poptimists | Jop Tournament Round 1.5

I love the KLF. But Amerie is better on this song.

CONCUR.

Hurrah all my picks are winning!

Easiest fite yet for me but 75% of mine are losing.

Seeds: Bouncy 7, Outkast 23, Nelly 15, Amerie 31.

None of these exerted the mind too much except Beyonce vs Push It.

Interesting that lowest-seeded Amerie is the only top 32 entry to be leading right now (and I expect it will keep its lead as the American votes come in, though I wouldn't bet the farm on it). Where was "Push It" on your original chart?

Also, did you close voting at any particular time on the earlier fites? If not, a couple of 'em ("Since U Been Gone" vs. "Milkshake," and "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" vs. "Smells Like Teen Spirit") are still really close.

No, voting not formally closed until after the round ends (i.e. next w/end at this rate).

"Push It" was 52nd.

'Crazy In Love' good but wildly overrated, not even one of Bouncy's top 5 singles. 'Push It' is all-time godhead. Not hard.

'Ms Jackson' v 'Word Up' was tough! Went with Cameo because it's slicker.

Nelly and Xtina also v close - Xtina's chorus is better, Nelly's verses are better, I think I just prefer Nelly's bass grind to Xtina's juddery beats.

'1 Thing' v 'Justified & Ancient' oh man, I went for the KLF but I may switch back, this is really hard. Actually yes I will switch back, '1 Thing' is 'Crazy In Love' plus plus plus, and I've just remembered the bit where Amerie impersonates a doorbell.

BING BONG BING BONG BING

"Crazy in Love" vs. "Push It" was very difficult. I love both songs, but went with "Push It" because it is more original and probably holds up better.

"Ms Jackson" vs. "Word Up" also very tough, as again I love both songs. I went with "Ms Jackson" but I don't feel great about it. I may switch later, if it looks like it's gonna make a difference.

"Genie In A Bottle" is still my favorite song of all time and it's still gonna get a tick in whatever poll it's involved in.

I never really got the KLF. Maybe it's because I'm not British. Amerie it is.

These are ALL really tough except Nelly vs Xtina which is easy.

Bouncy vs Salt'n'Pepa is riveting. I went for Bouncy in the end because I'm a bit bored of Push It right now.

Two draws! This is finely poised.

In the end I think these tourneys are ultimately boil down to some gut pop vs. r&b (vs. "indie") voting by people.

(yes, yes, i'm cynical)

Well, given that there are seven r&b and one bohemian (KLF, closest to "indie" you're gonna find here, though it's also probably the one most likely to get "dance pop" votes), I don't see how those divisions play out in this fite. But obviously you're reading "pop" and "r&b" off of these songs in a way that I'm not (most of them are r&b and pop). But then, I have trouble reading the genre differences these days. In the U.S., Mediabase divides "Hit" (contemporary hit radio) into two formats - "top 40" and "rhythmic," and then has a different category ("urban") that it also divides into two formats: "urban" and "urban AC," but a station that plays a lot of r&b dance tracks could easily be in any of the first three categories ("top 40," "rhythmic," and "urban"). KS-107.5, the local Denver station that plays "today's hip-hop and r&b," is in "rhythmic." In the last seven days the top five songs on "top 40" were Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable," Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right," Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around Comes Around," Paula Deanda's "Walk Away," and Akon's "I Wanna Love You." I'd call every single one of those "r&b," maybe excepting "Walk Away," though quite possibly some of those tracks will end up with a much stronger showing on "top 40" than on "rhythmic" or "urban." The number 6 song is Daughtry's "It's Not Over," which is the first non-r&b track. Number 7 is Rihanna (back to r&b, I'd say), number 8 is All American Rejects (back to rock). The top five "rhythmic" tracks are Lloyd's f. Lil Wayne's "You" (which works off a Spandau Ballet sample), "Irreplaceable," Ludacris "Runaway Love," Jim Jones "We Fly High," and Ciara's "Promise." Akon's "I Wanna Love You" is six, "Say It Right" is fourteen with a bullet, "What Goes Around Comes Around" is nineteen with a bullet (which means they may be crossing from pop to r&b). "Runaway Love" is nineteen with a bullet on top 40, which means it may be crossing the other way. "You" is forty-one with a bullet on top 40 (it's rise is a substantial but not overwhelming 401 plays; I would have expected it to be huge on top 40, but my guess seeing those numbers is that it makes it no higher than the twenties; but then, it's been kicking around since last summer, and all of a sudden is breaking now, so who knows?). Urban has "Promise" at one, "You" at two, "Runaway Love" at three, Chris Brown's "Poppin'" at four, Pretty Ricky's "Hotline" at five, "Irreplaceable" at six, "I Wanna Love You" at nine, and "What Goes Around" and "Say It Right" basically negligible (under 40 plays each). Honestly, I think that skin color has a lot to do with that. In any event, it's pretty hard to think that a Poptimist Furtado vote is more pop than a Poptimist Beyoncé vote, and as for Nelly vs. Xtina...

(One thing the Mediabase charts show is that hip-hop is struggling on top 40 in a way that it wasn't several years ago, when Fiddy ruled. Hard to say, though, since the r&b and hip-hop are so closely mulched together; maybe hip-hop is in a commercial lull.)

y comment was more of an overall observation, spurred by the fact that today people can't actually vote on those terms in any of these fites.

And although, almost by dimension, most of these and both r&b and pop as you point out, on other days we do see songs that are pop but not r&b. my sense is that "pure" techno/club/dance music (i think the KLF are about as "pop" as, say, Yes or Augustus Pablo) makes it to the pop charts fairly rarely, which is why i didn't suggest it as a separate category.

I like the idea of "gut pop". What would this comprise? (No Magic Numbers jokes, please!)

lol. i meant "gut voting on pop vs. r&b vs. "indie" but perhaps i have inadvertently hit upon something

Aaargh. "One Thing" vs "Justified and Ancient" is like choosing between children!

Jop Tournament Round 1.5

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How is it that today is so "urban"?

Re: How is it that today is so "urban"?

Re: How is it that today is so "urban"?

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