Happy Madness, friends.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this exercise, I will limit my editorializing on the results. Please know that I have some big feelings on a few of the results, to the point that I’m kind of concerned about the mental wellness of our participants. ANYWAY. There were some notable results, particularly in comparison to 2018. In the bracket, for flights 1-8, I’ve included the results from 2018 so any interested parties can see how things shifted in the last 6 years.
The most decisive race in Round 1 was won by Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”, earning 93.8% of the vote. (Kind of like the 93.8% of me that’s just pure rage right now.)
There were ELEVEN reversals of the 2018 results! The song in bold is this year’s winner.
Bryan Adams – Everything I Do vs Patrick Swayze – She’s Like The Wind (Flight 1: Soundtrack Songs)
Mariah Carey feat Trey Lorenz - I'll Be There vs Mariah Carey - Hero (Flight 2: Monsters of Ladyvoices)
Dan Hill - Sometimes When We Touch vs Dan Fogelberg - Longer (Flight 3: Ugh Songs)
Michael Jackson - Human Nature vs Phil Collins - A Groovy Kind of Love (Flight 4: sorry, bruh)
Paula Abdul - Rush, Rush vs Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Flight 6: Ladies)
Shanice - Saving Forever For You vs Brenda Russell - Piano In The Dark (Flight 6: Ladies)
Debbie Gibson - Lost In Your Eyes vs Selena - I Could Fall In Love (Flight 6: Ladies)
Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack - Tonight I Celebrate My Love vs Luther Vandross - Here and Now (Flight 7: Duets/Menfolk)
Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville - All My Life vs Lionel Richie - Say You Say Me (Flight 7: Duets/Menfolk)
Elton John - Something About The Way You Look Tonight vs Richard Marx - Hold Onto the Nights (Flight 8: Menfolk]
Paul Young - Every Time You Go Away vs Glenn Medeiros - Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You (Flight 8: Menfolk)
Ties have forced FOUR 3-way match-ups in Round 2:
Dan Hill “Sometimes When We Touch” vs Chicago “Look Away” vs Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine “Words Get In The Way” (Flight 3: Ugh! Songs)
Chris DeBurgh “Lady In Red” vs Lionel Richie “Stuck On You” vs Bryan Adams “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?” (Flight 8: Menfolk)
Sheryl Crow “Strong Enough” vs Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam “All Cried Out” vs Elvin Bishop “Fooled Around and Fell In Love” (Flight 9: Ross Perot Division)
Heart “What About Love” vs Chicago “You’re The Inspiration” vs Gladys Knight and the Pips “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Flight 11: Murphy Brown Division)
There’s going to be a Battle of the Bonnies in Flight 6, Round 2. It’ll be a rematch of the same battle in 2018, which was a close race. That’ll be one to watch. So, here we go. Round 2 is live.
Below is the revised tournament schedule. There are 2 ways to see full results: you can just see what songs made it through to the next round by voting, or you can check out the bracket, which I will update once a round of voting is over as soon as I’m able. The bracket spreadsheet is divided into tabs, with one tab per flight and one that shows the overall tournament. In the flight tabs, I’ll post the detailed results, so you’ll get to see the percentage splits for each matchup.
Now - 4/18 9PM: Round 2 Voting
4/19 9AM - 4/20 9PM: Round 3 Voting
4/21 9AM - 4/22 9PM: Round 4 Voting
4/23 9AM - 4/24 9PM: Quarterfinals Voting
4/25 9AM - 4/26 9PM: Semifinals Voting
4/27 9AM - 4/28 9PM: Finals Voting
4/28 11PM - A Champion Crowned.
Again, I’ll keep my editorializing to a minimum, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on one thing. It is concerning to me that so few of you were appropriately affected by the story of an enterprising and very physically fit logistics professional, on his journey to reconnect with his estranged son, set against the backdrop of America’s highways and arm-wrestling competitions.
I’ll keep the comments open. I’d implore you to be respectful but clearly that ship has sailed, otherwise Sheena Easton would have made it to Round 2. So, have at it.