On the last leg of the marathon

And with this the Round of 64 comes to a close.  I think 64 is the hump of the tournament.  It can feel like a bit of a slog: You’ve been doing this for awhile, there are still some songs you really don’t care for and don’t think should be there at this point, and you’ve had to hear them more times than you’d like.  But once you get over this round, the quality of the songs is more-or-less universally agreed upon, and rather than the agony of listening to songs you really can’t stand, you start hitting the more pleasant agony of deciding between two songs you really love and want to move on.

What I’m saying is: If you’ve been feeling a little bit of tournament fatigue, take heart, buck up, and dive in, because these last rounds will be fast and fun.

And with that, our final results.  

Marc Broussard is ready for the next round

No surprise that Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet” earns the high score of either division and beats “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Blind Faith, 198.6 to 170.4.  R&J puts up a strong 7.64 average, but its scores have dropped out of the straosphere where they initally started.  We’ll see if it regains momentum when it faces off against “Home” by Marc Broussard, which beat “Still Be Around” by Uncle Tupelo 171.5 to 150.5.  Both “Romeo and Juliet” and “Home” make the Wall of 10s, with 3 and 4 nods, respectively.

“Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead trounces the Sugarhill Gang’s “Apache,” 172.4 to 144.6.  There are several people who won’t be sad to see Apache go, but two voters give it the high score and send it to the Wall of 10s.  Radiohead also makes the wall of 10s, with two perfect scores.

Radiohead’s average is back up from the last round, so we’ll see if they can keep that

The Violent Femmes exit the tournament with dignity

upward momentum against “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” by Otis Redding, which beat “Add It Up” by the Violent Femmes 158.4 to 128.9.  Femmes, I love you, but Otis is a hard act to beat.

Blind Faith, Uncle Tupelo, the Sugar Hill Gang, and the Violent Femmes are out of the tournament and the Round of 64 is done.