theditz83
Veteran
Crystallize was one of my earliest memories of 
after I started voting in NSC a few editions before 
after I started voting in NSC a few editions before Balearica Island is a psycho (NSC 234)
- Thread starter Morty
- Start date
- Watchers 22
Brinty winning is definitely emoshen 
Morty
Well-known member
Bonus time!!!!
Balearica Island is known for the poor record in NSC, finishing in the semi bottom 5 a massive 57 times, so why not give a moment to the songs that failed the hardest as well? We've finished last in the semi 7 times, and twice in finals. One of them has already featured, Amaranthe kicked off the 150 entries celebration, so here's the other 8 last placers, plus my PQ entry with the lowest score, and the other entry to get a single digit result. This is for the hardcore Balearica Island fans. Enjoy!
10:
DopeMonkeys - The Power Of The Dark Side (The Imperial March) (2015 - NSC 131). 28th in final, 66 points.
9:
Sunlounger - Aguas Blancas (Chillout Mix) (2007 - NSC 128). 26th in final, 39 points.
8:
Rameses B - Rick And Morty (2017 - NSC 157). 25th in semi, 26 points.
7:
Nexorum - Saligia Moralis Codice (2019 - NSC 175). 26th in semi, 18 points.
6:
Sunlounger feat. Inger Hansen - Breaking Waves (2010 - NSC 58). 25th in semi, 17 points.
5:
AutoLaser - Magenta (2012 - NSC 89). 24th in semi, 16 points.
4:
Starchild - Starchild (1996 - NSC 73). 26th in semi, 15 points.
3:
Dethklok - Murmaider (2007 - NSC 149). 24th in semi, 13 points.
2:
Staal - Dommedagen (2012 - NSC 91). 20th in semi, 8 points.
1:
Basshunter - Sverige (2006 - NSC 96). 25th in semi, 5 points.
Balearica Island is known for the poor record in NSC, finishing in the semi bottom 5 a massive 57 times, so why not give a moment to the songs that failed the hardest as well? We've finished last in the semi 7 times, and twice in finals. One of them has already featured, Amaranthe kicked off the 150 entries celebration, so here's the other 8 last placers, plus my PQ entry with the lowest score, and the other entry to get a single digit result. This is for the hardcore Balearica Island fans.
Enjoy! 10:
DopeMonkeys - The Power Of The Dark Side (The Imperial March) (2015 - NSC 131). 28th in final, 66 points.
9:
Sunlounger - Aguas Blancas (Chillout Mix) (2007 - NSC 128). 26th in final, 39 points.
8:
Rameses B - Rick And Morty (2017 - NSC 157). 25th in semi, 26 points.
7:
Nexorum - Saligia Moralis Codice (2019 - NSC 175). 26th in semi, 18 points.
6:
Sunlounger feat. Inger Hansen - Breaking Waves (2010 - NSC 58). 25th in semi, 17 points.
5:
AutoLaser - Magenta (2012 - NSC 89). 24th in semi, 16 points.
4:
Starchild - Starchild (1996 - NSC 73). 26th in semi, 15 points.
3:
Dethklok - Murmaider (2007 - NSC 149). 24th in semi, 13 points.
2:
Staal - Dommedagen (2012 - NSC 91). 20th in semi, 8 points.
1:
Basshunter - Sverige (2006 - NSC 96). 25th in semi, 5 points.
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island goes extreme Switzerland (NSC 199)
Ceytengri got a low result as a PQ in 198, which isn't very surprising. Wasn't even close to reaching the top 20 result that I hoped for. But, I can't be unhappy with the result, as it turns out this was actually my 3rd best result with a PQ entry. So thanks again to everyone who voted for it, especially those high pointers, and thanks again to for letting me steal the entry. 
For the past 10 years, Norwegian ESC broadcaster NRK has had an annual entertainment series ("Stjernekamp", or "Battle of the stars") where Norwegian singers compete against eachother in various genres, most of which are completely unfamiliar to the artists. Opera and hiphop tends to be interesting for them. This year, Bjørn Tomren competed, a guy who normally does yodeling and throat-singing, and he's shown amazing skills this season. And not really used to being in the spotlight either, he's been used to performing for like 20 people in dark pubs, not a million TV viewers. Altho he did perform yodeling at the "Spellemannsprisen" award show in 2018, so he's not completely unknown with performing for big audiences, but I think being taken completely seriously as an artist might be a new experience for him. But that might change a bit now, as he won the contest this season, beating KEiiNO's Alexandra Rotan in the final. And as a fan of KEiiNO, you'd probably think I'm upset by that result, but I'm actually not. They were both worthy winners, and Alexandra has grown a lot as an artist this fall, so everybody wins. I think we can expect even greater things from KEiiNO in the future after her journey thru "Stjernekamp", and I'm also looking forward to listening to her upcoming solo project.
And this leads us to my next NSC entry. As I was watching the final between Alexandra and Bjørn unfold, I said to myself that if Bjørn wins this, I'll send yodeling to the NSC next edition. So here we are. The Swiss Yodel Volksmusik family group Oesch's die Dritten (the third Oesch, as Melanie Oesch is a 3rd generation yodeler in the Oesch family) is new to this contest. I think yodeling in general is pretty rare here, but I'm pretty sure I've heard some yodeling in NSC before, altho it might have been in a spinoff. But when sends yodeling, it's obviously going to be with a twist. Which brings me to Da Tweekaz, who are no strangers to NSC, having competed 4 times already (3 times for ), but never qualified to a final. Will they this time? Probably not. They made a hardstyle cover of Oesch's die Dritten's "Ich Schenk' Dir Einen Jodler", probably meant as a follow-up to their 2018 hit "Jägermeister", which also had some light yodeling, but that was completely dedicated to Jägermeister, in a series of alcohol anthems Da Tweekaz has made (following "Wodka" in 2015 and "Tequila" in 2016).
I know October has ended, so it's a bit late for Oktoberfest (I had actually decided to send this in October 2022), but the entry for NSC 199 is Da Tweekaz & Oesch's Die Dritten - Ich Schenk' Dir Einen Jodler:
Another semi bottom 5 coming up? We'll see.
After a bit of a delay, the Short Songs spinoff is finally happening after I figured I'd host it to get things moving. And my entry is a remix of a cover of a former NSC entry, Vylkuzeme's 191 entry (altho that was really a cover too). That's about as as it gets tbh. So the main characters of the Canadian mockumentary "The Trailer Park Boys" made a cover of it called "The Kittyman Sea Shanty". Then, Norwegian EDM producer veterans Galaxee made a remix of it, and that's how I found out about it. Loved it instantly, even tho it's a bit too short. But that makes it perfect for the short songs spinoff. And it helps that I've actually seen some of The Trailer Park Boys before, so I know what the show is about. Ok, take it away Bubbles!
I had originally planned to send the Tiktok remix of Wellerman to NSC, after being completely addicted to it during Easter. But then the cover and remixes rule got messed up, so that's not happening, and my list of entries for the unpopular Covers & remixes spinoffs is getting REALLY long. I might have found a solution for that tho, so stay tuned for that.
Ceytengri got a low result as a PQ in 198, which isn't very surprising. Wasn't even close to reaching the top 20 result that I hoped for. But, I can't be unhappy with the result, as it turns out this was actually my 3rd best result with a PQ entry.
So thanks again to everyone who voted for it, especially those high pointers, and thanks again to for letting me steal the entry. For the past 10 years, Norwegian ESC broadcaster NRK has had an annual entertainment series ("Stjernekamp", or "Battle of the stars") where Norwegian singers compete against eachother in various genres, most of which are completely unfamiliar to the artists. Opera and hiphop tends to be interesting for them.
This year, Bjørn Tomren competed, a guy who normally does yodeling and throat-singing, and he's shown amazing skills this season. And not really used to being in the spotlight either, he's been used to performing for like 20 people in dark pubs, not a million TV viewers. Altho he did perform yodeling at the "Spellemannsprisen" award show in 2018, so he's not completely unknown with performing for big audiences, but I think being taken completely seriously as an artist might be a new experience for him. But that might change a bit now, as he won the contest this season, beating KEiiNO's Alexandra Rotan in the final. And as a fan of KEiiNO, you'd probably think I'm upset by that result, but I'm actually not. They were both worthy winners, and Alexandra has grown a lot as an artist this fall, so everybody wins. I think we can expect even greater things from KEiiNO in the future after her journey thru "Stjernekamp", and I'm also looking forward to listening to her upcoming solo project. And this leads us to my next NSC entry. As I was watching the final between Alexandra and Bjørn unfold, I said to myself that if Bjørn wins this, I'll send yodeling to the NSC next edition. So here we are.
The Swiss Yodel Volksmusik family group Oesch's die Dritten (the third Oesch, as Melanie Oesch is a 3rd generation yodeler in the Oesch family) is new to this contest. I think yodeling in general is pretty rare here, but I'm pretty sure I've heard some yodeling in NSC before, altho it might have been in a spinoff. But when sends yodeling, it's obviously going to be with a twist. Which brings me to Da Tweekaz, who are no strangers to NSC, having competed 4 times already (3 times for ), but never qualified to a final. Will they this time? Probably not. They made a hardstyle cover of Oesch's die Dritten's "Ich Schenk' Dir Einen Jodler", probably meant as a follow-up to their 2018 hit "Jägermeister", which also had some light yodeling, but that was completely dedicated to Jägermeister, in a series of alcohol anthems Da Tweekaz has made (following "Wodka" in 2015 and "Tequila" in 2016).I know October has ended, so it's a bit late for Oktoberfest (I had actually decided to send this in October 2022), but the
entry for NSC 199 is Da Tweekaz & Oesch's Die Dritten - Ich Schenk' Dir Einen Jodler:Another semi bottom 5 coming up? We'll see.
After a bit of a delay, the Short Songs spinoff is finally happening after I figured I'd host it to get things moving.
And my entry is a remix of a cover of a former NSC entry, Vylkuzeme's 191 entry (altho that was really a cover too). That's about as as it gets tbh. So the main characters of the Canadian mockumentary "The Trailer Park Boys" made a cover of it called "The Kittyman Sea Shanty". Then, Norwegian EDM producer veterans Galaxee made a remix of it, and that's how I found out about it. Loved it instantly, even tho it's a bit too short. But that makes it perfect for the short songs spinoff. And it helps that I've actually seen some of The Trailer Park Boys before, so I know what the show is about. Ok, take it away Bubbles!I had originally planned to send the Tiktok remix of Wellerman to NSC, after being completely addicted to it during Easter. But then the cover and remixes rule got messed up, so that's not happening, and my list of entries for the unpopular Covers & remixes spinoffs is getting REALLY long. I might have found a solution for that tho, so stay tuned for that.
Last edited:
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island is a liar (NSC 200) + Videogame spinoff + big news!
Prepare yourself, this is gonna be a lot to read.
Nation Song Contest
So how do I even begin here? I honestly expected a very poor result for Ich Schenk' Dir Einen Jodler. I've sent Da Tweekaz 3 times before (not twice as I accidentally wrote earlier), Biflovatia sent them once, they've never managed to qualify to a final. And yodeling? I actually think yodeling can be pretty cool, but it didn't strike me as a recipe for success. The combination screamed flop to me. But what happens? It qualifies to the final. And even without the top 10 result in the semi, it would still have gone thru as the reju winner. And the result in the final, I can't even tbh. Many high pointers, and in the end, my 11th best result ever in NSC. I'm shocked. But also extremely thankful to everyone who voted for it.
