National youth radio network, Triple J may well be hijacking the public holiday of Australia Day. And I am totally down with that. If the day becomes more about listening to 100 songs while trying to pick what will be in the top 10 and kicking back with friends/family/all on your lonesome, watching (or hearing, actually) musical democracy at work, then it tends to take away from the celebration of the death of a culture, an invasion of a country, and 222 years of pretty piss poor treatment of indigenous people. It tends to distract from the hate fueled cape wearers, with We Grew Here You Flew Here stenciled on their bellies, or F*ck Off We're Full singlets.
The day off from work, that lurks closely at the end of 5 and a half weeks of bliss for all teachers (and probably students too if I remember correctly) still functions as a day to bring people together, to use barbeques and stubby coolers and thongs and backyard pools (or indeed beaches if you are lucky enough. I am thinking of Mr Taylor's yearly soiree at Clovelly...) and generally eek out as much joy from a summer's day as is humanly possible.
I didn't vote this year. I was too busy doing nothing, nowhere near a computer. But in November last year I picked "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons. This bet was based on a number of things:
a) the song has swearing in it. Kids (and JJJ is the youth network after all) love a bit of profanity. This is reportedly unfair advantage Number 1 - I spend time with the people who would do the voting so I understand how they think
b) the song was Most Requested on JJJ's request show for WEEKS in a row. Unfair advantage #2, I can stand listening to Rosie Beaton. Other party guests plan on going into training in November next year to prepare for the big day
c) the poll (the biggest of its kind in the world, as we were repeatedly told yesterday) allows each voter 10 songs. Which means that the song won't be The Most Popular Song of the year, won't be The Most Favourite of The Most People, but rather a song that appears in The Most Top 10s. And looking at the history of #1s in the 17 years that this has been going, the pattern emerges - mostly with guitars (as opposed to being based on a beat), mostly nothing too heavy, and catchy as hell. Mumford & Sons fits that to a tee!
I did voice this pick very early on to all those that would listen, and even I'm sure to plenty of people that didn't want to listen, but I told them anyway.
And then the unthinkable happened.
A leak.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/articles/2010/01/22/1263663157228.html
I think it is pretty shameful that anyone would leak it Crikey. But really, who reads Crikey? I know there are people, but its readership is significantly pale in comparison to SMH. Shame, SMH, shame on you for publishing this information.
And shame on Luke, who posted it on FB. And indeed, shame on me for reading it. Really, I am kicking myself.
Enough with the Derryn Hinch part of proceedings
With the forms supplied from the JJJ site for a sweepstakes, I managed to wrangle myself a winning 28 points, probably due to the 2 unfair advantages and knowledge written above. The points for the sweeps were allocated on how close each song was positioned. Really I was pretty flukey, in that I just, as I have done for years with my little bro, wrote the songs as they occurred to me, rather than in the order I thought they would be placed. So my list was written in no particular order, but scored as though it was. And it looked a little something like this.
1. Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons (which is actually on the radio RIGHT NOW!!!) - came in at 1
2. Bullet Proof - La Roux - came in at 6
3. Coin Laundry - Lisa Mitchell - came in at 7
4. Ramona Was a Waitress - Paul Dempsey - came in somewhere in the 30s
5. Broken Legs - Bluejuice - came in at 5
6. Chase That Feeling - Hilltop Hoods - came in at 3
7. Uh Oh Oh No - Tegan & Sarah - didn't actually hear it yesterday. Don't even know if it is actually called that. Or if it is a 2009 song
8. We won't run - Sarah Blasko - came in somewhere in the 20s
9. Not Fair - Lily Allen - came in at 8
10. Liztamania - Phoenix - came in at 4
So as start the working year with a smug grin, a paper crown and the heart of a champion
