tournament Golden Hit: Season 2 📀 Congratulations Hug! 🏆

[Legend E]

Thanks, fountain

[Aurora]

Going to try to finish up my reviews tonight, I've had another very long day today so I'm quite tired but I really want to get these out for you all.

[Kylie Jenner]

Thanks for the reviews

[worldwide angel]

thank you for such kind words @fountain 

[Hug]

Okay I looked into Tetris effect as well, and I am positive I've experienced it on some level. I've heard music from games I've been playing even when I wasn't playing the game and I've had dreams that followed the logic of a particular game before. I remember asking people if they've experienced something similar and people would be like ??? so now I will just show them this because it explains what I felt a lot better. 

[fountain]

22 minutes ago, Hug said:

Okay I looked into Tetris effect as well, and I am positive I've experienced it on some level. I've heard music from games I've been playing even when I wasn't playing the game and I've had dreams that followed the logic of a particular game before. I remember asking people if they've experienced something similar and people would be like ??? so now I will just show them this because it explains what I felt a lot better. 

!!

 

I used to see myself as if I were within or a part of the game, and the blocks would be falling down above me, which would be fine at first but then more and more blocks would appear at once and it was quite anxiety inducing. I haven’t experienced since I was a kid, but it was a recurring dream back then for whatever reason. Really odd. To be fair though, I also used to sleep walk every night around the same time, so my sleep was already troubled anyway. 

[fountain]

I’ll be hosting results later tonight, I’ll hit you with a time soon for when to expect them! They may be a little quicker than usual as I’m not at home and will be posting them from mobile. 

[fountain]

Hi everybody Round 5 results will take place tonight at 7pm eastern time! That is 5 hours from this post. 

 

Hope you can be there to see how all the songs did! 
 

I’ll be hosting these results away from home and posting them from my phone so it may be quicker than usual.

 

Looking forward to seeing the results!

 

@camfuckingrockwell @Kylie Jenner @hurricane326 @XO_Life @Hug @TruGemini @Allday @Julia Fox @beatinglikeadrum @Augmented @Legend E @Euterpe @JoeAg @Element @worldwide angel

[Legend E]

[Aurora]

 

 

Hey, Hitmakers! Sorry my reviews are so late this week, it's been chaotic for me. As such, no fancy puns or anything, I'll get right into the Dreamscape!

If there is anything in your review that you do not wish to have public (lyric excerpts, references to your material etc.) I will remove it upon request.

 

 

1. @camfuckingrockwell - “Paradise”

Firstly, welcome back! I’m glad to see you found another challenge that was particularly inspiring to you. Thinking back to your first entry “Bluebird”, I think there was a lot of untapped potential there that could have been realised with a longer piece. I definitely feel that this song is a step up in that regard, but where your first submission felt like a strong starting point, this similarly feels like a strong second or third revision that could be bolstered even more. You’ve set the tone of the song early, which is great, but I’m craving some more specific little details. Why has life been so cruel? What is your idea of paradise, is it a beach by the shore, or something more? What is the reasoning behind the sadness constantly creeping in? The framework is there and you definitely have some lovely natural poetic tendencies, but I’m struggling to see your individual voice as a writer, and it’s something I really would like to get to know. I hope you submit for the final round, and continue to show us the improvement it’s clear you’re capable of!

2. @Kylie Jenner - “Ephemeral”
Loving this title and concept out of the gate. Honestly, I’ll cut to the chase and admit this was my favourite offering from you in this tournament so far. I love the Aliennia bops as a whole package, but this was an exceptionally well crafted song for this challenge and definitely put lyricism in the forefront. Your chorus section was simply magnificent, the way each lyric just flowed so seamlessly from the last. I’m trying to think of some constructive criticism or any part that could be elevated, but... I simply can’t? This is deceptively simple, but simplicity done right. Everything has a purpose. The way the sections mirror one another yet stand alone in their own right creates a sense of familiarity without feeling uninteresting. It’s all just so captivating. I genuinely can’t fault this, and I won’t try to! I hope to see you in the final round, and know whatever direction you take will be a serve.

