tournament Choose The Album, Then a Song 10 | Winner: Auburn

[Sanguine]

Page

[Sanguine]

Choose The Album, Then a Song

Round 10

FINALE

 

Congrats on making it to the final round of CTATAS  it's been a lovely season filled with excellent entries, hopefully you enjoyed your time playing and connected with your album more. The finale will be divided into three categories! Here they are:

 

1. Was originally going to do a SOTY Grammy round the day of nominations, but scrapped that so we’ll be doing an adjacent round now! Tell us why your album deserves to win AOTY at the Grammys, and make sure to use specific songs highlighting why. Take songwriters, producers, features etc. into consideration. NO WORD LIMIT, however there will be jury voting so don't give us 2000 words expecting everyone to be impressed. Simply put your best effort in.

2. This one is simple. Take your worst round and re-do it! Go to the spreadsheet and check your lowest score. You can use the same song or a different one. Your word limit will be the same as whatever it was that round.

3. Take five songs from your album and describe them as best as possible in five haikus, one for each track.

 

You'll have the entire album at your disposal for all categories - reuses of any song are allowed.

 

Excited to see the entries as they come in!

 

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRIES HERE

 

~48 hour deadline

DUE: Wed, Dec 6th @ 1 pm EST

 

@Auburn @EriKills @ultraviolence.xx @wehavetostan

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Sanguine

[ultraviolence.xx]

ouuuuuuu

[Element]

[MusicLoverDude]

Now THIS is a jury I can proudly be a part of without drama

[Sanguine]

Choose The Album, Then a Song

FINALE

 

ENTRIES AND EXPLANATIONS HERE

JURY VOTING LINK HERE

^ LINKS ABOVE, submissions may be edited

Congratulations again finalists for making it this far, it's been a lovely season with my first time hosting a game on my own. Your final entries of the season are all excellent and well-thought-out, can't wait for the judges and jury to read them! May the best album, then a song win!

 

 

DUE: Friday, Dec 15 @ 5 pm EST

 

@Auburn @wehavetostan @ultraviolence.xx

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Sanguine

[Sanguine]

Hi, past contestants! We've arrived at the finale of CTATAS and I just posted the entries. I would love for everyone to read these explanations and cast their votes using the jury form that I've linked in the post above to determine our winner of the season!

 

The three categories they had to do were:

1. Why does your album deserve to win AOTY at the Grammys?

2. Re-do your worst round (two of them did the grower round, the other Halloween costume)

3. Write five Haiku to concisely describe five songs on your album.

 

Please vote and congratulate our finalists

@Auburn

@wehavetostan

and

@ultraviolence.xx!

 

 

@MusicLoverDude @Alena @Overprotected @jesus del rey @minho @ATRL Username @DAP @brycehooha @Dessy @Not Like The Movies @Legend E @Hey Dude @Psycho @PoisonedIvy @nostalgic @K$Ellie @Vixen Eyes @Julia Fox @Hurem @fiercE @Galaxy @PinkBox @Alldeezy @ughgabriel @Insanity @Post Malone @EriKills @Yvess @khalyan @Euterpe @luckystrike @stupidjock

[khalyan]

No thank you

[Psycho]

What about EriKills

 

[jesus del rey]

[DAP]

[Kern]

KELELA SHOULD WIN THIS GAME IT’S THE BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR 

 

[ultraviolence.xx]

31 minutes ago, stupidjock said:

KELELA SHOULD WIN THIS GAME IT’S THE BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR 

 

if only my write ups lived up

 

[nostalgic]

Congrats ladies  glad to see at least one of my early faves made it to the end. Also, @Sanguine make sure to tag me if you ever host another game like this, I'll be perched to participate 

[Not Like The Movies]

Good luck

[Sanguine]

On 12/11/2023 at 4:02 PM, Sanguine said:

Choose The Album, Then a Song

FINALE

 

ENTRIES AND EXPLANATIONS HERE

JURY VOTING LINK HERE

^ LINKS ABOVE, submissions may be edited

Congratulations again finalists for making it this far, it's been a lovely season with my first time hosting a game on my own. Your final entries of the season are all excellent and well-thought-out, can't wait for the judges and jury to read them! May the best album, then a song win!

 

 

DUE: Friday, Dec 15 @ 5 pm EST

 

@Auburn @wehavetostan @ultraviolence.xx

 

Just a final reminder in case you want to vote, I extended the deadline so 24 hours left!

