TQR

Simple, really: what’s the plan?

Yes @En Passant, you should join. I've been looking to the player choice rounds for a while now as it has the potential to create much more interesting rounds. And to reiterate for everyone thinking of submitting, https://www.everyhit.com is an absolute godsend.

Tue 24 Dec 43 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 36 Suede - Stay Together +4 34 Youssou N’Dour ft. Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds 33 The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon 28 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) 26 No Doubt - Just a Girl 25 Faithless - Insomnia 23 Annie Lennox - Little Bird/Love Song for a Vampire 23 Erasure - Blue Savannah 22 EMF - Unbelievable  18 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 18 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love 17 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much -6 08 Spin Doctors - Two Princes 06 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief Stay Together is no Beautiful Ones or Animal Nitrate, it's not even as good as Trash imo, but it's still pretty darn good. While people argue about Blur and Oasis with regard to who did 90s Britpop best, Suede gets my vote.

It's interesting, looking at our list of winners; the results aren't quite as bad as perhaps it sounded like I was making out, but many of them strike me as being quite a safe, expected choice. Obviously there's no telling people what to vote for, other than just to be true to what their actual song opinions are, but it'd be nice to see a bit of bravery from time to time. 50s No.1s: Bobby Darin — Mack The Knife - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Not really. 60s No.1s: The Rolling Stones — Paint It, Black - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Yes. 70s No.1s: Donna Summer — I Feel Love - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Maybe. 80s No.1s: Nena — 99 Red Balloons - Interesting? Ish. Predictable? Not really. 90s No.1s: Madonna — Vogue - Interesting? Yes, but a bit out of place. Predictable? Maybe. 00s No.1s: Gorillaz — Dare - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? No. 10s No.1s: Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know - Interesting? Arguably. Predictable? Yes. 50s No.2s: Dean Martin — Volare - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Not really. 60s No.2s: Barry Ryan — Eloise - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Fuck no 70s No.2s: Queen — Somebody To Love - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Extremely. 80s No.2s: A-Ha — Take On Me - Interesting? Ish. Predictable? Extremely. 90s No.2s: The Cardigans — Lovefool - Interesting? Meh. Predictable? Not really. 00s No.2s: Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Yes. 10s No.2s: Bastille — Pompeii - Interesting? No. Predictable? Yes. 70s No.3s: David Bowie — Life On Mars? - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Yes. 80s No.3s: Tears For Fears — Mad World - Interesting? Ish. Predictable? Maybe. Xmas '23: The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Extremely. Xmas '24: Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives - Interesting? Yes. Predictable? Yes.

I hate to say it, but it rather flushes down the swanny the game’s credibility if we’re just avoiding voting songs up because of some other voters’ fear of the extraordinary. I’ll continue to vote up my favourite songs, subtract from those that are the least deserving (mostly the least interesting), and just hope that some others might consider doing this too. Thankfully, though ToL and Paranoid Android are gone, I’ve still got a fair few to choose from this time.

Cool, so by that logic I can at least partially blame you and your absence for us missing out on a potentially epic result here. To be fair, there's only one song left that I don't like, but even still, I'd have loved to see something left-field like Sisters Of Mercy rise to the top.

Temple Of Love is far too interesting for this crowd.

Mon 23 Dec 37 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 32 Youssou N’Dour ft. Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds 32 Suede - Stay Together 32 The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon  29 Erasure - Blue Savannah 27 Faithless - Insomnia 27 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) 25 No Doubt - Just a Girl 22 EMF - Unbelievable  22 Annie Lennox - Little Bird/Love Song for a Vampire 20 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 17 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love 15 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much -6 12 The Sisters of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza - Temple of Love (1992) +4 12 Spin Doctors - Two Princes 11 Suede - Trash 10 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief

Sun 22 Dec 33 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 33 Erasure - Blue Savannah 31 Youssou N’Dour ft. Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds 31 The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon 30 Suede - Stay Together 27 Annie Lennox - Little Bird/Love Song for a Vampire 26 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) 24 No Doubt - Just a Girl 22 The Sisters of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza - Temple of Love (1992) +4 22 EMF - Unbelievable  21 Faithless - Insomnia 20 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love 20 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 17 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much -6 16 Spin Doctors - Two Princes 15 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief 14 Suede - Trash 