3. @hurricane326 - “A Conversation With Nik”
This was a unique interpretation of the challenge. I’d like to clarify that while I understand your intentions behind taking this risk—and don’t consider you to be like Nik—it doesn’t match the heights of your earlier material for me. Your genuinely interesting concept aside, the nature of the piece pushes it more into the realm of conversational fiction. I’m not saying it couldn’t be crafted into a song—I did listen to the Joni song you referenced—but when you’re already doing away with so many fundamentals of songwriting in this tournament such as sheet music composition or vocals to showcase melody and rhythm, all that you’re really left with are the lyrics to reinforce the song-like nature of a poetic piece of writing, and I don’t believe this style of song has achieved that. Its relation to the dream aspect of the challenge is also relatively arbitrary, as there’s not really any way to prove or disprove that you dreamt this—which could be okay—but there isn’t really anything else to reinforce the connection to the dreamscape theme beyond this. You came into this tournament hungry and gave us one of the best 1-2-3 punches since Jackson’s R2-4 run in GH1, and have similarly seemed to take a bit of a side step with these last couple of submissions. I can’t wait to see what you bring in the finale, as I have a feeling it’s going to be down to the wire. Pause and reflect on what made us love your initial entries so much!

4. @XO_Life - “Dreamscape”
Intriguing title. I enjoyed that your interpretation of the dream theme was an idyllic fantasy “world peace” vibe, and I think that very much suits you as a writer from what we’ve seen in this tournament thus far. What I really loved about your last offering “Only Ones Who Know” was the unique detailed descriptors you utilised that really painted a crisp picture and added a rather unique visual element to your song. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a lot of that with this one. I hate using the word “cliché” as a negative because I personally think incorporating and subverting clichés can be a really great tool in pop, but the majority of the lyricism here was very nondescript and conveyed the right ideas in not necessarily the right manner. A lot of the rhyming here felt rather rudimentary—the “news/Jews” rhyme was the worst offender in a chain of easy rhymes. I will say I absolutely loved your chorus-closing lyric, “Manifest this dreamscape into our present day”, this was stellar. You’re undoubtedly a promising pop writer and I can’t wait to see what avenue you explore in the finale.

5. @Hug - “The You I Remember”
Biiiiitch... the YOU I remember is serving and scalping me every week like this. I was your biggest stan last week and I might just be again... maybe. Hear me out. I don’t know if I’m just stupid, but the final line of your pre-chorus “Everyone that knew you knew you were so much more” just didn’t work for me AT ALL. Between the lack of punctuation, double “knew you knew you”, and non-rhyme of were/more, it just felt like such an off decision for me? Which is honestly such a shame, because I couldn’t fault anything else. This was such a sublime entry packed with emotive pull, stunning progression, and an all-too-relatable concept. You really took us on a journey of life in two verses and two choruses, and it feels so whole without being rushed through. I was going to clock the “[girl] I couldn’t seem to tell” lyric in the outro at first, but then it clicked—it’s like when you’re dreaming and you can’t really place the face and it could just be a random passerby you saw a few days ago that your subconscious and manifested into this dreamscape NPC of sorts... genius. I wish I could give you a 10 again, but alas... seeing you go from strength to strength this season has been a pleasure, and I hope you continue to impress us in the finale, because without having crunched all the numbers, you might be in with a good shot at taking this thing out.

6. @TruGemini - “Same Old Discussions”
You know what? I ******* LOVED this. I actually got Doja Cat vibes partway through and then I couldn’t NOT imagine Doja on this song for some reason. I can hear her bringing that infectious energy to this and just turning it into this really tight pop/R&B/hip hop kind of vibe. I checked out the instrumental you wrote to as well after already coming to this conclusion, and it kind of reminded me of a more percussive, lo-fi “Kiss Me More”? You really do have one of the most polished and distinguishable commercial styles in this tournament, and I think you played to your strengths well with this one, as almost every lyric hits. On top of this, I love your connection to the dreamscape element—it’s essentially the song form of realising you’re dreaming mid-dream, and trying to break through. The “incorrect” chorus element appearing partway through the verse was such a slay tactic and brought some theatrics to this song. There’s a handful of rhymes here and there that aren’t as engaging as others, so I’d say your next hurdle is just refining that consistency a bit and making sure all of the fantastic internal and prolonged rhyming is equally matched by fantastic individual lyrics and setups for punchy one-liners. Otherwise, this is almost up there with “Sweet Release” for me! I can’t wait to see what you bring to the finale (and secretly-not-so-secretly hope you make use of the “Golden Bars” challenge mix option!)

