2024 YE Country RD (CAD) Due Dec 14

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#16 Steven Lee Olsen - Outta Yours

Total: 200

Average: 18.18

Std Dev: 11.03
Chart Peak: #5

countryfan43 - 3
🌺CountryLineDancer - 5
zaclord 🌈 - 9
castleoblivion26 - 11
LBTrocks - 12
nuggie99 - 18
bboat11 - 21
Darkest Hour - 27
.indulgecountry - 29
tim - 29
kluen - 36

SLO YE RD History

2018 - #30 Timing Is Everything
2022 - #28 Nashville or Nothing

The last song to miss the top 15 is SLO. This song received two top 5 rankings while kluen becomes the last person to get rid of their bottom spot. This is by far the best performing song by SLO in this game, and it was also quite successful on the chart.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #35)
I am pleasantly surprised that this song lasted so long, with a decent number of top 15 rankings. I thought the production would be hated and get tanked like his other songs. I do enjoy the melody and production of this song, and "can't stop thinkin' 'bout how you don't think 'bout me no more" part is just so infectious. 

I saw SLO live three times this year, and one thing I noted was that Blue Ain't Your Color, which was written by him, was originally supposed to be his US follow-up single after Raised By A Good Time, but since his label team stepped out of music industry, it left hanging until KU cut it. Good for him though, as now, he is a co-writer of a #1 hit, and if you ever see him live, I can guarantee that he would single it.

[.indulgecountry]

Dec 26, 2023 22:28:49 GMT -5 🌺CountryLineDancer said:

#20 Alexandar Ludwig - Let Me Be Your Whiskey

.indulgecountry - 16

I actually liked this decently despite him sounding so similar to Kenny Chesney, lol. He's definitely better imo though.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#15 Teigen Gayse - Sleeping With Her

Total: 195

Average: 17.73

Std Dev: 8.32
Chart Peak: #40 (Still rising)

bboat11 - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 7
zaclord 🌈 - 13
Darkest Hour - 15
.indulgecountry - 15
kluen - 16
nuggie99 - 17
castleoblivion26 - 21
tim - 23
countryfan43 - 29
LBTrocks - 33

Teigen Gayse YE RD History

2021 - #14 I Don’t Wanna Fall In Love

The next up is Teigen Gayse, one of the singers with Canadian indigenous heritage. This is her second appearance in this game, and she had a similar ending in 2021. She has a successful year in 2023, and she has been scoring some minor hits, but she is still an independent act. This song received two top 10 rankings, and one bottom 5 ranking, as well as two perfect rankings from Darkest Hour and .indulgecountry .

CLD's Thought (Prediction #15 - Perfect Ranking)
This is a great effort from Teigen. I like her vocal, kind of similar to Alexandra Kay, and the melody is also quite strong. The theme is a typical breakup song, but her delivery style is quite unique, and I am still rooting for this song on the chart, and hopefully she will find a label deal to further backup her success, as I do want her to join Jess/Tenille/Meghan aka Canadian female hitmaker club. If You Show Me Yours is also a great song from her, a slower waltz type song that became her most successful song in her career so far.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#14 Tyer Joe Miller - Back To Drinkin' Whiskey

Total: 194

Average: 17.64

Std Dev: 8.25
Chart Peak: #9

countryfan43 - 6
LBTrocks - 9
bboat11 - 11
.indulgecountry - 12
Darkest Hour - 18
nuggie99 - 15
tim - 17
🌺CountryLineDancer - 21
zaclord 🌈 - 26
castleoblivion26 - 26
kluen - 33

Tyler Joe Miller YE RD History

2020 - #5 Pillow Talkin'
2021 - #7 Fighting

The next song to exit is Tyler Joe Miller. TJ Miller historically is doing well in this series for a male singer, and this is his first time missing the top 10. This song received two top 10 rankings and one bottom 5 ranking. He had a successful year with releasing another album, including this song, and he is the leading successful figure from MDM Recordings.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #11)
This song has a great production, like most of TJ Miller's song, and also a strong melody. It is not as strong as two other songs that were in this game previously, but definitely one of the strongest songs from the album.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#13 Josh Ross - On A Different Night

