tournament Choose The Album, Then a Song 9: And the winner is...

[Rihlana]

I'm about to submit, but this was SO hard.

 

Please forgive me @shelven and @Queen Conchita I really hope I wasn't too brutal  especially to you Queen Conchita since I had 100 more words  

[Pedro]

It's ok, @sumthintoxic82. You still have until the end of the day! We will see how it goes! Also still missing @MusicLoverDude and @Queen Conchita

[Queen Conchita]

4 hours ago, Rihlana said:

I'm about to submit, but this was SO hard.

 

Please forgive me @shelven and @Queen Conchita I really hope I wasn't too brutal  especially to you Queen Conchita since I had 100 more words  

[Rihlana]

1 minute ago, Queen Conchita said:

Nnn, don't do that to me  

 

I give you full permission to mutilate my album and my every move in this game. 

[Fa1x intelectual]

6 hours ago, Rihlana said:

Please forgive me @shelven and @Queen Conchita I really hope I wasn't too brutal

Queen could say the same to you

Good luck, gals! Pretty sure you worked hard to get here

Edited April 16, 2017 by Fa1x intelectual

[Rihlana]

Just now, Fa1x intelectual said:

Queen could say the sa me to you

Good luck, gals! Pretty sure you worked hard to get here

Omg, I hope so!

 

That would make me feel a lot better  

[Queen Conchita]

3 minutes ago, Rihlana said:

Nnn, don't do that to me  

 

I give you full permission to mutilate my album and my every move in this game. 

Don't worry I've given it as good as I've got for yours too

[Fa1x intelectual]

I want to see this!

Is the deadline today?

[Rihlana]

Just now, Queen Conchita said:

Don't worry I've given it as good as I've got for yours too

I'm so excited to read it, you have no idea!  

 

I already have an idea of what I would have written if I was in your position  

[lhdang2000]

I'm excited to read the entries this round, especially @MusicLoverDude's  

[MusicLoverDude]

@Pedro - Finally have a day off and my brain is ready to get this done. Six Flags was HELL yesterday with all the people there so my brain was fried when I got home

 

Should have at least the Adele entry in within an hour or so.

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, Fa1x intelectual said:

I want to see this!

Is the deadline today?

It is! Just waiting on a few contestants

[shelven]

6 hours ago, Rihlana said:

I'm about to submit, but this was SO hard.

 

Please forgive me @shelven and @Queen Conchita I really hope I wasn't too brutal  especially to you Queen Conchita since I had 100 more words  

At least when you drag me, it'll be in a flawless writing style!  

[MusicLoverDude]

Just sent.

[Pedro]

Just missing @sumthintoxic82

[Pedro]

@sumthintoxic82 are we having your entry today?

[sumthintoxic82]

@Pedro yes! I'm sorry guys this won't happen again (if I last past this round that Is) I'll have it in within the hour and again my apologies

 

[Pedro]

Perfect! Then the update is coming tomorrow.

[sumthintoxic82]

Sorry everyone that I held up this round. On top of it being a busy week, this round was really hard for me to do. I may not be the biggest Sia fan, but @shelven really made this round difficult to do...im all sent in...

[Pedro]

Update is coming later on tonight!

[Queen Conchita]

5 hours ago, Pedro said:

Update is coming later on tonight!

[Pedro]

 

ATRL's original game "Choose The Album, Then a Song" is back for its anticipated ninth season on its original concept.

 

Well, this one took a little bit longer but we are humans too and @sumthintoxic82 obviously had a lot on his plate this week. We forgive him... But we shouldn't since we are in a bxtch mode this round. It's time to see who was the real devil and who tried but ended up being a saint. Let's go, gals!

 

But first... Rules!

 

 

1. There's not such thing as bad losers;

We are all here to have fun and share our favorite music with everyone.

2. Every contestant must cast a vote each round;

The main purpose of the game is to introduce everyone to new music. If this rule isn't applied, only the judges will benefit from it.

3. Every entry must contain a written part;

To fully understand your decision, you will be required to send in an essay along with the song chosen.

4. A song can only be used twice and can only be use three rounds after;

This will allow you to explore your album further.

5. Deadlines must be respected by contestants and judges;

There will be three updates weekly: the round presentation, the entries and the results.