Ok then. NSC 200 is coming up, and this time I actually feel the pressure is on, having qualified in both NSC 100 and NSC 150, and also having an actual streak of finals going on. All good things must come to an end tho, is it going to be now? Let's see. It's no secret that I've been (and still am) a big fan of italodance, and during Natiaclub in NSC 194, I realized it's time to go down the italo road again. But choosing which song to send has always been a challenge. For NSC 150 I got input from that eventually made me pick Gabry Ponte's "Geordie", which got a very good result. This time I'm picking one that might have fallen under the radar for many italodance fans. If my memory works, it's a song I first heard on webradio in my college days, which means either the Swedish "Radioseven" or the French "PulsRadio". They were the soundtrack of my life for most of my college years. As far as I know, this wasn't a worldwide hit in any way. Phillip Rushton is a Brit that attempted to represent Spain in ESC 2009, while Glass Twins is a Spanish italodance remixer project, that I know very little about. But every single remix they've released have been connected to the Barcelona label "Vale Music" and "Hit Sound Productions", and the names Ruben Herrera and Francisco Galera keep being mentioned on those releases, so I think they are the Glass Twins. Still, both Phillip Rushton and Glass Twins are pretty unknown compared to many others in italodance, so why not give them a chance to shine in NSC? The entry for NSC 200 is Phillip Rushton - Liar (Glass Twins Radio Cut):
Pretty dark lyrics too, his girlfriend is cheating on him, and I don't think it ends well. An episode for Criminal Minds or CSI right there.
NSC Spinoffs
In the hosted Short Songs Spinoff, the Kittyman remix got a pretty good result, finishing 8th, just like my previous two spinoff entries. At least we're consistent. Top half was better than I hoped for, this was the 3rd NSC contest I've hosted, and in both the previous contests I hosted, my entries finished in the bottom. So I'm very happy about this 8th place. Thanks again to those who voted for it.
Also, despite some protests that my 2:30 limit was too long, I think Kittyman was actually my shortest entry ever.
Next spinoff, the Videogame Spinoff 2. There were two tracks I was torn between, and since it's impossible to say when the 3rd Videogames spinoff will be, I'll give the backstory to both, even tho you know by now which one I went for (and should there be a 3rd edition of the Videogame spinoff series, you might already know what my entry will be, which will be less of a problem for whoever hosts).
The first one is from one of the first proper games I played, called Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge, first released in 1992. I think the game was originally made for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, but I think the Amiga version was the most popular. The version I played however, was the MS-DOS version, because I've always been a PC gamer. The game got mixed reviews, as it didn't add much from Lotus II, but I was too young to care (8 or 9 at the time), and had never played Lotus II, so I thought the game was pretty awesome, and compared to the other car games I played around that time (Stunts and Street Rod), the graphics were really good. You could actually tell that you were driving a Lotus. I played it a LOT, and when I had friends coming over, I usually lapped them when we were doing the split-screen two player mode. I had the home-field advantage, and I used it. Also, this game had an actual soundtrack, and not just random noises, produced by Patrick Phelan, and you could choose between 6 different tracks. Judging by YouTube comments I've read, the Amiga had the best sound quality. The MS-DOS version (which I played) used the PC speaker (because we didn't have proper speakers for the computer), so it lacked a bit of depth. I can't remember which track was my favorite back then, but I've listened to the tracks again, and "Miami Ice" is my favorite now, and even tho I can't remember it from back then (I often played either with the music off, and/or with a radio/MC/CD player nearby, because the PC speaker sound would drive me nuts after a while), listening to this still brings back memories. Good times.
The second track is a bit more modern, and it's part of a pretty long story. In gaming, the difference between 1992 and 2004 is huge. And even tho I have played some FIFA and Football Manager (or Championship Manager as it was called when I played it), I've always been a racer. After Lotus III, I moved on to Need For Speed. Well, I actually kept playing Lotus until at least 1999, but Need For Speed eventually took over. Used to spend a lot of time visiting a classmate who had a better computer than my family had (his family's computer had a CD-ROM player, ours was older, and only had a floppy drive), and he had the first Need For Speed game. Good times. And as Electronic Arts pushed out new NFS games every year, I played them all, often with friends. In 2000, they made NFS: Porsche 2000, the 5th game of the series, and this was more of a simulation game than the previous NFS games, so some of the cars were really tricky to control. Probably extra difficult for a keyboard player like me, as I could only have no throttle or full throttle, and some of the cars required a sensitive touch. A lot of power, not a lot of grip. And I struggled with the 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Coupe. In fact, so much I gave up on the entire game for a year or two, until I decided to give it another go. And I gotta tell you, to finally be able to control that car, it's the best feeling I've ever had in my gaming career. And just like that, NFS: Porsche went from being a game I hated, to becoming the best game I'd ever played, and to this day, it's still up there with the best ever for me (together with Test Drive Unlimited and TrackMania² Canyon). Anyway, let's move on, because NFS: Porsche isn't actually the game my entry is from, but it did have a really good soundtrack, filled with electronic music. When EA released the 7th game of the NFS series in 2003, there was a change. NFS: Underground went to the illegal street racing scene and introduced cars customizing, probably thanks to the popularity of "The Fast and the Furious". So I signed up to NFSUnlimited.net, and they held car customizing contests (aka challenges) on the forum, and some of those challenges actually had cool prizes, several of those given by Electronic Arts. I think I won a t-shirt actually, thanks to a pretty nice Ford Focus I made. That Focus was part of a big challenge called "TuningChallenge", a challenge I also made 19 other cars for (one for each car in NFS:U), and it turns out I actually still have all my cars from all the challenges stored on my hard drive. Deciding on an entry for this spinoff has been an incredible tour down memory lane for me, and I'm sorry for the wall of text. So here's the Ford Focus:
I also got into a heated argument with one of the NFSUnlimited admins on their IRC channel, which led to him being "fired", and me getting the spot instead. This eventually also led me to visiting one of the other admins in Australia together with the Slovenian site owner, but that's a different story, and I'm getting seriously side tracked right now. NFS: Underground made the NFSUnlimited site very popular, we were one of the biggest NFS fansites on the Internet, and this continued with NFS: Underground 2 in 2004. And THIS is where my entry comes into play. When you started up the game, the first song that would play when you got to the menu was the Fredwreck remix of Snoop Dogg and The Doors' "Riders On The Storm". And this remix was also made for NFS: Underground 2, making it eligible for the Videogame Spinoff. I gotta admit tho, I'm not a big fan of Snoop Dogg. I've never liked his flow, and I usually avoid his songs like the plague (that saying is worth less than it was before Covid, because it turns out a lot of people don't actually worry about the plague). But, this track's an exception, and I think anyone who's played NFS: Underground 2 has some sort of a relationship with this track.
Here is some of my work for the NFS:U2 challenges on NFSUnlimited:
Will it be yet another spinoff 8th place? Will we ever know? I sure hope this spinoff won't last 12 years like the previous Videogame spinoff...
But wait, there's more!
Waiting List Song Contest
As mentioned earlier, I think I've found a solution to the songs that are on my waiting list, which will most likely never be sent to the NSC, because of the rules of NSC. That solution is the WLSC. Yes, will join the WLSC occationally. NSC already takes quite a bit of time tho, and NSC will always be my top priority (at least until I'm kicked off the roster, which will hopefully never happen), I join spinoffs every now and then, and I often have weekend trips that also will prevent me from joining WLSC editions, but when I can, I'll send entries to that contest as well. Expect covers and remixes, and probably songs that came really close to being a spinoff entry as well, but who knows, I might pull out something else from time to time as well, because I have a LOT of songs that I want to include in my history, but not enough NSC editions to send them to.
WLSC 231 was intended as my debut edition, but the Videogame spinoff prevented that, because I can't commit myself to 3 contests at the same time. For WLSC 232 tho, is in. And my debut WLSC entry is going to be a cover of a former NSC winner, Zaprya's NSC 40 entry "In And Out Of Love" by Armin van Buuren and Sharon den Adel. A while ago, I tried suggesting "Best Singers" for an upcoming spinoff, and this is the reason (well, one of them, as I have one more waiting entry from that series). In 2018, Sylver's Silvy De Bie was part of the 4th season of Belgian channel VTM's "Liefde voor Muziek", together with Within Temptation's Sharon den Adel, and 5 other Belgian artists (don't know why Sharon was part of the Belgian series, and not the Dutch "Beste Zangers", but it provided us with a masterpiece, so I'm not complaining). Each artist had one episode dedicated to their work, and for Sharon's episode, Silvy did a special version of "In And Out Of Love". The only reason I know about it, is that Armin van Buuren ended one of his A State of Trance radio shows with this version, and I was sold immediately. I could maybe have sent this to the NSC when the covers and remixes rule was temporarily fixed, but it would still have been on the limit of being accepted, and it would have been especially controversial since the original had won NSC, even if it's over a decade and 150+ editions ago. Sending it to the WLSC will hopefully be less controversial. This was also going to be my entry in the Country Elimination Contest that never happened.
So here's the first non-spinoff entry that the majority of the NSC members will never hear (and those who voted to revert the covers and remixes rule don't really deserve it anyway):
Ok, that was all for now.
Prepare yourself, this is gonna be a lot to read.
Nation Song Contest
So how do I even begin here? I honestly expected a very poor result for Ich Schenk' Dir Einen Jodler. I've sent Da Tweekaz 3 times before (not twice as I accidentally wrote earlier), Biflovatia sent them once, they've never managed to qualify to a final. And yodeling? I actually think yodeling can be pretty cool, but it didn't strike me as a recipe for success. The combination screamed flop to me. But what happens? It qualifies to the final.
And even without the top 10 result in the semi, it would still have gone thru as the reju winner. And the result in the final, I can't even tbh. Many high pointers, and in the end, my 11th best result ever in NSC. I'm shocked. But also extremely thankful to everyone who voted for it. Ok then. NSC 200 is coming up, and this time I actually feel the pressure is on, having qualified in both NSC 100 and NSC 150, and also having an actual streak of finals going on.
All good things must come to an end tho, is it going to be now? Let's see. It's no secret that I've been (and still am) a big fan of italodance, and during Natiaclub in NSC 194, I realized it's time to go down the italo road again. But choosing which song to send has always been a challenge. For NSC 150 I got input from that eventually made me pick Gabry Ponte's "Geordie", which got a very good result. This time I'm picking one that might have fallen under the radar for many italodance fans. If my memory works, it's a song I first heard on webradio in my college days, which means either the Swedish "Radioseven" or the French "PulsRadio". They were the soundtrack of my life for most of my college years. As far as I know, this wasn't a worldwide hit in any way. Phillip Rushton is a Brit that attempted to represent Spain in ESC 2009, while Glass Twins is a Spanish italodance remixer project, that I know very little about. But every single remix they've released have been connected to the Barcelona label "Vale Music" and "Hit Sound Productions", and the names Ruben Herrera and Francisco Galera keep being mentioned on those releases, so I think they are the Glass Twins. Still, both Phillip Rushton and Glass Twins are pretty unknown compared to many others in italodance, so why not give them a chance to shine in NSC? The entry for NSC 200 is Phillip Rushton - Liar (Glass Twins Radio Cut):Pretty dark lyrics too, his girlfriend is cheating on him, and I don't think it ends well. An episode for Criminal Minds or CSI right there.
NSC Spinoffs
In the
hosted Short Songs Spinoff, the Kittyman remix got a pretty good result, finishing 8th, just like my previous two spinoff entries. At least we're consistent. Top half was better than I hoped for, this was the 3rd NSC contest I've hosted, and in both the previous contests I hosted, my entries finished in the bottom. So I'm very happy about this 8th place. Thanks again to those who voted for it. Also, despite some protests that my 2:30 limit was too long, I think Kittyman was actually my shortest entry ever.
Next spinoff, the Videogame Spinoff 2. There were two tracks I was torn between, and since it's impossible to say when the 3rd Videogames spinoff will be, I'll give the backstory to both, even tho you know by now which one I went for (and should there be a 3rd edition of the Videogame spinoff series, you might already know what my entry will be, which will be less of a problem for whoever hosts).
The first one is from one of the first proper games I played, called Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge, first released in 1992. I think the game was originally made for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, but I think the Amiga version was the most popular. The version I played however, was the MS-DOS version, because I've always been a PC gamer. The game got mixed reviews, as it didn't add much from Lotus II, but I was too young to care (8 or 9 at the time), and had never played Lotus II, so I thought the game was pretty awesome, and compared to the other car games I played around that time (Stunts and Street Rod), the graphics were really good.