Total: 188

Average: 17.09

Std Dev: 10.38
Chart Peak: #5

🌺CountryLineDancer - 1
zaclord 🌈 - 4
castleoblivion26 - 7
countryfan43 - 11
LBTrocks - 13
tim - 20
bboat11 - 23
Darkest Hour - 24
kluen - 26
.indulgecountry - 27
nuggie99 - 32

Josh Ross YE RD History

2022 - #4 First Taste Of Gone

Another male song is leaving; Josh Ross made its debut to the series last year and successfully moved on to the next round, but the success did not continue. He made appearances in the New Release RD with a few songs, but did not perform well, and Trouble was sent to the US radio, and despite its strong initial adds and appearance on the Hot Country Chart, it did not enter the airplay chart. On A Different Night was his second single released earlier in the year. This song received three top 10 rankings, and I became the third participant to lose a #1 song. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #23)
This song is great, as are the most of songs from Josh Ross. This song has a strong melody and rocky production, and I wish this was released as a radio single, instead of Trouble, which is my least fav from him. I was surprised that he did not release any album this year, but he continues his success and he is touring with well-known acts, like Nickelback, so hoping that he would send another single in the US.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#12 Jade Eagleson - Rodeo Queen

Total: 180

Average: 16.36

Std Dev: 11.49
Chart Peak: #5

nuggie99 - 1
countryfan43 - 2
tim - 4
bboat11 - 9
LBTrocks - 11
Darkest Hour - 20
.indulgecountry - 21
zaclord 🌈 - 22
kluen - 27
castleoblivion26 - 30
🌺CountryLineDancer - 33

Jade Eagleson YE RD History

2018 - #33 Got Your Name On It
2019 - #18 Count The Ways
2020 - #8 Close
2021 - #20 More Drinkin’ Than Fishin’ with Dean Brody
2022 - #7 She Don’t Know

The next up is Jade Eagleson. He is also a figure that has been doing well in this game for a male artist, but he could not crack the top 10 this year. @nuggie43 becomes the fourth participant to lose a #1 spot, and also received three top 5 rankings, which is the most number of top 5 rankings so far among the songs revealed. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #12 - Perfect Ranking)
Jade's neotraditional style is a unique sound among Canadian country singers, and I do enjoy the production of most of his songs. This is not my fav song from him melodically, but his album Do It Anyway is really strong, and I love the title track and A Lot In A Little Town. I still have not seen him performing live, so hopefully he is going on a tour to my city next year.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#11 Jason Blaine - The Road That Raised You Up

Total: 173

Average: 15.73

Std Dev: 5.66 (Lowest)
Chart Peak: #8

zaclord 🌈 - 7
LBTrocks - 8
nuggie99 - 10
🌺CountryLineDancer - 13
bboat11 - 15
castleoblivion26 - 17
tim - 18
Darkest Hour - 19
.indulgecountry - 20
kluen - 22
countryfan43 - 24

Jason Blaine YE RD History

2017 - #15 Boy With A Guitar
2021 - #32 End Of The Rain

The last song to miss the top 10 is Jason Blaine, and this is the last male song to leave the game. Unlike the prior year, when two male songs went into the top 5, no male songs found their way into the top 10 this year. This song was also the least polarizing song, and did not receive any bottom 10 ranking. This is also Blaine's best performing song so far in this series, and his first top 10 song since 2015. This is a huge achievement for a song released independently. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #22)
This song did better than I thought, but not too surprised that this was not really polarizing, as this has an average sound of modern country music, melodically and lyrically. The return of Jason Blaine was not expected this year, as I thought he switched gear in 2021 to bluegrass style of music, such as End Of The Rain. This has a vibe of late 2000s country songs, and I definitely enjoy the melody and production, although it is not the most memorable song on the list.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

This is it for tonight, as we are here with the top 10! Throw in some predictions and comments on the reveal so far, as we are nearing the end of this RD and we will know the songs to be included in the main YE RD soon.