 

@MusicLoverDude @Alena @Overprotected @jesus del rey @minho @ATRL Username @DAP @brycehooha @Dessy @Not Like The Movies @Legend E @Psycho @PoisonedIvy @Vixen Eyes @Julia Fox @Hurem @fiercE @Galaxy @PinkBox @Alldeezy @ughgabriel @Insanity @Post Malone @EriKills @Yvess @Euterpe @luckystrike @stupidjock

[DAP]

I’ll submit later tonight

 

[Sanguine]

Judges won’t be able to critique until Sunday so everyone has a couple days left!

[Staryu]

Star "critiques" 

 

 

 

Hello final 3, let me start by saying I think you all did incredibly well and all 3 deserve the win but since that's not allowed, I will follow my heart

 

Spoiler

@Auburn - The way you had the easiest job for part 1, I need no convincing that The Velvet Rope deserved AOTY, not much else to say about thaT! For your redo, I think the ninja halloween costume idea was cute for a hidden track, clever girl. I didn't expect a brief history lesson about ninjas and samurais but I liked it, how interesting, worth looking into further tbh. I think the hidden track aspect is your strongest argument for ninja here, the rest are fine, maybe a slight reach. As for the haikus, I love the Velvet Rope and Rope Burn haikus the best, I'm no poet or poetry critic though, but I feel like Got til it's Gone haiku is a bit basic, but overall I think you did an adequate job with these haikus. As for your performance overall this season, I think you've slayed and did The Velvet Rope justice

 

@wehavetostan - quite the essay for your AOTY case, I like that you highlight the story of the album and the songwriting, I do think Chappell has some clever songwriting and very fun lyrics and song titles. I didn't know Dan ***** helped produce the album either, definitely an arguement in her favor, the talent involved in this album's creation is kind of crazy. For part 2, My Kink is Karma as a grower? I guess this is very subjective, I can see it seeming "mean" being off-putting for some. The personal connection you mentioned helps your case though, I can imagine this song is more relatable post a break-up. And as for the haikus, I think you did well, I really love the Pink Pony Club haiku, it's my favorite of the 5, I don't really have any critiques here, I doubt I could do any better and I enjoyed reading these. Thank you for taking us on a journey with Chappell all season, I got into her album near the start of the season and really love 4-5 songs on the album and added them to my playlist, so it was fun getting to know them better. Also thank you for not quitting and slaying all season

 

@ultraviolence.xx -  I need no convincing about Raven deserving AOTY, I feel like if there was justice in the world, Kelela would be more widely known and the Grammy committee would definitely eat her up, she has everything they love and more. For your redo, I do agree with what you said about Let It Go, in fact I am guilty of overlooking it, listening to it again for this judging made me realize I love her vocals and the production on it, such a lovely moment on the album. Something about your haikus feel professional to me, I can't really nitpick anything about them, I think they are all great, good job Now as for your overall presence in this competition, I have enjoyed and appreciated your entries every round, I feel like you always know what to say and how to write it, it's like you were trained for this but anyway, thank you for slaying all season

 

[shelven]

SHELVEN'S FINAL CRITIQUES

 

@Auburn - The Velvet Rope

Spoiler

Album of the Year

 

I like the focused approach of your argument – you establish a very clear thesis (that the album deserves to be awarded for breaking new ground on what a “personal album” can be) which guides your explanation, leaving me with a clear idea of what the album’s case for AOTY would be. Your examples from specific tracks are also clear and concise, helping me understand why the album supports your argument without making your explanation feel too unnecessarily bloated. All that said, I do think that there was some opportunity to go a bit deeper into why the album captures the artistic and technical achievement that the AOTY Grammy is meant to represent. In particular, I would have liked to see more about the production and sonic elements of the album beyond general statements about the album’s genres. Overall, though, I think you make a good case for why this album would be AOTY-worthy, which is the goal here.

 

Worst Round Do-Over

 

I really like the creativity and thought you put into this! The obvious route with the ninja costume is to talk about a song that either feels dark or “sneaky”, and while you do talk about that a bit, I think your focus instead on the role that ninjas typically took and how this song is almost an anthem for ninjas instead of just evoking the thought of them is a more interesting approach. I also love the opening line of your explanation and the creative but intuitive way you incorporate the song’s position in the track list into the ninja costume idea. There’s one or two ideas in here I think you could have slightly fleshed out more (I would have liked some elaboration on what about the song sounds “dutiful” and what that really means), but overall I enjoyed the unconventional and thoughtful approach you took to this.

