The Cinerama Cup

        A reminder of the scores after the first round: 58 Health and Efficiency 49 Wow 31 Your Charms 22 And When She Was Bad Health And Efficiency v Your Charms My top three from my Cinerama blog reached the final, and I found it really challenging to separate them, so I voted 2-2 in all the ties that paired them up. This ended up being the most close-run tie of the final so far. Health And Efficiency 42 - Your Charms 38 And When She Was Bad v Wow Given AWSWB's 'decent song that was favoured by the draw' status, this was always likely to be a bit of a landslide. Johnny's customary alternative view was: 'I cannot help but feeling a bit ‘meh!’ about this pairing. I fully expect they’ll be placed 1 and 2 in the final reckoning, but to me they are the weakest songs left at this stage.' And When She Was Bad 17 - Wow 63 The scores, with one set of ties left, are: 112 Wow 100 Health and Efficiency 69   Your Charms 39   And When She Was Bad   Home ...

       Our final four tracks are: Health and Efficiency And When She Was Bad Your Charms Wow We are not going to have a traditional knock-out semi-final and final; instead, the panel are going to vote in a 'round robin' format. It will work like the group stage of the World Cup: each track will 'play' each of the other in three sets of matches. For each tie, the judges have three scoring options: 4-0 (Clear-cut, no-brainer decision) 3-1 (Some pause for thought before deciding the winner) 2-2 (Unable to separate them) N.B. I will post the results in three stages, but I won't begin until all of the panel have cast all of their votes, so as to avoid any temptation to vote 'tactically'. (I entered my own scores before any of the rest of the panel voted.) Health And Efficiency v And When She Was Bad By this stage, most of the panel were, understandably, a bit 'commented-out', so there's not going to be that much text in these final rounds. That said, ...

      A comment from Jona: 'When Gricey suggested I join the Cinerama Cup I thought it sounded like fun. It has been, but I had no idea just how much of my listening time and thought I'd end up putting into it.' And quite right too! On to the serious business of the quarter-final ties... Cat Girl Tights v Health And Efficiency There wasn't much in the way of commentary this time round, perhaps not surprisingly at this stage. Johnny, however, had plenty to say about H&E: 'The voyeuristic eavesdropping, the secretly captured street scene overdub makes it so compelling right from to offset, musically it is a wholehearted serving of magnificent gorgeousness. Where much of the Gedge songbook rips it all apart in a brusque few minutes H&E lays it all bare in a tantric anthem to doomed youth and teen devotion.  With an unrelenting gentleness this song tempts you, it teases you, it catches your eye and your ear across that crowded café, it hooks you without you ever...

      The last 16: ties 5-8 While most agreed that the first four ties of the last 16 were rather tortuous decisions, there were different views this time. Ian found it 'tricky'; Dave thought there were 'four solid tracks, and four not so solid tracks.' What is certainly true, is that we had the two most one-sided contests in this batch, plus the closest one... 5.  Kerry Kerry v Starry Eyed Johnny was drawn to the 'sinister, dark-alley brooding of Starry Eyed... that insistent draw towards the dark corners despite the best advice…the uncomfortable ache, the stifling air, the uneasy knot in the guts, all there, but still, still a perfect, beautifully brilliant shot across the bows…and that semi-sinister glockenspiel riff, a moment of brilliance.' Keg, on the other hand, said that as 'a fan of the "proper" Cinerama, it surely has to be "Kerry Kerry".' Gav M was of a similar mind: whilst finding the other three ties almost impossible (he...

     The last 16: ties 1-4 This where it gets really difficult: as Jona put it, 'a torturous task.' 1.  Cat Girl Tights v Barefoot in the Park A real 'TWP Cinerama' vs 'classic Cinerama' tie, albeit one where even most devotees of the 'true' Cinerama sound have to acknowledge the quality of CGT. Not that it's entirely without its Cinerama-esque features; as I said in the blog : Although 'Cat Girl Tights' contains some Cinerama elements - the strings swoop a little in time-honoured fashion; there's a spot of ethereal backing vocals, tinkling glockenspiel and moody Hammond organ - it's a song where you can feel the balance tipping to TWP. Johnny, however, was steadfast in his support for 'Barefoot': 'Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. All those adjectives that ‘he’ uses for ‘her’ - they all apply to the song itself. Give yourself up to it, let it wash over you, succumb…it’s what you need.' In addition, props to Bob for des...

    The last 32: ties 13-16 Another three one-sided contests, but also one nail-biter... 13.  Maniac v Hard, Fast and Beautiful There was quite a lot of positivity regarding 'Maniac'. John, for example, considered it to be 'Gedge at his menacing best.' But, as Johnny put it, the 'perfect pop of "Maniac"' was 'unfortunately... washed away by the dirty, filthy, unwashed tidal surge of "Hard, Fast and Beautiful".' Maniac 4 - Hard, Fast and Beautiful 16 14. Get Up and Go v Quick Before It Melts Rather closer than I expected. Derek found it 'a tough choice,' while John went as far as to describe this tie as 'like choosing which of your children you love the best.' It really went down to the wire, with the score being 10-9 before the final vote came in. Get Up and Go 9 - Quick Before It Melts 11 15. Your Time Starts Now v Wow Like tie 13, there was quite a bit of sympathy for the loser. In fact, Gricey surprised himself by g...