Hark, the angels sing their dross, glory to our newborn KoS Welcome to the nineteenth edition of Deathlist’s melee of melodies, KIL SAWE Kill or Save. Back by popular-ish demand, it’s only another bleedin’ Christmas Special! So, it’s nearly Christmas. Again. But what exactly does that mean? If you’re British, you might know this scenario all too well: you’re finally home, you’ve packed up work for a few days for the festivities. Lovely. Maybe doing the last few bits of prep before the big day. Wrapping presents, perhaps? The telly isn’t on because if you hear another snippet of that bloody Mariah song on an advert for mini pig-in-blanket and cinnamon eggnog quiche tikka pasty lasagnes from Iceland, you might just vomit up chunks of the carrot that was meant for the garden snowman, if it snowed, which of course it fucking hasn’t. But it’s okay, because the radio’s on. That'll lift your spirits. Oh listen, it’s Jack Saunders and his palpably false enthusiasm, announcing that this year’s Christmas No.1 is…a big ole pile of bilge but it’s okay because it’s sort of for charity partly. “For fuck sake”, you exclaim. You switch the radio off in disgust, just in time to hear a tap at the door. You answer it, still wearing an exasperated expression and a bit of the bottle of plonk you were in the middle of opening. The local sprogs have a begging bowl for you to fill, and, in return, they’ll stop screeching saccharine songs at you. “For fuck sake”, you exclaim. You collapse onto the sofa, tired, slightly poorer, irritated, confused, covered in glitter and not quite drunk enough to be in full festive swing yet. The radio goes back on to drown out the noise outside. You can’t help but ask yourself: is this really what Christmas is all about? Of course, there’s only one proper way to answer this annual quandary: with a game of Kill or Save. Natch. Last year, a fortuitous 69 songs we’re used to hearing this time each year battled it out in the mother of all eliminators. After three and a bit weeks of tussles, curveballs, tinsel, snowballs, scumbags, maggots and…yep, Fairytale of New York was declared the best Christmas song of the lot in a thrilling finale that, just half a dozen votes from the end, was a three-way tie. This year’s game, however, will look a bit different. The host-curated single super-round of festive bangers format is having a year off. This is how it’s gonna work, and see the spoiler tags for more details: Round 1: An incomplete collection of UK Official Chart Christmas No.1s (36 songs, 5 finalists) Round 2: Christmas Carols (28 38 songs, 5 finalists) Round 3: No.1s: The Cursed Round (36 songs, 2 finalists) Grand Final: A mishmash of finalists Clear as mud, right? More will be revealed as the game goes on… Anyway...fancy reliving all the action? See below for links to all Kill or Save games to date: 50s No.1s; 60s No.1s; 70s No.1s; 80s No.1s; 90s No.1s; 00s No.1s; 10s No.1s 50s No.2s; 60s No.2s; 70s No.2s; 80s No.2s; 90s No.2s; 00s No. 2s; 10s No.2s 70s No.3s; 80s No.3s; 90s No.3s (IN PLAY!) Christmas Special 2023; Christmas Special 2024 (you are here) Right, kids, settle down...before we play, daddy's gotta read the rules: Each song starts with 20 points...normally. You can vote once a day. Since we all live in different parts of the world with all sorts of different timezones, please add a date at the top of your votes to avoid any confusion (e.g. Wed 25 Dec, 25/12/24, preferably not 12/25/24 but whatever, wronguns gonna wrong). Each day you may add up to 4 points to and subtract 6 points from any song on the board...usually. You can split your points between as many songs as you like. You must use all six minus points (unless it’s a round-ending turn) and give at least one plus point. Placeholder posts are allowed, but if you don't edit your votes within 5 minutes, then the next person can go and do their votes. Consecutive votes are not allowed. Before voting, please listen to the songs of each round and vote according to your own opinions (of the songs, not the artists or indeed the other posters voting for them). Make sure you copy and paste the most recent voter's scoreboard when you take your turn to score. For your own ease, ‘paste as plain text’ to get rid of the previous poster’s formatting. Then, delete their +/- scores, add yours, adjust the song’s points total and make your scores bold. Here’s a perfectly laid out example post from last year's Christmas Special: Tue 19 Dec 30 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York +1 26 Greg Lake — I Believe In Father Christmas 24 Wizzard — I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day 22 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles +3 17 Brenda Lee — Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 10 Andy Williams — It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year -6 Got it? No? Never mind. All will become clear. Take it away, Noddy:

