tournament Golden Hit: Season 5 ⚜️ Congrats to fountain!

[fountain]

[Jackson]

Welcome to the final round of Golden Hit Season 5! To cap off the season, we're taking you on a nostalgic journey through the seasons of Golden Hit. Get ready to dive into your Golden Hit history books!

 

 

 

 

For this round, we've handpicked a challenge from each of the first four seasons of Golden Hit. This is your chance to choose a challenge that resonates with you – you could even combine challenges if you’re feeling extra ambitious. Below, we’ve provided brief explanations of each challenge and linked to the original challenge posts for additional information:

 

Season 1 ⚜ ATW10MVTVFTV (long songs)

 From the first season of Golden Hit - here brevity is your enemy. For this challenge, you are tasked with writing a song that’s at least 500 words in length. As in the original challenge, only the first three instances of a repeat will count toward your word count. That is to say, if you have four identical repetitions of a chorus throughout your song, only the first three will count toward your goal of 500 words. Remember, more is more!

 

 

Season 2 ⚜ Spoken Word

From the Season 2 classic, we're throwing the conventional songwriting rulebook out the window! Here, your task is to infuse your song with spoken word elements. Feel free to scatter them throughout your lyrics, designate a specific section, or go all-in with an entire spoken word song! The beauty? It's your call! Your theme, story, or inspiration – totally up to you.

 

 

Season 3 ⚜ Midjourney

From Season 3, your challenge is to write a song inspired by a Midjourney AI, or another generative AI of your choice. This generated image will double as your single cover. If you prefer, you can also create your image yourself. Note that we will not be judging you on your generated single cover, only the lyrics inspired by it.

 

 

Season 4 ⚜ Absurdity

From Season 4 comes the Absurdity Challenge – a challenge where normal is boring, and the absurd is just enough! Your mission is to craft a song that's a celebration of the nonsensical. We're talking lyrics that defy logic, make us laugh, or seek to confuse. Break free from the ordinary, play with unconventional structures, and dive into the surreal. Absurdism is your muse, so let your imagination run wild.

 

 

Songs are due via Google Form submission by Thu. Dec 7, 11:59PM EST

The top three submissions, regardless of the season chosen, will earn their talented creators a coveted Hit Token! This is your last chance this season to score a gold/silver/bronze token, so don't miss out on the chance to add one to your collection! It’s still not too late to sign up! Simply submit through the submission form to be added to the sign-up list.

 

@stupidjock@fountain@Hey Dude@GentleDance@réveuse@Invisibility@worldwide angel@Legend E@JonginBey@Kayseri Mantisi@blackoutbaby@Navy4Life@Antikythera@Julianna Calm Down@Hug@Prisoner@punisher@TruGemini

 

[fountain]

Ahhhh I love this 

[Jackson]

also definitely didnt forget to tag everyone 

 

@stupidjock@fountain@Hey Dude@GentleDance@réveuse@Invisibility@worldwide angel@Legend E@JonginBey@Kayseri Mantisi@blackoutbaby@Navy4Life@Antikythera@Julianna Calm Down@Hug@Prisoner@punisher@TruGemini

[Aurora]

We couldn't think of a better way to end this season than by letting everyone tackle (or re-tackle!) some of these classic challenges. If this is a hit, we might see more "Favorites Finales" in the future!

[fountain]

It kinda goes without saying that whatever I submit will be over 500 words  so I’m automatically completing the challenge I fear 

[Jackson]

1 minute ago, fountain said:

It kinda goes without saying that whatever I submit will be over 500 words  so I’m automatically completing the challenge I fear 

the song that originally won that challenge was over 1000 words. are we going for 1500?? 

[fountain]

1 minute ago, Jackson said:

the song that originally won that challenge was over 1000 words. are we going for 1500?? 

Well, the brief does say “more is more”  don’t be mad when I send in a novella 

[Aurora]

Time for a "Heaven In The Deep" re-up @Element?

[Legend E]

Cute. Thinking of Spoken Word or Midjourney  

[Hug]

I do the Midjourney **** anyway. I love my free round.

[Hug]

Also, absurdity being the one to come back from S4 my isekai bop's impact...

[Element]

3 hours ago, Aurora said:

Time for a "Heaven In The Deep" re-up @Element?

"Hell In The Sky" is coming

[fountain]

Quote

• RECENTLY BROWSING   3 MEMBERS

  • fountain
  •  
  • Jackson
  •  
  • Aurora

Ahh ready for the two sets of reviews about to be posted 

[JonginBey]

[Aurora]

57 minutes ago, fountain said:

Ahh ready for the two sets of reviews about to be posted 

I haven't even opened the Google Form except to check if your title was really what you said it was.