You could actually tell that you were driving a Lotus. I played it a LOT, and when I had friends coming over, I usually lapped them when we were doing the split-screen two player mode. I had the home-field advantage, and I used it. Also, this game had an actual soundtrack, and not just random noises, produced by Patrick Phelan, and you could choose between 6 different tracks. Judging by YouTube comments I've read, the Amiga had the best sound quality. The MS-DOS version (which I played) used the PC speaker (because we didn't have proper speakers for the computer), so it lacked a bit of depth. I can't remember which track was my favorite back then, but I've listened to the tracks again, and "Miami Ice" is my favorite now, and even tho I can't remember it from back then (I often played either with the music off, and/or with a radio/MC/CD player nearby, because the PC speaker sound would drive me nuts after a while), listening to this still brings back memories. Good times. The second track is a bit more modern, and it's part of a pretty long story. In gaming, the difference between 1992 and 2004 is huge. And even tho I have played some FIFA and Football Manager (or Championship Manager as it was called when I played it), I've always been a racer. After Lotus III, I moved on to Need For Speed. Well, I actually kept playing Lotus until at least 1999, but Need For Speed eventually took over. Used to spend a lot of time visiting a classmate who had a better computer than my family had (his family's computer had a CD-ROM player, ours was older, and only had a floppy drive), and he had the first Need For Speed game. Good times.
And as Electronic Arts pushed out new NFS games every year, I played them all, often with friends. In 2000, they made NFS: Porsche 2000, the 5th game of the series, and this was more of a simulation game than the previous NFS games, so some of the cars were really tricky to control. Probably extra difficult for a keyboard player like me, as I could only have no throttle or full throttle, and some of the cars required a sensitive touch. A lot of power, not a lot of grip. And I struggled with the 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Coupe. In fact, so much I gave up on the entire game for a year or two, until I decided to give it another go. And I gotta tell you, to finally be able to control that car, it's the best feeling I've ever had in my gaming career. And just like that, NFS: Porsche went from being a game I hated, to becoming the best game I'd ever played, and to this day, it's still up there with the best ever for me (together with Test Drive Unlimited and TrackMania² Canyon). Anyway, let's move on, because NFS: Porsche isn't actually the game my entry is from, but it did have a really good soundtrack, filled with electronic music. When EA released the 7th game of the NFS series in 2003, there was a change. NFS: Underground went to the illegal street racing scene and introduced cars customizing, probably thanks to the popularity of "The Fast and the Furious". So I signed up to NFSUnlimited.net, and they held car customizing contests (aka challenges) on the forum, and some of those challenges actually had cool prizes, several of those given by Electronic Arts. I think I won a t-shirt actually, thanks to a pretty nice Ford Focus I made. That Focus was part of a big challenge called "TuningChallenge", a challenge I also made 19 other cars for (one for each car in NFS:U), and it turns out I actually still have all my cars from all the challenges stored on my hard drive. Deciding on an entry for this spinoff has been an incredible tour down memory lane for me, and I'm sorry for the wall of text. So here's the Ford Focus:
I also got into a heated argument with one of the NFSUnlimited admins on their IRC channel, which led to him being "fired", and me getting the spot instead.
This eventually also led me to visiting one of the other admins in Australia together with the Slovenian site owner, but that's a different story, and I'm getting seriously side tracked right now. NFS: Underground made the NFSUnlimited site very popular, we were one of the biggest NFS fansites on the Internet, and this continued with NFS: Underground 2 in 2004. And THIS is where my entry comes into play. When you started up the game, the first song that would play when you got to the menu was the Fredwreck remix of Snoop Dogg and The Doors' "Riders On The Storm". And this remix was also made for NFS: Underground 2, making it eligible for the Videogame Spinoff. I gotta admit tho, I'm not a big fan of Snoop Dogg. I've never liked his flow, and I usually avoid his songs like the plague (that saying is worth less than it was before Covid, because it turns out a lot of people don't actually worry about the plague). But, this track's an exception, and I think anyone who's played NFS: Underground 2 has some sort of a relationship with this track. Here is some of my work for the NFS:U2 challenges on NFSUnlimited:
Will it be yet another spinoff 8th place?
Will we ever know? I sure hope this spinoff won't last 12 years like the previous Videogame spinoff...But wait, there's more!
Waiting List Song Contest
As mentioned earlier, I think I've found a solution to the songs that are on my waiting list, which will most likely never be sent to the NSC, because of the rules of NSC. That solution is the WLSC. Yes,
will join the WLSC occationally. NSC already takes quite a bit of time tho, and NSC will always be my top priority (at least until I'm kicked off the roster, which will hopefully never happen), I join spinoffs every now and then, and I often have weekend trips that also will prevent me from joining WLSC editions, but when I can, I'll send entries to that contest as well. Expect covers and remixes, and probably songs that came really close to being a spinoff entry as well, but who knows, I might pull out something else from time to time as well, because I have a LOT of songs that I want to include in my history, but not enough NSC editions to send them to. WLSC 231 was intended as my debut edition, but the Videogame spinoff prevented that, because I can't commit myself to 3 contests at the same time. For WLSC 232 tho,
is in. And my debut WLSC entry is going to be a cover of a former NSC winner, Zaprya's NSC 40 entry "In And Out Of Love" by Armin van Buuren and Sharon den Adel. A while ago, I tried suggesting "Best Singers" for an upcoming spinoff, and this is the reason (well, one of them, as I have one more waiting entry from that series). In 2018, Sylver's Silvy De Bie was part of the 4th season of Belgian channel VTM's "Liefde voor Muziek", together with Within Temptation's Sharon den Adel, and 5 other Belgian artists (don't know why Sharon was part of the Belgian series, and not the Dutch "Beste Zangers", but it provided us with a masterpiece, so I'm not complaining). Each artist had one episode dedicated to their work, and for Sharon's episode, Silvy did a special version of "In And Out Of Love". The only reason I know about it, is that Armin van Buuren ended one of his A State of Trance radio shows with this version, and I was sold immediately. I could maybe have sent this to the NSC when the covers and remixes rule was temporarily fixed, but it would still have been on the limit of being accepted, and it would have been especially controversial since the original had won NSC, even if it's over a decade and 150+ editions ago. Sending it to the WLSC will hopefully be less controversial. This was also going to be my entry in the Country Elimination Contest that never happened.So here's the first
non-spinoff entry that the majority of the NSC members will never hear (and those who voted to revert the covers and remixes rule don't really deserve it anyway):Ok, that was all for now.
theditz83
Veteran
Oh my lord! Would you believe that I have heard your NSC 200 entry before, but it was the XTM radio mix and not the Glass Twins Radio Cut (both are equally as fab!)
Vale Music was my favourite label in the early to mid 00s especially - I purchased an insane amount of 4/5/6/8 CD compilation anthologies from that label as they really had the best Eurodance, club and Italodance music from that era (at least in terms of the songs that were getting releases in Spain, and since that's where I would holiday every year, it was my main source of new music).
Thanks for reminding me of this song buddy
Vale Music was my favourite label in the early to mid 00s especially - I purchased an insane amount of 4/5/6/8 CD compilation anthologies from that label as they really had the best Eurodance, club and Italodance music from that era (at least in terms of the songs that were getting releases in Spain, and since that's where I would holiday every year, it was my main source of new music).
Thanks for reminding me of this song buddy
Morty
Well-known member
Oh my lord! Would you believe that I have heard your NSC 200 entry before, but it was the XTM radio mix and not the Glass Twins Radio Cut (both are equally as fab!)
Vale Music was my favourite label in the early to mid 00s especially - I purchased an insane amount of 4/5/6/8 CD compilation anthologies from that label as they really had the best Eurodance, club and Italodance music from that era (at least in terms of the songs that were getting releases in Spain, and since that's where I would holiday every year, it was my main source of new music).
Thanks for reminding me of this song buddy
So that means it was probably from the French radio I picked it up, and not the Swedish radio.
I did think about the XTM remix as well actually, but I slightly prefer the Glass Twins remix. This isn't the only italo entry I've sent that doesn't end well tho, Gabry Ponte's Geordie was hung with a golden rope. Cheating and theft are both risky adventures.
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island brings the speed (NSC 201)
First of all, Happy New Year, and happy new NSC century!
After having qualified in NSC 50, NSC 100 AND NSC 150, I felt some pressure before NSC 200, and Liar... failed. My worst result since NSC 192. But, it got some points, which is always nice.
My next entry has been waiting impatiently for a couple of years, as I felt it would be the perfect entry to celebrate Max Verstappen's first Formula 1 World Championship win, whenever that would happen. And this season, it actually happened. Since my NSC 200 entry had also been planned for a long time, as I wanted italodance for the landmark edition, I had to push this to NSC 201 instead, despite the season ending before the NSC 200 deadline.
Max Verstappen is Dutch. Many known hardstyle producers, like the Frequencerz, are also Dutch. So that there would be a hardstyle tribute track to Max Verstappen at some point wasn't a big surprise. Pepijn Hol started using the Frequencerz alias in 2005, and Niels Koster joined shortly after, making Frequencerz a duo. I haven't really followed them the last few years tho, as they moved towards rawstyle, and I didn't (I'm making an exception for this track). I have seen them live tho, back in 2013 on a MondayBar cruise from Riga to Stockholm, and in Oslo in 2017.
The 2021 F1 season was really exciting to follow, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen going into the last race equal on points, after many controversial incidents over the season. Hamilton had the momentum coming into the last race, he had the speed over Verstappen in the last race, and despite Red Bull's efforts to try to give Verstappen a chance, it looked like Hamilton had this in the bank. Until Latifi smashed into the wall 5 laps before the finish. With Verstappen on brand new tires, and Hamilton on old worn out tires, everything changed. An absolutely shocking finish!
I have nothing against Lewis Hamilton tho, and I feel a bit sorry for him, with the way this ended, because he was the fastest out there. In my opinion, Mercedes screwed him over by not giving him new tires. Despite possibly losing track position to Verstappen had he chosen not to change tires, Hamilton would have had no problems passing him again on new tires. In my opinion, big mistake by Mercedes, which gave Max the World Championship win, even tho they try to blame FIA and everybody else. However, I feel Red Bull has been treated unfairly on some occasions over the season as well, so I do believe Red Bull deserved to win in the end. Hamilton seems like a really nice guy, and I like that he's been speaking out about the human rights issues in some of the countries F1 have been going to, especially in the Middle-East. He's a 7 time champion, when he speaks, Formula 1 listens, whether they like it or not. But just like with Schumacher earlier, it gets a little bit boring when the same driver keeps winning over and over again. And since I've felt that Verstappen has been a breath of fresh air into the F1 circus, I've been rooting for him for years, and to see him have a chance at becoming a world champion have been awesome. Plus, I drive a Honda, and Red Bull also uses Honda engines. So, big congrats to Max Verstappen aka #MV33.
The entry for NSC 201 is Frequencerz - #MV33:
For this, I also need to add an alternative link. Until I previewed this post, I had no idea what the problem was. Sometimes when I go to see the YouTube video made by Roald van 't Hart, it's "unavailable". But the thumbnail here gives an answer. "This video contains content from Formula One Management, who has blocked it from display on this website or application". 
I'm not entirely sure that explains all of it tho, it's also sometimes unavailable when I use a VPN (which I often do), but not always, and it's also sometimes unavailable when I DON'T use a VPN, but not always. Annoying stuff. So here's the alternative:
This isn't the first EDM Formula 1 track btw. DJ Visage made a track called "Formula" back in 1997, and that's a bit of a tribute to Michael Schumacher. Where are the Hamilton tracks?
I have low expectations with this entry tho. It usually takes something special for hardstyle to qualify, and I don't think this will stand out enough, and I also doubt anyone who supports Hamilton will vote for this, so I'm really just hoping to not finish last this time.
Spinoffs:
The Fredwreck/Snoop Dogg remix of "Riders On The Storm" did NOT get another 8th place. Last by a good margin. But, it did get some points, including a 10 from Svobodnia.
The next spinoff, NSC in reverse, wasn't my cup of tea (I don't drink tea at all tbh), but thankfully I now also have the WLSC.
WLSC:
My thread updates will follow the NSC schedule, so those who don't follow the WLSC will get monthly updates here. It's been a good start to the WLSC for , finishing 11th in the debut. Even got a 12 pointer from Belvist.