6. There's no space for stan wars or called voters;

The main purpose of this game is to introduce everyone to knew music. Therefore, we don't want any fights or any type of voting manipulation.

7. The vote process is build up of two parts;

Every round the judges votes will be mixed with the public votes.

8. Be fair and do not be biased.

If you want others to respect your work and game, make sure you respect others too by not allowing your personal taste affect your votes.

 

Spoiler

For those of you who don't understand spanish, "chantaje" (the name of the duet between Shakira and Maluma) means blackmail which is more than appropriate for this round as it is what it's about. For the only time during the season you will be playing with a different album and basically try to make it look bad... Worse! You will also try to make the contestant who plays with it be eliminated. It's time to be a bad bxtch!

 

You will have to submit a bad song from the album you will be playing with and justify your choice on why the song is bad and why the album is not worthy the victory of this game. On top of that, you will have to find flaws in the way the contestant has been playing with his/her album.

 

All this in no more than 300 words. Keep in mind that during this round there isn't any banned songs. You can re-use any song.

 

 

1. shelven: Kelly Clarkson - "Piece By Piece": 'Good Goes The Bye'

 

Spoiler

ROUND SEVEN: “GOOD GOES THE BYE”

 

When an artist has a long career filled with critical acclaim, they often eventually misstep and release a disappointing album compared to their earlier work. For Kelly Clarkson, that album is Piece By Piece, and “Good Goes The Bye” showcases all of Kelly’s missteps as she tried to match the quality of her previous releases after exhausting herself of creativity and originality. Lyrically, GGTB is yet another standard, uninspired breakup track full of overused metaphors, idioms and a cheesy “X goes the Y” chorus pattern that gets tiring before the first chorus is even finished. The song’s synth-based production is repetitive, unchanging, and typical of any female pop artist searching for a hit. Even the song’s melody disappoints – while Kelly can normally save a lacklustre track with her stellar vocals, she constrains herself to a limited range of notes on GGTB and showcases neither power nor emotion at any point.

 

While any artist could be forgiven for releasing one underwhelming song, GGTB unfortunately is very representative of Piece By Piece. Every track blends together in both lyrical content and production, resulting in an album with few memorable highlights. The album feels like it was created by a robot trying to replicate human emotion – the expected topics and themes are there, but the sonic blandness and cliché-ridden lyrics make the final product seem insincere. Furthermore, these problems are magnified because of the way sumthintoxic82 has presented the album. While his entries satisfy the round criteria and describe the generalities of whichever song he’s discussing, they’ve lacked the depth, complexity and insight that the other contestants have all presented. Thus, by virtue of being a bland album that sumthintoxic82 has failed to prove is anything but, a win for Piece By Piece would be hollow and undeserved compared to the remaining albums.

2. MusicLoverDude: Adele - "25": 'Send My Love (To Your New Lover)'

 

Spoiler

Adele's 25 may have been meant to be a mature make-up record, but in Send My Love, the immaturity cannot be anymore obvious. Adele tries too hard in this song to be the unapologetic bitch by saying that it was all his fault for why their relationship failed. She also just HAD to mention that he was putting his hands all over her body, as if he's some sex addict. Bitch, you know you were enjoying that. It gets worse in the chorus, because out of ALL the things she could possibly say, she goes with the confusing "We got to let go of all of our ghosts, we both know we ain't kids no more". Really, that is ALL you have to say? Forgiving him isn't bad at all, but the mention of not being kids anymore just comes off very childish. The song is a let down, and being the only uptempo on the album leaves the album very one-sided. While Adele is not a one trick pony, as displayed on 21 with "Rumour Has It', she had potential to really drag her ex while still forgiving him and she failed. It shows that Adele only really shines on this album when it comes to the ballads that makeup the majority of it. Since she failed to deliver with Send My Love, she failed to deliver versatility with the album. Lhdang could've dealt with this album better though, and while he started off strong, these last few rounds he has gotten off topic with his essays and ALWAYS missing the point, and that's why his performance has faultered. The lack of diversity and lhdang not learning from his mistakes are why neither deserve to win.