Reveal So Far
11 Jason Blaine - The Road That Raised You Up
12 Jade Eagleson - Rodeo Queen
13 Josh Ross - On A Different Night
14 Tyer Joe Miller - Back To Drinkin' Whiskey
15 Teigen Gayse - Sleeping With Her
16 Steven Lee Olsen - Outta Yours
17 Karli June - Feels Like Home ft. Ryan Langdon
18 Sacha - Confident
19 David James - Let Her Go
20 Alexandar Ludwig - Let Me Be Your Whiskey
21 Lindsay Ell - Sweet Spot
22 Emily Reid - First Impressions
23 Chad Brownlee - The Country Kind
24 Tenille Townes - Home To Me
25 Gord Bamford - One Heartbeat From Heaven
26 Griffen Palmer - Second Guessing
27 Alli Walker - The Whiskey's Gone
28 Tim & The Glory Boys - Take Me Back Road
29 Dayna Reid - She's Me
30 Dean Brody - Right Round Here
31 Owen Riegling - Love (The Sweater Song)
32 Lemon Cash - Breakup Song
33 Graham Scott Fleming - Toughest Act To Follow
34 Brett Kissel - Never Have I Ever
35 Shania Twain - Giddy Up!
36 Jay Kutcher - Another You

Top 10
Five Roses - Livin' in A Country Song
Genevieve Fisher - Best Thing About the Rain
Hailey Benedict - Damn You July
Jess Moskaluke - Heartbreaker
MacKenzie Porter - Chasing Tornadoes
Madeline Merlo - Tim + Faith
Meghan Patrick - Greatest Show On Dirt
Parker Graye - Good At Getting' Gone
Shantaia - Know You
Tenille Arts - Girl To Girl

[kluen]

six songs on top 10 of my list made it into top 10.

[Darkest Hour]

20. Unfortunately I first knew Alexandar Ludwig through a song title called Sunset Town. Combined with the fact that Jason Aldean band members produce his music is a red flag. That being said LMBYW is decent, if a bit thin on lyrics. Slightly prefer Luke Grimes in terms of recent actor-singer though.

19. This is lacking emotion for some of the assertive lyrics, but that's common for mainstream country music anyway.

18. I guess the chorus melody is not that immediate, but I still like her effortless delivery much. Quite pleasant on the ears. That being said I won't forcefully include the song in the main rankdown.

17. Generic upbeat country radio fodder that has slightly more memorable vocal pairing, and honestly I thought the participants will like more.

12. Quite tired from this particular country 2-step rhythm and unnatural sounding baritone.

Wish I could comment on more but I cannot find more unique words for these mediocre to mid songs.

My rankings left: 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 28, 31. Hope 28 and 31 miss top 5 but I have no faith based on past history.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#10 Five Roses - Livin' in A Country Song

Total: 153

Average: 13.91

Std Dev: 7.20 (4th Lowest)
Chart Peak: #33

tim - 5
bboat11 - 8
🌺CountryLineDancer - 9
.indulgecountry - 9
Darkest Hour - 10
nuggie99 - 13
castleoblivion26 - 13
kluen - 15
zaclord 🌈 - 18
countryfan43 - 25
LBTrocks - 28

