Hey! It’s time for some early morning results. Some of you are waking up to good news, while others might want to roll over and hit the snooze.
The safe contestants this week are:
And now for the critiques. Thank you again MsKathryne for your help this week on deciding the rankings and adding your comments.
FromAWindow
Kathy- I enjoyed listening to it but it was a bit one-note. Wish it built up to something more.
Ken- A little more variety in the melody would’ve pushed this song over the edge more, but overall I still did enjoy the listen and didn’t mind that so much.
moup94
Kathy- I LOVE the way Japanese lyrics sound usually, but I couldn't stand this singers voice tho i wont lie. If you had done a more standard J-pop track, or maybe submitted something from the genre City Pop, I would probably have enjoyed it more.
Ken- Yeah I’ll agree that the voice got a little grating in parts. He’s reaching for some notes that he might not have. That being said, I did enjoy the verses.
Times_Places
Kathy- I bopped a bit! This genre is super appealing to me. Spanish is the only foreign language I have any amount of actual understanding of, so theres a bit of bias there.
Ken- The little effect she does with the gibberish ad lib works really well for me. This song really perked my ears up when it came on.
JonMcGillis
Kathy- If you are not Ethel Cain, your songs should be under 7 minutes. I can tell there is some historical context to this song that I am missing due to not having a translation/my own ignorance of African history. The guitar parts were very fun to listen to. Partially ranked so high for the nerve.
Ken- Yeah submitting a song that’s 7 minutes long is a risk that I normally would advise against. But this song is absolutely worth it in my opinion, with it’s constantly changing rhythm and the wonderful vocal. Risky pick, but it paid off tonight.
MISSImogen
Kathy- I mean its alright.... the visuals outsold the song itself by a LOT
Ken- It’s a song with a pretty vocal, but it did feel less than in this lineup. Great chorus but kind of samesy otherwise to me.
mathboy9
Kathy- Sounds like something I would've sweated my ass off playing DDR to
Ken- This is a bop not gonna lie. It’s unfortunate because I like the song, but the only reason you got to post it is because we had two judges so there was a bit of extra time that you normally wouldn’t get. So I’m trying to weigh in how much that should drag you down…
Alright, we’ve made some decisions. The winner of this round is…
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TIMES_PLACES! We were speaking the same language between the three of us. And you clearly were both of our favorite submission this time. Good job.
JonMcGillis and FromAWindow, you are safe.
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Mathboy9, you are safe. It was a tough call, but we both did like your song a lot and you did score better than three other people, even with a penalty ranking from me. I’d say don’t let the late submission happen again but I should be able to post pretty immediately after the deadline so you probably won’t get the chance.
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MISSImogen, you are safe.
Moup94, you were saying how out there your music taste was, and I’ve enjoyed hearing what you come up with in this competition. Unfortunately this is gonna be it for you, thank you so much for applying.
Next blog up ASAP, I’ll post the overall scores in the comments as well.
Hello all, in an effort to keep our lights on, we have partnered with DuoLingo™ to host this round’s challenge. You will be tasked with submitting a song that is in a language other than English. The song can have bits of english in the lyrics, but it needs to be primarily in another language.
Last season, our first champion MsKathryne thought outside of the box and submitted a song with no lyrics for this challenge, managing to win the round as well. I want to be clear that due to our corporate sponsors/friends, we will be using songs with lyrics this time, but they can be of any language (even Simlish!). Thank you DuoLingo™, and use code KONO20 for 20% off your subscription**. #ad
** We are not responsible for honoring any discounts at this time
And because we can’t out do the doer, please help me in welcoming MsKathryne as a guest judge this round! So with another judge in the post, it’s even more important to stand out in both our minds.
My job loves keeping me out all hours of the day and night, sorry it takes so long to get these up. Okay, time for 10 to become 9. The following players are safe.
The rest of you are the best and the worst of the week. Worst being relative since again, I think there were a lot of really good submissions this round.
Times_Places - BANGER of course, I did think this was a little loose with the theme since I only really felt the distortion in the chorus, but I do know Kylie does tend to have that effect where her voice fuses really well with the processing and kind of hides the adjustments they made so I can overlook it for a song like this.
moup94 - You’re soooo right about trashy pop needing to come back, but I think this was a weaker choice. They had other songs that I think could’ve also fit the theme while also being a little more interesting. Which is unfortunate because I do think the kind of early 2010’s production/sound works (to an extent) for this theme, but not enough to overcome it coming and going through my playlist.