3. Rihlana: Conchita Wurst - "Conchita": 'Where Have All The Good Men Gone'

 

Spoiler

Conchita – “Where Have All The Good Men Gone” (‘WHATGMG’)

‘WHATGMG’ by Conchita Wurst (‘CW’) is a song riddled with sweeping overgeneralisations and does not contribute to the album whatsoever. The instrumental (full of brass instruments) is supposed to give off a sassy vibe in an attempt to gather all women and have them agree with this song that suggests that CW has tried every man in the world. It comes across incredibly flat and fails to render any sort of emotional response other than an audible sigh. The lyrics are incredibly condescending and aside from one high note, it does not showcase the vocals that helped CW win Eurovision. Having said this, Conchita does not deserve to win this competition as most of the songs lack any real depth. The album is littered with tracks that seem intensely emotional, but are actually quite surface-level. There is no real insight into CW as a person. The themes and lyrics of these tracks could be utilised by anybody. There is not much that is uniquely CW. One exception is “Pure” which is a splendidly insightful album cut. Other than that, it seems as though these songs were made for CW, the winner of Eurovision and not CW, the soulful and powerful woman who defied adversity and made it all the way to the massive competition. The last track on the album, “Other Side Of Me”, ultimately falls flat because we haven’t even been let into one side effectively. Unfortunately, this has translated into some of Queen Conchita’s (‘QC’) entries. There have been times where QC has not gone into enough depth about why the tracks fit the certain topic (such as R2 and R4), thus failing to prove why Conchita unequivocally should be the album that wins the competition and that might partly be the fault of the album’s shallow nature.

4. sumthintoxic82: Sia - "This Is Acting": 'Alive'

 

Spoiler

I've never been a Sia fan. While she has a unique voice and style, her music never really hit home with me. It wasn't until "Alive" that I really started to appreciate Sia. I enjoyed it way more than I thought. So I went back into her discography.
After listening to her older songs though, something happened. "Alive" really didn't feel like Sia. I know it's not suppose to fully, but it still took me aback. "Alive" was the first single that I REALLY enjoyed from Sia, but now, the more I listened to it, the more I was loving the Adele "vibe" of the song. Sonically and lyrically, it's more fitting for Adele than Sia. "Alive" is the worst song on the album simply because it's the least Sia feeling song on the album. Adele's influence is to strong on this track. And on top of that, the empowerment theme of "Alive' is done at least 3 other times on this album, with those being better or more Sia.
As for the album as a whole, I dont get "Sia" from this album, I get the other artist. I get Shakira. I get Adele, I get Rihanna. I get mainstream...which I felt like Sia never really was (or tried to be) but got off the success of her last album. With the word "Acting" in the title, this album just comes off as pretending. It feels as though she's just there, acting her way though the song instead of feeling it.
If I was to say anything negative about how shelven is playing the game, it's that he's playing TOO good. While I might not like the album, his write ups are always convincing. It makes me want to work that much harder to get better in this game

 

5. Queen Conchita: Halsey - "Badlands": 'Young God'

 

Spoiler

HALSEY - YOUNG GOD

 

Throughout the game so far, Rihlana has gave us an indepth review and insight to 8 songs from Halsey’s Badlands praising her apparent ‘spectacular production and stroke of genius’ to the high heavens, but on reflection, what's left is a sour taste of synthesiser filler and unstimulating lyric content.

 

After 13 seconds worth of dull and uninspired instrumental, Young God takes another nose dive with the opening line being reminiscent of a nightmare.

 

Young God is a generic alternative track, one that is less energetic than watching paint dry on walls. Production is lacklustre, there are no intriguing vocal acrobatics and there's nothing on offer to keep you interested for the full 2:59 track length. Furthermore, there seems to have been no effort made from Halsey for the lyrics not to sound cliche and repetitive.

 

The song lacks originality, with its sound being fitting for the 'tumblr aesthetic', something that in all, makes Halsey seem like an artist with no identity of her own who is just cashing in on the current mainstream trend and trying to replicate the success of her peers Lana Del Rey, Lorde and Sia but falling at the first hurdle.

 

Halsey tweeted that she hopes everyone loses their virginity to the song, the delusion that anyone would actually care about the song enough to put it on before sexual intercourse is strong.

