Song Contest 142 (Results posted!)

[Vi]

I'm curious about what the reviews will say about my entry this time.

[Vi]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Freezy Flake Galaxy: This SCREAMS Christmas. Gotta love it! I never had the sequel to SMG, only the first game, but this is probably my favorite song from the soundtrack of Galaxy 2. Of all songs. It's just so cozy and comforting! Who wouldn't want to get the hell out of their house and kibitz in the snow all day long? So cheerful!

Spoiler:

It's literally a Christmas-flavored version of the main theme. It's pretty minimalist for my tastes. 2.2/6

From the SMG2 soundtrack I would recommend World 3 Overworld and Speed Run. For video game Christmas music I would recommend any of the relevant music from Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Now that I'm on it, why not share another song which I can't enter in a few contests time because I entered them in a previous contest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH77eOyV95o

Spoiler:

Aw, too bad you can't enter this. The lyrics feel like they don't convey their message as effectively as they could, but as far as this musical style goes it's way better than a most similar songs I've heard. A couple of the transitions are a little jarring, and that's disappointing because the rest of the song manages to be both smooth, energetic, and varied at the same time. 4.5-4.8/6

[Vi]

non-entry because i have too much dignity to actually submit a post malone song here but this one's a bop ngl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQV0WEdT_OE

Spoiler:

It sounds too rough IMO, and his voice doesn't really do it for me. The song exists I guess, but I can easily audiate this as this person's best song as you're suggesting. 3/6

[Vi]

RAAA

AA-AA-AA-AA-AAAA

AA-AA-AA-AA-AAAA

AA-AA-AA-AA-AAAA-buh-ble

in excelsis deadline

[Vi]

I've finished my first pass. The impression that I have of this contest is that it's overwhelmingly mediocre - 21 entries other than my own and not one of them speaks to me.

[Vi]

I've finished my first pass. The impression that I have of this contest is that it's overwhelmingly mediocre - 21 entries other than my own and not one of them speaks to me.

Maybe it is thou that is... mediocre.

what the heck is a "thou" and is your favorite color cyan

to be clear this is not the worst contest I have participated in and there was no point during this contest where I felt as bad as I have in multiple previous ones
it just... kind of happened for the most part

[Vi]

I've finished my first pass. The impression that I have of this contest is that it's overwhelmingly mediocre - 21 entries other than my own and not one of them speaks to me.

I finished my first pass and all of them speak to me except your anonymous entry

you seem biased against instrumentals

[Vi]

If mine makes bottom half I will stamp off and never play again like the child I most definitely am no pressure

If mine doesn't make bottom half I will be pleasantly surprised and also confused

[Vi]

If mine doesn't make bottom half I'll eat my ra...

ftfy?

[Vi]

I’m always in the bottom half. This will be no different.

If yours is the one I think it is, your entry has a decent chance of being top half this time.

[Vi]

if my entry places i'll continue existing

funny story about that

@MOD: Iceland does not appear as an option in the voting form

[Vi]

All right, I'm done with my second pass. Ranking a top 10 was actually kind of difficult... At some point I think the numeric ratings became even more arbitrary than usual despite my better efforts; while I'm glad so many people expressed interest, having all these entries made it difficult to do the apples-vs-oranges comparisons.

Spoiler: Someone busted the dire hydrant

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===TIER: Things I liked (I guess)

(12) Hungary -- Šerif Delić {Džennet pita nagizdan}

-- I love this mood. I don't really have a lot else to say about it. It's kind of elemental. How this rose from 3.2 on my first pass to beat the entire rest of this tier head-to-head is a mystery to me, but I don't regret it. 4/6

(10) Afghanistan -- Wintergatan {Sandviken Stradivarius}

-- Wait, these people have more than one song? The saw is really what makes this something more than snooze material, although this song HEAVILY benefits from having a groove to it. The non-saw portions of the song are okay; decent background music. 3.75/6

(8) Ethiopia -- Donald Phan {This Game (Piano Cover)}

-- I'm not aware of the original song, but this piano cover seems quite listenable. I'm not blown away by it because it doesn't have a lot of contrasts, but what contrasts it has are good and it's technically quite reasonable. It likely doesn't need to be as long as it is since it doesn't have a lot left to convey after a few minutes. I checked out a few of this person's other covers and found a few Fire Emblem redos, and after listening to like 30 seconds it felt kind of the same - they did some mild arranging and then applied whichever instrumentation they happened to like at the time from their DAW. 3.6/6

(7) Turkey -- Trans Siberian Orchestra {Christmas Canon}

-- Old song, good rendition. I unironically like this, except for the ON THIS NIGHT ON THIS NIGHT ON THIS MERRY CHRISTMAS NIGHT rhythm, which is a gruesome affront to the pyramid of balance (and I'm saying that as a clarinet player). This has no climax I would consider worthy of the term, which is disappointing... and while I rated this first place on my first pass, I found that I wanted to listen to all of the entries above this more - largely for having a rhythm section.

