JUSTICE FOR MELON CAKE
(note: surprisingly enough i actually really enjoyed this final as a whole so if i gave u a good comment TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT BECAUSE CHANCES ARE I'M NOT POINTING YOU)
01) royal & the serpent - first of all, horrible intro AND outro. NO one gives a shit about your asinine tumblr poetry slam spoken word MESS... that said the actual song itself is nice, although i really dislike her tone. if the singer wasn't attempting to do a tones and i impression i feel like i could give this high points BUT the production does CARRY this a lot. really good production, very annoying vocalist, overall decent song!
02) Stefanie Heinzmann - screaming @ me accidentally sabotaging this song in the LP but hey at least it made it to the final! now miss heinzmann has made some STELLAR, incredible pop songs (re: just dance 4 hit "diggin in the dirt") and some ASININE horrible radio friendly SHITE (re: "shadows") and this is... right in the middle i suppose? it's a fine pop song but i felt it was missing something? felt very safe and motr in the end. and kii @ the bongos in the chorus being straight out of DSN
03) BANKS - the year is 2021 and i... am still not as well versed on banks' discography as i should be i fear, BUT everything i've heard in TSC/other places from her is telling me to URGENTLY check it out. i really like this actually! bit of a grower and it's weirdly super poppy compared to most of what i've heard from her. delicious production and catchy chorus, scream @ a banks filler track being one of the highlights of the final. talent!
04) All Time Low - i can't believe they're still around LMAO. honestly this kinda bops? it's a very standard vaguely nostalgic pop rock song which is definetly something i appreciate. i just can't stand blackbear LMAO he's so fucking annoying and his feature drags this down for me but overall this isn't nearly as horrible as i thought it'd be. pleasantly surprised dare i say? it's a decent song and that's more than i expected from it so props to all time low! not blackbear he can rot in hell
05) Fiercely British - a hymn for the ages that absolutely changed lives i fear. honestly the best ANTM bop is alexandria's song from the all stars cycle but i will ABSOLUTELY take this. a moment in time and i'm proud of myself for still knowing all the lyrics to this day. impact!
06) ARY - ooh this is very cute. i really like the production and while i wanted more from it personally, the sections where the strings really kick in have me hooked. feel like this is a bit of a grower too? it def grew on me as it went along. good find!
07) KAMILLE - i feel biased towards stanning this but this is legitimately really fun LMAO. it does sound straight out of 2015 but not necessarily in a dated way? while i personally wanted more from the production, it's so catchy and i totally felt what she was going for. i will say mnek's acting debut as the fairy godmother made me want to hatecrime someone. like you will NEVER be nicki minaj as martha zolanski
08) Antti Tuisku - speaking of the lgbt community... look i was ready to shit on this but i can't believe it this actually grew on me LMFAO? it's a huge mess and i can't say it's particularly good at all but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't living in an ironic way. an "i'm gagging for you [SLUR]" moment if you will.
09) Holly Humberstone - i feel like i'm not gonna be surprised by the person who sent this. this is veryyy atmospheric and gorgeous but like... the way this song ends abruptly mid-way is honestly so jarring and kinda takes me out everytime. i feel like if this had a final chorus i would love this, but as is? really cute song, could see this doing well on sunday.
10) Shaun Frank - my favorite tsc trope by far has to be that every week there's a boring, generic edm song that somehow manages to qualify and absolutely no one moves. this is listenable i suppose but i can't say i was stanning by any means. fine, inoffensive, i was bored personally. will have a crowd, i'm not that crowd, etc etc
11) May Sfadia - oh HELLOOOO nvsc moment. i actually like this one! i feel like it starts off SOOOO strong and slowly loses momentum as it goes along but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't at the very least bopping all the way throughout. i do wish it was better executed in terms of structure but like..... bop! potentially a grower too.
12) Dove Cameron - honestly? i kinda have to switch teams on this one. while this is VERYYYY very sonically reminiscent to a certain dr l*ke produced hit of last year, "say so" is not a bad song to rip off completely! and in a way this isn't produced by dr rapist so who really won here? listen i tried to hate this and while i love a smear campaign as much as the next queer but i'd be lying if i said this didn't have me bopping lately. it's a well produced bop, and while it is very derivative so are like the 300 songs sent the last twenty editions that were all trying to be "blinding lights" and no one moved! i actually dislike the mv tho LMAO she said no effort whatsoever. bop tho.