 

[Kern]

I’m about to write a very long song 

[Aurora]

 

 

⚜️ THE SONGS OF ROUND 5 ⚜️

 

hurricane326 - “Parasite” (Judge Co-write)

fountain - “Everything, as It Should Be | Official Theme Song of Golden Hit Season 5 | From the Grammy Nominated Original Live Action Musical Motion Picture Soundtrack | Performed by fountain, Aurora, Jackson and XO_Life | feat. Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Adele, Britney Spears and Michelle Yeoh | The Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Zedd Remix | ARTPOP 10th Anniversary Edition | Tik Tok Sped Up Version | Remastered | From the Vault” (Judge Co-write)

Legend E - “Dorothy Dying (feat. Tin Man)” (Individual Duet)

Hey Dude & Hug - “The Harp of Heaven and the Man with Clumsy Hands” (Writing Partners)

punisher - “Buy Me Flowers” (Individual Duet)

stupidjock & JonginBey - “The Loop” (Writing Partners)

 

8 writers, 6 songs, 5 rounds, 3 sub-challenges, each with 2 entrants each. We love to see it! Thank you all for submitting.  My reviews will be coming in the next few hours.

[Kern]

I feel such a rush of inspiration I feel like my final song is gonna be a collapse 

Edited December 3, 2023 by stupidjock

[Aurora]

@punisher I know you're new to using Google Docs, but you will have to unlock the document for us to be able to read your entry dear! Just head back to your entry, click the blue "Share" button in the top right corner, and change the "General access" permissions from "Restricted" to "Anyone with the link" and click "Done".

 

[Aurora]

 

 

What we lacked in submissions this round, we certainly made up for in talent. Let's hear it for Round 5!

If there is anything in your review you'd like clarified or removed, please let me know and I will do so.

 

⚜️

 

1. hurricane326 - “Parasite” (Judge Co-write)
Firstly, I’m flattered that you chose one of my song-starters for inspiration. I definitely envisioned it as a first verse when I originally wrote it, so I think you’ve made the most logical choice using it as the foundation for the song and building onto it from there. Thematically, you’ve nailed the Stockholm syndrome vibe the original section was aiming to capture, and if you had told me this entire song was written by one person in a single session, I wouldn’t doubt you! I love that you mimicked the meter and rhyme scheme in your second verse (although the meter is a little looser here) which really reinforced the connection not just on a thematic level, but on a structural one also. You’ve delved into darker themes a few times already so this song doesn’t feel like a complete departure from your authentic self, with this song-starter complementing your writing style. I do think the meter could have been tightened up overall to really make this a stellar entry, but as is, you’ve done a remarkable job of making this your own and turning a scrap of mine into something you can be really proud of.

 

2. @fountain - “Everything, as It Should Be…” (Judge Co-write)
This title is very much giving Absurdity, it’s giving Remmy, it’s giving… I don’t even know what the hell it’s giving but I’ll take it! This was certainly an experience like no other. I laughed until I cried at certain parts. This piece of writing made me feel things no other piece of work submitted for this tournament—or any other writing tournament for that matter—has made me feel. My only complaint? I reeeeeeeeeeee(e to the power of n)ally wish you had taken my hint and held off writing something like this until Round 6’s Absurdity challenge! I would have had absolutely NO qualms giving this a 10 for that challenge. None whatsoever. Without hesitation. It’s literally textbook Absurdity, turned up to 11, set on fire, and live-streamed on TikTok. However, I do have to be objective here. While the challenges essentially are meant to be sources of inspiration you can spin in any direction, it’s reasonable to expect the song-starter(s) to at least somewhat make sense within the context of the song. You wouldn’t take Jackson’s rap and dress it up as an Adele-style ballad for example—that would be something I would consider a lyrical disconnect and score accordingly. So following this logic, I can’t score completely based on my undying love for this hilarious concoction, because at its core, the song-starters are essentially just plopped in here without any real effort to make a song that truly connects to the original lyrics—essentially treating the sections themselves as a singular prop rather than individual lyrics to analyze and work with. I hope you can understand my viewpoint on this. I think you know you took a ginormous risk here, and regardless of where it ranks or scores (I have no idea what the other judges are going to think of this), you should be proud of writing something as utterly chaotic and emotionally stimulating as this.

 

3. @Legend E - “Dorothy Dying (feat. Tin Man)” (Individual Duet)
Okay, so I really love your vision here. I am familiar with the story of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (or at least the core themes), and obviously ‘Wicked’ has become such a big thing in and of itself, which is a prequel of sorts, but looking at what happens to the characters of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ many years after the events of the original story is such a refreshing perspective. I do agree that the Tin Man was probably the best duet partner for Dorothy of the three supporting characters. This definitely oozed strong musical theater vibes, with many elements lending themselves to spoken word or monologue. It’s certainly a more refreshing angle than just writing a pop song with a female vocal/perspective and a male vocal/perspective, but in turn you are leaning heavily on the source material for your song to make any semblance of sense. I had a similar critique for Invisibility back in the Spooky Tunes round. Fortunately for you, your media inspiration is a lot more widely known, but I would still suggest when taking inspiration from media sources such as these, utilizing the core themes and applying them to something more relatable is almost always going to produce a better result. One real world example I can think of is Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”—she uses the story of Romeo and Juliet, but it’s not just a direct retelling of the events, or reliant on knowing the complete synopsis of the Shakespearean tragedy to appreciate the song. I know you’re your own worst critic, and while I would agree this was a bit campy, I wouldn’t say it was messy—just perhaps not an approach that resonates with me emotionally.