For WLSC 233, it wasn't very easy to pick an entry, because I have a lot to choose from, including one more from the same series as "In And Out Of Love" that I've been wanting to send to the NSC so much for a pretty long time. But, I also wanted to send something classic, and I decided to go to my earlier roots. When I was 13, 4 Tune Fairytales released "Ding A Dong", which I thought was something they'd come up with on their own. I had no idea "Ding-a-Dong" was the Eurovision 1975 winner, or that 4TF's song was based on anything ESC related, and it took years before I found out that this was even a cover. Pre-1990 ESC has never really been that interesting to me, I've heard the Norwegian entries, but that's about it. But, covers of ESC entries aren't allowed in NSC, so WLSC was the place to send it, so at least some would get to hear it. Turned out that after more than 200 editions of WLSC, I was the first one to consider a cover of an ESC entry.
Got an even better result than Silvy's acoustic take on "In And Out Of Love" as well, finishing 6th. "Only" got points from 9 of 20 nations tho, 7 of which had it in their top 4 (thanks to Rehi Kaita for the 12 ), so it was a "love it or hate it" entry.
In WLSC 234, I decided to go away from my original plan of first sending the cover entries that's been on my list for years, and instead send something new. Just like in NSC 201, I'm going with hardstyle, and for WLSC, it's a cover/remix by Coone of Spila's NSC 45 entry, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". Coone called his version "Sir Gaga", and he put it up for a free download on Xmas Eve, since he couldn't release it properly. Not approved by Lady Gaga's team, so he can't make any money off of it. Crossing my fingers that it doesn't get taken off the air.
I was actually not aware that Bad Romance was the NSC 45 winner when I decided to send this, because I hadn't looked up the result. I realized this during the NSC 200 results show, but by then I figured it was too late, since I had already announced my WLSC 234 entry. That means my first 3 WLSC entries have unintentionally been covers of former winners. I'm gonna make sure to NOT send a cover of a winner next time. (Won't be that hard tbh, as none of the entries on my list at the moment are of previous winners, but there are a couple of runner-ups)
Also, since I've seen a few other nations changing their flags for the new century, I'm happy to announce that Balearica Island will NOT change anything.
First of all, Happy New Year, and happy new NSC century!
After having qualified in NSC 50, NSC 100 AND NSC 150, I felt some pressure before NSC 200, and Liar... failed.
My worst result since NSC 192. But, it got some points, which is always nice. My next entry has been waiting impatiently for a couple of years, as I felt it would be the perfect entry to celebrate Max Verstappen's first Formula 1 World Championship win, whenever that would happen. And this season, it actually happened.
Since my NSC 200 entry had also been planned for a long time, as I wanted italodance for the landmark edition, I had to push this to NSC 201 instead, despite the season ending before the NSC 200 deadline.Max Verstappen is Dutch. Many known hardstyle producers, like the Frequencerz, are also Dutch. So that there would be a hardstyle tribute track to Max Verstappen at some point wasn't a big surprise. Pepijn Hol started using the Frequencerz alias in 2005, and Niels Koster joined shortly after, making Frequencerz a duo. I haven't really followed them the last few years tho, as they moved towards rawstyle, and I didn't (I'm making an exception for this track). I have seen them live tho, back in 2013 on a MondayBar cruise from Riga to Stockholm, and in Oslo in 2017.
The 2021 F1 season was really exciting to follow, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen going into the last race equal on points, after many controversial incidents over the season. Hamilton had the momentum coming into the last race, he had the speed over Verstappen in the last race, and despite Red Bull's efforts to try to give Verstappen a chance, it looked like Hamilton had this in the bank. Until Latifi smashed into the wall 5 laps before the finish.
With Verstappen on brand new tires, and Hamilton on old worn out tires, everything changed. An absolutely shocking finish! I have nothing against Lewis Hamilton tho, and I feel a bit sorry for him, with the way this ended, because he was the fastest out there. In my opinion, Mercedes screwed him over by not giving him new tires. Despite possibly losing track position to Verstappen had he chosen not to change tires, Hamilton would have had no problems passing him again on new tires. In my opinion, big mistake by Mercedes, which gave Max the World Championship win, even tho they try to blame FIA and everybody else. However, I feel Red Bull has been treated unfairly on some occasions over the season as well, so I do believe Red Bull deserved to win in the end. Hamilton seems like a really nice guy, and I like that he's been speaking out about the human rights issues in some of the countries F1 have been going to, especially in the Middle-East. He's a 7 time champion, when he speaks, Formula 1 listens, whether they like it or not. But just like with Schumacher earlier, it gets a little bit boring when the same driver keeps winning over and over again. And since I've felt that Verstappen has been a breath of fresh air into the F1 circus, I've been rooting for him for years, and to see him have a chance at becoming a world champion have been awesome. Plus, I drive a Honda, and Red Bull also uses Honda engines.
So, big congrats to Max Verstappen aka #MV33. The
entry for NSC 201 is Frequencerz - #MV33: I'm not entirely sure that explains all of it tho, it's also sometimes unavailable when I use a VPN (which I often do), but not always, and it's also sometimes unavailable when I DON'T use a VPN, but not always. Annoying stuff. So here's the alternative:This isn't the first EDM Formula 1 track btw. DJ Visage made a track called "Formula" back in 1997, and that's a bit of a tribute to Michael Schumacher. Where are the Hamilton tracks?
I have low expectations with this entry tho. It usually takes something special for hardstyle to qualify, and I don't think this will stand out enough, and I also doubt anyone who supports Hamilton will vote for this, so I'm really just hoping to not finish last this time.
Spinoffs:
The Fredwreck/Snoop Dogg remix of "Riders On The Storm" did NOT get another 8th place. Last by a good margin. But, it did get some points, including a 10 from Svobodnia.
The next spinoff, NSC in reverse, wasn't my cup of tea (I don't drink tea at all tbh), but thankfully I now also have the WLSC.
WLSC:
My
thread updates will follow the NSC schedule, so those who don't follow the WLSC will get monthly updates here. It's been a good start to the WLSC for , finishing 11th in the debut. Even got a 12 pointer from Belvist. For WLSC 233, it wasn't very easy to pick an entry, because I have a lot to choose from, including one more from the same series as "In And Out Of Love" that I've been wanting to send to the NSC so much for a pretty long time. But, I also wanted to send something classic
, and I decided to go to my earlier roots. When I was 13, 4 Tune Fairytales released "Ding A Dong", which I thought was something they'd come up with on their own. I had no idea "Ding-a-Dong" was the Eurovision 1975 winner, or that 4TF's song was based on anything ESC related, and it took years before I found out that this was even a cover. Pre-1990 ESC has never really been that interesting to me, I've heard the Norwegian entries, but that's about it. But, covers of ESC entries aren't allowed in NSC, so WLSC was the place to send it, so at least some would get to hear it. Turned out that after more than 200 editions of WLSC, I was the first one to consider a cover of an ESC entry. Got an even better result than Silvy's acoustic take on "In And Out Of Love" as well, finishing 6th.
"Only" got points from 9 of 20 nations tho, 7 of which had it in their top 4 (thanks to Rehi Kaita for the 12 ), so it was a "love it or hate it" entry.In WLSC 234, I decided to go away from my original plan of first sending the cover entries that's been on my list for years, and instead send something new. Just like in NSC 201, I'm going with hardstyle, and for WLSC, it's a cover/remix by Coone of Spila's NSC 45 entry, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". Coone called his version "Sir Gaga", and he put it up for a free download on Xmas Eve, since he couldn't release it properly. Not approved by Lady Gaga's team, so he can't make any money off of it. Crossing my fingers that it doesn't get taken off the air.
I was actually not aware that Bad Romance was the NSC 45 winner when I decided to send this, because I hadn't looked up the result. I realized this during the NSC 200 results show, but by then I figured it was too late, since I had already announced my WLSC 234 entry. That means my first 3 WLSC entries have unintentionally been covers of former winners.
I'm gonna make sure to NOT send a cover of a winner next time. (Won't be that hard tbh, as none of the entries on my list at the moment are of previous winners, but there are a couple of runner-ups)Also, since I've seen a few other nations changing their flags for the new century, I'm happy to announce that Balearica Island will NOT change anything.
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island lurks in the shadows (NSC 202)
I was expecting a really poor result for #MV33 tbh, thinking this could actually be a contender for the nul points. It was a bottom five result tho, but a total of score of 86 points combined was obviously a LOT better than I expected.
Hollywood Undead has been one of my absolute favorite bands for a long time, and the fact that I've only sent them twice is embarrassing. Even tho I can't really relate much to all of their lyrics, as there's a lot of gangsta shit, alcohol and drugs there, I still think their combination of rap and rock sounds pretty damn awesome. But just before Xmas, they released a new song, together with Blasterjaxx, and that's in a very different style from their previous releases. They did release a remix album of "American Tragedy" tho, which is where my NSC 76 entry was from, but all the songs on that album were remixes. The song with Blasterjaxx is not. Wasn't expecting to see Hollywood Undead on Spinnin' Records, but I think it's awesome.
WLSC
In 234, Sir Gaga got my worst result in WLSC so far, finishing 17th. Another "love or hate" entry, as most of the points came from nations who ranked it high. Not surprised, hardstyle isn't for everyone.
The next entry was supposed to be a cover of Saint Joe & Southgulfia's NSC 30 entry, Reamonn - Supergirl. But, just as I was about to post it, I discovered that it had already been in WLSC, Meilutya sent it in WLSC 90. So instead I had to pick a different entry. As you know, I'm sticking to covers and remixes in WLSC, at least for now. And in NSC, this would be a cover. In the outside world, this is the original of a remix that was sent by Kingdom of Erås in NSC 82, Avicii's remix of Nadia Ali - Rapture. A great remix, but I actually prefer the original here (even tho I did give Kingdom of Erås my 12).
Also, this is NOT a cover of a former winner, altho... It's hard to say how it could have ended. Kingdom of Erås failed to vote in the NSC 82 semi, and would have been a sure qualifier. iiO's original did very well in the WLSC, scoring my first top 3 result.
For WLSC 236, I thought I would need to take a break due to the Olympics, and I had a lot of ESC NF entries to go thru. But I got thru the ESC entries much faster than I expected, and the Olympics are almost over now, so WLSC became an option again.
There is one song I've been a bit desperate to enter for a while, and unfortunately I found it after AATW Netherlands, otherwise I would have sent it there. I don't regret sending "Het Land Van", but the first time I heard this, I was thinking "I NEED this in my history". But that was easier said than done. I could have sent it to an earlier edition of the WLSC, but I didn't want it to be too close to Silvy. Because, this is from the Dutch TV show "Beste Zangers", the same series as "Liefde voor Muziek", where my WLSC debut entry was from. The (new) Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen, and Henk Poort, a Dutch opera singer and the Dutch Phantom actor himself, performed an amazing version of Nightwish's "Phantom Of The Opera", sent to NSC 5 by Reym-L-Dneurb (altho both of them are really covers of the song from the 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber). I've read that Henk is one of Floor's idols, and he's also a fan of her work, so this was a great opportunity for them to perform together, and you can tell that they enjoy it. And now I just couldn't delay this entry any longer.
Other
Sitting out of Congrats this time, because I want to focus on adding new entries to my history, and don't really have enough time for everything, with the Olympics having taken most of my time lately.
Here are all my favorites from the ESC 2022 NF season (just a few NFs missing now):
Also going to try to make a top 10 (I already know my #1, and I'll make a YouTube playlist with my favorites as well, but more on that later, when (or if) I ever finish that project.
I was expecting a really poor result for #MV33 tbh, thinking this could actually be a contender for the nul points. It was a bottom five result tho, but a total of score of 86 points combined was obviously a LOT better than I expected.
Hollywood Undead has been one of my absolute favorite bands for a long time, and the fact that I've only sent them twice is embarrassing. Even tho I can't really relate much to all of their lyrics, as there's a lot of gangsta shit, alcohol and drugs there, I still think their combination of rap and rock sounds pretty damn awesome. But just before Xmas, they released a new song, together with Blasterjaxx, and that's in a very different style from their previous releases. They did release a remix album of "American Tragedy" tho, which is where my NSC 76 entry was from, but all the songs on that album were remixes. The song with Blasterjaxx is not. Wasn't expecting to see Hollywood Undead on Spinnin' Records, but I think it's awesome.
WLSC
In 234, Sir Gaga got my worst result in WLSC so far, finishing 17th. Another "love or hate" entry, as most of the points came from nations who ranked it high. Not surprised, hardstyle isn't for everyone.