7. @Allday - “Night Terrors”
Okay, this was kind of your best song yet? I feel like I keep saying that every week but it’s honestly true, we love continual improvement! This was a pretty standard interpretation of the challenge but a gripping one nevertheless. I definitely related to this song a lot—the seeing shadows, feeling unable or unwilling to move or breathe too loud, sensing a presence etc. It’s not a fun time! I love how you’re also single-handedly bringing the exclamation point back into commercial lyricism... it’s about time she got her flowers! All in all I think you’ve written about a strong, relatable concept in a way that’s easy to digest and appreciate. I think the bridge could have been a good moment to go a little bit more in depth in regards to what the “demon” might have been/represented, and provide a bit more tension/release as to whether you conquered the demons or if they conquered you, but ultimately this was a nice entry. Hope to see you submit for the finale!

8. @Julia Fox - “Blurry”
This was pretty brilliant. I’m excited to see you return to that “vintage” era lyricism a bit (I know I keep harping on about this, but it really was that good!) I love how you drew so much potential from this challenge and addressed dreams, visions, fears, even paralysis, but it felt very natural, in an almost stream of (un)consciousness easy? In fact, if it weren’t for your (great!) chorus, this would be a pretty nice fit for fountain’s “free form” challenge in this week’s finale. The metaphors you have used painted a lovely scene and definitely felt dreamlike. I love the idea of a past that isn’t past yet... knowing something is over, but being unable to completely let go. I don’t really mind profanity in songs, and I think how you’ve used it is at its best, as it’s a real turning point in the narrator’s mind I think, breaking through that inability to let go of the past somewhat, or at least realising they should try. As such, I think a different final chorus may have suited this better, but overall this was stunning and I’m looking forward to what you bring to the table in the finale!

9. @beatinglikeadrum - “C13H16N2O2”
This title is an absolute serve already. We stan science! I’m currently up at 5 AM finishing these reviews so I’m very sleepy (fitting for the Dreamscape challenge!) but your song honestly has me Wide_Awake.mp3. You had me captivated from the very first lyric, honestly: “Lord of the dreams, build my desires with your sand.” But wow, what an opener! It didn’t let up from there either, if I were in a dream I think my jaw would be on the floor and my eyes would be sparkling while reading the rest of your first verse, then your pre-chorus, then your chorus, and finally the rest of your song. The care that was put into each and every line to conjure up a vivid, beautiful dreamlike scene was mesmerising... the pre-chorus flowing into the chorus like dreams fade into one another... even touching on more serious dreams like reconnecting with passed loved ones, dreams rendering death “powerless”... it just keeps getting better. The bridge was another lyrical serve after serve! Not to mention the science/biology/abstract language integrations that felt so purposeful to this piece… a visionary. This was quite honestly one of my favourite songs I’ve had the pleasure to read not just this season, not just this tournament, but in all of my years judging ATRL songwriting tournaments. As such, you’ve earned a very large 10 from me. Exquisite. I’m running out of adjectives to say “I loved this!” Please snap again like this in the finale.
 

10. @Augmented - “The Fall”

Oh my, a continuation from last week… your mind. Although I might have to disagree, I don’t think it’s quite on the same level as “The Battle”... because this one is even better! The Augnaissance is definitely upon us. This was such a compelling read from start to finish, and has some of your best lyricism up there with “When Tradition Falls” and “Night owl”. I loved your use of rhyming in this song matched with the more elevated language, it worked really well for this piece. I really enjoyed the “spider’s silk” section, and how all of the lyrics kind of toyed with this image and left us with one of a helpless being caught in a web. I also really like your approach to ending this song, it’s nice to sort of end on an ambiguity because it does have the reading that it could be a good ending, but also leaves you with the knowledge that this perpetual nightmare will return with each day’s end. This was definitely another top-tier offering from you, and I am absolutely anxious to see what you submit for us in this week’s finale challenge.