And there it is! After a near four-week fracas of festive…fongs, we have a winner. Unlike last year, it wasn’t all that close. Unlike last year, it isn’t all that Christmassy. Unlike all previous KoS winners, it’s a double A-side. And unlike all UK Christmas No.1s bar one (well done Wham!), it’s (well, half of it is) a double festive chart-topper. Pair six minutes of progressive insanity with four minutes of melancholic farewell from possibly the greatest showman ever to have graced our ears, and what do you get? A runaway Kill or Save Christmas Champion, Bo Rhap/TATDOOL! In this merry musical mishmash of a final, consisting of chart-toppers, carols, couple more chart-toppers and a surprise (and brief) appearance from last year’s Christmas songs podium sitters, this is how it all stacked up: Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives Isaac Watts — Joy To The World Pink Floyd — Another Brick In The Wall Pet Shop Boys — Always On My Mind The Human League — Don’t You Want Me The Beatles — I Feel Fine Wham! — Last Christmas Mykola Leontovych — Carol Of The Bells Charles Wesley — Hark! The Herald Angels Sing John Williams — O Holy Night The Pretenders — 2000 Miles Tom Jones — Green, Green Grass Of Home David Willcocks — God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen Greg Lake — I Believe In Father Christmas The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York Oh and look here, at the twelve shites of Christmas: St Winifred’s School Choir — There’s No One Quite Like Grandma Mr Blobby — Mr Blobby Jimmy Osmond — Long Haired Lover From Liverpool Johnny Mathis — When A Child Is Born Dickie Valentine — Christmas Alphabet Arthur Warrell — We Wish You A Merry Christmas William J Kirkpatrick — Away In A Manger Christina Rossetti — In The Bleak Mid-Winter Frederic Austin — The Twelve Days Of Christmas James Pierpont — One Horse Open Sleigh Rolf Harris — Two Little Boys Military Wives With Gareth Malone — Wherever You Are Sickening. And of course, these results wouldn’t be possible without all your hard work. This is how you all did: KILLS theoldlady - 14 Dead Wait - 12 Drewsky1211 - 11 ladyfiona - 9 Toast - 8 livingbygrace - 6 Great Uncle Bulgaria - 6 Paul Bearer - 6 TQR - 4 Commtech Sio Bibble - 4 Bibliogryphon - 4 justonecornetto - 3 TiredNoise - 3 diego - 2 AstroKat - 2 wannamaker - 2 BuffaloPhil - 1 ASSISTS Drewsky1211 - 12 Commtech Sio Bibble - 10 AstroKat - 9 Dead Wait - 9 BuffaloPhil - 7 Great Uncle Bulgaria - 6 Toast - 5 justonecornetto - 5 Bibliogryphon - 5 TQR - 4 livingbygrace - 4 ladyfiona - 4 theoldlady - 4 wannamaker - 3 Tired Noise - 3 Book - 3 diego - 3 Paul Bearer - 2 Clorox Bleachman - 1 A huge well done to our killer queen @theoldlady (quelle surprise) and assist angel @Drewsky1211, and an even huger thank you to everyone for playing! Whether or not it’s done much for Christmas spirit, it’s been a good laugh. I’ll be back for the Christmas run around the same time next year (and if you have any ideas as to what you might like to see, drop me a line, your idea might feature in the 2025 special!), but in the meantime, you know where to find all our usual Kill or Save action, with our chart master @wannamaker and, exciting times, new host @AstroKat with an all-new player-nomination format. Stick around for both; I certainly will be. Here’s Freddie, Brian, Roger and John to play us out. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! I still love you…*snaps fingers*

Sat 21 Dec 51 Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives 10 Pink Floyd — Another Brick In the Wall -6 10 Isaac Watts — Joy To The World +4

Sat 21 Dec 33 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 32 Erasure - Blue Savannah 30 The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon 28 Suede - Stay Together 27 Youssou N’Dour ft. Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds 26 Annie Lennox - Little Bird/Love Song for a Vampire 25 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) 24 Faithless - Insomnia 23 No Doubt - Just a Girl 23 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much -6 22 EMF - Unbelievable  20 The Sisters of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza - Temple of Love (1992) +4 20 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love 20 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 20 Spin Doctors - Two Princes 17 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief 16 Suede - Trash 10 The Seahorses - Love Is The Law Come on guys, Temple of Love is an 8 minute eargasm!

Five left, and only one hint of Christmas remaining. I asked at the start of the game what Christmas is all about. We’ve answered: anything, as long as it’s not Christmassy.

