The Wedding Present Cup

   Group 4 Don't Dictate Little Silver Plot Twist Crushed All This And More Whodunnit Science Fiction Whole Wide World Ten Sleep I'm From Further North Than You This Boy Can Wait Kill Devil Hills Hot Pants Loveslave Click Click Blonde The Results Generally speaking, I think that the random number generator I used to create the groups did a pretty good job of spreading out 38 years' worth of material. However, the general consensus among the panel was that this was a relatively weak set of songs, with some of them struggling to distribute their lower scores in particular. Once again, cover versions did not fare well. Several judges expressed admiration for the original 'Whole Wide World' (by Wreckless Eric ), but the most positive comment on TWP's version was Harry's not unreasonable assertion that it was not as bad as the attempt by The Proclaimers . Gav F got quite animated on the issue: 'One of my favourite songs ever, butchered by one of my favourite

   Group 3 I Found That Essence Rare Caroline No Once More Big Rat Swimming Pools, Movie Stars Go Wild in the Country Something And Nothing A  Million Miles (The Moment Before) Everything's Spoiled Again Mystery Date Octopussy Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Theme From Cheers) Boing! Kerplunk! You Can't Moan, Can You?  Blue Eyes The Results Beach Boys cover 'Caroline No' became the second song to achieve 'nul points'. Both Keg and Gav F characterised it as 'TWP-by-numbers' cover; others were more vehement. Ian, for example, commented that, 'the original is awful from an entirely over-rated album IMHO and this has not improved it.' Johnny was customarily concise: 'No, just that, No.' The 'Theme From Cheers' was regarded with a little more affection, a few of the panel having fond memories of seeing it live. Not fond enough to see it to double figures though. Again, I will give the final word to Johnny:  Maybe if you’re a sixth f

   Group 2 Sports Car The Trouble with Men Holly Jolly Hollywood That Would Only Happen In A Movie Monochrome Nothing Comes Easy  Memento Mori Queen Anne Telemark Let's Make Some Plans 2, 3, Go Bad Thing It's A Gas Falling Don't Give Up Without A Fight Deer Caught in the Headlights The Results Overall, this was a far more divisive group than group 1 . Whereas 'My Favourite Dress' got a mark from everyone, all of the top six here got a zero from at least three of the panel. In group 1, only one non-qualifier got one of the panel's top two marks; here there were seven 10/12s among those who didn't make it through. One of those was Keg's ten for 'Holly Jolly Hollywood' . Although panned by the overwhelming majority (Steve M, for example, thought that 'the title and lyrics are excruciating'), Keg found a lot to love: 'Just a splendid slice of indie pop with a brilliantly catchy chorus. It's a track I always look forward to playing in

  Before we get started with the first group, a reminder that the panel (all members of the Something & Nothing forum ) are voting 'Eurovision style', i.e. 12 / 10 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 marks. The top 8 go through to the next stage... Group 1 Montreal Nickels And Dimes Nobody's Twisting Your Arm  End Credits Bells White Christmas Bear We Should Be Together Signal At the Edge of the Sea My Favourite Dress No Twenty Jackies Boo Boo I Lost the Monkey Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?  The Results 'White Christmas' was universally panned: 'an excruciatingly bad cover of an excruciatingly bad song' (Steve M); '[Gedge] sounds like he just downed a bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream' (Ian); 'Why? There is no point in covering this' (John). Keg had a slightly more forgiving view, even if he didn't give it any points: Perfunctory cover. Doesn't really do much for me, although the surfy lead guitar is a nice touch. It's one