 

All in all, listening to this track is an unpleasant experience, an experience I wouldn't ever want to visit again. What is this song called? Oh wait Young God, I forgot for a split second as all the songs sound the same on Badlands. Rihlana has struggled with adding a personal flare into his entries in the competition but with a faceless album full of meaningless ‘poetry’ is that really any surprise?

6. lhdang2000: Samantha Jade - "Nine": 'Shake That'

 

Spoiler

  'After becoming the winner of X Factor, Samantha Jade released ‘Nine’ in 2015, in which the title was probably paying tribute to the amount of being delayed. However, ‘Shake That,' the first single, is one of those unbearable ones.

 

            The song starts with Pitbull’s voice with all the ‘Mr. Worldwide’ and ‘Miami to Florida.' Now, who thought adding Pitbull to the track would make anything better? Nobody even takes him seriously anymore. Well, except for Sony. On his rap verse, here we go with all those random and stupid sentences such as, ‘I wanna see you in your birthday suit.../Mami, show me where your sweet little cake at…/Me, I'm all ears unlike Vincent van Gogh…/.'

 

            For Samantha, as a winner of X Factor, she could have done better. However, she somehow decided that it would be a clever idea to record this uninspiring track. First, seven writers were credited for this, and the chorus was repeated eight times. Then, despite being released in 2015, the group still believed trumpet was a thing. Well, it ended around two years ago, and we are not in Jason Derulo era anymore.

 

            The song was a disappointment. However, at least it was somewhat memorable. The whole album was entirely the same except this song. And we can clearly see this affects MLD. No matter how hard he tries, it is getting clearer his essays is the same by day. Beyond that, his song choice is not interested anymore, for any of them would sound relatively too close to each other. It was not because of him; it was the album that he chose. All the other tracks if you are a first listener, ain’t no way you can distinguish the differences. And that makes everybody wondering: How can this mediocre be the winner?'

 

 

DEADLINE

April, 23rd

 

Spoiler

@shelven, @MusicLoverDude, @Rihlana, @Queen Conchita, @sumthintoxic82, @lhdang2000

 

Edited April 19, 2017 by Pedro

[Pedro]

BONUS ROUND

 

There is over 40 points of distance between the first and the second place in our final chart. Things can get pretty predictable from now on. During this round, we will end that. We won't obvious hurt shelven's hard work but we will make him work even harder. The remaining five contestants had to send in shelven's apparent worst entry and justify to us why that entry was that bad.

 

Just like during the previous round, the five contestants won't have a saying in the results but the judges ALONG with shelven will! Keep in mind there's a maximum of points each contestant will be able to get. With this being said, I will need the judges and the @shelven to send me via PM a rate from 1-10 to each of the entries and justify their choices (doesn't need to be a massive explanation).

 

Spoiler

Well, well, well... And because we will soon be in a bitch mode, why not make it worse? It's obvious that there is a BIG discrepancy between Shelven and all of you. With this being said, the remaining five contestants will be given a chance of coming closer to him.

 

Each of you will re-submit one of Shelven's entry throughout the game and tear it down. In no more than 200 words, you will need to make Shelven's entry look bad. Bad enough to have been eliminated that round.

 

MusicLoverDude: 'Move Your Body' || 'Midnight Decisions'

 

Spoiler

Shelven's essays are similar to Hillary Clinton's speeches – they are both well-spoken. TOO good in some cases, as shown with Move Your Body and Midnight Decisions. I don't see how Move Your Body is any different from Cheap Thrills – they're both generic party songs that could have been interchangeable for this round. The whole "passionate dancer" claim is hard to buy when her Shakira impersonation sounds like she is throwing up while having a painful orgasm. Had Shakira sung it would just be deemed generic. Midnight Decisions is worse, because her diction is horrible here and we can't understand anything she says in the verses, only a brief part of the chorus. We can't believe a performance of a heartbroken woman if we can't even understand the performer clearly. If Sia really pulled from real life experiences, she must have pulled them while drunk and recorded it during that intoxication. Shelven is a great essay writer, but if the songs he is describing don't live up to the hype then he shouldn't deserve the praise every single time.