FromAWindow - I deleted the first submission before listening so I didn’t hear the Rebecca Black song, but I think you made a good choice to switch into this. The more I replayed the submissions, the more I ended up getting into this. The chorus is nice and punchy which contrasts well with the lead in verses. And when it hits that part where it sounds like it’s glitching, it all just comes together.
mathboy9 - The way they stack their vocals are soooo cool, I actually really liked this song too, but it did feel a touch dated in the lineup. And then while I liked the play between the verse and the instrumental around the 1:30 mark, the repetition did knock it down the list a little. But once we got past that I was back with you. Actually maybe I didn’t like the play because when they did the repeating line again towards the end of the song I didn’t mind it.
MISSImogen - The whisper in the pocket of the song on the chorus gives me tingly feelings. I could definitely see this setting the club off in that 1:00 am spot where you need the energy pick up but you’re also in the zone to a point where you’d be willing to try something a little off kilter.
turkeylover - I think the playlist picked a good song for you, but it did feel like it was towards the bottom of the pile this round. Great pick for the theme, love the way the edits kind of float in and out of the song. It’s a bit mellow though, and I ended up thinking the part after she was done singing was kind of my favorite part?? LMAO
So with all that said, the winner of this round is…
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FROMAWINDOW! You were pitch perfect this week.
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and MISSIMOGEN! I liked different things about both submissions and there’s enough wins to go around!
Times_Places, you are safe.
mathboy9, you are safe.
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moup94, you are safe. It’s a tough choice but I think you deserve another chance.
Turkeylover, thank you SO much for applying. You know how tough the competition was season 1, and sadly this season has forced a lot of tough cuts as well. But in my mind you are ALWAYS a finalist so this was a victory lap season for you as far as I’m concerned.
How quickly we’ve gotten to the top 10! For this round’s challenge, we’re paying tribute to one of the most innovative inventions ever brought into music: AutoTune! I am challenging you all to submit a song with some sort of alteration to the vocals/lead instruments. So think Ke$ha, think Cher, think T Pain, think SOPHIE, think early Gaga, think Charli XCX (Speed Drive would’ve worked well for this!).
The entire song doesn’t have to be sung in this but I’d like for it to be a featured part of the song (so like don’t submit a song that only has pitch shifted vocals in the bridge). And the effect also doesn’t have to be so severe. The song I’m submitting for the week isn’t super obvious but you can definitely hear the voice got altered in the verses. That’s what I’m looking for, or more if you’re feeling confident.
JonMcGillis - I had a feeling this might be a theme up your alley, and you knocked it out the park. It does kind of change into shouty towards the end but enough of the song is quiet for me to not really mind. And I may be a little biased with D’Angelo.
Currents - My issue was kind of that I didn’t really respond to this song. It felt kind of like a thrown together idea of a song that she went ahead and recorded and so it ended up coming across flat to me.
CoolblueP123 - I think Lana was a smart choice to go for this kind of category, but I think “American” or something would have worked better for her ballads ( I’m also partial to Diet Mtn Dew myself). And it started to drag a bit to me in the back half of the song.
FromAWindow - Another really smart choice in Amaarae! I think it automatically stood out in the crowd because it was a bit faster paced, and of course it’s a great song. Gorgeous chorus and the breathy part she does is *chef's kiss*
MISSImogen - What an interesting song. It really locked in for me after the first chorus, and just kept building and building. I enjoy a song that can take you on a journey, and by the end of the song it was like being swept up in a tornado of emotion.
camell22 - I think you had the right idea with Billie, another really smart person for a category like this. I just was kind of bored unfortunately. She can do a devastating ballad (What Was I Made For?, when the party's over, etc) and I think that would’ve worked better for you.
So with all that said, the winner of this round is…
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JONMCGILLIS! You soared the highest this week. Unfortunately I’m all out of advantages but good job and you are safe.
FromAWindow and MISSImogen you are safe.
CoolblueP123, you are safe.
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Currents, you are safe. I think overall you picked the better song and you’ve done pretty well so far in the competition.
Camell22, thank you for applying. You got unlucky a bit with the theme not working in your favor but you have an iconic chart and I appreciated your submissions!
Hello to the top 11! A lot of my choices so far have been about keeping up the energy in a song. So for this week, I want to challenge you to slow it down a little, soften up some. You will be tasked with sending a song that features a singer using their soprano/head voice/falsetto. For those of you who aren’t musically inclined, basically we’re submitting songs with light, feathery vocals for the majority of the song. There can be normal/loud vocals in as well, but the song must primarily be sung in that higher/softer register.
Now, considering this may be a challenge for people, I have some news. First off, for winning the previous challenge, moup94 has won immunity for this round, so long as he submits a song for this round. I also have already messaged you all about this, but we are extending the deadline until Monday at 5 PM EST due to the holiday today that may keep you away from the computer. With this extra time, I want to encourage people to PM me song ideas if they’re unsure about it fitting in with this theme.
Again, you will have today and tomorrow until 5 PM EST to do this. And Currents still has their get out of jail free card for the next two rounds. Good luck.
