I’ve been thrust into last minute duties thanks to Hurricane Irene, which has, among other things, knocked out internet along parts of the east coast.
Folks, these were two epic quarter-final matches. In the first match, #3 Somebody to Love (live in Montreal)(Queen) got off to a sizzling point. At one point yesterday, it was up more than 20 points. But #6 Landslide (Fleetwood Mac) supporters were undeterred, and the lead for much of today was down to single digits. Continue reading
Today is a great day, if you’re a Mumford or Florence fan. Not so great if you were pulling for Jackie Wilson or Edward Sharpe & Co.
Votes due Sunday, 8/28 at 8 PM (on my 28 and 1/3 birthday): Beautiful people- what a run we have been on, and how close to the finish we find ourselves. To mirror Lindsay’s post, we have the other two match-ups on the other side of things. When you find yourselves at your respective hurricane parties, for the love of God as long as your internet holds out, hold a match-up party and get some votes in- Continue reading
I’m sorry, I think my commitment to taking the time to figure out whose scores fluctuated the most, etcetera, etcetera has petered out. Along with my free time. Screw it, I still have the most important graph. And actually this might have ended up being my favorite graph post to date. Drumroll please…
How Have The Elite Eight Songs Faired Over The Rounds?!?!?! And which LTDMT song does each People’s Choice survivor match to???
Like this: Continue reading
can't stop a man in a headband!
Good work, friends. 31 voters, including 3 newbies. So, who’s off to the quarter-finals?
Well, no big surprises. And I can’t really give you a play-by-play, because I just tallied all the scores at once. The closest match was between Gladys and Louis. People were throwing out 10s like whoa (some as part of a “hammer” effect, some not). Every song got at least one 10. Only 2 were not Wall-of-10-worthy this round. And the others came away with 9, 7, 4, or 2 apiece. Continue reading
As the People’s Choice Tournament draws to a close, I continue to be surprised by how much I am enjoying some of these songs. Thank you to every person who nominated a song.
I love you guys and your music!
I think it is fair to say that each nominator spent some time making thoughtful and sometimes deeply personal nominations to share with an internet full of (sometimes heavy-hammered) strangers. But you guys came for the music. Here ya go!
The songs are here. And the votes are due by 8 pm EST on Saturday, August 27.
We've already crowned them Division Champs. Will Mumford & Sons get more bling tonight?
First up, we have 1 seed, Little Lion Man. Rolling Stone has said that this song is “as great a breakup ballad as ever was written.” And the People have found it to be one of the greatest songs in this tournament so far – it carries a tournament average of 7.845 points per voter. Mumford & Sons face Jackie Wilson’s 8 seed, Higher and Higher. Higher and Higher was first recorded as a ballad, until Jackie’s producers suggested that he jump along with the percussion – and this very un-ballad-like song has a tournament average of 7.3 points, down from an impressive 8.0 points per voter from the Round of 256.
Or will Jackie Wilson dance his way into our hearts?
And our second match-up pits 4 seed, Home and 5 seed, The Dog Days are Over. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, a band named after the characters in a novel that the frontman Alex Ebert was writing, is a band that seems to channel some sort of folksy, hippie paradise with Home. The 4 seed averaged 8.12 points per voter in the Round of 256, and their average score never dropped far below that – their tournament average is 7.69 points per voter. Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, has told Stephen Colbert that she was discovered when she was drunkenly singing in the restroom in a London club. The Dog Days Are Overhas kept up a 7.66 tournament average, so it is fair to say that the People are in the debt of Florence’s bartender.
Will Florence stay another round? Or will we send her packing?
Here is the handy, dandy pastable.
(1) Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) v. (8) Higher & Higher (Jackie Wilson)
(4) Home (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes) v. (5) The Dog Days Are Over (Florence and the Machine)
1) It has come to my attention that there actually wasn’t a final bracket created. So this is it. Link also in Brackets section.
2) Maybe I tracked the Wall of 10’s this long not because anyone ever looks at it (no one does, we can see the counts) but so I could eventually copy and paste the body of it into a TagCloud Wordle. I’m embarrassed by how big my name is. It’s not exactly “who gave the most 10s” as much as “who gave the most 10s where at least one other person gave it a 10.” I think that’s why Jacob’s name is so small. Kidding. Here’s a link to a bigger version.
Smooches,
G-mo
PS- Fun With Numbers forthcoming. Be prepared to be called out graphically.
He was known as "Mr. Excitement" for a reason.
The Sweet 16 lived up to its billing, with four high-octane matches, solid voter turnout, and the emergence of an unheralded championship contender.
First, #1 Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons) couldn’t put away pesky #16 Sprawl II (Arcade Fire) for a day and a half. After closing within one point, however, an avalanche of voters weighed in for Mumford, who pulled away, 234.2-200.25.
In the second match, #8 Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) built an early lead it never relinquished against #9 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell), winning 215.04-209.95. Despite a couple thoughtful shout-outs to the song’s composer, Nick Ashford, who passed away yesterday, Ain’t No Mountain could not summon the 10s it had commanded in earlier rounds. Continue reading
omg!
Prepare yourselves for more nail-biters, heartbreaks, tears of joy, and mind-blowing outcomes. Or just enjoy listening to some gosh-darn good music.
Votes for this round are due on Thursday, August 25th at 8 pm EDT. Have a listen here, share your reactions, and quantify your opinions on a 1-10 scale via the comment section below. Continue reading
After many weeks of toil, we have arrived at the promised land, a mere 15 matches from crowning a champion. Each of the remaining songs had to battle through four opponents to make it this far. From this point on, few contests will be easy. We ask you to buckle down, give every song its fair due, and deliver your praise and scorn as you see fit. Continue reading
Living the Dream 