisit them.

25. Westlife - You Raise Me Up #1 for 2 weeks, W/E 5th November-W/E 12th November #9 in EOY Westlife as was then tradition picked a song that had already been covered many times or the history behind it. Originally by Norwegian-Irish string band Secret Garden with additional vocals from Brian Kennedy based on an instrumental string piece called Silent Story composed in 2001, the original singer was due to be Johnny Logan, but they wanted it to be distanced from Eurovision and they wished for a serious song given it was played at the composer's mother's funeral. It was included on their 2002 album and though it did sell well in their native countries, the song was not initially a big hit anywhere else, missing the top 100 in the UK. It picked up the attention of many adult contemporatry names, most notably Josh Groban whose version was popular in the US, but didn't make a lot of waves over here until Westlife's version. Westlife first performed this with Secret Garden at the Nobel Peace Prize concert, they didn't initially want to release it, saying it was a church song and wouldn't be successful, that proved to be quite the opposite and it was their biggest hit in years, though they were generally on the decline and this would be their penultimate number 1, it was enough to show we (somehow) hadn't quite tired of them yet. There was also a recent plagiarism lawsuit filed for this song by Icelandic composer, Jóhann Helgason who claimed that the song infringed copyright of his work Söknuður (Into The Light) by Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, stating the composer, Rolf Løvland would've heard it while he lived in Iceland. It never went anywhere as the US court ruled in his favour stating that the two are similar enough, but not enough that it was literally Helgason's work. Listening to it now, hmmm there's something there definitely, judge for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq9tphh6Apw Anyway, I'm talking about that as it's probably more interesting than this version...honestly, I don't rank this as one of Westlife's worst, I feel it does at least suit them well (in that, it's nothing special in the first place) and a decent one to ironically tick off the Westlife checklist like the 'up from stools' moment and the faux-sombreness of the lads in the video (now sans Brian McFadden ofc.) is at least amusing, there's a nice string section as a callback to the original, but Westlife's best is not saying a lot and for all the drama and emotion it goes for, it's very empty and bereft of substance. I took a listen to the Groban cover (that's a lot of You Raise Me Ups to listen to, I hope you appreciate my sacrifice x) and it is stunning how they literally do beat for beat what he does with it barely changing a thing, it's note for note the same with the added caveats of less powerful vocals, just like they would do with Daughtry a few years later. It really highlights how utterly lacking in creativity and soul they are and even if this one of their better ones, I can't rank it much higher.

I have a self imposed rule that I don't recycle unless I feel it sounds very different from the original entry (may or may not be the case this month x), or alternatively I had no idea it was recycled in the first place which is more common looking at this list (even if I was in that contest ) I've highlighted where I was in the contest at the time of the original artist being sent. Aeroche (Sidewalks and Skeletons) Armenijain (Bastille) Caerfyrrdia (I Am a Camera) Chestoria (Lava La Rue, this one really got me!) Danaeviia (Aly & Fila) Espen (Flight Facilities) FARC (REIN) Ingermanlandia (Woodkid) Lotunia (Anna Von Hausswolff) Persephonia (The Bullitts, Kids of the Apocalypse, WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA) Ojnoj (Desire) Quotosibb (Kaskade) Republic of Adonia (JUTRØ) Rivandia (M83) Rolloland (Steven Wilson) Seyetana (Saint Saviour) Skall (Slowdive) Tinnmark (Highasakite) Trifoski (Soap&Skin, Amnesia Scanner, La Femme, Kite) Utopia (LCD Soundsystem) Trifoski and Persephonia the only two more than once, guess that makes sense x I have self-recycled We Are All Astronauts, Varien and films from myself (and I guess Thomas Bergersen given he is essentially Two Steps From Hell for my 100th), mainly for improving on their placement or introducing them to a new audience after some time, have had mixed success x Recycled from me: Aeroche (A.G. Cook) Beaverdonia (Fickle Friends) Cor Lupus (U.S. Girls) Cumulonimbia (Nakhane) Danaeviia (Two Steps From Hell) D'yermak'er (Slow Magic) FSR Rontvia (WALK THE MOON) Flynnonda (Fickle Friends) Greenfroze (Illenium) Kluminican Republic (Two Steps From Hell, Chloe Caillet) Kylienips (Starsmith, Keep Shelly in Athens) Lotunia (Crywolf) Nelionoir (Night Tapes) Niceland (MOWE) Ojnoj (Illenium) Quintessa (Crywolf) Scherzland (Milk & Bone) Summericia (David Holmes/Raven Violet) Tartford (U.S. Girls) Utopia (A.G. Cook (as remixer), Dead Pony) Kylienips, Klum Rep and Utopia my biggest thieves (I've returned the favour on one occasion x)