The next entry was supposed to be a cover of Saint Joe & Southgulfia's NSC 30 entry, Reamonn - Supergirl. But, just as I was about to post it, I discovered that it had already been in WLSC, Meilutya sent it in WLSC 90. So instead I had to pick a different entry. As you know, I'm sticking to covers and remixes in WLSC, at least for now. And in NSC, this would be a cover. In the outside world, this is the original of a remix that was sent by Kingdom of Erås in NSC 82, Avicii's remix of Nadia Ali - Rapture. A great remix, but I actually prefer the original here (even tho I did give Kingdom of Erås my 12).
Also, this is NOT a cover of a former winner, altho... It's hard to say how it could have ended. Kingdom of Erås failed to vote in the NSC 82 semi, and would have been a sure qualifier. iiO's original did very well in the WLSC, scoring my first top 3 result.
For WLSC 236, I thought I would need to take a break due to the Olympics, and I had a lot of ESC NF entries to go thru. But I got thru the ESC entries much faster than I expected, and the Olympics are almost over now, so WLSC became an option again.
There is one song I've been a bit desperate to enter for a while, and unfortunately I found it after AATW Netherlands, otherwise I would have sent it there. I don't regret sending "Het Land Van", but the first time I heard this, I was thinking "I NEED this in my
history". But that was easier said than done. I could have sent it to an earlier edition of the WLSC, but I didn't want it to be too close to Silvy. Because, this is from the Dutch TV show "Beste Zangers", the same series as "Liefde voor Muziek", where my WLSC debut entry was from. The (new) Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen, and Henk Poort, a Dutch opera singer and the Dutch Phantom actor himself, performed an amazing version of Nightwish's "Phantom Of The Opera", sent to NSC 5 by Reym-L-Dneurb (altho both of them are really covers of the song from the 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber). I've read that Henk is one of Floor's idols, and he's also a fan of her work, so this was a great opportunity for them to perform together, and you can tell that they enjoy it. And now I just couldn't delay this entry any longer. Other
Sitting out of Congrats this time, because I want to focus on adding new entries to my
history, and don't really have enough time for everything, with the Olympics having taken most of my time lately.Here are all my favorites from the ESC 2022 NF season (just a few NFs missing now):
NF Favorites - 2022 Edition
:al: Rezarta Smaja - E jemja nuse ┃ Alban Ramosaj - Theje ┃ Mirud - Për dreq ┃ Gjergj Kaçinari - Në ëndërr mbete ti :ee: Kaia-Liisa Kesler - Vaikus :cz: Giudi - Jezinky
www.escunited.com
theditz83
Veteran
I have that Blasterjaxx song on my potentials list also, but for WV 
WV zechhh
Well-known member
- Joined
- October 2, 2009
- Posts
- 2,510
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island puts on the red light (NSC 203)
A pretty good result for Blasterjaxx and Hollywood Undead, finishing 13th, HU's best result in the NSC from their 3 attempts. Would have been nice to see them qualify tho, but I can't complain about that result.
Every now and then, something new pops up, and I simply can't resist it, and this entry is in that category. Swedish House Mafia broke up in 2013, but then got reunited in 2018, and last year, they started releasing new music again. They've now made a collab with Sting called "Redlight", and Sting's part of it is from The Police's 1979 hit "Roxanne", and I figure if someone had sent Roxanne to the NSC previously, this would still be different enough to pass. But, that's not really relevant, since it was never sent. So let's go clubbing in the red light district.
I find it a bit difficult to plan ahead these days. Who knows what happens with the corona virus mutations, and who knows what Russia will do to Europe. But if we avoid the apocalypse, SHM is playing in Norway in November, and I intend to go see them live for the first time ever. So fingers crossed, I guess.
In WLSC 236, Floor Jansen & Henk Poort's duet wasn't a big hit. 19th was my worst WLSC result so far, but I'm honestly just happy that I've finally made it part of history.
For WLSC 237, I went back to the electronic road, and sent Sickick's official remix of his own viral Tiktok hit, a short unofficial remix of Madonna's "Frozen" (sent to NSC 19 by Gozitania). And this broke my fresh record low result, finishing 19th again, but with 1 point less than Phantom Of The Opera.
At the moment, I'm unsure if I can join WLSC 238, I've had way too much going on lately (also why I'm late posting this), and was about half an hour late with my WLSC 237 votes, so to avoid any further close calls, I might have to skip something.
I have joined the current spinoff tho. For the "Your Title Sounds Familiar" spinoff, I got the NSC 194 final to play around with. My initial thought was that I could have sent iiO's "Rapture", but since I sent that to WLSC recently, that wasn't an option anymore. So after spending days going thru awesome alternatives, I ended up with the option I found first, an English title version of Roseland's 194 entry "Nada", by Shakira. Former artist Julie Thompson (NSC 143) returns, this time together with James Holden, and their 2003 single "Nothing". I could have gone for the short radio edit, but it doesn't have the same feeling as the full version. It also turns out that the full length version from the CD release of Nothing is shorter than the full length version on the vinyl release, so I picked the CD version, which have a shorter intro. You can thank me later.
A pretty good result for Blasterjaxx and Hollywood Undead, finishing 13th, HU's best result in the NSC from their 3 attempts. Would have been nice to see them qualify tho, but I can't complain about that result.
Every now and then, something new pops up, and I simply can't resist it, and this entry is in that category. Swedish House Mafia broke up in 2013, but then got reunited in 2018, and last year, they started releasing new music again. They've now made a collab with Sting called "Redlight", and Sting's part of it is from The Police's 1979 hit "Roxanne", and I figure if someone had sent Roxanne to the NSC previously, this would still be different enough to pass. But, that's not really relevant, since it was never sent. So let's go clubbing in the red light district.
I find it a bit difficult to plan ahead these days. Who knows what happens with the corona virus mutations, and who knows what Russia will do to Europe. But if we avoid the apocalypse, SHM is playing in Norway in November, and I intend to go see them live for the first time ever. So fingers crossed, I guess.
In WLSC 236, Floor Jansen & Henk Poort's duet wasn't a big hit. 19th was my worst WLSC result so far, but I'm honestly just happy that I've finally made it part of
history. For WLSC 237, I went back to the electronic road, and sent Sickick's official remix of his own viral Tiktok hit, a short unofficial remix of Madonna's "Frozen" (sent to NSC 19 by Gozitania). And this broke my fresh record low result, finishing 19th again, but with 1 point less than Phantom Of The Opera.
At the moment, I'm unsure if I can join WLSC 238, I've had way too much going on lately (also why I'm late posting this), and was about half an hour late with my WLSC 237 votes, so to avoid any further close calls, I might have to skip something.
I have joined the current spinoff tho. For the "Your Title Sounds Familiar" spinoff, I got the NSC 194 final to play around with. My initial thought was that I could have sent iiO's "Rapture", but since I sent that to WLSC recently, that wasn't an option anymore. So after spending days going thru awesome alternatives, I ended up with the option I found first, an English title version of Roseland's 194 entry "Nada", by Shakira. Former
artist Julie Thompson (NSC 143) returns, this time together with James Holden, and their 2003 single "Nothing". I could have gone for the short radio edit, but it doesn't have the same feeling as the full version. It also turns out that the full length version from the CD release of Nothing is shorter than the full length version on the vinyl release, so I picked the CD version, which have a shorter intro. You can thank me later.
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island raves harder (NSC 204)
Almost top half and almost 100 points for Redlight is a great result considering the result it got in the semi. Massive thanks to the reju voters for that qualification.
Despite having several entries lined up for months, I've once again picked something that recently popped up in my YouTube suggestions. It's a song I think might have a better shot at a good result in WLSC, but since it's not a cover, I'm sending it to the NSC. I stick with my plan. But this is about as as it gets, even tho I'm personally against the drugs and alcohol part of raving, but that's just how it is. Also love this dancing style shown in the video by Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok dancer _annapr (links provided), and I have been showing off something similar (altho less professional) at events. Mostly hardstyle events, but as long as the bass is pumping, and the tempo is fast enough, then it works for me. 
I can't do choreography, but I can be controlled by the music. And I have been getting compliments from people, which I have to admit feels pretty good, considering I'm an amateur at this. DJ Aligator's crew filmed me at a party once, but I never saw it getting uploaded or posted anywhere. Anyway, here's the entry:
Mark Dekoda is a German producer that I haven't heard about before, which is a shame, because it turns out he's been making great music for years. Especially his bass really hits me in the right ways on several of his tracks, like this one. So the title of this track is really fitting. Rave Harder Techno Bass. Roffbeard probably don't know what hit him.
In the WLSC, I did what I could to be able to take part in 238, and by getting my NSC 203 votes in early, I took the chance, and sent Zany & DV8's version of Begonia's NSC 7 entry, "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica. And honestly, I'm shocked that it only finished 23rd back then, I think it's one of Metallica's best and most legendary songs. But, early days NSC disagreed, and St. Anger also got a poor result when Rumia sent it in NSC 159. NSC has not been very Metallica friendly. So after two poor results in the WLSC, and also a poor result for my previous hardstyle entry in WLSC, I didn't have much hope for Zany & DV8 either. So the result wasn't very surprising, altho it was interesting that it ended 23rd, just like the original back in NSC 7.
Taking part in WLSC 239 was a last minute decision, as I'll be on Easter holiday until Tuesday. But I got my NSC 204 votes in early (had to, to not miss the deadline), and that means I can go thru WLSC when I get back.
Since I joined the WLSC, I have not only stopped ignoring remixes for NSC purposes, I've also started to actively search for them, and my list of covers I want to send has grown from about 10 to nearly 200, and it's gonna keep on growing (despite finding loads of covers of songs I've been surprised to learn hasn't been sent to NSC). Many of them will never be sent tho, I have more than 20 different versions of Begonia 10, Starsky 33 and Rumia 110 on the list, and I'm gonna try to restrict myself to only one cover/remix for each NSC entry. Yes, there is a limit to my madness. But there's still a lot of entries to go thru, and there are some artists that are likely to be sent more than once, even tho I will try to give as many different artists the chance to shine as possible, while still staying true to my legacy. Andrew Spencer could be one of them (and so could DJ Gollum, his partner in crime on many tracks), because he's been making hands-up for 15 years, and that's a genre with loads of covers and remixes. There are handsup singles out there with 15+ versions of the same track. So I'm gonna continue with another NSC 7 cover, and next up is the Topmodelz remix of Pulsedriver & Andrew Spencer's cover of Günther & Samantha Fox's - Touch Me, sent by Astoria (which was really a cover too). It got a much better result than Nothing Else Matters back in NSC 7, so it'll be interesting to see if this remixed cover can follow up on that in WLSC 239.
Should also mention that Slobodan Petrovic Jr., better known as Pulsedriver, is also behind the Topmodelz project, so he was remixing himself here, which isn't unusual in the world of hands-up. I have one more NSC 7 cover waiting btw, but that's gonna have to wait a bit longer, as it is a little too similar to this entry to get the chance right away.
Spinoff news, the result for Holden & Thompson's "Nothing" was delayed a bit, but it was worth waiting for. My expectations? Well, I have had good results with vocal trance before, but as I mentioned in the WLSC thread, I also sent a track with Julie Thompson on the vocals as my PQ entry in NSC 143. Finished bottom 3. So I didn't know what to expect really. So a TOP 3 finish came as a surprise. A great result.
Almost top half and almost 100 points for Redlight is a great result considering the result it got in the semi.
Massive thanks to the reju voters for that qualification. Despite having several entries lined up for months, I've once again picked something that recently popped up in my YouTube suggestions. It's a song I think might have a better shot at a good result in WLSC, but since it's not a cover, I'm sending it to the NSC. I stick with my plan.
But this is about as as it gets, even tho I'm personally against the drugs and alcohol part of raving, but that's just how it is. Also love this dancing style shown in the video by Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok dancer _annapr (links provided), and I have been showing off something similar (altho less professional) at events. Mostly hardstyle events, but as long as the bass is pumping, and the tempo is fast enough, then it works for me. I can't do choreography, but I can be controlled by the music. And I have been getting compliments from people, which I have to admit feels pretty good, considering I'm an amateur at this. DJ Aligator's crew filmed me at a party once, but I never saw it getting uploaded or posted anywhere. Anyway, here's the entry:Mark Dekoda is a German producer that I haven't heard about before, which is a shame, because it turns out he's been making great music for years. Especially his bass really hits me in the right ways on several of his tracks, like this one. So the title of this track is really fitting. Rave Harder Techno Bass.
