Another year, another set of rankings that nobody other than Patrick asked for when he found out that he unknowingly sent one of my favorite songs of the year to TSC. I wasn't originally going to do them this time around, but a combo of fear of missing out (I refuse to make that an acronym) and tradition forced my hand. I shortlisted 250 songs from the past year of TSC, which shows me a) that I still have no life despite being seemingly more busy now and b) the quality of TSC these days isn't quite as bad as myself and others feel like at times. I tried to cut the list down, but there was only a small handful of songs that I felt were worthy of the chop and I want to keep the number at a landmark.
Songs eligible are ones that would be eligible in normal contests (no Eurovision, songs from different decades, things that charted and were only eligible due to theme, etc). No entries will be my own. For the past few years, I've excluded songs that I've known for a long time outside of the TSC setting (basically, just Azealia Banks), but I'm going to scrap that and include them.
For the sake all of our time, I'll only do (shitty) write-ups for the top 100. After that's done, I'll post the rankings of the remaining 150 songs. Deal? Deal. Feedback is appreciated, even if that feedback is bitching about where your entries end up/don't end up/telling me that my taste is shit/etc. <3
100. Paul Damixie x Liv Royale - "Lost in Space" // Sent by Alexito // TSC 358, 4th place, 96 points (6 points given).
This one kind of snuck up on me while ranking. I remembered liking it originally, but when short-listing I wrote it off as something that would be mid-tier. There's a mysterious and dark(ish) quality to it that sets it apart from other tracks of the same ilk. The vocal feels like a bit of an acquired taste, but I'm very much into it.
99. NOTD - "So Close (feat. Georgia Ku, Captain Cuts, Felix Jaehn)" // Sent by Eoin // TSC 373, 10th place, 81 points (2 points given).
This is the lowest of my points given out to make it into my top 100, so take that as like a *fun fact* or a *spoiler* or whatevs. As with the write-up above, this is not something I had much expectation for when I started this process. It's a bit basic and standard for what it is, but it's incredibly infectious and catchy to me.
98. Mikolas Josef - "Abu Dhabi" // Sent by CharlieBibi // TSC 343, 17th place, 45 points (8 points given).
I heavily appreciate a simple fuckboi anthem from time to time. Sue me. I almost said that he's done nothing wrong in my eyes and then I remembered his piss-poor attempt at jumping on the Latin flavor train. More of this, Mikolas.
97. Winona Oak - "Break My Broken Heart" // Sent by Alexeh23 // TSC 373, 5th place, 93 points (8 points given).
Subtle with a cool atmosphere to it. In terms of actual songwriting ability and quality, it belongs above a good amount of songs ranked above it. Lacks a bit in the replay factor, thus the bump down. Still, a very pretty song.
96. Kazaky - "Push (feat. Gasper)" // Sent by Alexeh23 // TSC 371, 15th place, 51 points (8 points given).
Master let me out of my Ukrainian sex dungeon to compile these rankings. My punishment of 95 lashings for each song ranked above it is incoming and I deserve every single one of them.
95. Kylie Minogue - "Into The Blue" // Sent by Eoin // TSC 345, 2nd place, 102 points (5 points given).
This song is absolutely gorg and (controversial opinion???) might be my favorite thing that Kylie has done. The one thing stopping me from ranking it much higher is that I overplayed this song to absolute fucking death in 2014-2015 to the point of it losing a bit of its magic. Typing this out has made me think I made a mistake and should have put it higher, but alas, there's no turning back.
94. Kelli-Leigh - "Do You Wanna Be Loved Like This?" // Sent by PennyTrationStan // TSC 373, 4th place, 96 points (4 points given).
Ms. PennyTrationStan bringing the heat. That pre-chorus is everything. Vocals. Catchy. Everything. The SLIGHTEST knock on this is that it becomes quite repetitive, but ask me if I give a shit? I don't.
92. Ruben - "Power" // Sent by Patrick319 // TSC 358, 2nd place, 131 points (8 points given).
Eww, a man. Amirite, ladies? To me, it's not the catchiest song in the world, but it is indeed powerful. Good lyrical content that can apply to a few things (specifically ones that hit home with me are anxiety/depression and addiction), but let's not get TOO DEEP in a TSC RANKING THREAD. Lovely vocal as well. Another one that I've second guessed where I ranked it whilst doing the write-up, but I'll justify this one by saying it's something I have to be in the mood for.