I've been debating between my choices but think I'm set on one now, one suitable for the time of year and I'm hoping that the host will appreciate the artist + reference in the title x It's perhaps a little cheap, sorry about that, but I don't think it's a pisstake and I don't think several others would be after it I had never heard of Sarah Kinsley let alone this song, it sounds alright but doesn't really deliver on that build-up. Would've been an easy 'don't get the hype' snub

30; Metric - Doomscroller 29; Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Spitting off the Edge of the World 28; Caroline Polachek - Welcome to My Island 27; Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal - B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All) 26; Caroline Polachek - Billions 25; Gorillaz (feat. Tame Impala & Bootie Brown) - New Gold 24; Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Wolf 23; HAAi (feat. Jon Hopkins) - Baby, We're Ascending 22; Black Country, New Road - The Place Where He Inserted The Blade 21; My Chemical Romance - The Foundations of Decay 20; Jessie Ware - Free Yourself 19; yune pinku - Fai Fighter 18; Arctic Monkeys - There'd Better Be a Mirrorball 17; Working Men's Club - Widow 16; Wednesday - Bull Believer 15; Jockstrap - Concrete Over Water 14; Harry Styles - As It Was 13; Let's Eat Grandma - Happy New Year 12; Beyoncé - Break My Soul 11; Big Thief - Simulation Swarm 10; Ethel Cain - American Teenager 09; Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero 08; Tove Lo - No One Dies From Love 07; black midi - Welcome To Hell 06; Ibibio Sound Machine - Protection From Evil 05; LF System - Afraid To Feel 04; Wet Leg - Ur Mum 03; Steve Lacy - Bad Habit 02; RAYE (feat. 070 Shake) - Escapism. 01; Encanto Cast - The Family Madrigal

Great quiz idea, the more modern chart weeks, album chart and Apple Music ones were mainly guesses, but I'm pleased to that I got above 60 in most of them and managed 100 for the number 2s one. I think it was just Cliff I was unsure about for the overall number 1s, I have the top 2 memorised but not beyond that x

Red Sovine - Teddy Bear The Specials - Ghost Town Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood Kate Bush - Sat In Your Lap Kraftwerk - The Model Kraftwerk - Computer Love No room for Depeche Mode, ABBA and Bruce Springsteen sadly Edit: Edited as didn't realise I had to split Kraftwerk, sorry Spandau x

#SaveOurVelocity The Script to go, though this is a great top 5.

What a round table that was, and a really good task choice too. That sort of outside the box logic from Stephen about the Traitors getting less sleep is what I've been missing from him, shame it happened just before he went, but he lasted longer than I thought given how clear a target he would be from either team. Big slip up from Alan there, I think that's probably cost him. Cat will probably have to turn on Jonathan soon and there's suspicion on her, so despite how thick this lot are, the traitors could still fail quite spectacularly.

Great stuff, your top 2 would be the same as mine for this year, both all time favourites and they make a good case for the two good sides of Noel Gallagher, a psychedelic trip and a classic rock anthem x Both Prodigy ones were fantastic too, I'd have the Spice Girls songs in reverse order but all were very strong singles, tough to understate how much they changed the game.

26. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas? #1 for 1 week W/E 1st January 2005 I guess to be consistent, I'll continue ranking the runover from last year, just about by the skin of it's teeth in this case as it managed to sneak a week as the year turned, although it was still one of the highest sales weeks recorded in the year before they collapsed for months. I'm not gonna give it too much commentary as John's thoughts in the previous year pretty much echoed mine. I did like this at the time, it was quite cool to see so many modern artists coming together tackling an old song and I do think make a good effort to update the sound to reflect the music landscape like the original did, but time and me being a little more cynical of white saviour outings like this has somewhat dampened my enthusiasm for it, as well as being quite a hollow tradition musically when really the story of the original is the only one that really resonates and was a lightning in a bottle moment that has now rightfully become a classic, it changes too much by going several places at once and changing the tempo that makes the final singalong not hit as hard. I'd still rank it (distant) second behind the original though, as it's not the most pointless (that would be 2 and 30) and as of last year, not the biggest messy racket either (that would be Band Aid 40)

27. Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu #1 for 2 weeks, W/E 10th December-17th December #28 in EOY The second single by Burlesque dancers turned kind-of group kind-of lead and many backing singers took the tone down following their attention-grabbing debut to a more slower balladic song suitable for winter, which had now become almost a requirement for all boy and girl groups. It turned out to be another successful outing for them following their monster debut, becoming their second number 1 here and another top 5 in the US. They had several more hits over the latter half of the 2000s, but this would be their last spell at the top of the charts here, following disbandment in 2010 and the inevitable solo career and other ventures for lead singer, Nicole Scherzinger, there wasn't many other places for the group to go and with a planned reunion tour cancelled due to COVID and pretty minimal interest from anyone else involved, it's probably safe to say they're done for now, I'm still not 100% sure I can name another member with Googling. I've certainly had better Birthday number 1s. One thing I've noticed when ranking is a lot of these number 1s fall under the same bracket and thus I rank them fairly near each other, in this case, it crosses over with my thoughts on Over and Over, an unremarkable slow jam that meanders along and I have absolutely no reason to return to, and even less looking at that godwaful eyesore of a title. I think PCDs at their best, though never sounding like a group in the slightest and pure marketing in conception, had an ample bit of attitude and personality accompanied with slick production, they were distinctive whatever you thought of them, this has absolutely none of that distinction, just pure schmaltz with cheesy, generic lyrics and a bland chorus, almost robotic in it's lack of personality. I didn't hate it at time and I will grant that it's a good showcase for Nicole's vocals which Don't Cha couldn't emphasise as well and the production is fairly decent as you could expect, but it never lifts the song above mediocre. Apparently the wiki page lists that this was meant to make the members more identifiable...how successful it was I think is a good demonstration of how the band could never work long term.

Congrats Dobbo! Just realised both of the top 2 were next to each other in my votes so I could've changed that outcome on a different day! Good to have an inspired winner though and a unique nationality at that, most of the top 10 looks really good and most of my votes finished in the top half. A fun edition overall, thanks for hosting Dan, the reveal really created some effective tension

Gosh, this lot are hopeless, David is right in that a traitor wouldn't speak up suddenly as that would be a silly thing to do as it puts a target on their back. Mark feels a random choice too as he hasn't really done anything particularly suspicious, the big dogs theory would make total sense to me if I was there so I don't know why they're not pushing with either Stephen or Jonathan and Jonathan is very clearly the more suspicious of the two. Also. Charlotte Church has never had a number 1 single or album! (unless you count this 'classical crossover' chart which I have never heard of?)

Oh wow I really thought Sigur Ros would win!

Moskau is a banger, I didn't realise it was here when I looked at the song list, would be here for this contending x

Saved from being the United Kingdom by 8 points, whew x

No one reading my album bucket list 2.0 thread confirmed! 😁😪 (edit: except Bre haha) I didn't really know Selena, but I really enjoyed Amor Prohibido more than I expected. This one was a highlight and was a forerunner in the Cumbia genre which tied in a lot to modern latin music and I thought it was a real standout....clearly not to everyone's taste going by that listenthrough reception oops 😅 Maybe I should've sent the title track, it's a bit more ordinary. Not expecting to do very well here, but pleased to have some points at least, Euroshima is my favourite revealed so far, banger and a half x