Roffbeard probably don't know what hit him. In the WLSC, I did what I could to be able to take part in 238, and by getting my NSC 203 votes in early, I took the chance, and sent Zany & DV8's version of Begonia's NSC 7 entry, "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica. And honestly, I'm shocked that it only finished 23rd back then, I think it's one of Metallica's best and most legendary songs. But, early days NSC disagreed, and St. Anger also got a poor result when Rumia sent it in NSC 159. NSC has not been very Metallica friendly. So after two poor results in the WLSC, and also a poor result for my previous hardstyle entry in WLSC, I didn't have much hope for Zany & DV8 either. So the result wasn't very surprising, altho it was interesting that it ended 23rd, just like the original back in NSC 7.
Taking part in WLSC 239 was a last minute decision, as I'll be on Easter holiday until Tuesday. But I got my NSC 204 votes in early (had to, to not miss the deadline), and that means I can go thru WLSC when I get back.
Since I joined the WLSC, I have not only stopped ignoring remixes for NSC purposes, I've also started to actively search for them, and my list of covers I want to send has grown from about 10 to nearly 200, and it's gonna keep on growing (despite finding loads of covers of songs I've been surprised to learn hasn't been sent to NSC). Many of them will never be sent tho, I have more than 20 different versions of Begonia 10, Starsky 33 and Rumia 110 on the list, and I'm gonna try to restrict myself to only one cover/remix for each NSC entry.
Yes, there is a limit to my madness. But there's still a lot of entries to go thru, and there are some artists that are likely to be sent more than once, even tho I will try to give as many different artists the chance to shine as possible, while still staying true to my legacy. Andrew Spencer could be one of them (and so could DJ Gollum, his partner in crime on many tracks), because he's been making hands-up for 15 years, and that's a genre with loads of covers and remixes. There are handsup singles out there with 15+ versions of the same track. So I'm gonna continue with another NSC 7 cover, and next up is the Topmodelz remix of Pulsedriver & Andrew Spencer's cover of Günther & Samantha Fox's - Touch Me, sent by Astoria (which was really a cover too). It got a much better result than Nothing Else Matters back in NSC 7, so it'll be interesting to see if this remixed cover can follow up on that in WLSC 239.Should also mention that Slobodan Petrovic Jr., better known as Pulsedriver, is also behind the Topmodelz project, so he was remixing himself here, which isn't unusual in the world of hands-up. I have one more NSC 7 cover waiting btw, but that's gonna have to wait a bit longer, as it is a little too similar to this entry to get the chance right away.
Spinoff news, the result for Holden & Thompson's "Nothing" was delayed a bit, but it was worth waiting for.
My expectations? Well, I have had good results with vocal trance before, but as I mentioned in the WLSC thread, I also sent a track with Julie Thompson on the vocals as my PQ entry in NSC 143. Finished bottom 3. So I didn't know what to expect really. So a TOP 3 finish came as a surprise. A great result. 
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island has the nicest Chevy (NSC 205)
"Rave Harder Techno Bass" got a very similar result to "Redlight", especially in the semi. Both finished 21st, and both were reju qualifiers, despite me not having time to reju vote on my own in either of those two editions. Just managed to avoid the bottom 5 in the final (while only getting 5 points less than Redlight), so I'd say it was a decent result. Also, as mentioned in the results thread, has now received 5000 points in NSC final history.
Despite being Norwegian, I haven't actually sent that many songs with Norwegian lyrics. This will only be my 9th entry in Norwegian (10th if spinoffs are included). I considered sending this several months ago, but after once again reaching 10 consecutive DNQs in a row with Assassin, I decided to put this on hold, and see if I could "accidentally" improve the NSC record a bit first. Because at the time, I figured this could be untypical enough for to actually have a chance at qualifying. But as we know, Ayumi Hamasaki ended that streak in NSC 195, and I've had several other great results since, with much more sounding tracks, but it's been hard to find a good slot for it for the past months. Now tho, it finally gets the chance. The entry for NSC 205 is Halva Priset feat. Maria Mena - Den Fineste Chevy'n:
For those of you who don't understand the lyrics, and wonder what they're about, it's about a dude from a rural valley who's met a posh woman. He's into cars (of the old American type), got a really nice Chevy (the nicest in the whole valley), he's got no real education, but he's a nice guy, and he agrees to go to this posh event for his girlfriend. To do that, he gets drunk to calm his nerves, and because he didn't get someone to drive him to the event, the nicest Chevy is now on the bottom of a lake. Don't drink and drive.
Also, the headline is a lie, I don't actually have a Chevy myself. I bought my first car in 2007, and both my cars for the past 15 years have been Honda Accords, up until a month ago, when I bought a Toyota Avensis. I'm gonna miss my Honda, but it's unfortunately not worth it to keep it running any longer. Chevrolet was the shirt sponsor of Manchester United for a few years tho (until this season).
In WLSC 239, the Topmodelz Remix of Touch Me didn't really get the result I was hoping for. It was a strong edition, but still only 5 nations found room for it in their top 10s, and since I have more handsup planned for WLSC, I'm not very optimistic about my future results. I also have a lot of psytrance lined up, and my psytrance entries in NSC haven't done very well, but it remains to see if WLSC treats it the same.
For WLSC 240, I once again decided to shed some new light on an ancient NSC entry, Britney Spears' "Toxic" sent by Bokia in NSC 9. Dutch mashup-king WeDamnz recently made a tech house version of it (called a VIP Edit), and it slaps.
As you know, I've also sent Britney to the NSC before, as a featuring artist on Giorgio Moroder's version of "Tom's Diner" in NSC 130, and there is no way this will manage to top that result. But we'll see how it goes.
Also taking part in the NSC ESC spinoff, with the red, white and blue of...! Completely robbed in ESC, hoping it can do at least a little bit better in NSC.
"Rave Harder Techno Bass" got a very similar result to "Redlight", especially in the semi. Both finished 21st, and both were reju qualifiers, despite me not having time to reju vote on my own in either of those two editions.
Just managed to avoid the bottom 5 in the final (while only getting 5 points less than Redlight), so I'd say it was a decent result. Also, as mentioned in the results thread, has now received 5000 points in NSC final history. Despite being Norwegian, I haven't actually sent that many songs with Norwegian lyrics. This will only be my 9th entry in Norwegian (10th if spinoffs are included).
I considered sending this several months ago, but after once again reaching 10 consecutive DNQs in a row with Assassin, I decided to put this on hold, and see if I could "accidentally" improve the NSC record a bit first. Because at the time, I figured this could be untypical enough for to actually have a chance at qualifying. But as we know, Ayumi Hamasaki ended that streak in NSC 195, and I've had several other great results since, with much more sounding tracks, but it's been hard to find a good slot for it for the past months. Now tho, it finally gets the chance. The entry for NSC 205 is Halva Priset feat. Maria Mena - Den Fineste Chevy'n:For those of you who don't understand the lyrics, and wonder what they're about, it's about a dude from a rural valley who's met a posh woman. He's into cars (of the old American type), got a really nice Chevy (the nicest in the whole valley), he's got no real education, but he's a nice guy, and he agrees to go to this posh event for his girlfriend. To do that, he gets drunk to calm his nerves, and because he didn't get someone to drive him to the event, the nicest Chevy is now on the bottom of a lake.
Don't drink and drive.Also, the headline is a lie, I don't actually have a Chevy myself. I bought my first car in 2007, and both my cars for the past 15 years have been Honda Accords, up until a month ago, when I bought a Toyota Avensis.
I'm gonna miss my Honda, but it's unfortunately not worth it to keep it running any longer. Chevrolet was the shirt sponsor of Manchester United for a few years tho (until this season).In WLSC 239, the Topmodelz Remix of Touch Me didn't really get the result I was hoping for. It was a strong edition, but still only 5 nations found room for it in their top 10s, and since I have more handsup planned for WLSC, I'm not very optimistic about my future results. I also have a lot of psytrance lined up, and my psytrance entries in NSC haven't done very well, but it remains to see if WLSC treats it the same.
For WLSC 240, I once again decided to shed some new light on an ancient NSC entry, Britney Spears' "Toxic" sent by Bokia in NSC 9. Dutch mashup-king WeDamnz recently made a tech house version of it (called a VIP Edit), and it slaps.
As you know, I've also sent Britney to the NSC before, as a featuring artist on Giorgio Moroder's version of "Tom's Diner" in NSC 130, and there is no way this will manage to top that result. But we'll see how it goes.
Also taking part in the NSC ESC spinoff, with the red, white and blue of...
! Completely robbed in ESC, hoping it can do at least a little bit better in NSC.
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island ain't got nobody (NSC 206)
My results in NSC are getting a bit unreal. For the 3rd edition in a row, was a reju qualifier. "Den Fineste Chevy'n" also came close in the regular vote, unlike my two previous reju qualifiers, but when I saw I had qualified to the final, I was pretty sure this was a regular qualifier, the reju lightning couldn't strike three times in a row, right? Apparently it could. The result in the final was very similar to Redlight and Rave Harder Techno Bass, 93 points (same as RHTB), 17 voters (one more than Redlight), and a 20th place (right in the middle of Redlight's 16th and RHTB's 23rd). At least we're being pretty consistent, but this is all thanks to the reju voters, for making it possible.
For NSC 206, I had planned to go with full length trance, but Eurovision happened, and there's an artist I want to squeeze in first. It's no secret that I didn't like the Icelandic ESC entry this year, but our commentator mentioned that the Systur sisters had a house background, which made me interested. So I've gone thru their earlier work, and I definitely prefer their Sísý Ey songs over that Eurovision song. "Með Hækkandi Sól" needs remix treatment, and I see there's a remix made by a Polish producer on YouTube already, which is pretty good. Anyway, back to Sísý Ey. I've gone thru their entire discography (which isn't really a huge task), and even some remixes of their songs, and I've decided to go for their debut single "Ain't Got Nobody". I did consider the Timo Allein remix of it for a while, but eventually decided to go for the original (which is unusual for me, I know). Good stuff, maybe a bit more chill than my entries usually are (altho probably not compared to my NSC 205 entry), but it's a nice track. Also, this time the headline isn't a lie...
Will this reju qualify? Usually when I ask questions like that, the answer is no, so this might be an end to my qualifying streak. But hey, as always, we'll see.
In WLSC 240, the WeDamnz VIP Edit of Britney's "Toxic" got another poor result, and my WLSC journey isn't going too well. But I get to put the spotlight on more songs I like, so it's all still worth it.
For WLSC 241, I had to tweak my plan a bit. The idea has been to only focus on songs older than NSC 100 for a while. However, there is a version of Scarborough Fair (originally sent by Kamandé in NSC 127) I like so much I simply couldn't resist it any longer. Timmy Trumpet and TNT (short for Technoboy and Tuneboy) has made an absolutely incredible version of it, filled with the reverse bass I've loved for a LONG time. I don't rank my own entries, but if I did, this one would be high on the list.
This was also partially influenced by Eurovision. In one of the semis, a part of Timmy Trumpet and Vitas' "The King" was played in the background during an interval segment, which was pretty awesome (even more so considering neither of them are Italian). The result for Scarborough Fair in WLSC was however a bit disappointing. 24 points is my lowest score so far...
My WLSC 242 entry is influenced by some recent action in the NSC Chat Box thread, where Instir's Thunderhammer popped by all of a sudden. And high on my list of WLSC entries, I actually had a cover of an old Instir entry, Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart from NSC 7. The cover was made in 2001 by Jan Wayne and Lena (not the ESC-Lena), and I listened to this a lot back in my high school days, and this could have been an NSC entry for me a long time ago if it had been eligible.