 

Haikus

 

1. This one is cute and hits the theme of the song well, although admittedly it feels a little basic. This haiku could kind of represent your entire album, so I think it was a bit of a safe choice to pick this song and haiku instead of using this spot as an opportunity to provide us with something new.

2. Absolutely love this one. In just 17 syllables, you manage to touch on the unique hook of the song (the Joni sample), the production and the lyrical theme. I honestly wish I could give this one more than just a 2/2. 

3. I think it was smart to pick a song with a relatively simple theme as one of your choices for this part of the challenge because it makes it easy to construct a simple but effective haiku. I do wonder if you could have taken a slightly more interesting approach to the haiku (this is a basically a restatement of “they dance to feel good!”), but I think it works overall in the context of the song. 

4. This is basically the perfected version of what I was talking about with #3 – you take a relatively simple concept here, but have constructed the haiku in a captivating and unique way. There’s something I really like about you using your first line for a single 5-syllable word that effortlessly captures the mood of the song. 

5. The last line of this one really brings it all together. I was worried from the first two lines this was going to feel generic and like it could apply to tons of songs, but the last line goes a long way in capturing the overall mood of this song and presents unique imagery for it.

_________________________________

 

Congrats on a great season, Auburn! It’s been very clear throughout this entire game that you have both deep knowledge and a true passion for this album. Throughout the season, you’ve presented us with consistent ideas about your album and its strengths that have acted as a binding thread to all your entries (such as the introspective nature of the album and the proverbial “velvet rope”), which was a great approach that has successfully brought you to this finale as the frontrunner on the leaderboard. Great job and good luck!

@wehavetostan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Spoiler

Album of the Year

 

A long entry can always be a bit of a double-edged sword because, on the one hand, more content leaves room for you to explore more great ideas and really dive into your album, but on the other hand, you risk overstuffing the explanation with too much detail that doesn’t necessarily help your case that much. I think that those advantages and disadvantages both apply here. I love how you give us close to a full track-by-track analysis of the album and touch on many different parts of the album to create an overall argument that Chappell is a multifaceted talent on this album who can capture many different moods and styles. The key with a pure pop album is always to try to show that the album has more depth than what might appear on the surface, and I think you do a very good job convincing us of that here. But there are moments in this explanation that feel a bit bloated – most notably, I’m not sure if we needed a full paragraph dedicated to the Grammy resumes of the producers, as I don’t think “this album deserves AOTY because it was made by people who have won Grammys for other things” is all that compelling of an argument. Overall, I think this explanation hits some great highs and does its job well, but a bit more thought into what truly needed to go into this explanation vs. what could have maybe been left out or shortened would have put this over the top.

 

Worst Round Do-Over

 

What I love about this explanation is it feels like you really took notes on what worked about entries in the original round, what didn’t work as well, and took all that into account when crafting this new explanation. I don’t know if you did in fact do this, but the impression I get is that you read not just your own feedback on the original round, but the feedback we gave to other people too. Your explanation for why this song didn’t click with you at first makes sense and feels specific and believable instead of just a generic “the song seemed weird or jarring at first.” Your explanation for why the song has now grown on you also feels clear and intuitive, and like I think I said to a few people in the original round, I like how you admit that there’s still parts of the song you’re not fully sold on but that have grown on you and you understand better than you did before. I think this explanation really captures the overall purpose of this part of the challenge, so great job!

 

Haikus

 

1.  I love the imagery that this one paints. It feels well-connected to the story of the song and evokes a clear visual and mood that I think elevates the song it connects to.

2. This one is well-constructed (the last line in particular is wonderful), but feels a little bit surface level in terms of how it relates to the song. The first two thirds of this haiku is essentially a reconstruction of the very first line of the song, so I would have liked to see a haiku that captures the full essence of the song more. 

3. There’s something wonderfully campy about that first line that I think works really well in the context of this song. I think this one captures the song very well overall, but (and I hate to be annoyingly nitpicky like this), to be fair, I have to slightly dock this one because you have 8 syllables in your second line. 

4. You’re killing me with the incorrect syllables!! I like this one overall, but that second line really doesn’t even come close to being 7 syllables, so it’s hard to judge this as a proper haiku. Besides that, I do really like the fun and cheeky way this one captures the story of the song. 

5. Okay werk, we’re back to proper haikus! I have a similar critique for this one as I had for #2 (you sometimes just take phrases directly from the lyrics and flop them into the haiku), but compared to that one, I do think this one more creatively and fully captures the song.

