@ZackTeibloom Our winning entry comes from Shelley, a Chicago-Austin transplant like me, who had an even more interesting chain of events on her drive than I did. All I had to put up with was a blizzard and frozen highway that almost killed me and stopped my dream of having Reverend Al Green take me to church. Shelley captures the dichotomy of emotions in the song in her vivid description of her inner monologue on her journey.

As well as she captures the moment in her words, it’s the constant use of ellipsis that drives this entry home. The feeling of continuation. It’s not one moment. It’s a moment leading up to many others. Congrats on the signed poster, Shelley. Here’s her entry:

My “Sweet Disposition moment:” in a nutshell driving cross country alone from Chicago to Austin this Summer. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom SXSW and Coachella and right around the corner, so we thought we’d have a contest with one of the bands. We’ve got a signed Temper Trap poster to give away. They’re one of those bands that you’ve heard before, but you may not even know it. Their single “Sweet Disposition” was featured in 500 Days of Summer, a Chrysler commercial and a Rhapsody commercial. I listed them in my “Heard OF them, haven’t heard them” category in my listing of bands on the initial SXSW announcement. Temper Trap is my favorite band on that list.

Want their signed poster? Here’s the deal: Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Two years of doing this contest and twice it’s ended in a tie. Last year we pitted Chris Brown and Rihanna against each other before that whole mess went down. Can we hope that The Baha Men and Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris somehow get into a brawl this year? I think that would be asking a bit too much. Anyway, J. Ho and Zelin made their choices. Zelin was back and forth between “99 Problems” and “Yeah” (Did he peak in high school?) and J.Ho went with “Who Let The Dogs Out” (Did she peak in middle school?) We let them argue their case and we’ll let you vote until Friday at 5 p.m. central. What was the catchiest song of the decade? For the record, Andy and I both went with “Hey Ya!”  Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom The only one who could beat Lady Gaga this year was Lady Gaga. Not even Miley could make it close. It’s “Pokerface” for the win. What that means for the contest is that Zelin and J.Ho are tied for the best bracket. For anyone scoring at home, that’s back-to-back championships for Zelin but he’s not there yet. “You wanna crown em?” You can’t crown him yet.They say a tie is like kissing your sister, but what if it’s a tie with your fellow SIT? You have to break the tie. “It ain’t over till it’s over.” ”You play to win the game.”  Playoffs? You wanna talk about playoffs? We’re just trying to win a game. Playoffs*? OK it’s time for the playoff game. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom It’s all led up to this. Miley. Gaga. The teen queen (Destiny Hope Cyrus) and the “Lady” (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta*) take their bizarre made-up names and over-produced pop sensations into the finals. I’m proud to say I predicted this finals, but wish I could swap out my choice after seeing Gaga steamroll her way through the bracket. I think it’s going to come down to which of our contest entrants hypes up their song best. As we said in the wrap-up, Abby N. wins if Miley does and Zelin and J.Ho will have a tie-breaker if Gaga wins. Let’s get it on. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom We’re  down to two. The two #1 overall seeds (Miley Cyrus “Party in the USA” and Lady Gaga “Pokerface”) made it all the way to the finals. The selection committee is pretty proud of themselves. A lot of you had the right final two, but it’s down to just three finalists. Zelin has a chance to repeat and we’ve got two newcomers to the contest.

If “Party in the USA” wins, Abby “Some people knit, we talk shit” Nickerson wins it all. We may not have known her before the contest, but the girl with the hilarious Emilio Estevez gmail address is poised to take this thing if Gaga proves to be the behemoth she’s shown to be. On the other hand, we’ve got J. Ho and Zelin the Felon poised to take one for the SIT’S of ‘02 if Miley Cyrus keeps her Party in the USA going. I have no shot, since I had Miley winning it all and Abby has one more point than me, but I poached The Dead Weather Horehound vinyl from the prize package and get to pay for shipping. So…I win too? Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore In the real Final Four,* they play both games back-to-back in one stadium.  All that excitement bottled up in one major event. Can you feel it, Crasher Nation? We’re putting both final four match-ups in one post and giving you guys until Tuesday at 3 p.m. to vote. Game one is overall number one seed “Party in the USA” going up against the George Mason of this year in “Birthday Sex.” Game two is the all Lady G(onz)aga match-up that pits “Poker Face” against “Paparazzi.” It was Gaga’s year, and it’s only fitting that she comprises half of the final four. Can Jeremih pull the upset special and show Miley how a real party in the USA goes down? Which Gaga song is moving on? (Cue the CBS update music…) Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom It’s Lady Gaga’s world. We’re just living in it. Did that make anyone else nauseous? Sorry, but it’s true. If this contest proved nothing else, it’s that we’ll remember ‘09 as the year we lost MJ and found Gaga. Before @Mattsilver got mad that his bracket was about to go down in flames and generated a handful of votes, Lady G was shutting “Right Round” completely out with “Pokerface.” And that was just a day after taking Jay-Z and his “Empire State of Mind” out.

We’re down to four. Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” takes on “Birthday Sex,” who somehow snuck into the final four. The winner gets to take on Gaga in one form or another. Let’s be honest, you care more about how you’re doing. Since my fantasy season’s over,* I poured over the brackets and analyzed what would happen with every potential outcome from here on out. We’re down to four songs and four of you fighting it out for best bracket. Curious who it is? Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore This is the final match-up of round 2. I believe that Zack is still claiming to be the New Orleans Saints (one loss), and it seems that J-Ho is right there with him. I would be winning, if it wasn’t for @MattSilver actually having something to do when “Good Girl Go Bad” was up in round one. He would have had his minions of 13 year-old girls all over that vote. Shucks. As for today’s match-up, we see Flo Rida’s “Right Round” going up against Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” This is the second straight day for Gaga on the bracket. It looks like Jay-Z and Alicia Keys may take her down, but we’ll see if she has what it takes to withstand Flo Rida. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom We’ve got an east coast-west coast battle going down here. It’s the New York state of mind against the Paparazzi obsessed L.A. Will it be the freaky Lady Gaga moving onto the final four with “Paparazzi” even though “Pokerface” is still alive? Or will Jigga man take over more than the east coast and create a national state of mind. He killed auto-tune.* I think he can take out Gaga. Read the rest of this entry »