Five Roses YE RD History

2021 - #16 Might As Well Be Me

The first song to leave the top 10 is Five Roses, and with the exit of this song, all male artists are gone from the game. This song was one of the least polarizing songs in the game, and received five top 10 rankings and one bottom 10 ranking. This is their second appearance in the series, and made a decent improvement from the last time. However, this is going to be their final appearance in the game, as the duo just broke up a month ago due to Zach deciding to focus on his career as a lawyer. Jade is still pursuing her career independently. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #13)
This song is quite catchy, and might be my fav from the duo. Zach does not have the strongest vocal, so this song being led by Jade helps the quality of the song for sure, and Zach's slight addition as a background vocalist sounds better than his solo parts in other songs. Surprised that they decided to breakup while this song was in promotion and rising the chart though, and it was really abrupt, as I was supposed to see them opening for Dan Davidson, but even that tour was cancelled, so they really had to end the group in early November. No public news on this was announced, and Five Roses IG account was deleted, but Jade had an IG story saying that Five Roses was ended, and I later learned from a person in the industry that Zach could not keep the musical activities while continuing his career a lawyer, but again, it is still surprising that they had to breakup so abruptly even by cancelling the promotion of the song and tours only for that reason.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#9 Jess Moskaluke - Heartbreaker

Total: 148

Average: 13.45

Std Dev: 11.54 (5th Highest)
Chart Peak: #10

.indulgecountry - 2
bboat11 - 3
castleoblivion26  - 4
LBTrocks  - 4
kluen  - 7
nuggie99  - 7
Darkest Hour  - 13
tim  - 19
zaclord 🌈  - 28
🌺CountryLineDancer  - 29
countryfan43  - 32

Jess Moskaluke YE RD History

2017 - #6 Elevator

2018 - #3 Drive Me Away

2019 - #3 Save Some Of That Whiskey

2020 - #12 Country Girls

2021 - #1 Leave Each Other Alone ft. Travis Collins
2022 - #11 Knock Off

The next up is Jess Moskaluke. She was the winner of the 2021 game and LEOA made it to the YE RD, but Knock Off failed to enter the top 10, and even this song could not bring her back to the top 5. This received five rankings outside of the top 10 from the first 5 submissions, and the remaining six submissions ranked this within their top 10. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #2)

This song sounds quite average, and definitely weaker than her other outputs. I wish she had sent Not What Ya Think to the radio over this, as that would have easily been in my top 5, but the melody of Heartbreaker sounds quite flat, compared to other songs with catchier or more energetic melodies. Still surprised that this ended up being one of the most polarizing songs. 

[countryfan43]

I know I ranked her really low but I enjoyed “Knock Off” much more than this. With all the great Canadian female artists she just doesn’t stand out much to me.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#8 Genevieve Fisher - Best Thing About the Rain

Total: 137

Average: 12.45

Std Dev: 7.74
Chart Peak: NA

.indulgecountry - 5
castleoblivion26  - 6
LBTrocks  - 7
Darkest Hour  - 6
tim  - 9
🌺CountryLineDancer  - 10
countryfan43  - 13
kluen  - 14
nuggie99  - 14
zaclord 🌈  - 24
bboat11 - 29

Genevieve Fisher YE RD History

2017 - #17 You Me We

2021 - #12 Then There’s You with David James

Another attempt from Genevieve Fisher in this series took her to the top 10 for the first time, but still a bit short of the top 5. This song received six top 10 rankings, and one bottom 10 ranking. This song was added by a few stations, but did not get her back to the airplay chart, sadly. Like Teigen, she also has an indigenous heritage. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #10)

This song has a fantastic production and I do enjoy the lyrics; kind of Similar approach to Little Rain by Morgan Wallen. The melody also grew on me as I gave more listens, and glad to see quite a few positive rankings to this tune. If she was from Pacific North West, however, she would not have praised about the rain in this way, as we all are tired of rain in winter up here in BC/WA area lol. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#7 Hailey Benedict - Damn You July

Total: 133

Average: 12.09

Std Dev: 8.71
Chart Peak: #44

zaclord 🌈  - 2
tim  - 2
kluen  - 4
LBTrocks  - 5
castleoblivion26  - 8
🌺CountryLineDancer  - 12
Darkest Hour  - 14
countryfan43  - 15
bboat11 - 22
nuggie99  - 23
.indulgecountry - 26

Hailey Benedict YE RD History

2021 - #18 Wanted You To

Next up is Hailey Benedict. Damn You July made an appearance in the New Release RD and did not really do well here, but she performed better in this game, and made a huge improvement from 2021. This song received four top 5 rankings, including two #2 rankings, and no bottom 10 ranking. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #18)

