| Zach | 10 | 17 | 1.70 | - Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Beautiful vocals with a great folk influence for this cover/remix. So really nice stylistic transformation. Unfortunately, the original song doesn't have much in terms of melody rhythm of harmonics which feels very restrictive, On top of that, there doesn't seem to be much of a story, more of a jest,
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - I didn't find much of a story in this one, and the music didn't do much for me either, unfortunately. One-dimensional, conventional, mediocre performance...
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Sting and Herbie, what a magical mashup. Great reinterpretation of a classic. Intimate, and harmonically sophisticated. It really puts the skills of the artists on display with basically the majority of the song being just String and Herbie with a subtle Double bass as backdrop. Great stuff
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Very creative, mixing a lot of genres that weren't mixed before. Interesting listening. It has a nice funk feel throughout, with some solos, but it is fairly harmonically underdeveloped and repetitive. It could have been so much more...
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - The boy from Ipanema ;) Nice Bossa-Nova influence which kept me from sitting still. Simple but well executed with great vocals cause for a fun song
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Nope, no E label! haha. But it is a parody song about explicit parody songs... so, I suppose, ok. For me the song is funny and succeeds in the parody, but doesn't have anything else.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - A true classic, one that I listened to as a kid, and the children of my children will listen to still. I remember running through the living room trying to act it out as a kid :)
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Why no comment? I want to know why you submitted this song? I love it.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - A true classic, nice to hear it
- New beginnings / This isn't me - The OG of formulaic cringe brostep. One point for the song, and another for unapologetically putting garbage on the list ;)
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| Yorick | 12 | 15 | 1.25 | - Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - a fun story AND a good song? Apparently it can be done. This is the perfect combination of Jack Black's comedic and musical genius. great build and escalation as the story unfolds, great variety and contrast in melody and rhythm. For my taste they could have worked in a bit more harmonic variation, but that's very clearly a stylistic choice.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Good song, original, but it feels more as a documentary than a song. It brings across the story very factual, but for me lacks the musical connection to also bring the emotion across. Didn't know this song, so thank you for submitting.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - I like this exploration, but it's so static and repetitive with virtually no development. And the production is so flat and tight, like I'm listening to a metronome.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Perfect analysis and description of a 00's pop song. Very mediocre, repetitive song, but it was funny, so points for that
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Fun song with a great message. The song is not very remarkable, but the rap has a nice flow which made it an enjoyable listen. The explicit part used to good effect.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Musically very straightforward with a very predictable electronic hip-hop loop with some heavy production to boot. But this is 100% what they try to parody with great success. It's just so damn funny :D
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - I know the song, but it's not my jam
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - MJ has a lot of great songs, but this isn't one of them. For me anyway
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - nice flow and rap, but just short of a point for me
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - Thank you for submitting a song that I like. I would have normally given it 2 points, but I only found 3 songs that I wanted to give points to this round, so this got all the leftover points.
