Welcome to ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 15 and 16!
These games are CLOSED. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the updated bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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These are the final games of Round 2. Whoa! So who will be the final victors as Michael Jackson faces Salt ‘N Pepa and Prince grapples with Sir Mix-a-Lot?
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 13 and 14!
These games are CLOSED. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the updated bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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And now: Â Beyonce battles Missy Elliott while Nelly grapples with… Beyonce. (And the rest of Destiny’s Child.)
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to  ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 11 and 12!
These games are CLOSED. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the updated bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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Who will prevail? Stevie Nicks or Bon Jovi? The Killers or Journey? Only your votes can help us know!
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to  ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 9 and 10!
These games are CLOSED. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the updated bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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Can you handle it? Guns N’ Roses are taking on Adele, while Alanis Morissette grapples with Nirvana. (Strange bedfellows all around!)
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to  ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 7 and 8!
These games are CLOSED. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the updated bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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And now… Pat Benatar squares off against Sinead O’Connor and Kate Bush locks horns with Simple Minds.
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to  ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 5 and 6!
These games are CLOSED. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the updated bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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Today, we’ve got two match-ups that may actually destroy me: Cyndi v. Heart!) and ‘Til Tuesday v. Tracy Chapman.
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to  ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 3 and 4!
These games are OPEN. They will close at midnight on Thursday, August 4. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the updated bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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They’re back, bitches! Dolly Parton and Kelly Clarkson celebrate their narrow victories in Round One. But can they survive against Deee-Lite and Culture Club?
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to  ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament, Games 1 and 2!
These games are OPEN. They will close at midnight on Thursday, August 4. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the UPDATED bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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And now… hot damn! I can’t stand it! Let’s pit some early victors against each other! Its the 80s Queen vs. the Eyeliner Bandits and the 80s Drag King vs. the Boy Band-its!
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Hello everyone! It’s time to launch ROUND 2 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament! Through your votes, you’ve narrowed the field from 64 songs to 32, and this week, we’ll cut the number in half again. (By the end of next week, we’ll be down to our final 2 songs for the grand finale.)
VOTING IN ROUND 2
On Monday-Thursday of this week, I’ll publish 2 posts per day, with 2 games per post. Same deal as last week: Vote for your favorite and hope they make it to the next round. All of the round 2 matches will be closed by next Sunday, so we’ll start next Monday with our top 16.
LAST CHANCE TO VOTE FOR ROUND 1
The last six matches in Round 1 will close at midnight tonight, so you’ve still got time to vote for your  favorite R&B/Hip-Hop songs in the Groove Thang division. Just go here to see all the Open Games.
WINNERS (AND UPSETS) FROM ROUND 1
The official tournament bracket has been UPDATED, and you can see all the songs that have advanced to Round 2.
Here are some interesting stats from Round 1:
Biggest Upset // Most Votes in a Single Matchup
Thanks to overwhelming support from the Kate Bush fanbase, “Running Up That Hill” rallied from a serious deficit behind “Losing My Religion” and ended up winning its game. It nabbed 54% of 1,343 votes, and that was the poll with the most votes. (That also means that R.E.M. still had enough votes to win almost any other poll. Bummer for them.)
The poll with the second-most votes was the match-up between Belinda Carlisle and the Backstreet Boys, with 1,002 lots cast. “I Want It That Way” just barely squeaked out a victory, with a hair over 50% of the vote.
Closest Matches
Along with “I Want It That Way,” “9 to 5″ and “Since U Been Gone” both won their matches with just over 50% of the vote. The Lady Gaga/Dolly Parton contest was especially tight, with the leader changing at least three times on the final day of voting. (It may have flipped more often than that, but the occasional need to eat, sleep, and work kept me from obsessively watching the polls as much as I might have liked.)
Biggest Landslides
You guys, do not let Pink find out how little you love her. It’s already broken my heart, and it may just break hers. Ultimately, she only got 14% of the vote against Alanis Morissette, which is the same measly number that Steve Winwood scored against Madonna. Debbie Gibson only managed 15% against Pat Benatar, and at press time, Christina Aguilera had secured a mere 16% against Michael Jackson. (That could change, of course, with the final day of voting in that poll.)
Major Upsets
Along with Kate Bush, I’d say Sir Mix-A-Lot, seeded 15th in the Groove Thang Division, is the biggest upset of the round. If the voting holds for the rest of the day, he will triumph over 2nd-seeded Eminem. Another mild surprise is 10th-seeded “Mr. Brightside’s” handy victory over 7th-seeded “Here I Go Again.” Looks like we are not a community that can be seduced by Tawny Kitaen.
Happiest Tournament Hosts
Joe, Nick, and me! I speak for all three of us when I say how grateful and delighted we are that you’re all voting and commenting. You personal stories about the songs are amazing, as are your thoughtful analyses. Keep it up! And tell your friends to come join us for Round 2!
Listen up ya’ll it’s Music · Pop Songs Tournament
Welcome to Games 31 and 32 of the Ultimate Pop Song Tournament!
These games are CLOSED. (ALL OPEN GAMES)
To see the complete bracket, just go here. For info on how we chose the songs and everything else Tournament-related, go here.
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This is it, y’all: The final games of Round One. As we hit the weekend, we’ve got the former symbol versus the current Yeezy and eight miles of big, big butts.
Listen up ya’ll it’s Closed Games · Music · Pop Songs Tournament