I love the lyrics of this song; the theme is not necessarily unique, but blaming the month of July for reminding her of the previous relationship is an interesting writing and the use of waltz tempo (instead of subdued ballad) matches the sadness and anger of the narrator quite well. If this was sang by a stronger vocalist, might have sounded a bit more powerful, as Hailey sounds a bit weak here. Shame it did not do well on the radio; I guess the song with July reference would not do well after the summer, but I wish it became a bigger hit. I definitely overplayed this song when it came out, and got a little tire of it, but still, the best effort from Hailey so far. 

[.indulgecountry]

Overrated. I liked it more in the context of this list vs. the New Releases RD, but still glad to see it bow out shy of the top 5 here.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Dec 27, 2023 23:14:49 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Overrated. I liked it more in the context of this list vs. the New Releases RD, but still glad to see it bow out shy of the top 5 here.

Welp, good news continues for you...

#6 Tenille Arts - Girl To Girl

Total: 132

Average: 12.09

Std Dev: 7 (2nd Lowest)
Chart Peak: #10

LBTrocks  - 2
kluen  - 3
bboat11 - 4
Darkest Hour  - 7
castleoblivion26  - 14
zaclord 🌈  - 14
tim  - 15
🌺CountryLineDancer  - 15
countryfan43  - 17
.indulgecountry - 17
nuggie99  - 24

Tenille Arts YE RD History

2017 - #11 What He’s Into
2018 - #4 I Hate This
2019 - #13 Mad Crazy Love
2020 - #1 Somebody Like That
2021 - #2 Give It To Me Straight

The last song to miss the top 5 is Tenille Arts. This song was one of the least polarizing songs in the game with five rankings are from #14 - #17, as well as four top 10 rankings. This song was the last successful single by Tenille, as Jealous flopped even in Canada. Even though she missed the top 5 by 2 points, at least she has another entry with Jealous to the YE RD.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #6 - Perfect Ranking)

This song is pretty catchy, and I definitely prefer this over Jealous, or those songs that were released after she changed the label. The lyrics are also interesting, in that the title "Girl to Girl" is being used in two context by the narrator in the song, sort of similar theme to Next Girl. I definitely overplayed this song, but I still wish this joined the YE RD over some of the songs that made it to the top 5...

[countryfan43]

I thought “Jealous Of Myself” was one of the top songs of the year but this just wasn’t the same for me. I think that her vocal performance in Jealous was amazing and the message of the song came across as sincere.

[LBTrocks]

Now we're losing songs I actually like, lol

Glad my #1 is in the top 5! Exactly where it belongs lol.

[.indulgecountry]

Good news indeed. Tepids Arts outside the top 5!

[Darkest Hour]

Dec 27, 2023 12:01:38 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Hope 28 and 31 miss top 5 but I have no faith based on past history.

Well...expect my tanks on the overall rankdown I guess.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#5 Shantaia - Know You

Total: 130

Average: 11.82

Std Dev: 7.49
Chart Peak: NA

🌺CountryLineDancer  - 3
nuggie99  - 4
kluen  - 6
countryfan43  - 7
Darkest Hour  - 8
bboat11 - 10
.indulgecountry - 11
castleoblivion26  - 15
LBTrocks  - 19
zaclord 🌈  - 21
tim  - 26

Shantaia YE RD History

2022 - #29 Broke to Brand New

The first song to leave in the top 5 is Shantaia. This is her second appearance in the game, a huge improvement from #29 finish in the PY. This song received six top 10 rankings and no bottom 10 rankings. This will be Shantaia's first appearance in the main YE Country RD, and Darkest Hour correctly predicted the performance of this song. This song received a few adds, but did not chart.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #9)

I am glad that this song managed to enter the top 5 to move on to the next round of the game. The lyrical theme of the song is not necessarily unique, but the sadness of the narrator was effectively communicated through the vocal and instrumental production. I do like quite a few of Shantaia's materialis from the EP, but this is one of the highlights. Hopefully she gets more chances at radio. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Dec 28, 2023 0:18:25 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Dec 27, 2023 12:01:38 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Hope 28 and 31 miss top 5 but I have no faith based on past history.