- New beginnings / This isn't me - For me the best song on the list, but how is this a (type of) song you don't commonly listen to? so can't give it any points :(
- New beginnings / Instrumental - Lindsey Stirling meets Avanged Sevenfold. I gave it a point for not hearing this kind of music every day
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| Barbara | 10 | 10 | 1 | - Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Raw, gripping and honest. This indeed very much describes and makes you feel the sufferings of someone suffering from depression or psychosis. However, some form of this dialog is present in everyone. There is a lot of emotion in his delivery, and the simple guitar does a great job in supporting this great portrayal. Didn't know this song, so thank you for submitting.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - A classic in storytelling and a great illustration of obsessive fans. For me, It lacks development musically to underpin the escalation in the story. but that's likely a stylistic choice. The delivery and flow however is unmatched. A great song.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - I'm conflicted on this one. It's great vocal and orchestral performance, and it's an emotional song. Sure, after the first crescendo, the rest of the song is a bit too predictable for my taste, but on paper, I should have really enjoyed listening to it, but instead I didn't feel too much either way. Maybe it was because I felt his voice lost its emotional power when the song started to develop in intensity.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Two Ozzy ballets? Come on... we can do better than that. A nice ballet nonetheless, and for me, one of his better songs. It's very warm with great timbre with an iconic bridge. But it also lacks for me the vocal performance and virtuosity to really deliver an emotional message. The melody is enjoyable, but the fairly straightforward harmonics and standard rhythm keep it from being an excellent song for me.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Culturally, a big impart on artistic freedom. The message is clear, and it has a good hook, but besides that there isn't much there for me. The lyrics aren't even that bad, but the delivery is horrible.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - As always, powerful vocals, yeah... it's a clear message, but very one dimensional. Also, the song is formulaic with little to no development.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Cute, small and wholesome. What else do you want in a kids song.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Some parts work reaaaally well in this version, but other parts just take me out of the spell.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - Cute, more songs should be like this. A simple concept, worth 30 seconds and simply don't repeat 5 times
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - warm, vulnerable and honest.
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| lainey3eb | 11 | 8 | 0.73 | - Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Didn't know this song, so thank you for submitting. Very strong expressive delivery of a story full of great imagery and dramatic irony. The music is clearly the supporting cast, helping the dramatic escalation. I enjoyed listening to it.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Didn't know this song from New Order, so thank you for submitting. The music however is very non-expressive for me, with very little tonal nuance and no development. So maybe that's just a way to focus the listener on the story, but also there I found it too literal for and ambiguous story.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Yes, she did capture the psychedelic groovy 60's vibe, but It doesn't feel like a big departure from her other work for me. It has a nice and powerful hook, but that's pretty much the whole song. Just too repetitive to enjoy it past the first 30 seconds (those first 30 seconds I really enjoyed)
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Two Ozzy ballets? Come on... we can do better than that. But unlike in the other one, there isn't much here for me. Literal lyrics, repetitive harmonics and structure with a weak melody. Also, for me, it doesn't feel cohesive.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Wow.... what a mashup, different styles, different genres, different languages, and somehow they made it into a coherent song. So creative! The only nitpick for me would be that the harmonics are fairly straightforward. Yes, this holds it together, but it could have done that with less straightforward harmonics as well. But lush and great harmonics. The explicit part adds something, although not too much
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Nice syncopation with some breathy vocals for a hypnotic vibe. The form is very conventional, which I felt held back the song a lot. I really liked the start, but in the end, there was too little in there for me to really get into it.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Beautiful! Funnily enough, I never listened to this as a kid, but I absolutely love it without any nostalgia. Must be good then ;)
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Fun song, but cult of the new. And two KPDH songs?
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - I like this song, but the recording felt of to me. Maybe with another version it would have gotten a point
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - It worked fine, but didn't add anything to the song for me. Always fun trying these kind of cross-overs
- New beginnings / This isn't me - Flamenco/Latin Pop ;) But how is this a (type of) song you don't commonly listen to? I really like this song, but can't give any points :(
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| Brandon Nohara | 12 | 6 | 0.50 | - Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - A very straightforward song, however, it has excellent build by dramatic layering which support very well the narrative escalation. It's a clear message and it gets there in a very authentic way, even the melodic and harmonic monotony can't prevent a nice listening experience
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Meh... powerful subject, but it didn't make me feel anything. It has some development, but the harmonics, rhythm, melody and vocal delivery are very static.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Yup, it's a pop song. It was difficult to find anything in here that I liked.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Nice vocal delivery, but the song relies a bit too much on this vocal delivery, with everything else being fairly underdeveloped. It does have a nice Americana feel to it.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Iconic chorus with great drums and guitar. Some nice build throughout the song, building on a clear center point, being the chorus. A clear display of frustration, where the explicit nature of the song adds to expressing that.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Great social commentary with vocals that deliver. A nice arrangement with some good development. But it left me wanting more development, more exploring, and then the song ended...
