[Steve]

No need to apologise, Jordan~ ... complicated is fine, so long as it's logical (which yours is).

[solfatara]

Thanks, Steve, for clearing it up!
It sounds perfect to me, the way you've organised it. I also quite like the idea of a slightly larger number of songs in the finals! Makes it more interesting. I think my votes from yesterday pretty much reflect my feelings for the songs (at present anyway) so I will leave them as they are.

[Steve]

Just over 36 hours left to vote in this round ...

[Steve]

My votes for the Semi-Final round:

Group 1 – 3 Monkey & Bear – 2 Easy – 1 Soft As Chalk
Group 2 – 1 Cosmia – 2 Bridges And Balloons – 3 Good Intentions Paving Company
Group 3 – =2 Ca’ The Yowes To The Knowes * – =2 Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie – 1 Sawdust & Diamonds
Group 4 – 3 Swansea – 2 Go Long – 1 "En Gallop" (aka En Gallop!) [that was really tough]
Group 5 – 1 In California – 2 Sprout And The Bean – 3 Autumn *
Group 6 – 2 This Side Of The Blue – - – 1 Emily
Group 7 – 2 The Book Of Right-On – 1 Only Skin – 3 ’81 *
Group 8 – 2 Kingfisher – 3 Look And Despair – 1 Baby Birch [and so was that]
Group 9 – 2 Sadie – 3 Does Not Suffice – 1 Have One On Me

[LawnsOfDawns]

Group 1
1. Easy
2. Monkey and Bear
3. Soft as Chalk
Group 2
1. Cosmia
2. Good Intentions Paving Company
3. Bridges and Balloons
Group 3
1. Sawdust & Diamonds
2. Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie
Group 4
1. Go Long
2. "En Gallop" (aka En Gallop!)
3. Swansea
Group 5 –
1. In California
2. Sprout And The Bean
Group 6
1. Emily
2. Colleen
3. This Side of the Blue
Group 7
1. Only Skin
2. The Book of Right-On
Group 8
1. Kingfisher
2. Baby Birch
3. Look and Despair
Group 9
1. Have One On Me
2. Sadie
3. Does Not Suffice

[Headless_Caboose]

Group 1 –
1. Monkey & Bear –
2. Easy
3. Soft As Chalk

Group 2 –
1. Cosmia
2. Good Intentions Paving Company
3. Bridges And Balloons


Group 3 –
1. Sawdust & Diamonds
2.Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie
3. Ca’ The Yowes To The Knowes *

Group 4 –
1. Go Long
2. Swansea
3. "En Gallop" (aka En Gallop!)

Group 5
1. In California
2. Autumn *
3. Sprout And The Bean

Group 6 –
1. Emily
2. Colleen
3. This Side Of The Blue

Group 7 –
1. Only Skin
2. ’81 *

Group 8 –
1. Baby Birch
2. Kingfisher = Look And Despair

Group 9 – –
1. Have One On Me
2. Sadie
3. Does Not Suffice

Sorry I'm so late to vote. I hope I made it before the deadline!

[Steve]

Thank you LawnsOfDawns and Headless_Caboose for your votes. And don't worry Headless_Caboose - you came in with more than an hour to spare - and your votes have made a difference to some of the tightest groups too. This round has been very close: I am recalculating all the time! Results in about an hour...

[Steve]

Time's up. ladies and gents, and thank you all for your votes.

Here are the results of what was - in places - a very closely contested Semi-Final Round:



Group One
1Q Monkey & Bear 39
2 Soft As Chalk 32
3 Easy 29
Group Two
1Q Cosmia 54
2 Good Intentions Paving Company 28
3 Bridges And Balloons 18
Group Three
1Q Sawdust & Diamonds 56
2 Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie 24
3 Ca’ The Yowes To The Knowes * 17
Group Four
1Q Go Long 50
2 Swansea 27
3 "En Gallop" (aka En Gallop!) 19
Group Five
1Q In California 57
2 Sprout And The Bean 21
3 Autumn * 18
Group Six
1Q Emily 54
2 Colleen 33
3 This Side Of The Blue 11
Group Seven
1Q Only Skin 60
2 ’81 * 20
3 The Book Of Right-On 14
Group Eight
1Q Baby Birch 36
2q Kingfisher 35
3 Look And Despair 29
Group Nine
1Q Have One On Me 55·5
2 Sadie 26
3 Does Not Suffice 17·5

Almost every vote seemed to affect several group leaders, and it was not inconceivable that at least one group was going to end in a tie.

In Group 1 each song (Monkey & Bear, Soft As Chalk, Easy) all had turns on top; Ca' The Yowes To The Knowes made a great showing in JNST3 considering it's never been properly released; and - to my surprise - it was not until half the votes were in that Emily began to pull clear of Colleen in Group 6. I think Group 8 was the closest three-way contest ever: Baby Birch and Kingfisher could have been expected to be difficult choice in any previous JNST, but this time the situation was complicated by the remarkably strong showing of Look And Despair. In the end, it was fitting that this group should contribute two qualifiers, and it bodes well for Look And Despair in future editions, once it gets properly recorded and an official name (which will probably be different, judging by our history at guessing titles).