13) Boy Epic - oh this kinda aged a little. the production is kinda what drew me in to this in my first listens but it does kinda fall apart on repeated listens. i do like the chorus but structurally the song just sounds a BIT disjointed. i still think this is actually a decent song, pitchy vocals aside.
14) San Mei - this honestly might be my favorite tsc song of the year so far? it's definetly in contention for that spot anyways. i'm just... completely entranced by this song. those clashing dreampop guitars, those cheerful nostalgic synths and the vocalist's tone which shouldn't work at all but works SOOO well! and that chorus is so catchy and fun and ahhh!!! there's just a lot to love about this song and i can see why this 2 year old song was clickraced for this week. i love love love everything about this!
15) Dotter - i did spend like the last two months troll hating on this song.... which i hadn't heard until the LP LMAO. and... this is a really weird song? the way it opens with that weirdly anthemic chorus and descends into a quick deep house moment is weirdly jarring. but i feel like this is a grower? i do think i'd like this better if literally anyone else was singing this LMAO no shade to the bulletproof songstress but it feels like florence + the vibrator making deep house music... the funny thing is this song actually managed to GROW on me. i really want to hate this but goddammit that hook and post chorus are so catchy. consider me a part of the problem! TL;DR: it's a weirdly disjointed produced song but actually a bit of a grower. i hate that i like this now.
16) Priya Ragu - while i would RATHER have melon cake as my final meal in the TSC death row, this is actually a really fun song! it's pretty feel good and there's a little novelty factor here that makes me stan this. i do wish the song would've gone in harder but i actually really like this. bop! i had fun i did!
17) Kristin Sesselja - i'm not averse to the usual scandipop synthy no mv pop queen, and this is kind of a grower? really good chorus and post-chorus actually, the verses are okay. overall it's a biiiit plain but it's actually better than i remember it being from my first listen, runs the risk of being forgettable but when it's on i do enjoy this! bop a bit
18) Carlota Urdiales - taking gorg, expensive,
#girlboss visuals aside, this is actually really good? bit of a chilled out moment, there are a lot of rnb/soul/pop influences here and it's also a HUGE grower, i remember liking this fine in my first listen but maybe i'm really in the mood for this now because this hit me hard rn. really good! very for the girls yupyup, has potential to grow and probably one of the songs i'm REALLY keeping from this contest for the future. bop bop boppity bop
19) LÉON - now i despise this horrible musical terrorist man who decided to be a white woman and win on CHLOE X HALLE WEEK.... but as far as her musical output goes i like her! and i like this song! i mean it didn't rock my world or anything of the sort but this actually builds quite nicely and it did sweep me off my feet a bit. colonist song contest has never sounded so heavenly i fear
20) NAZIMA - ok i've decided that i actually like this! that chorus is super jarring at first but once i got used to it i did get my life sort of. very lowkey as opposed to a huge banger and i for one can appreciate it. bit house, bit stun, i am not LIVING per say but i do love how atmospheric this ends up being. again, bop!
21) Ellysse Mason - this is reaaaally good. i mean the electro production here is incredible, a really beautiful melancholic eletronic ballad, and i'm obsesseddddd with these fuzzy synths. actually reminds me a bit of "ghostin" by ariana grande if it was covered by winona oak. part of me does wonder if i'd like this more if it went full "dance when i'm 72" vibes but that's not what this song is going for and i appreciate it. i'm honestly taken aback by this now, i really really love this. gorgeous is the word.
22) ASTON - oh i actually like this LMAO. it's a bit of a trainwreck but the chorus is kind of a moment? i strangely can see this doing really really well even though it doesn't sound like a winner at all. i wish the production gave me MORE to work with and that annoying ass post-chorus/outro is a bit of a buzzkill but like... this is objectively very MOTR but i really like the chorus LMAO... like it's stuck in my brain it is!! i might need to gather my thoughts on this one further.