Fri 20 Dec 34 Erasure - Blue Savannah 30 The Sisters of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza - Temple of Love (1992) +4 29 The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon 26 Suede - Stay Together 25 Youssou N’Dour ft. Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds 25 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 25 Annie Lennox - Little Bird/Love Song for a Vampire 24 Spin Doctors - Two Princes 24 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) 23 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much -3 22 EMF - Unbelievable  22 Faithless - Insomnia 22 No Doubt - Just a Girl 20 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love 20 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 17 Suede - Trash 17 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief 12 Radiohead - Paranoid Android 12 The Seahorses - Love Is The Law 11 Enigma - Return to Innocence 0 Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like a Woman -3

Fri 20 Dec 40 Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives 25 Isaac Watts — Joy To The World +4 16 Pink Floyd — Another Brick In the Wall 13 Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind 10 Wham! — Last Christmas 04 The Beatles — I Feel Fine -6 03 The Human League — Don’t You Want Me

Thu 19 Dec 34 Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives 24 Pet Shop Boys- Always On My Mind 21 Wham! — Last Christmas +4 21 Isaac Watts — Joy To The World 18 Pink Floyd — Another Brick In the Wall 11 Mykola Leontovych — Carol Of The Bells 09 The Beatles — I Feel Fine -6 05 The Human League — Don’t You Want Me

Thu 19 Dec 28 The Sisters of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza - Temple of Love (1992) +4 28 Erasure - Blue Savannah 27 The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon 26 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 23 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) 23 Annie Lennox - Little Bird/Love Song for a Vampire 23 Faithless - Insomnia 22 Spin Doctors - Two Princes 22 Suede - Stay Together 22 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much -6 21 Youssou N’Dour ft. Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds 21 No Doubt - Just a Girl 20 Enigma - Return to Innocence 20 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love 20 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 20 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief 19 EMF - Unbelievable 17 Suede - Trash 17 The Seahorses - Love Is The Law 16 Radiohead - Paranoid Android 15 Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like a Woman 12 The Source ft. Candi Staton - You Got The Love (Now Voyager Mix)

Wed 18 Dec 22 The Sisters of Mercy ft. Ofra Haza - Temple of Love (1992) +2 22 Radiohead - Paranoid Android +2 21 Faithless - Insomnia 21 EMF - Unbelievable 20 Annie Lennox - Little Bird/Love Song for a Vampire 20 Enigma - Return to Innocence 20 Erasure - Blue Savannah 20 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix) 20 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 20 Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing) 20 No Doubt - Just a Girl 20 Roxette - It Must Have Been Love 20 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 20 Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like a Woman 20 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much 20 Spin Doctors - Two Princes 20 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief 20 Suede - Stay Together 20 Suede - Trash 20 The Seahorses - Love Is The Law 20 The Source ft. Candi Staton - You Got The Love (Now Voyager Mix) 20 The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon 20 Youssou N’Dour ft. Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds 16 Billy Joel - The River of Dreams -6 14 Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey- Endless Love Excellent final, as per all 90s lists. Only three I don’t like.

According to the mid-week charts, Last Christmas is in pole position to become UK Christmas No.1 for the second time in a row. The only other times the same song has reached Christmas No.1 twice are Bo Rhap (though the second time was with TATDOOL) and Mary's Boy Child if we're counting that Boney M song as the same song as the one by Harry Belafonte (which is a bit of a stretch).

Okay, so you can make a fucking pun. That don't impress me much.

Wed 18 Dec 30 Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives 23 Wham! — Last Christmas +4 21 Isaac Watts — Joy To The World 20 Pet Shop Boys- Always On My Mind 19 Mykola Leontovych — Carol Of The Bells 14 Pink Floyd — Another Brick In the Wall 12 The Beatles — I Feel Fine -6 11 The Human League — Don’t You Want Me 05 Charles Wesley — Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 02 John Williams — O Holy Night

Tue 17 Dec 26 Isaac Watts — Joy To The World 23 Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives 22 Mykola Leontovych — Carol Of The Bells 20 Pet Shop Boys — Always On My Mind 20 Wham! — Last Christmas 17 Tom Jones — Green, Green Grass Of Home 14 John Williams — O Holy Night 14 Charles Wesley — Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 12 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles +4 12 Pink Floyd — Another Brick In the Wall 11 The Beatles — I Feel Fine -6 10 The Human League — Don’t You Want Me 09 David Willcocks — God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen 03 Greg Lake — I Believe In Father Christmas

Tue 17 Dec 110 Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much 88 Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin 59 Stereophonics - The Bartender and the Thief 41 Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back 38 Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like a Woman -6 28 Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing) +4 24 Kula Shaker - Sound of Drums 21 2Pac - Changes 03 U2 - Sweetest Thing

In which case, I'll do the Champion of Champions game when the No.5s finish (likely some time in 2026!) The top-5 songs from all our top-5 games battle it out in 5 rounds, with 5 from each reaching the final. It'll be a long time in the making but it's gonna be epic.