 

Rihlana: 'Bird Set Free'

 

Spoiler

Bonus Round – “This Is Acting” (‘TIA’)

Resubmission: Round 1 – “Bird Set Free” (‘BSF’)

Whilst I did save this entry in Round 1, I concede that it was probably his weakest entry. BSF, whilst sounding personal, seems too expertly crafted and lacks genuine honesty. It fits right into the theme of Pitch Perfect 2. This may show Sia’s ability to refine her craft for a multitude of purposes, but BSF seems too disingenuous to be a true representation of the album. In an album where Sia eloquently portrays many different sides, BSF does not seem to showcase Sia in any acting role at all. The essay also attempted to assert that this song was a way to strengthen her identity and voice to which I respectfully disagree. BSF, as a track for a multi-million dollar movie, panders to the lowest common thread of humanity – wanting to feel free and heard. It is emotional, and it is powerful and whilst Sia felt connected to this song, she would because it is so general in theme and almost feels like an exception to TIA. Obviously, most songs are written to attract the widest audience possible, but Sia has such an uncanny ability to do so with extremely personal content, and BSF is not the prime example.

 

sumthintoxic82: 'Bird Set Free'

 

Spoiler

The whole concept of This is Acting is an interesting one. My issue with this album is that, at the end of the day, it is not a Sia album. Perhaps parts of it are, but it's mostly Sia "acting". But of all songs to chose, you choose the most Sia sounding song. This was suppose to be an album about Sia taking on other roles, but "Bird Set Free" feels so much like Sia (even if she meant to give it to someone else). Aside from "One Million Bullets", any other song would have made way more sense as far as the concept of the album goes. It might fit somewhat lyrically, but sonically it is DRASTICALLY different than a majority of the album. It's a nice friendly introduction, as it's not that different at all from anything off her last album, but doesnt really shape the album as a whole.

 

Queen Conchita: 'Cheap Thrills'

 

Spoiler

Let's take a look back to Shelven's Round 2 entry, the task asking for us to put forward a song that chained us into the album and him delivering Cheap Thrills. What a cheap ass choice.

 

I feel there are a few potholes in this entry, if you were disappointed by the lead single and the first two promo songs, which includes ALIVE!!!!, why is Cheap Thrills, the song where Sia sold out to be mainstream, backed up by the fact Sean Paul, yes Sean Paul, a 'rapper' who last had a basic 'hit' in 2011 was added onto the single version to suit radio the song that chained you into it?, it's obvious you weren't 100% confident on the choice as you can see the slightly 'negative' spin on the essay which is covered up by ‘fancy adjectives’.

 

Shelven apparently likes Cheap Thrills' 'simple lyrics' because Sia stepped away from her comfort zone, are you sure she just couldn't match previously released songs such as Titanium, Chandelier and Elastic Heart, surely that's a step down into the skip?

 

Oh and this 'acting challenge' is bull****, the only acting she's doing is pretending she still has a phenomenal writing talent.

 

lhdang2000: 'Bird Set Free'

 

Spoiler

  'Talking about shelven and Sia, they seem to be a perfect duo as shelven has always been at the top of the competition. However, there are rounds that he just didn't impress me. And somehow, I wonder what would happen if he was eliminated in the first round?

 

            Realistically, his first round was the definition of a bore fest. To shape ‘This Is Acting,' he picks ‘Bird Set Free,' which is super ironic. From the beginning, the concept of the album was Sia singing rejected projects, so how can a song that talks about the determination of being able to sing shapes the album? If anything, no artist wants those.

 

            And for those reasons, the struggles in his essay could be seen. Three-fourths of the essay was all about ‘being free,' and ‘creativity,' which does not relate to the concept of the album. He kept on talking about that until the conclusion. Not until then did he finally link the connection between the song and the album, vaguely.

 

            Overall, even though shelven now has been an established contestant, I still can’t forget the impression from his first performance. And for me, he should have been eliminated since then.'

 

DEADLINE

April, 23rd

Edited April 25, 2017 by Pedro

[Queen Conchita]

Please could you correct the second paragraph so it's centred like the rest? Sorry to be annoying 

 

& **** I completely missed out the last paragraph of mine

Edited April 19, 2017 by Queen Conchita

[shelven]

I feel so bad about the way I described sumthintoxic after reading how he described me  I promise I actually like your entries, @sumthintoxic82  

 

Perched for the bonus round entries