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Funny song, didn't know it, thanks for sharing
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - I wanted to like it, but it's just not it for me
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - I can enjoy trance, and this one neeearly gets there
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - Would have given the original a point, but this version breaks what makes the original special.
- New beginnings / This isn't me - you and me both
- New beginnings / Instrumental - A classic with a very decent performance. What's not to like :) I also highly recommend the version from Janine Jansen
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| Es | 2 | 6 | 3 | - New beginnings / This isn't me - Daring pick and I can very much relate to not listening to this type of music ;) And on top of that, I also can't deny that I like this song.
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| Happy Lucky | 10 | 3 | 0.30 | - Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Predictable story, but nicely done and enjoyable. Some nice variation in flow of lyrics. Musically, not much to get here except an overall relaxed feeling.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - A true pop culture icon, referenced countless times. Also, apparently Avril still looks the same. For me, it's ok to listen to, but it's conventional in every way. It has a chord progression of 8 chords instead of 4, that's something :) The story clear and understandable, but ultimately doesn't move me
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - meh meh meh... really wanted to like this song as it is very different from their normal work, but the vocals are just so inconsistent and it's such a linear song. I did enjoy the arrangement and instrumental performance.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Nice fusion between K-pop and hardstyle/EDM. Very driving hardstyle beat, making this ready to be played in the club. It's creative and confident. And for a hardstyle/EDM song, I quite liked it, even tho it was very hook-driven.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - yeah, it's simple and straightforward, yes it has limited melodic and harmonic richness, but at least it puts that to good use by focusing on emotional delivery, which I can appreciate. And the explicit label allows the artist to express themselves more broadly.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - Funny song with a good message, although it is a bit on the nose. But the music is too formulaic and conventional for me to get into it. But again, great message.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Indeed, she does! But I already knew that :) Hopefully it will rub off on her parents ;)
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Oh, the nostalgia of being 12 and slow-dancing to this at school. I remember thinking it was such a wonderful song. However, it didn't stand the test of time for me
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - clear theme, and although I don't know the series, I might want to see it because of the theme
- New beginnings / This isn't me - but how is this a (type of) song you don't commonly listen to?
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| Olaf Schoeman | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Anthony Ng | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Elena | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Richelle Ashley | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Taylor Kayatta | 10 | 0 | 0 | - Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Great production, a good hook with a unique vocal timbre. But the song as a whole or the story doesn't strike a chord with me. Probably doesn't help that It's been played zillions of times on the radio.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Storytime! - Great production that develops the songs soundscape. But besides that, extremely conventional and cliché in all aspects. Not for me. Also, didn't find a real story
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - I really appreciate the effort here in blending genres while still being a Beyoncé song. Yes, it's still a pop song with straightforward progression and harmonics, it mainly borrows the instruments and sound, and not so much the structure. But still, it's creative, and I always enjoy seeing people try something new. What I really missed is her vocals. She has an amazing voice, but hardly used it in this song...
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Out of the ordinary - Fun to listen to for a bit, and they're definitely able to recreate this rockabilly feel. But they did a pretty much 1:1 rendition of the original song with very little innovation in arrangement, performance, harmonic, whatever. So yeah, it's ok
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - I didn't see the explicit label really add anything to the song. There were a lot of fucks, a couple of bitches, but very little emotional range. The music didn't do anything for me. Nothing wrong with it, but everything was just ok.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Excellently Explicit - too tight, too formulaic, too conventional, couldn't give a fuck ;) Vocals are enjoyable, but not enough to save the song for me.
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - I did have the option to stop the feeling. But I persisted and listened to the whole track! Nothing wrong with it, but not my jam
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Kids songs - Fun song, but cult of the new
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - Sounds like a meme song
- Fun with Friends Near and Far! / Short and Sweet (or not) - lot of punk (ish) songs in this round
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| Jason | 1 | 0 | 0 | |