OH FRICK THIS IS AMRUN ISN'T IT. DAMMIT AM I GETTING OUT-CHORALED 3.5/6

(6) China -- Batushka {Yekteniya 1}

-- This isn't something I expected to say during this or any contest, but... I'm grateful some metal got in. Orthodox angst metal sure is a thing. I sort of like how this feels, but there's too much dying painfully in the background and too little in the foreground to hold onto for this to really be something I would want to listen to again. Honestly I might be overrating this for its novelty against the backdrop of all the other songs. 3.45/9

(5) Be(a)nin -- Beanus {Beanus Likes Christmas Beans}

-- I know I'm the person who gives way too many points to novelty songs, but this whole thing feels like a missed opportunity to be more clever. I mean. He's Beanus and he likes beans. That's the whole song. I feel like the guy talking in a dippy voice is supposed to be funnier than it is. Despite everything, I still feel oddly compelled to show this to others purely because... uhm. 3.4/6 gdi this is so stupid and I am embarrassed to rate this this highly because why does stupidity WORK on me


===TIER: Things I found reasonable but not really me

(4) Iceland -- Billie Eilish {When the Party's Over}

-- It's okay. I like how it feels, except for the parts where I don't. Maybe this would have more of an impact if I ever had a social life, because I can definitely tell that this really speaks to a certain (perhaps large) segment of the market. Good YouTube comments include: "This made my depression so depressed that it cured my depression" and "When Venom decides you're not the right host". 3.2/6

(3) USA -- Dance Gavin Dance {Man of the Year}

-- I feel like if this song wasn't trying to be ambiguous with its lyrics, this could have used the screaming and angry lyrical styles playing off each other really well. Its best parts sound really good tbh; this might be the best song submitted that prominently features death vocals. 2.95/6

(2) Wales -- Paul Kelly {How To Make Gravy}

-- Late December, 1963? What a very special time for me! This song feels like it confirms all of my preconceived notions about QLD :V :V This is actually reasonable country (before it gets out of hand), although the guy lets his whinetwang come out at points. Overall it's a silly but serviceable meme song. 2.9/6


===TIER: I spent so much time trying to figure out which of these I liked most

(1) Japan -- 鈴木愛理 {Break it down}

-- It's a good sound from a genre I think I like, but I don't think I'm a fan of this particular execution of it. 2.6/6

Guyana -- Flume feat. London Grammar {Let You Know}

-- London Grammar put in the work, yet it's rated here. 2.59/6

Niger -- DRAX project feat. Six60 {Catching feelings}

-- Decent but not my style. 2.58/6

Macau -- aivi & surasshu {Baby, It's Cold Outside}

-- What Cyril said. 2.57/6


===TIER: "Moanin'" and entries that actually inspired moaning

Sudan -- Mingus Big Band {Moanin'}

-- Friends don't let friends play saxophone. Unless those friends are geese. 2.4/9

Egypt -- Jacob Collier {Saviour}

-- 2.3/6

Chad -- Blink 182 {Happy Holidays, you bastard}

-- I mean. It makes its statement in as concise and impactful a form as possible. I can see that this song has an audience; it's just not me. 2.25/9

Poland -- The Dead South {Deep When the River's High}

-- 2.2/9

Phillippines -- Parokya ni Edgar {This Guy’s in Love with You Pare}

-- 2/6

Costa Rica -- Dirty Projectors {Gun Has No Trigger}

-- 1.9/6


===TIER: Actually dire

Djibouti -- Sports Team {Fishing}

-- Best YouTube comment was "I don't want this ad playing over my Ghost interview with Tobias Forge." 1.5/6

Australia -- Youp van 't Hek {Flappie}

-- Setting aside its musical merits and any rabbit jokes made elsewhere in this thread, this entry managed to combine animal butchery, emotional abuse by parental figures, and a comic framing. I refused to put myself through this a second time. 1/6

Germany -- Nordic Chamber Choir {O Magnum Mysterium}

-- You wanted Christmas music, you GOT Christmas music. Or, wait, you said you

didn't

want Christmas music? Welp.

I'm told this isn't even the composer's best work, but it's the one that intersected my life. Around 2006 or 2007 this became all the rage with wind ensembles, partly because you don't get good sacred music very often and partly because it gives the conductor maximal interpretative power. As such, it took me a fair amount of digging to find a recording of this that met my standards (not least because this is a very, very, very very very exposed piece where flaws are incredibly noticeable). The fact that the soprano doesn't murder your ears is absolutely stunning.

But really more than anything I submitted this to see Amrun's reaction. If you're not Amrun, I hope you enjoyed this detour into a rarely-visited place in pop culture where Christ is still in Christmas, time flows at a completely different speed and pace than the other contest entries, and people get unreasonably excited about how that one chord at 3:05 is different from the corresponding chords in the first and fourth parts.