________________________________________

 

Congrats on a great season, wehavetostan! I’m too lazy to check the numbers to actually confirm this, but my hunch is that you’ve statistically been the most consistent finalist across the season. I can’t remember a round where you truly faltered – you figured out an approach that worked for you early on, and you’ve been riding that approach all the way to the finale. I think you’ve done a great job showing us why this seemingly basic and catchy pop album actually has a lot of depth, emotion and nuance to it, and I must say I’m quite excited to give this album a few full listens now that you’ve finished making the case for it throughout this game. Great job and good luck!

@ultraviolence.xx - RAVEN

Spoiler

Album of the Year

 

You took a very fun approach here that made this explanation really enjoyable to read. As far as actual effectiveness in selling me on the album’s AOTY case, it was a bit hit or miss for me. I love that you were the only one of the finalists to expressly touch on the criteria that the Grammys/AOTY category are meant to capture, and while a bit risky, I ultimately liked your approach of telling us not only why the album deserves AOTY on the merits of its sound and lyrical themes, but also why an AOTY win for this album would be impactful and a great Grammys moment. I also think your concluding line is simple but excellent, as it recaps the overarching themes that you’ve been telling us about all season. Where this explanation doesn’t work quite as strongly for me is in the first two sentences – while fun to read, I’m not sure that implicitly taking a jab at other recent AOTY winners and also pointing to a limitation of your own album was necessary here. Overall, though, I think you present a strong case for why this album would be a deserving AOTY winner from multiple different perspectives.

 

Worst Round Do-Over

 

You took a very interesting approach here, choosing to tweak your original explanation in specific ways instead of completely re-writing it or picking a different song. I have mixed feelings about that approach to be honest. On the one hand, I think that approach clearly demonstrates that you took the judge feedback from your original submission into account in crafting this revised explanation – for example, I like how you embedded more direct references to your personal journey with this song, and I think your revised opening statement is much more effective and relevant to this theme than your original one was. On the other hand, keeping the overall structure and large excerpts from your original entry in this one means that some of the critiques I had that time still carry over – for example, while you do add some extra personal references into this version, overall this still does read a bit too much like an objective review of the song to me. Overall, this is definitely a clear improvement from your original submission in this round, but I think the strategy to make slight tweaks to that original submission instead of going with something new had mixed success.

 

Haikus

 

1. This has a really great balance between summing up the theme and lyrical content of the song well, while also feeling original and adding something to the song. Great start.

2. This one presents really strong and evocative imagery that I think works well for the nature of the song. It feels ever-so-slightly too abstract to me overall, but I think it’s constructed well and adds to the song as a whole.

3. I think it was a very smart choice to pick a song with not much lyrical content as one of the songs for this part of the challenge. It allows you to use your haiku to really build on the song and expand the song’s overall theme/universe, which is exactly what you do well here. I feel like I understand this song more thanks to your haiku than I otherwise would by just listening to the song.

4. This one is so creative and I kinda screamed when I first read it, but I think it works incredibly well. Like I said for your first haiku, I love how this feels like a natural fit for the song but also feels original to you and isn’t just a short summary of what the song is already saying.

5. Compared to your other four, this one feels a bit more on-the-nose and basic, but I’d say that’s more of a testament to the strength of the other four than it is to a weakness of this song. It’s simple, but it works and feels well-connected to the song.

________________________________________

 

Congrats on a great season, Uvie! You have such a captivating and memorable writing style that you’ve relied on throughout this season, and while I’ve gone back and forth over the course of the game on when that style worked best vs. when it may not have fit as well for a particular theme, there’s no denying that you’re both an incredibly talented writer and someone who has a very deep and intimate understanding of the album you chose to showcase in this game. More than anyone else who played this season, I feel like I’ve really learned and shaped my own understanding of music by reading your entries, so thank you for always providing such unique and memorable insights through your entries. Great job and good luck!

 

[Element]

ELEMENT'S FINALE CRITIQUES

 

@Auburn

Spoiler

1. AOTY - This is a pretty good entry that balances conciseness with some pertinent details. One premise that I don't necessarily agree with is that of the album's legacy and impact on the future. Since you are writing a proposal for the Grammys, we would assume it's the current year of release. It would be impossible to claim this future impact as fact to justify the award. I would have loved to see more about exactly how certain songs were groundbreaking from a production standpoint. For example - how exactly do "Anything" and "My Need" set a foundation for the alternative R&B genre? Lyrically, you did a great job though and I feel very educated on the album's themes and concept.
    
