Bangers III voting will return on Monday, but before we head off for the weekend, we wanted to let you know how the second round turned out. Brackets first, then notes, then results. We’ve also updated the Spotify playlist such that the remaining 16 bangers play first.
I just went through the brackets and consolidated them down for our graphic on Monday, a process that consisted of moving each of the remaining 16 songs into one smaller bracket on PowerPoint, our high-powered design package. As I did it, it jumped out just how good the music has gotten. It was a great bracket from the beginning, but we’re really into a no-skips place now, and since these are bangers, every song is one that gets the people going, beyond just being good.
At an artist level, Taylor Swift leads the way with three bangers remaining, followed by Kesha, Pitbull, and Katy Perry all with two.
Teenage Dream took down Levels by just two votes, and I’m curious if we’ll look back on that as a championship-caliber matchup or if the Katy Perry hit will struggle against Blank Space. The passion of Taylor Swift fans is already a factor, but it remains unclear how big a factor, exactly.
The 2000’s Bangers Bracket had six songs with female artists in the Round of 16. The 90’s Bangers Bracket had five. Bangers III has eleven. I don’t know if that says something societal or not, but it jumps out! Only two of the eleven also have a male vocalist, so we are a majority-woman bracket.
Super Bass was only a 15-seed, and on that note, here’s how the Round of 16 breaks down by original seed:
- Four 1-seeds (Wake Me Up, Pumped Up Kicks, Call Me Maybe, Shut Up and Dance)
- Three 2-seeds (We Found Love, Teenage Dream, Timber)
- Two 3-seeds (California Gurls, Shake It Off)
- One 4-seed (Give Me Everything)
- Three 5-seeds (I Love It, 22, Die Young)
- One 6-seed (Blank Space)
- One 14-seed (Thrift Shop)
- One 15-seed (Super Bass)
The thing to take away from this is that in our selection process, in which people were just asked to say whether a song was or was not a banger, Thrift Shop and Super Bass were polarizing, whereas in a bracket, where people are asked how big a banger certain songs are, Thrift Shop and Super Bass have excelled. The implication here is that there’s a large sea of anti-Thrift Shop and Super Bass voters, but that those who do support these songs do so with a high degree of enthusiasm. Together, these two Cinderellas have taken out Last Friday Night, We R Who We R, Firework, and All Of The Lights. Those bangers aren’t slouches!
Counting Teenage Dream vs. Levels, six of the sixteen second round matchups were decided by single digits, with Give Me Everything besting Fancy by just one vote. Every vote counts, and so does every counter. Wield your power with pride. We’ll see you Monday.
Wake Me Up 51, Turn Down for What 45
Instagram: 40-34
Twitter: 5-7
Google Form: 6-4
Give Me Everything 47, Fancy 46
I: 34-37
T: 6-6
G: 7-3
We Found Love 64, We Are Young 31
I: 51-22
T: 6-6
G: 7-3
Thrift Shop 60, We R Who We R 35
I: 47-26
T: 6-6
G: 7-3
Pumped Up Kicks 62, Royals 34
I: 46-28
T: 8-4
G: 8-2
I Love It 53, Can’t Hold Us 42
I: 43-30
T: 6-6
G: 4-6
Teenage Dream 50, Levels 48
I: 36-39
T: 9-4
G: 5-5
Blank Space 57, Party Rock Anthem 41
I: 42-33
T: 8-5
G: 7-3
Call Me Maybe 84, Dynamite 20
I: 57-17
T: 18-2
G: 9-1
22 53, Feel So Close 47
I: 39-36
T: 8-7
G: 6-4
Timber 64, Airplanes 33
I: 50-25
T: 8-4
G: 6-4
California Gurls 52, Born This Way 45
I: 40-33
T: 7-7
G: 5-5
Shut Up and Dance 57, Titanium 41
I: 44-31
T: 7-6
G: 6-4
Die Young 66, Girl on Fire 33
I: 46-30
T: 12-1
G: 8-2
Super Bass 51, All Of The Lights 46
I: 38-37
T: 6-6
G: 7-3
Shake It Off 56, Wrecking Ball 45
I: 43-31
T: 8-9
G: 5-5