[Vi]

that's okay. i really desire last place

you will take last place from my cold hands

(brb going to freezer)

all the good songs were only my song.

I have been in contests where I unironically thought this.

[Vi]

Philippines- Parokya ni Edgar-

[...]

Why is half of it in english and some of it is in another language with out any explanation?

From what I've gathered from the Filipinos I know, seamlessly going back and forth between the two languages is commonplace.
One side effect of this is that their slang is virtually incomprehensible to outsiders.

[Vi]

Why do people have different opinions from me

Its annoying

Out of curiosity, is there a specific entry you're concerned about, or is this in general?

So this is basically cockney rhyming slang but for filipino people?

I'm pretty sure this is several levels beyond cockney slang.

[Vi]

Since this is a

song

contest I'm not supposed to rate Egypt higher just because Jacob Collier is super cute, right?

It wouldn't be the worst reason I've seen people give high ratings to songs.

[Vi]

I *was* on team chill out, but I might be in team Vi now.

now

that's

a dichotomy

FWIW I sent t00 a PM about it after posting ITT and it still hasn't been picked up, so asking them more questions may not get you very far.
(On the brighter side, maybe they've found the secret to leaving this site forever: holding a position of bookkeeping responsibility. See also: list mods)

[Vi]

You don’t just sing over a 300-year old classical piece with Christmas-y lyrics and suddenly it’s a Christmas song now.

You are mistaken; Christians will appropriate anything popular and have done so for well over a thousand years. Three classic examples include
*The American Pledge of Allegiance, co-opted with pledges to the Christian Flag (which without checking I'm going to guess was created specifically for this purpose and has no other significance) and the Bible
*Literally every December holiday, replacing them with a celebration of the birth of Christ (notwithstanding that Christ was born near Passover)
*Greensleeves, which if memory serves was a popular English drinking song about a whore; replaced with one of the most forced Christmas hymns with one of the most ludicrously forced names (What Child Is This?) (For full effect you should say the name of the song like a Speak-and-Say quizzing someone on what a baby cow is called)

Edit: to be clear this post is more than anything fueled by some intense boredom and frustration at work

[Vi]

no, point was they do w/e they want

probably not worth the post but someone might find it interesting so I didn't bother deleting it when I had the chance
as it is apologies for the call-out

[Vi]

(which without checking I'm going to guess was created specifically for this purpose and has no other significance)

The pledge was changed in the 1950s during the height of the Red Scare. The belief was that if you were a dirty Commie you wouldn't be able to say the "Under God" part because you'd burst into flames. I mean, I can't think of a better way to out Commies.

Presumably the flames are blue and white and totally not red.

Spoiler: I was referring to this though

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Hey Saladman. Is Phillippines your entry?
If so, I'm curious how you would review your own entry (or explain why you chose it or etc.). Not coming from a position of criticism; just curious if there's a story behind the choice.

[Vi]

why people review in weird random order

Technically the order should be arbitrary; in practice it's the order they were received, and I've found that I tend to hate the later submissions more.

I use the ranking from my first pass as the order for my second pass; this also removes some of the bias like "the last few songs were so bad that this one sounds better than I would ordinarily consider it". It works well for the songs that I ultimately assign points to, but by the end I usually find myself trying not to make whimpering noises.

[Vi]

rabbeans

good luck to you too

[Vi]

I'm holding you to that, since I'm staying at work to experience this despair in real time.

[Vi]

I wasn't the only person to give beanin support

[Vi]

It's not over.
Also the

one time

I give you points, etc.

[Vi]

True to my word, I am pleasantly surprised and also confused.

My super-niche entries seem to do surprisingly well. Eventually I'll find another song that breaks out.

[Vi]

What a boring winner.

you could lie, say you like it like that

time to submit something entirely unlistenable next, i guess

I frigging hated that Wilderun entry. absolutely nothing like that plz

[Vi]

And now~
It's that time when we quantify who around you is feeling very sad! This is a measure of how well your votes aligned with others, or equivalently how much of an impact your vote had on the outcome.

SHEEPLE

Wetfox
Errantparabola = VashtaNeurotic
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Formerfish
Aurathebirb
Panzerjager
pickemgenius
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rb = Davsto
popsofctown
Cyril = Nona = toolenduso
Plotinus
Amrun
Xtoxm
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MiniDeathStar
Saladman27
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|
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Vi
Reundo
Dr Easy Bake

SNOWFLAKE

The person around you feeling very sad is

me

. And merry beanmas to you too. <pout>

The winner of this contest got two 12s and four 1s. Hell yes those 1s mattered.

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But who's your secret BFF? These are the people who put each other in their top 3!

A DOUBLE! Cyril <-> toolenduso <-> Aurathebirb
TRADING 12s!! Errantparabola <-> Reundo
Plotinus <-> popsofctown