Cinerama Cup: Group H

           


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 H

  • Let’s Pretend
  • Love
  • Christmas Song
  • Because I’m Beautiful
  • Honey Rider
  • Wow
  • Film
  • This Isn’t What It Looks Like

And so we finally reach the last group of this stage...

The Results

Nobody will be surprised that 'Wow' was the runaway winner. It's another where I shall save people's comments until the later stages. 

It was neck and neck for second place until the very end. 'Love' got a maximum 12 from Harry, Keg and Johnny ('Absolute, utter perfection. It has everything, a sweeping irresistible rhythm with a chiming melody... that saucy French opening... those opposing vocal sections, a duet from the angels'). But it also attracted a fair few ones and twos, plus a zero from Kirk ('pish'). 

'Honey Rider' got fewer top marks than 'Love' (although it receive a ten from me and a maximum score from Ian, who called it a 'Grade-A, top notch, right on the money Cinerama tune') but also fewer low scores. In the end, both songs finished on 113, with 'Honey Rider' claiming the silver medal position by virtue of winning the head-to-head marks by 10 to 8 (marked in red on the table below).

The final qualifier was 'Because I’m Beautiful' which was one of the more divisive tracks. I was already well aware of Gricey's antipathy towards the song, so his zero was no surprise: 'Bad duet with flat vocals. Awful, awful, awful lyrics. Premium Bohemium, my arse.' Dave and Ian were both irritated by its intro. Joanna considered it a 'great tune', but one that was let down by the fact that the female protagonist comes across 'like a supremely annoying tw*t .' Gav M was a fan though: 'A clever little song, love the conversational dialogue between DLG and Sally.'


At the other end of the table, Peel session track 'Christmas Song' failed to benefit from seasonal goodwill, with all but three of the panel giving it a one or a zero. Bob was pretty much a lone voice in describing it as a 'little gem.' 'A Christmas song for anyone thinking of slitting their wrists,' thought Kirk; 'awful minimalist cringe fest' was Dave's view; 'a waste of a song,' commented Ian, 'sounds like it was recorded in the cupboard under the stairs.'

The panel were generally indifferent towards 'Careless' b-side 'This Isn’t What It Looks Like'. Kirk rather damned it with faint praise: 'not the worst b-side.' Ian felt that it started strongly but then 'falls off into phoned-in Cinerama territory.' 


The two remaining songs seemed in with a shout for a while, but fell away as the last few votes came in. 'Let’s Pretend' attracted a wide range of marks. Bob found it to be 'Cinerama by numbers', whilst Gricey described it as a 'beautifully simple break up tale.' I was a little disappointed that 'Film' (which I put at number 27 in my blog) failed to progress. Keg also enjoyed it: 'All the expected cultural musical motifs of the Sixties are present and correct: spy film, Western, 60s crime caper. Rather good, this.' On the other hand, Bob thought it little more than 'a poor 60s TV show theme' and Dave dimissed it as a 'rambling weird tune.'


The final 32:

  • 10 Denier
  • 146 Degrees
  • Always The Quiet One
  • And When She Was Bad
  • Barefoot in the Park
  • Because I’m Beautiful
  • Careless
  • Cat Girl Tights
  • Dance, Girl, Dance
  • Don’t Touch That Dial
  • Ears
  • Edinburgh
  • Estrella
  • Get Up and Go
  • Gigolo
  • Hard, Fast and Beautiful
  • Health and Efficiency
  • Heels
  • Honey Rider
  • Kerry Kerry
  • King’s Cross
  • Love
  • Manhattan
  • Maniac
  • Quick Before It Melts
  • Starry Eyed
  • Superman
  • Tie Me Up
  • Two Girls
  • Wow
  • Your Charms
  • Your Time Starts Now

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