2. Redo - I liked your approach to this entry. You represented the general attitude and themes of the song fairly accurately, and even threw in some larger scale context and history to support the connection. You definitely took some of the comments from last time and improved upon them. For the princess entry in R4, I was disillusioned with the laundry list of items that you tried to stuff in to make a connection. This time, you focused more on a few key points, making for a more cohesive argument.
    
3. Haikus -

• Velvet Rope - First of all this song is amazing! My first time listening to it. I like this haiku - it's representative of the song and the entire album.
• Got 'til It's Gone - I appreciate that you boiled the whole song both lyrically AND sonically down to this haiku.
• Go Deep - I liked the first two lines, but the final one felt like a bit of a throwaway.
• Rope Burn - Love that the first line is just a single word. You recognized a nice opportunity there! Again I do feel the last line is a bit weaker than the first two, but it's needed to complete the thought.
• Anything - A lovely description of a beautiful song.

 

@ultraviolence.xx

Spoiler

1. AOTY - I loved this creative perspective! You really got up on the stand and rallied support for your album in some very convincing ways. I wish that a bit more time was spent on the details of the album. I feel like the meat of the argument specifically about the album was found in the final 2-3 sentences, and those could have been expanded to really highlight the brilliant nature of Kelela's work. For example, talking about some of the key innovative production choices on various tracks, and how the creators drove cohesion sonically and thematically with examples. Regardless, you made quite a few points!
    
2. Redo - Funnily enough, when I was reading this, nothing rang a bell until the final concept: "stillness can be destination". Then I was like omg I've read this before... I looked back at your original entry for this round, and I was surprised at how closely the two essays are aligned. You made some subtle edits that definitely improved things as a whole, but I felt like a larger overhaul would have been more beneficial.
    
3. Haikus -

• Missed Call - Perfect. I love how this flows and captures the emotions of the song.
• Sorbet - Another lovely haiku that evokes powerful imagery.
• Divorce - This one feels a bit more on the nose than some of your other haikus. It's well done though and represents the song well!
• Raven - Definitely unique/abstract, and not what I expected for this song tbh. But it does work.
• Enough for Love - A great and on point conclusion!

 

@wehavetostan

Spoiler

1. AOTY - Some of the sections in this argument are among the strongest of the three entries - for example, the brilliant contrast between her introspective ballads and bops with her unique sense of humor. The specific examples of lyricism are very helpful in this case. However, other paragraphs feel a bit unnecessary, like the Wikipediated biographies of the producers. I didn't really get to learn how they directly contributed to this particular album. If their presence was so critical, which aspects of their production were unique and special that justify the nomination? Ultimately though, you do a really good job of covering key components like the melodies, the story, and the vocal delivery/personality. You also had the strongest details about particular songs - and many of them - which help display the strengths and diversity of the album. Finally, the closing sentence sums everything up very succinctly.
    
2. Redo - Great work on this remake! I think you did a wonderful job at absorbing all the commentary from the original round and directly improving upon those points here. Your relationship with this song is a great example of how a song can grow over time. Understanding the subject matter and the attitude due to a new personal experience... its both a universal yet uniquely individual journey. Your argument in the first half was also supported by direct comparison to another song which you had enjoyed more. Nice job creating that contrast.
    
3. Haikus -

• After Midnight - A nice start! Definitely a bit on the nose - borrowing directly from the lyrics - but it captures the vibe well.
• Picture You - The final line is very strong - "thoughts cascade like stars - gorgeous.
• Pink Pony Club - Ugh I wish I hadn't been counting all of these but such is the job of a judge. Def a bit of a bummer that you have 8 syllables in the second line. This one has a lot of direct references to the original song which I think makes it slightly less innovative.
• Casual - Not the syllables again gurl... anyways I like the vibe and especially the final line! It is a unique way to capture her feelings.
• Naked In Manhattan - First line definitely summarizes the song effectively. I'm not sure if the second line really helps that much. Your concluding line is my favorite!

Great job everyone!! You have been amazing all season long!

 

 

[ultraviolence.xx]

 

[wehavetostan]

[Staryu]

[shelven]

Good luck to the finalists!! This finale was honestly super close between all 3 of you, so I'm curious to see who takes it when jury votes and the pre-existing leaderboard are factored in. But you all did great and would be deserving winners of the season