I know a good handful of you are sick of Maruv at this point, and while I really can't blame you because there's the same general feel to all of her songs, I just can't help myself. Sex.
90. Dagny - "Love You Like That" // Sent by Patrick319 // TSC 357, 1st place, 161 points (7 points given).
Shocking noms. :O
I'm not sure what the popular opinion is, but my opinion is that I can't help but feel like she handed the song over to Ms. Perry and let her upgrade it (specifically the chorus). It's still a great track on its own, but to me, despite it being the original, it pales a bit in comparison now.
89. Salt Ashes - "Go All Out" // Sent by ricktworick1 // TSC 367, 4th place, 87 points (7 points given).
I was going to submit this myself, but second guessed myself that it didn't have a real defining moment. It ended up getting a cute 4th. Cute. Real cute.
Anywhoooo, it's quite the vibe song. I had a hard time finding a word to fit it, but scrolling through the comments, I think PoohSnap had the perfect description for how I felt with "primal."
88. Kara Marni - "Love Just Ain't Enough" // Sent by QueenMichelle // TSC 367, 17th place, 50 points (12 points given).
Y'all did this dirty, though it's not something I'd expect to do well here, so I wasn't SHOCKED by it. Being believable and selling it is important for songs like this, and I *felt* her. Love her voice, love the way it progresses for the most part, the chorus gets stuck in my head. I'd say the knock on it is that it is the climax could have been so much more, but overall, it's still a super underrated entry.
87. Tiësto, Jonas Blue & Rita Ora - "Ritual" // Sent by Patrick319 // TSC 361, 1st place, 120 points (6 points given).
Another Patrick winner bites the dust. The weird thing about this is that there's nothing about the production that really stands out to me, which is usually a pretty key element to a dance track. It's just THERE. I've told myself plenty of times before that this is so incredibly ordinary and overrated.......... whilst I'm on like my 5th listen to it in a row. I want to quit it, but I can't. I actually did a write-up for this last night that was really over dramatic (me, a gay, never!) and bitchy (me, still a gay, never!) that would have made you think this was a "worst of" list and I would have regretted being... like, an adult showing rage over a song that I'm ranking #87 on a BEST OF THE YEAR LIST.
All of that said, Rita Ora did.what.she.had.to.do.
86. Ella Eyre, Banx & Ranx - "Mama (feat. Kiana Ledé)" // Sent by Talian // TSC 365, 3rd place, 113 points (12 points given).
Another year, another Ella Eyre song. I never said I wasn't predictable. It's not my preferred sound from Ella (her drum and bass songs are CLASS), but it's still boppy and it's serving the ultimate power move. Keep acting like a fuckboi and you're gonna catch your mothers hands.
84. Davina Michelle - "Better Now" // Sent by ryan5767 // TSC 365, 4th place, 102 points (10 points given).
Some of y'all bouta be real mad at me, but it must be said. Some of y'all is fa-... I like "Better Now" more than her winning entry (spoiler), though "Skyward" is quite good and deserves praise as well. This is just more my style/speed. I enjoy the production and girlfriend really goes for it vocally.
A former TSC fan favorite turned overused artist who the majority of you are sick of, Ms. Bishop Briggs, seemingly took your feedback to heart and SHAVED HER FUCKING HEAD AND PUT OUT THE MOST MANIC SOUNDING THING IN HER DISCOGRAPHY. Shame on you.
That said, I think it was for the best (as long as her mental health is sound <3), as her sound was becoming a bit repetitive and stale. This suffers a bit from me overplaying it to death when it first came out, but alas, I love the manic feel of it.
81. Tom Grennan - "Run In The Rain" // Sent by Alexito // TSC 346, 13th place, 74 points (10 points given).
Tom's got that gravelly hot pack-a-day smoker/over-worked thruss voice that really just does it for me. The song is lovely, too. It doesn't have the replay factor that he's delivered before, so I *could* justify putting it much higher because I'm a fangirl (to a man, eww), but this will suffice.
80. HYO - "Badster" // Sent by ricktworick1 // TSC 371, 1st place, 122 points (7 points given).
I stilllllll believe it loses a little bit of its impact in English over Korean, but I'd be lying if I said I don't go limp-wristed and shout *~*I'M AN ELECTRIC BITCH*~* when it gets to that part. I strive to be a Badster and you should, too.
