The Wedding Present Cup: Stage 2, Group G

                    

The panel must award a total of 136 points to the songs in these groups; no song may receive more than 25 points, and they must give points to at least 10 of the 16 songs. The top 4 go through to the last 32.

Group G is made up of the qualifiers from groups 13 and 14 in the first stage.

Group G

• You Should Always Keep In Touch...
• Sticky
• Drive
• Venus
• Three
• Dan Dare
• California
• Mothers
• Kennedy
• Silver Shorts
• It's For You
• No Christmas
• Be Honest
• Rachel
• Fifty-Six
• Santa Ana Winds

The Results

With both group 13 and 14, there was some disagreement between the judges about the relative merits of each set of songs, so it was hard to predict how this one would pan out. In the end, the top half of this table was dominated by tracks from group 14. 

From early on, it became apparent that 'You Should Always Keep In Touch...' was going to dominate, and it finished top by 111 points, the greatest margin so far. ('Dalliance' previously held the record with 103 - it also equalled 'Dalliance's record of eight for the most 25s.) Even though I'd told the panel they needn't send any comments for this stage (I suggested they reserve their prose for the knock-out rounds), Johnny couldn't help but wax lyrical about the song:

'My ears pricked up when this rattled to life on a mixtape made for me be a partially romantic indie girl from the darker corners of the Bolton Ritzy’s student night. She’d caught it on Peel, committed it to tape and sent me a C-90 in the post. Romance worked so differently in those days, and I miss the innocence. Still brilliant today, the story and his heart rending delivery interwoven with the sharp, cutting, barb-like guitar clatterings. It never dates, just keeps on living, battling on and thriving.'

I was particularly interested to see how 'Kennedy' would fare, given the previous debate as to how far its ubiquity detracts from its impact. In the end, it made it through easily, despite zeros from Johnny, Gav M and Mandy. 'Silver Shorts' also had no problem making it to the last 32, although it too had its critics, receiving nothing from Harry and Kirk.

The last qualifying slot was hard fought - with only a couple of results to come in, only 17 points separated 'It's For You', 'Be Honest' and 'Drive'.(the last Mini song standing). In the end, it was the Take Fountain track that triumphed. Personally, I was perplexed that the rather slight and unremarkabe 'Be Honest' even made it this far - a view that was clearly shared by Harry, Gav M, John, Keg and Kirk. 

'Rachel' and 'Fifty-Six' were the only remaining songs from Going, Going..., and both fell short here - although the former managed a creditable mid-table finish. The general view expressed by the panel throughout the competition has been that Going, Going... is a 'more than the sum of its parts' sort of album, so it's perhaps no real surprise that it won't be represented in the last 32. 

The demise of 'Santa Ana Winds' means that 'The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend' and 'Model, Actress, Whatever...' are now the only El Rey tracks with a chance of making it to the knock-out stage. The exit of 'Venus' means that Saturnalia won't play any part in the final stages. Only nine cover versions made it through the first round, and 'Mothers' - despite 18s from Keg and Bob - was the sixth out of six so far to fall well below the qualifying theshold. Good luck to the three remaining non-originals in Group H.

All of the Hit Parade a-sides made it through the first stage, but they've had mixed fortunes thereafter, only 'Blue Eyes' and 'Come Play With Me' so far being successful in stage 2. Five of them ended up in this group, with only 'Silver Shorts' enjoying success. 'No Christmas', predictably, divided opinion: the inevitable 25 from Kirk, plus strong scores from Bob and myself; but also zeros from seven of the panel. 'Three' was equally divisive, supported strongly by Gav M, Ian and Ali, but getting a one or a zero from six of the judges.

Home page