In the NSC ESC spinoff, Fulenn got some revenge from the awful result in Turin. Only two voters didn't give it any points, which is pretty much the opposite of what happened in ESC. In the end, it got an awesome 3rd place, which means it's one of my most successful spinoff entries ever. Also a little bit of revenge for me when it comes to NSC ESC results, as I went for Blind Channel instead of Go_A last year, and got a 19th instead of 2nd. Several of my favorites were missing from this year's spinoff tho. , and especially.
My results in NSC are getting a bit unreal. For the 3rd edition in a row,
was a reju qualifier. "Den Fineste Chevy'n" also came close in the regular vote, unlike my two previous reju qualifiers, but when I saw I had qualified to the final, I was pretty sure this was a regular qualifier, the reju lightning couldn't strike three times in a row, right? Apparently it could. The result in the final was very similar to Redlight and Rave Harder Techno Bass, 93 points (same as RHTB), 17 voters (one more than Redlight), and a 20th place (right in the middle of Redlight's 16th and RHTB's 23rd). At least we're being pretty consistent, but this is all thanks to the reju voters, for making it possible. For NSC 206, I had planned to go with full length trance, but Eurovision happened, and there's an artist I want to squeeze in first. It's no secret that I didn't like the Icelandic ESC entry this year, but our commentator mentioned that the Systur sisters had a house background, which made me interested. So I've gone thru their earlier work, and I definitely prefer their Sísý Ey songs over that Eurovision song. "Með Hækkandi Sól" needs remix treatment, and I see there's a remix made by a Polish producer on YouTube already, which is pretty good.
Anyway, back to Sísý Ey. I've gone thru their entire discography (which isn't really a huge task), and even some remixes of their songs, and I've decided to go for their debut single "Ain't Got Nobody". I did consider the Timo Allein remix of it for a while, but eventually decided to go for the original (which is unusual for me, I know). Good stuff, maybe a bit more chill than my entries usually are (altho probably not compared to my NSC 205 entry), but it's a nice track. Also, this time the headline isn't a lie...Will this reju qualify? Usually when I ask questions like that, the answer is no, so this might be an end to my qualifying streak.
But hey, as always, we'll see. In WLSC 240, the WeDamnz VIP Edit of Britney's "Toxic" got another poor result, and my WLSC journey isn't going too well. But I get to put the spotlight on more songs I like, so it's all still worth it.
For WLSC 241, I had to tweak my plan a bit. The idea has been to only focus on songs older than NSC 100 for a while. However, there is a version of Scarborough Fair (originally sent by Kamandé in NSC 127) I like so much I simply couldn't resist it any longer. Timmy Trumpet and TNT (short for Technoboy and Tuneboy) has made an absolutely incredible version of it, filled with the reverse bass I've loved for a LONG time.
I don't rank my own entries, but if I did, this one would be high on the list. This was also partially influenced by Eurovision. In one of the semis, a part of Timmy Trumpet and Vitas' "The King" was played in the background during an interval segment, which was pretty awesome (even more so considering neither of them are Italian). The result for Scarborough Fair in WLSC was however a bit disappointing. 24 points is my lowest score so far...
My WLSC 242 entry is influenced by some recent action in the NSC Chat Box thread, where Instir's Thunderhammer popped by all of a sudden. And high on my list of WLSC entries, I actually had a cover of an old Instir entry, Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart from NSC 7. The cover was made in 2001 by Jan Wayne and Lena (not the ESC-Lena), and I listened to this a lot back in my high school days, and this could have been an NSC entry for me a long time ago if it had been eligible.
In the NSC ESC spinoff, Fulenn got some revenge from the awful result in Turin. Only two voters didn't give it any points, which is pretty much the opposite of what happened in ESC. In the end, it got an awesome 3rd place, which means it's one of my most successful spinoff entries ever.
Also a little bit of revenge for me when it comes to NSC ESC results, as I went for Blind Channel instead of Go_A last year, and got a 19th instead of 2nd. Several of my favorites were missing from this year's spinoff tho. , and especially.
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island goes vroom (NSC 207)
Now that all my current entries are public, it's finally time for an update.
The streak of NSC reju qualifying was broken, and Ain't Got Nobody finished 14th (after the tie was broken). Not a bad result, even if I hoped for another final, but I won't complain about a top 15 result.
My NSC 207 entry is thanks to YouTube. Listening to the entries of NSC 206, it popped up on the right side a couple of times, and the title eventually caught my attention. And then the song and video did too. I've always had some issues with hiphop, mainly because I often dislike the beat. Sometimes also the rap, but usually the beat, and sometimes even a combination of everything. But this one has a slight EDM vibe to it, faster tempo, and that makes a big difference, even if I still like some of the rapping less than other parts. But, it's about cars that go vroom, and I like that (even if there is a mention of Tesla's Model S in there).
One of my most international entries ever to NSC, with artists from the UK (The FaNaTiX, Idris Elba and Moelogo), the US (Lil Tjay and Davido), Nigeria (Davido and Moelogo) and Jamaica (Koffee). Some dual citizenships tho, Davido was born in the US, but grew up in Nigeria, while Moelogo was born in Nigeria, but grew up in London, but they are still the first Nigerian artists to represent. They're not the first African artists tho, as Egyptian DJ/producer Philippe El Sisi and part Cape Verdean rapper E-Life have already represented us. Plus, Idris Elba also recently got a Sierra Leonean citizenship, so I'm gonna count him too.
And to my surprise, this has qualified to the final. Whether it was the reju qualifier or not remains to be seen, but it's already a better result than I expected.
In the WLSC, Total Eclipse Of The Heart got another poor result in 242, with a new record low (for, that is) of 23 points. I got a feeling that record might be broken soon tho. But not as soon as I first thought. In NSC 11, Mooseland sent Aqua's legendary classic "Barbie Girl", and got a good result with it. In 2006, Rob Mayth gave it some handsup treatment, and Rob Mayth is actually no stranger to NSC. One of my favorite NSC nations ever, the shortlived Euro, sent Rob Mayth to NSC 52, and had they not failed to vote in the semi, "Heart 2 Heart" would have qualified easily to the final. More on that in a later edition, I have something planned.
Did I have high expectations for Rob's version of Barbie Girl in WLSC 243 tho? No, can't say I did. But I gave it a shot anyway, thinking this would be a new record low for me. But it actually scored more points than my two previous entries combined. Once again, shows how awful I am at predicting results here. The 12 from Endórë was obviously a huge help, but 14th was a lot better than I expected. My 4th best WLSC result.
For WLSC 244, I'm going a completely different road, and once again, it's an entry I owe to YouTube's suggestions. I've said it before, what Google and Facebook doesn't know about me isn't worth knowing. In NSC 31, Cydoni-Gibberia sent Thin White Duke's remix of Röyksopp's "What Else Is There?". About a month ago, the Norwegian one-man gothic metal band Mortemia released a cover of it, featuring Blackbriar's Zora Cock on the vocals, and this is the type of cover that would have me begging for an NSC covers/remixes spinoff if I didn't have WLSC as an option. I think this is a masterpiece. Mortemia aka Morten Veland also founded Tristania and Sirenia, so these artists are no strangers to NSC, Sirenia has competed 6 times (8 if you include WLSC), and Blackbriar 3, including a win in NSC 192. There's no shortage of great versions of "What Else Is There?", the original by Röyksopp is obviously a classic, there are great remixes of it (ARTBAT, Trentemøller, Thin White Duke, Jacques Lu Cont, Metrawell & Ivan ART, Ranji & Morten Granau, to mention a few), and other cover versions (MEUTE, Enslaved, Moonbeam), but this metal cover by Morten and Zora is too awesome to pass. Besides, I wasn't intending to be purely electronic in WLSC either, and this is a great opportunity to add some variety to my WLSC entries. And maybe avoid the bottom 10 again?
Also, finally some spinoff action. I was actually interested in all the poll options this time, and AATW Kosovo was definitely one I wanted to join. But finding an entry was difficult. I don't know much about Kosovan music (other than Rita Ora and Dua Lipa), but found some electronic music made by Kosovar producers. Goa/psytrance is always great. However, I've gone the psy road for AATW before, and the psy I found this time was of the less melodic type, and it just screamed last place to me. That could happen anyway, but I'm not really trying actively to be at the bottom of the results, it just happens. But before giving up on this Kosovo project, as YouTube wasn't really able to help me as much as I'd like, I tried some Google searches, and that opened up a whole new world to me. Turns out, Regard is from Kosovo, and he's a DJ and producer who's seen some chart success over the past few years, after his breakthrough single "Ride It" in 2019. Also found an interview with him, where he recommended fellow Kosovar DJ Drop G, who also has a lot of great tracks and remixes, including some together with Regard. In the end tho, I was torn between two of Regard's singles, and there is a chance I'll send the other one to NSC in a not so distant future. We'll see, there is a risk someone will beat me to it. But for AATW Kosovo, my choice is "Secrets", with Raye on the vocals, an artist I've liked since "You Don't Know Me" with Jax Jones. That voice
Now that all my current entries are public, it's finally time for an update.
The streak of NSC reju qualifying was broken, and Ain't Got Nobody finished 14th (after the tie was broken). Not a bad result, even if I hoped for another final, but I won't complain about a top 15 result.
My NSC 207 entry is thanks to YouTube. Listening to the entries of NSC 206, it popped up on the right side a couple of times, and the title eventually caught my attention. And then the song and video did too.
I've always had some issues with hiphop, mainly because I often dislike the beat. Sometimes also the rap, but usually the beat, and sometimes even a combination of everything. But this one has a slight EDM vibe to it, faster tempo, and that makes a big difference, even if I still like some of the rapping less than other parts. But, it's about cars that go vroom, and I like that (even if there is a mention of Tesla's Model S in there). One of my most international entries ever to NSC, with artists from the UK (The FaNaTiX, Idris Elba and Moelogo), the US (Lil Tjay and Davido), Nigeria (Davido and Moelogo) and Jamaica (Koffee). Some dual citizenships tho, Davido was born in the US, but grew up in Nigeria, while Moelogo was born in Nigeria, but grew up in London, but they are still the first Nigerian artists to represent
. They're not the first African artists tho, as Egyptian DJ/producer Philippe El Sisi and part Cape Verdean rapper E-Life have already represented us. Plus, Idris Elba also recently got a Sierra Leonean citizenship, so I'm gonna count him too. And to my surprise, this has qualified to the final.
Whether it was the reju qualifier or not remains to be seen, but it's already a better result than I expected. In the WLSC, Total Eclipse Of The Heart got another poor result in 242, with a new record low (for
, that is) of 23 points. I got a feeling that record might be broken soon tho. But not as soon as I first thought. In NSC 11, Mooseland sent Aqua's legendary classic "Barbie Girl", and got a good result with it. In 2006, Rob Mayth gave it some handsup treatment, and Rob Mayth is actually no stranger to NSC. One of my favorite NSC nations ever, the shortlived Euro, sent Rob Mayth to NSC 52, and had they not failed to vote in the semi, "Heart 2 Heart" would have qualified easily to the final. More on that in a later edition, I have something planned. Did I have high expectations for Rob's version of Barbie Girl in WLSC 243 tho? No, can't say I did.
But I gave it a shot anyway, thinking this would be a new record low for me. But it actually scored more points than my two previous entries combined. Once again, shows how awful I am at predicting results here. The 12 from Endórë was obviously a huge help, but 14th was a lot better than I expected. My 4th best WLSC result. For WLSC 244, I'm going a completely different road, and once again, it's an entry I owe to YouTube's suggestions. I've said it before, what Google and Facebook doesn't know about me isn't worth knowing.
In NSC 31, Cydoni-Gibberia sent Thin White Duke's remix of Röyksopp's "What Else Is There?". About a month ago, the Norwegian one-man gothic metal band Mortemia released a cover of it, featuring Blackbriar's Zora Cock on the vocals, and this is the type of cover that would have me begging for an NSC covers/remixes spinoff if I didn't have WLSC as an option. I think this is a masterpiece. Mortemia aka Morten Veland also founded Tristania and Sirenia, so these artists are no strangers to NSC, Sirenia has competed 6 times (8 if you include WLSC), and Blackbriar 3, including a win in NSC 192. There's no shortage of great versions of "What Else Is There?", the original by Röyksopp is obviously a classic, there are great remixes of it (ARTBAT, Trentemøller, Thin White Duke, Jacques Lu Cont, Metrawell & Ivan ART, Ranji & Morten Granau, to mention a few), and other cover versions (MEUTE, Enslaved, Moonbeam), but this metal cover by Morten and Zora is too awesome to pass. Besides, I wasn't intending to be purely electronic in WLSC either, and this is a great opportunity to add some variety to my WLSC entries. And maybe avoid the bottom 10 again?Also, finally some spinoff action.