28 Nelly feat. Tim McGraw - Over and Over #1 for 1 week W/E 5th March #25 in EOY Nelly's third number 1 in the UK was an unlikely crossover that nowadays would not be seen as so unlikely as Country and Hip Hop have since become more coordinated, at the time though, this was quite a novelty that paid off for him. The second single from his fourth album, Suit (not be confused with his third album, Sweat, which was also released at the time) was also his second number 1 in a short time following My Place/Flap Ya Wings. Country music charting in the UK has historically been a lot rarer than across the pond, and sure enough, Tim Mcgraw had not a trace of a hit in the UK despite being very much a big deal in the US. It is quite surprising then that this managed to cross over so well, doing ever better here than in the States where it was #3, I'm guessing the low sales and lack of big releases at the time helped. This would be the peak of Nelly's success in the UK but he would have the odd hit/feature over the next decade, Tim Mcgraw unsurprisingly never had another hit (except a #63 collaboration with Gwyneth Paltrow, who knows what that was about x) One thing I cannot stand in a song is if it bores me, that's even worse than hatred, because I at least feel something there. I feel nothing when listening to Over and Over. It's slow, there's no real switch-ups or interesting places the music goes, it just drones on and on (I suppose it's the point, but that doesn't make it interesting) with little sense of feeling or even interest, just paint-by-numbers R'n'B slow jam, and it's rather disappointing as a hip hop-country crossover should not be this boring, I wasn't a fan of the Tim Mcgraw album I listened to for my lockdown album bucket list, but he was at least capable of adding a bit power or emotion to songs, but instead he's barely there, and just blends in to the dull vocals and beat. I can't say I remember or have any fond memories associated with it, so all I have towards it as apathy, which I can't in good conscience rank any higher.

OK, we have 29 number 1s to go through (including last year's runner on as I guess we're sticking with this x), and yes I will be including the Elvis reissues and ranking alongside, as tough as that is to do, they have a story in themselves to tell x I will say there's not a lot between some of these, but there's one very obvious last placer so let's get to that! -x- 29 Steve Brookstein - Against All Odds #1 for 1 week, W/E 8th January #127 for 2005 What would become quite a force in the UK certainly started with a whimper. Steve Brookstein was the first winner of the X Factor and his cover of the Phil Collins classic, Against All Odds, was his famed coronation release. Much like previous reality show winners like Michelle McManus and Will Young, the release topped the charts, though with pretty strong first week sales of over 127,000, but was unfortunate to run into Band Aid 20, so it only climbed there the following week, albeit almost 100,000 sales down on the debut week, it remained the lowest selling winners single from X Factor until 2015. Something that would be reflective of what would come next... Steve was always on course to win the X Factor, receiving the most public votes every week and winning comfortably against G4 (fun fact: Their winning single would've been Radiohead's Creep, I'm scared to think of how that sounded x), his mangling of his winning performance earned a strange faux outburst from judge, Sharon Osbourne, which was a teaser of the many dramas the show would go through. That many votes sadly didn't translate into long term potential, following one album of covers, Steve was dropped by Syco just eight months after being signed, beginning a still ongoing vitriol towards Cowell, complaining his creative freedoms were restricted and criticising the show as fixed to this day, even writing a book about it. Performing on Ferries was sadly the highs of his ongoing music career, though he remains active on Twitter, with strong views on football, the Israel-Palestine conflict and Jeremy Corbyn, including some retweets from David Icke and Tucker Carlson, well then xx It's conflicting for me really as it's hard to disagree with some of his points about the X Factor, yet based on this, you can hardly blame Cowell for dropping him as it is utter bottom of the barrel, pub singer garbage. I do enjoy the original, MOR staple it may be and whatever you think if it, it's hard to deny the emotion and soul Collins puts into it. There is just none of that here, it struggles to reach karaoke standard, his vocals are so weak and overpowered by the backing track, and they don't even get the climax right in the video with the 'Steve!' moment which makes the dramatic high point of the song feel feeble, it's like he can't wait to finish singing it. Disowned by him, Cowell and not even uploaded officially to YouTube or on Spotify, it's tough to find a single redeeming thing anyone has to say about this, even Westlife and Mariah put some effort in. He may well have been a restricted genius, but there's certainly zero evidence of that here.

Today I learned! I have good memories of BJSC 92, was my 50th contest and I sent a wonderful classical epic and finish top 10, but the music was really great and I still have some of the MP3s from it on my Apple Music, Saving Light was a fantastic winner and top tier emotional trance, and I loved Mutant Brain too for it being one of the most out and out insane entries I've heard here.