 

4. @Hey Dude & @Hug - “The Harp of Heaven and the Man with Clumsy Hands” (Writing Partners)
I’m so glad we have our very first writing partner collaboration of Golden Hit! How exciting. I was really hoping to see some proper collabs, and knowing at least two of you took the opportunity is brilliant. I found this pairing quite interesting too, because I’ve never considered there to be much overlap in your writing styles, so I was eager to see how this turned out. I think your angle of “two perspectives of the same situation,” was very logical for this challenge and allowed you to almost even lean into the Individual Duet challenge a bit with that. It’s a tough call, but I think if I had to choose I slightly preferred the “Man with Clumsy Hands” sections over the “Harp of Heaven” ones… I’m not sure who wrote what, or if you wrote parts of both, but I hope that admission doesn’t cause offense. Both are strong, but the lyricism in the former is so elevated… (I hate to self-insert when making a compliment, but some lyrics here reminded me of a song I wrote a while back titled “Aftertaste”). “These clumsy hands of mine would only break your heart / So I pray you find someone who knows how to play a harp,” is my favorite couplet of this round, hands down. Overall, I think you’ve done really well together and the whole piece does feel somewhat cohesive, despite it being split into parts when it didn’t have to be.

 

5. @punisher - “Buy Me Flowers” (Individual Duet)

You used Google Docs! I’m gonna buy you flowers. This was honestly such a surprise from you and really refreshing to see. I know you weren’t around for those days, but this piece reminded me of something we’d be more likely to see in the Platinum Hit era… honestly this even feels like something I might have written during those days. This is pretty much a textbook individual duet, you’ve got the female vocal/perspective, the male vocal/perspective, the duetted lyrics for emphasis etc. In terms of structural execution, almost faultless. It also really, really feels like song lyrics, it’s got that “Just Give Me a Reason” by P!nk and Nate Ruess vibe to it, and I could see a modern starlet like Sabrina Carpenter getting someone like Shawn Mendes on this. You do have a handful of really standout moments, such as, “I didn’t stick to my vows / I chose somebody else / I chose suspense and motels / But this can’t be our farewell,” and also, “You didn’t just cheat on me / You cheated on us / You didn’t just break my heart / You broke my trust,” was a nice way to kickstart your bridge. There were plenty of moments here that felt either cliché or overused in pop music, however, and not a lot was done to try and subvert that or give them a new angle. Swapping out some of the more common metaphors for unique one-liners definitely would have pushed you into the next score bracket for me. Would have liked to see you integrate some wilted/dying flower imagery somewhere into this song too. But overall, I like that you tried something different and didn’t just deliver another rap collab (which no doubt would have slayed too).

 

6. @stupidjock & @JonginBey - “The Loop” (Writing Partners)
stupidjock, I have to hand it to you, you’ve been able to achieve something no mere mortal ever has before… get a song submission out of JonginBey!  In all seriousness, it’s wonderful to be able to finally welcome you as an official contestant of Golden Hit after so many seasons of teasing, JonginBey. Now, onto the song itself. This was a lovely surprise! This definitely feels like one cohesive piece, without a doubt. I already praised one of Hey Dude and Hug’s couplets as my favorite of the round, but “You eradicate the beating heart in me / But who’s to say this ain’t what love was bound to be,” has to be a very close second. It perfectly encapsulates the vibe you are going for and themes the verse addresses and sets up for the chorus perfectly—I almost feel the pre-chorus would have been stronger if it were just this couplet alone. Somehow we ended up with two songs this round that are giving Stockholm syndrome vibes, but you have both gone about it in such a distinctly different way that I feel both can coexist and stand out in their own way. “Took sticks and stones to build this home,” was a fun way to subvert the “break my bones,” trope, while clearly tying into the toxic lover angle. Overall this is definitely a very solid pop song, and I think you achieved almost everything you set out to here.

 

⚜️

 

Results for this fifth round will take place in the coming days at a time to be determined. We'll see you there!

[punisher]

58 minutes ago, Aurora said:

@punisher I know you're new to using Google Docs, but you will have to unlock the document for us to be able to read your entry dear! Just head back to your entry, click the blue "Share" button in the top right corner, and change the "General access" permissions from "Restricted" to "Anyone with the link" and click "Done".

 

omg sorry just edited it, does it work now?

[Hug]

Oh wow thank you Aurora <3 Happy to hear we had the favorite couplet of the round.

[Jackson]

5 hours ago, punisher said:

omg sorry just edited it, does it work now?

it works for me 

 

also finishing writing my reviews and posting them in the next few hours

[JonginBey]

7 hours ago, Aurora said:

stupidjock, I have to hand it to you, you’ve been able to achieve something no mere mortal ever has before… get a song submission out of JonginBey!

 

Thank you so much for the review!