Cinerama Cup: Group D

       

A reminder of how the point-scoring works:

• The panel must award a total of 36 points
• No song may receive more than 12 points
• At least one point must be given to 5 songs (i.e. no more than three zeros) 

Group D

• Au Pair
• As If
• Your Time Starts Now
• Two Girls
• Heels
• Close Up
• And When She Was Bad
• Girl on a Motorcycle

The Results

A very clear winner this time, with 'And When She Was Bad' finishing 39 points ahead of its nearest rival. The fact that it marks, as Gav M put it, 'a bridge from Cinerama to the Wedding Present in one song,' was undoubtedly a key factor in its success - although a few did express reservations about the lyric.

The remaining qualifiers, although some distance behind, were still comfortably ahead of the bottom half of the table. 'Heels' (which I placed at number four on my blog ranking) is, in my estimation, gloriously gorgeous and epitomises the best of what Cinerama were about. Keg agreed ('Lovely, big sweeping chorus that DLG did so well in Cinerama'), as did Gav M ('One of my absolute favourite Cinerama songs, very subtly complex. Sweeping, epic and dramatic'). Bafflingly, half a dozen of the panel gave it two or less, with Jona, for example, describing it as 'dull.'

'Two Girls' scored solidly across the board (mostly), but 'Your Time Starts Now' was much more divisive. 'Beautiful' was Gricey's verdict; Johnny found it 'Magnificent... torridly, achingly beautiful.' Jona, on the other hand, thought that 'Gedge's voice isn't suited to this type of song; it just doesn't work.' Kirk was even more curt: 'Dull, dreary, boring.'

At the bottom of the table, there was little love for b-side 'Girl on a Motorcycle'. Keg reckoned it sounded 'like a rehash of a couple of other numbers'; Kirk found 'nothing much of merit'; 'pleasant enough but not gripping' was Gricey's take. Only Ian gave it a decent mark.

The remaining three non-qualifiers did do a little better. 'As If' received strong support from Marc ('the guttural guitar section from 2.19 is up there with anything DLG has done'), Jona and Dave. Kirk, although he considered it 'enjoyable enough,' described the song as a 'bit of a poor man’s “Wow”.' With seven zeros, it was always going to fall short. 

'Close Up' was another divisive one. Bob gave it a maximum 12, and Gricey enjoyed its 'grand and epic' mood, while Gav M enthused about its 'murky, dirty and dark' qualities. But not for the first time, the intimate nature of the lyric was a sticking point for some. 'Feels really awkward,' commented Derek, 'hearing DLG sing bluntly about the woman in the song having her tires rotated.' (I must confess that I had to ask him what that meant.) Keg was succinctly dismissive: 'pervy.'

'Au Pair' received a maximum 12 from Chris as well as a nine from Kirk: 'One of their best b-sides, lots of interesting things going on.' Derek felt it was a piece of 'classic Cinerama'; Johnny was also a fan: 'Gorgeous, naughty pop. Maintains an effervescent glee whilst skirting the creepiness with ease.' Marc, however, dismissed it as 'Cinerama by numbers.' Ian was similarly unimpressed: 'Cheesy is as cheesy does.'

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