 

11. @Legend E - “Floating By (¿-zzz-?)”

Why is everyone busting out the creative titles for this challenge? I kind of love it! Will the “Dreamscape” challenge be our first returnee in a future season? Fortunately I don’t suffer from insomnia, but I can relate to this in some was as I’ve had more than a few sparse sleepless nights in recent weeks (mostly stress-related, in fact last night was one of them as I’m up at 5 AM doing reviews!) I’m really glad you clarified the 4-7-8 thing because I honestly thought it was just you follow on from the “miscounting sheep” idea in the prior line, and honestly knowing the true lyric, I like its placement in the song because it could be interpreted as either? The 4 AM lyric was very much giving Taylor (I’m only half joking). This was a really strong offering from you yet again. It’s honestly probably up there with one of my favourites of yours! The prechorus was so creative and descriptive and set the perfect scene, and I loved the alarm being an “orchestra” (although I think most of us wouldn’t be so generous in labelling our alarms as such!) Good luck in the finale, I look forward to another LegendEry masterpiece.

 

12. @Euterpe - “Did you hear that?”

Omg I had NO idea this was a thing, but I’ve experienced it many times before! Literally JOLTS you awake, and for what? I just have never talked to anyone about it before because… I mean what do you say? And often you forget about things like this that happen in the middle of the night unless something randomly happens in the light of day to trigger that similar emotional response. At least in my experience! Storytime over, but thank you for educating me on a phenomenon I didn’t even know I’d experienced. I think my favourite part of this song is that it’s obviously highly conceptual. The structure is intelligently crafted in the way the lyrics are, much like the nominal exploding head syndrome, like a jolt or sudden aspect, and the quick, short, almost stabby lines definitely mirror that. I don't think it makes for the most mesmerising reading experience of the round I have to say, but I think the idea is really creative and I genuinely did enjoy this piece and its creativity. I’ve loved so many songs this round, and yours is no exception, so it’s like splitting hairs at this point, and I think the concept and execution outweighed the individual lyricism and sort of took away from potential to have any standout one-liners to a degree. I don’t want you to misinterpret this as a negative review overall though, and I am so excited to see what you have for us in the finale.

 

13. @JoeAg - “Felt You Watching Over Me”
You’ve definitely painted a vivid scene, if not one most of us are all too familiar with, feeling that presence of someone watching over us, whether it be in a positive or negative manner. Maybe I’m just an uneducated ‘Strayan but I’d never heard of any of the counties you name-dropped, so I didn’t really understand how they were relevant to the song sorry, but I’m going to assume they had an emotional connection with the person watching over you? “My dreamland an oasis for you to taint” was a beautiful one-liner here. I wouldn’t consider this a complete departure from your usual style, but it definitely felt a bit more accessible overall, almost like you letting us in on a shared dream. Very nice. “The waves aren’t pleased with your vagrancy / But I am.” was another stellar lyric, and I honestly would have preferred this to be the closing lyric, moving the grandmother lyric up a couple of lines! I enjoyed this a lot, and as always look forward to seeing what’s next for you.

14. @Element - “NIGHT VISIONS II: TETRIS HYPNOTIC”