Well...expect my tanks on the overall rankdown I guess.

Fyi, this is the score for the top 5, so I, the host, am the actual tanker of the game.

🌺CountryLineDancer - 3, 8, 14, 27, 31 = 83
Darkest Hour - 4, 8, 9, 28, 31 = 80
zaclord 🌈 - 5, 6, 16, 21, 31 = 78
castleoblivion26 - 1, 9, 15, 22, 25
LBTrocks - 1, 3, 6, 19, 25 = 54
tim - 1, 3, 8, 13, 26 = 51
kluen - 1, 5, 6, 11, 28 = 51
bboat11 - 1, 5, 7, 10, 25 = 48
nuggie99 - 3, 4, 5, 11, 16 = 39
countryfan43 - 1, 4, 5, 7, 9 = 26
.indulgecountry - 1, 3, 4, 6, 11 = 25

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Here is another data to see how your list impacted the result

The top 5 with the full list: Shantaia, Meghan, MacKenzie, Parker, and Madeline

Without
- 🌺CountryLineDancer : Tenille A, Meghan, MacKenzie, Parker, and Madeline, minus Shantaia
- Darkest Hour : Hailey, Meghan, MacKenzie, Parker, and Madeline, minus Shantaia
- zaclord 🌈 : Genevieve, Shantaia, Meghan, MacKenzie, and Madeline, minus Parker
- tim : Tenille A, Meghan, MacKenzie, Parker, and Shantaia, minus Madeline
- countryfan43 : Tenille A, Jess, MacKenzie, Parker, and Meghan, minus Madeline and Shantaia
- kluen : Genevieve, Parker, Meghan, MacKenzie, and Madeline, minus Shantaia
- .indulgecountry : Hailey, Tenille A, Meghan, MacKenzie, Parker and Shantaia ties, minus Madeline
- nuggie99 : Hailey, Tenille A, Madeline, MacKenzie, Parker and Meghan ties, minus Shantaia
- bboat11 : Hailey, Genevieve, Madeline, MacKenzie, and Meghan, minus Shantaia and Parker
- LBTrocks - No change, but Parker would have been #1
- castleoblivion26 : Tenille A, Meghan, MacKenzie, Parker, and Shantaia, minus Madeline

[Darkest Hour]

Sad to see Parker is not the actual #1, and very glad I pushed Shantaia in even though it's weaker than the song in Summertime Madness.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#4 Parker Graye - Good At Getting' Gone


Total: 125

Average: 11.36

Std Dev: 7.47
Chart Peak: #41

Darkest Hour  - 4
kluen  - 5
.indulgecountry - 6
zaclord 🌈  - 6
bboat11 - 7
countryfan43  - 9
nuggie99  - 11
tim - 13
🌺CountryLineDancer - 14
castleoblivion26 - 25
LBTrocks - 25

The next song to leave is Parker Graye. This is her first appearance in this game, and this was her first charting song in her career. Even though she did not receive any top 3 rankings, she received most of the rankings within the top 15, and she was actually at #1 before the final two lists from LBT and Castle. 

CLD's Thought (Prediction #20)

I am quite surprised to see how well this song did in this game. This song has a nice production and decent lyrics for a breakup song, but did not expect to see this almost winning this game. I am here for it though, as always nice to see a new female artist gaining some popularity here. She is still an independent artist, but she has some experiences in Nashville, so hopefully she will grow bigger. 

[Darkest Hour]

I--

At this point, the top two might be my lowest two left (Me and CLD having fight for floppiest!)