It's going to take me a few hours to prepare the Final (and it's late!), so I aim to put the first set of pairings up within 24 hours. Given that this round will be divided into five sets of parings, I'm thinking of leaving each set open for 4 days. If anyone thinks this is too short, please say so and I'll amend.

[Steve]

Here goes! Firstly, I have to apologise that the last 24 hours have been a bit panicky, and so I have not been able to devote the time needed to draw up a perfect set of pairings for a 10-song final group. What I have done, however, is to adapt the schedule from last year's "Division 2", which had 12 songs in it. Because of the mismatch, there will still be 11 sets of pairings, but each song will be missing from two sets, and these "missing" pairings are not distributed equally. By a quirk, both the pairings missed by In California are in this first batch, but don't worry, they'll be caught up, and every song will get its fair share of pairings by the end! (This is also the explanation for several of the pairing numbers being missing - for example 3, 6, 10 & 12).

I'll post the scoring method and the bonus points calculation in due course (they'll be very similar to this stage in JNST2, with a slightly higher bonus point tariff, to allow for the increased number of songs in the Final), but I did not want to hold up the start of the Final until I've worked all that out. I hope you can trust me to be fair.

And so to the Final, and we already know that positions 1-10 will be occupied by exactly the same songs as those positions were in 2012. In fact, nine of this year's finalists also finished in the top 10 in the first JNST - the exception is Kingfisher, which has replaced Swansea.

Here are the initial batch of pairings. All you have to do is to tell me which song in each of the pairings you prefer:


Set 1 - Pairings 1 to 6
Pairing 1 - Kingfisher || Cosmia
Pairing 2 - Baby Birch || Sawdust & Diamonds
Pairing 4 - Monkey & Bear || Only Skin
Pairing 5 - Emily || Go Long

Set 2 - Pairings 7 to 12
Pairing 7 - Monkey & Bear || Cosmia
Pairing 8 - Kingfisher || Have One On Me
Pairing 9 - Emily || Baby Birch
Pairing 11 - Only Skin || Go Long

[Jordan~]

Are tied allowed in this round? Monkey & Bear vs. Only Skin is like Sophie's Choice.

[claire]

Set 1 - Pairings 1 to 6
Pairing 1 - Cosmia
Pairing 2 - Sawdust & Diamonds
Pairing 4 - Only Skin
Pairing 5 - Emily

Set 2 - Pairings 7 to 12
Pairing 7 - Cosmia
Pairing 8 - Have One On Me
Pairing 9 - Emily
Pairing 11 - Only Skin

[madpawn]

Set 1 - Pairings 1 to 6
Pairing 1 - Cosmia
Pairing 2 - Baby Birch
Pairing 4 - Only Skin
Pairing 5 - Emily

Set 2 - Pairings 7 to 12
Pairing 7 - Cosmia
Pairing 8 - Have One On Me
Pairing 9 - Baby Birch
Pairing 11 - Only Skin

[Steve]

Claire and Madpawn - thank you for your votes.
Jordan~ ... yes ties are allowed.

[Alex Ysoltsev]

Set 1 - Pairings 1 to 6
Pairing 1 - Kingfisher
Pairing 2 - Sawdust & Diamonds
Pairing 4 - Monkey & Bear
Pairing 5 - Go Long

Set 2 - Pairings 7 to 12
Pairing 7 - Monkey & Bear
Pairing 8 - Kingfisher
Pairing 9 - Emily
Pairing 11 - Only Skin

[Steve]

[Steve]

My votes for Sets 1 & 2

Set 1
Pairing 1 - Kingfisher
Pairing 2 - Baby Birch
Pairing 4 - Only Skin
Pairing 5 - Go Long

Set 2
Pairing 7 - Cosmia
Pairing 8 - Kingfisher
Pairing 9 - Baby Birch
Pairing 11 - Only Skin

[mat]

Set 1 - Pairings 1 to 6
Pairing 1 - Cosmia
Pairing 2 - Baby Birch
Pairing 4 - Monkey & Bear
Pairing 5 - Emily

Set 2 - Pairings 7 to 12
Pairing 7 - Cosmia
Pairing 8 - Have One On Me
Pairing 9 - Baby Birch
Pairing 11 - Only Skin

[madpawn]

[under a CPell]

Set 1 - Pairings 1 to 6
Pairing 1 - Cosmia
Pairing 2 - Sawdust & Diamonds
Pairing 4 - Only Skin
Pairing 5 - Go Long

Set 2 - Pairings 7 to 12
Pairing 7 - Cosmia
Pairing 8 - Kingfisher || Have One On Me (tied)
Pairing 9 - Baby Birch
Pairing 11 - Only Skin

[Jordan~]

Set 1 - Pairings 1 to 6
Pairing 1 - Kingfisher
Pairing 2 - Baby Birch
Pairing 4 - Monkey & Bear, Only Skin (tie)
Pairing 5 - Emily

Set 2 - Pairings 7 to 12
Pairing 7 - Monkey & Bear
Pairing 8 - Have One On Me
Pairing 9 - Emily
Pairing 11 - Only Skin