I was actually interested in all the poll options this time, and AATW Kosovo was definitely one I wanted to join. But finding an entry was difficult. I don't know much about Kosovan music (other than Rita Ora and Dua Lipa), but found some electronic music made by Kosovar producers. Goa/psytrance is always great. However, I've gone the psy road for AATW before, and the psy I found this time was of the less melodic type, and it just screamed last place to me. That could happen anyway, but I'm not really trying actively to be at the bottom of the results, it just happens. But before giving up on this Kosovo project, as YouTube wasn't really able to help me as much as I'd like, I tried some Google searches, and that opened up a whole new world to me. Turns out, Regard is from Kosovo, and he's a DJ and producer who's seen some chart success over the past few years, after his breakthrough single "Ride It" in 2019. Also found an interview with him, where he recommended fellow Kosovar DJ Drop G, who also has a lot of great tracks and remixes, including some together with Regard. In the end tho, I was torn between two of Regard's singles, and there is a chance I'll send the other one to NSC in a not so distant future. We'll see, there is a risk someone will beat me to it. But for AATW Kosovo, my choice is "Secrets", with Raye on the vocals, an artist I've liked since "You Don't Know Me" with Jax Jones. That voice
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island has a bad idea (NSC 208)
Since I was late with the previous NSC update, I'll be early with this one. And it'll also be much shorter, since WLSC 244 hasn't started yet, and AATW Kosovo isn't finished yet. More on those later.
For the 4th time in 5 editions, was the reju qualifier. That's gotta be a record, even tho this time it was due to an error with Ugaly's votes. Last in the regular vote. So with that in mind, the 25th place in the final isn't bad at all. I always hope to reach 100 points in the finals, but honestly just happy to be in the final, especially since I wasn't supposed to be there at all.
Earlier this summer, I went to an outdoors car show, on one of those rare days of nice weather around here. As some of us often say, the summer in Trøndelag is the best day of the year. At this show, there was a VW Caddy with a serious soundsystem installed, and one of the songs they played in it really stuck with me. Sending it to the NSC might be a bad idea, but I'm gonna do it anyway.
That song was Quickdrop's remix of Shinzo - Bad Idea 2021, country singing with a UK hardcore touch, and I think it sounds absolutely awesome. It's a song that's gone thru some changes. Shinzo first made Bad Idea in 2019, an EDM track with female vocals, with a slight country vibe. Then he freshened it up in 2021, made it into hardstyle, and now with male country vocals, and it's a huge improvement imo, even if the 2019 version wasn't bad either. But then Quickdrop remixed the 2021 version, and that's another step up, as I love the UK hardcore sound (altho Quickdrop is actually Swedish). There are Nightcore versions of all them too, but my entry is Quickdrop's remix in its original glory.
Since I was late with the previous NSC update, I'll be early with this one. And it'll also be much shorter, since WLSC 244 hasn't started yet, and AATW Kosovo isn't finished yet. More on those later.
For the 4th time in 5 editions,
was the reju qualifier. That's gotta be a record, even tho this time it was due to an error with Ugaly's votes. Last in the regular vote. So with that in mind, the 25th place in the final isn't bad at all. I always hope to reach 100 points in the finals, but honestly just happy to be in the final, especially since I wasn't supposed to be there at all. Earlier this summer, I went to an outdoors car show, on one of those rare days of nice weather around here. As some of us often say, the summer in Trøndelag is the best day of the year.
At this show, there was a VW Caddy with a serious soundsystem installed, and one of the songs they played in it really stuck with me. Sending it to the NSC might be a bad idea, but I'm gonna do it anyway. That song was Quickdrop's remix of Shinzo - Bad Idea 2021, country singing with a UK hardcore touch, and I think it sounds absolutely awesome. It's a song that's gone thru some changes. Shinzo first made Bad Idea in 2019, an EDM track with female vocals, with a slight country vibe. Then he freshened it up in 2021, made it into hardstyle, and now with male country vocals, and it's a huge improvement imo, even if the 2019 version wasn't bad either. But then Quickdrop remixed the 2021 version, and that's another step up, as I love the UK hardcore sound (altho Quickdrop is actually Swedish). There are Nightcore versions of all them too, but my entry is Quickdrop's remix in its original glory.
Morty
Well-known member
Balearica Island and the Return to Xanadu (NSC 209)
Not much to say about the result for Bad Idea really. Wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. I'm thankful for the points it got tho.
For NSC 209, I've changed my original plan (again), after something awesome again suddenly popped up in YouTube suggestions. Dutch producer Ummet Ozcan has mixed traditional Mongolian throat singing and music with modern techno, and altho I'm not generally great with folk music, I love it when it's made more modern (metal works too tho). The track is called "Xanadu", a legendary city in Inner Mongolia, and the former capital of the Mongolian/Chinese Yuan dynasty, and it's also referenced in Scrooge McDuck comics by both Carl Barks and Don Rosa (Don Rosa's story is called "Return to Xanadu"). So this doesn't really have anything to do with the historical nation of Xanadu (NSC 16-19 + 23-38 + 66-69), but they did send some pretty awesome songs to this contest, so if you want to see this as a tribute to Xanadu, I'm not gonna object to it.
WLSC 244 took a really long time, and in the end, it was a great result for Mortemia and Zora Cock. My 3rd best result in WLSC. Not sure I can follow up on that any time soon. But we'll see. The next entry is one I think might have popped up on Facebook, altho I'm not actually sure, it could have been a YouTube suggestion as well. But it's a remix that surprised me. Destructo's remix of "Jolene" is not only an official remix, it's even uploaded to Dolly Parton's official YouTube channel. Not a type of track I'd expect to find there tbh. Jolene was originally sent to NSC 16 by Liturestia, but got a poor result, and finished 24th of 28 (one of my all-time favorite Xmas songs finished 28th). Can Destructo get a better result with his remix?
Still no updates on AATW Kosovo...
Not much to say about the result for Bad Idea really. Wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. I'm thankful for the points it got tho.
For NSC 209, I've changed my original plan (again), after something awesome again suddenly popped up in YouTube suggestions. Dutch producer Ummet Ozcan has mixed traditional Mongolian throat singing and music with modern techno, and altho I'm not generally great with folk music, I love it when it's made more modern (metal works too tho). The track is called "Xanadu", a legendary city in Inner Mongolia, and the former capital of the Mongolian/Chinese Yuan dynasty, and it's also referenced in Scrooge McDuck comics by both Carl Barks and Don Rosa (Don Rosa's story is called "Return to Xanadu").
So this doesn't really have anything to do with the historical nation of Xanadu (NSC 16-19 + 23-38 + 66-69), but they did send some pretty awesome songs to this contest, so if you want to see this as a tribute to Xanadu, I'm not gonna object to it. WLSC 244 took a really long time, and in the end, it was a great result for Mortemia and Zora Cock. My 3rd best result in WLSC.
Not sure I can follow up on that any time soon. But we'll see. The next entry is one I think might have popped up on Facebook, altho I'm not actually sure, it could have been a YouTube suggestion as well. But it's a remix that surprised me. Destructo's remix of "Jolene" is not only an official remix, it's even uploaded to Dolly Parton's official YouTube channel. Not a type of track I'd expect to find there tbh. Jolene was originally sent to NSC 16 by Liturestia, but got a poor result, and finished 24th of 28 (one of my all-time favorite Xmas songs finished 28th). Can Destructo get a better result with his remix?Still no updates on AATW Kosovo...
Morty
Well-known member
Re: Balearica Island takes a trip to the forest (NSC 210)
Xanadu got a decent result, very similar to the one I got with Bad Idea. At least if you don't look at the reju result, which was the worst possible. 0 points. I guess I was in the right semi, altho there weren't that many reju voters in my semi, and that would obviously affect the result, but still... Reju could have been better. But overall an ok result.
A lot of people who don't like electronic music, blame it on the lack of actual instruments. Well, German trio Klangphonics are bridging that gap, producing and performing live electronic music, using a combination of acoustic instruments and electronic elements. I've sent EDM sounding acoustic music before, a track by Ewan Dobson in NSC 67, but this is on a different level.
Picking an entry wasn't easy tho, there's several quality tracks among their uploads. I went for "Dendrometry" in the end, but "Holocene", "White Flower" and a few others could also have been good entries.
Klangphonics went viral with a short video titled "techno without a computer", where they play techno using a vacuum, a plastic bucket, a spray bottle and a mini guitar, and that's how I first found them.
Destructo's remix of Jolene got a great result in WLSC 245. The 5th place is my 2nd best WLSC result (or third best if you go by points), and a lot better than Dolly's original got for Liturestia. So obviously, much better than expected.
For WLSC 246, I'm a bit torn when it comes to my entry. I kinda feel it fits the theme of the edition, but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there's a part of me that doesn't want to send anything Russian until Ukraine is once again free, but I also know that not all Russians support Putin and the war. One of t.A.T.u.'s members is against the war, that helps. This is not only made by Russian artists tho, but it's also a Russian genre of music, called "Russian witch house". I like the sound of it, it's like EDM for the apocalypse. But the perfectionist in me really dislike the highly alternative ways some (or most) of the artists spell out their names and tracks. Like this entry, I can go along with "∆XIUS LIИK" instead of "AXIUS LINK", but the rest of the title is too out there for me. I prefer alphabets over symbols, and I've never liked it when people replace o with ø or ö just to look cøöl. Reignland sent t.A.T.u.'s "Not Gonna Get Us" back in NSC 19, and got an 8th place in the final with it, we'll see how this remix ends up. Meanwhile, I'll be seeing t.A.T.u. live this weekend, as part of a 90's and 2000's show that's been postponed since 2020.
Also, again, still no news on AATW Kosovo.
Xanadu got a decent result, very similar to the one I got with Bad Idea. At least if you don't look at the reju result, which was the worst possible. 0 points.
I guess I was in the right semi, altho there weren't that many reju voters in my semi, and that would obviously affect the result, but still... Reju could have been better. But overall an ok result. A lot of people who don't like electronic music, blame it on the lack of actual instruments. Well, German trio Klangphonics are bridging that gap, producing and performing live electronic music, using a combination of acoustic instruments and electronic elements. I've sent EDM sounding acoustic music before, a track by Ewan Dobson in NSC 67, but this is on a different level.
Picking an entry wasn't easy tho, there's several quality tracks among their uploads. I went for "Dendrometry" in the end, but "Holocene", "White Flower" and a few others could also have been good
entries.Klangphonics went viral with a short video titled "techno without a computer", where they play techno using a vacuum, a plastic bucket, a spray bottle and a mini guitar, and that's how I first found them.
Destructo's remix of Jolene got a great result in WLSC 245. The 5th place is my 2nd best WLSC result (or third best if you go by points), and a lot better than Dolly's original got for Liturestia. So obviously, much better than expected.
For WLSC 246, I'm a bit torn when it comes to my entry. I kinda feel it fits the theme of the edition, but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there's a part of me that doesn't want to send anything Russian until Ukraine is once again free, but I also know that not all Russians support Putin and the war. One of t.A.T.u.'s members is against the war, that helps. This is not only made by Russian artists tho, but it's also a Russian genre of music, called "Russian witch house". I like the sound of it, it's like EDM for the apocalypse. But the perfectionist in me really dislike the highly alternative ways some (or most) of the artists spell out their names and tracks. Like this entry, I can go along with "∆XIUS LIИK" instead of "AXIUS LINK", but the rest of the title is too out there for me. I prefer alphabets over symbols, and I've never liked it when people replace o with ø or ö just to look cøöl.
Reignland sent t.A.T.u.'s "Not Gonna Get Us" back in NSC 19, and got an 8th place in the final with it, we'll see how this remix ends up. Meanwhile, I'll be seeing t.A.T.u. live this weekend, as part of a 90's and 2000's show that's been postponed since 2020. Also, again, still no news on AATW Kosovo.