Wow, long time no see! Welcome back to the Golden Hit fam! The serve out of the gate in the opening lines… come through night mode! (It’s funny because I actually have Dark Reader activated while reading these songs nnn). I kind of screamed at “coming soon! a purple t.”, but in a good way. This was such a unique experience, I don’t think I ever thought I’d read a song about dreaming about tetris before? What a serve. “fade to black i beg of thee” was such a great lyric in this context because it could be referring to wanting the dream to be over, or literally wanting a line match so the line “fades to black”. Genius! I think I do recall the original “Night Visions”... not the song itself of course but I’m pretty sure it was written for PH8’s “Title Track” challenge where we asked players to write a title track for popular albums without one (in this case, Imagine Dragons’ “Night Visions”, iirc?) This was very cute and while I hadn’t heard of the Tetris effect, I can definitely see how this would impact a person’s life (even if it’s not a phenomenon strictly stemming from a dream-related altered state of consciousness). All in all this was fun, even camp at times (I see you’ve been attending the Allday school of exclamations!) and generally a welcome creative wildcard with some fantastic elevated lyricism and rhyming mixed in. It’d be wonderful to see you return again for the finale if you were so inclined!

 

15. @worldwide angel - “Twilight”

I enjoyed that your song addressed the different stages of sleep and recognised that there are differing levels of subconsciousness. Your intro was such a fantastic way to begin this song, it drew me in from the first line, and this exciting, effortless flow carried into your chorus. Similarly to Euterpe’s song, the really short, stabby verse lyrics (then/when/feel etc.) somewhat took me out of this immersion a little, and didn’t feel as conceptually relevant in this song’s context. I feel the same way about the bridge to a degree, although I really did love the final section there. I loved the setting of your song, that sort of “afterglow” you experience when coming out of a good dream, and I can see a version of this song with longer, more almost drowsy line lengths really completing this experience, whereas I feel the shorter line lengths of your typical style carry a certain urgency or abruptness that most of us don’t often after right after waking up, so there’s a bit of a disconnect there between concept and execution. This is a pretty minor criticism all in all though. You’ve been a fantastic addition to this season’s roster, and I look forward to your finale entry.

[Jackson]

15 minutes ago, Aurora said:

I see you’ve been attending the Allday school of exclamations!

probably the highlight of both songs! 

[Legend E]

Omg not the stanning, I'm shook

 

And I stan your interpretation of the 4-7-8 line, I didn't even think of that but it makes so much sense

[Euterpe]

Thanks for all the reviews, judges!

[fountain]

The Round 5 results are in, one hour until they are revealed

 

@camfuckingrockwell @Kylie Jenner @hurricane326 @XO_Life @Hug @TruGemini @Allday @Julia Fox @beatinglikeadrum @Augmented @Legend E @Euterpe @JoeAg @Element @worldwide angel
 

[beatinglikeadrum]

OMG. Thank you @Aurora . I was so stressed. So glad you liked it.

[Julia Fox]

Thank you @Aurora 

[Hug]

Not me missing the 10 from one clunky line :( oh whale live and learn.

[fountain]

Hello everybody! Welcome to the results show for Round 5: The Dreamscape challenge.

 

It goes without saying that this was another really great round for us. In fact, multiple judges agreed that this was strongest so far and gave out their highest scores yet!

 

You should all really be proud of yourselves, especially as we come up on the final. I hope you are all able to submit again since it’ll be the last round of Golden Hit Season 2 and we’d love to go out with a bang!

 

For now though, let’s start the result for Round 5. Up first, #15…

 

@camfuckingrockwell @Kylie Jenner @hurricane326 @XO_Life @Hug @TruGemini @Allday @Julia Fox @beatinglikeadrum @Augmented @Legend E @Euterpe @JoeAg @Element @worldwide angel

[fountain]

At #15 with a song that sought to bring dreams into reality…

 

@XO_Life with “Dreamscape”

[fountain]

At #14 with a song that remained unphased and screamed WTF back at nighttime demons…

 

@Allday with “Night Terrors”

[fountain]

At #13 with a song that pondered a place of true happiness…

 

@camfuckingrockwell with “Paradise”

[fountain]

At #12 with a song that chose humanity over rage…

 

@hurricane326 with “A Conversation With Nik”

[fountain]

At #11 is a song that I could swear I felt the presence of…

 

@JoeAg with “Felt You Watching Over Me”

[Hug]

Omg congrats to our Top 10  

[fountain]

And now a short word from our sponsors…

 

This Golden Hit results show is brought to you by @fountain’s mobile phone and internet connection!

 

 

Congrats to the upcoming top ten!