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#3 Madeline Merlo - Tim + Faith

Total: 122

Average: 11.09

Std Dev: 11.38
Chart Peak: #28 (Still rising)

.indulgecountry - 1
castleoblivion26 - 1
LBTrocks - 3
tim - 3
zaclord 🌈  - 5
bboat11 - 5
countryfan43  - 5
nuggie99  - 16
🌺CountryLineDancer - 27
Darkest Hour  - 28
kluen  - 28

Madeline Merlo YE RD History

2017 - #1 Over And Over
2018 - #20 Neon Love
2019 - #16 Unraveling
2020 - #17 Kiss Kiss
2021 - #4 It Didn’t
2022 - #5 Slide

The #3 spot of the year goes to Madeline Merlo. Madeline is the only artist who made their ways into the top 5 and entered the Main YE RD. Tim And Faith is a current single still being promoted, and received seven top 5 rankings.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #3 - Perfect Ranking)

This song has a nice writing, and I do enjoy the reference to the iconic couple in the country music industry. The melody wise, this is not her strongest, so my ranking did not go as high as I usually do for her, but it is certainly growing on me. Since she has more exposure to the US industry through the US label, I hope she is going to try some use in the US radio in 2024 (I was predicting that she would do that in 2023). As well, her full-length album is long overdue. 

[Darkest Hour]

I wished Tim & Faith's collab album, one of the most boring albums ever, did not exist so I would like the message of Tim + Faith better. As for now it seems a very boring love life idk.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#2 Meghan Patrick - Greatest Show On Dirt

Total: 117

Average: 10.64

Std Dev: 10.18
Chart Peak: #15

countryfan43  - 1
kluen  - 1
nuggie99  - 3
.indulgecountry - 4
LBTrocks - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 8
tim  - 8
Darkest Hour  - 9
castleoblivion26 - 22
bboat11 - 25
zaclord 🌈  - 30

Meghan Patrick YE RD History

2017 - #3 Country Music Made Me Do It
2018 - #16 Wild As Me
2019 - #5 Things I Shouldn’t Say
2020 - #19 My First Car
2021 - #17 Never Giving Up On You
2022 - #19 Cool About It

#1 MacKenzie Porter - Chasing Tornadoes

Total: 113

Average: 10.27

Std Dev: 11.28
Chart Peak: #3

LBTrocks - 1
tim - 1
bboat11 - 1
.indulgecountry - 3
countryfan43  - 4
nuggie99  - 5
castleoblivion26 - 9
kluen  - 11
zaclord 🌈  - 16
🌺CountryLineDancer - 31
Darkest Hour  - 31

MacKenzie Porter YE RD History

2018 - #11 About You
2019 - #9 Seeing Other People
2020 - #4 These Days
2021 - #9 Drinking Song
2022 - #9 Pickup

This is the finale! For both Meghan and MacKenzie, this is their first time making it to the top 2 in this game, and MacKenze scored her first victory with a difference of 6 points from Meghan, who unfortunately missed her first chance to take the crown. Meghan received two #1 rankings, while MacKenzie received three #1 rankings. At the same time, MacKenzie received two bottom half rankings, while Meghan received three, but Meghan did not get any rankings in the 10s.

CLD's Thought (Prediction #1 and #5)

I was definitely expecting and hoping that Meghan would win this, as Greatest Show On Dirt has a beautiful production and melody, and Meghan's vocal performance is quite strong. Chasing Tornadoes, on the other hand, is not Mackenzie's strongest, and if this has to be in the top 5, let alone winning the game, Pickup in 2022 deserved the top 5 as well. The lyrics would evoke some interesting imagery in the song, but I just cannot get in to the melody of this, and yes, I heard this song at her concert, acoustic and with band, but still, this was far from the best song of the set. She is coming up with a new record of 19 songs in spring, so hopefully she will try again in the US radio, as she mentioned that her first radio attempt was interrupted by the cancellation of radio tour due to Covid. As well, good to see Meghan Patrick scoring a hit in the US with M-Ray, so hopefully she will try another song again in the US. Also, in bboat11 's review, you gave B to Chasing Tornadoes and A- to Lemon Cash, shouldn't they have received #1 spot instead of MacKenzie?