So I haven't been to the Games section in forever. I decided now would be a good time to make a return to the section.

Inspired by my fascination with the airplay charts, this will be a tournament featuring the biggest hits to conquer pop radio.

Using Kworb's archive, which dates back to August 2012, I've found the 64 biggest (by spin peak) pop radio hits since then.

This tournament will be in the form of a bracket as follows: (the seedings are just the song's rank on the spin record leaderboard)



The scheduling of the matchups is as follows:

Full tournament: April 21 - May 9

Round 1, left side of the bracket - April 21 - April 24
Round 1, right side of the bracket - April 24 - April 27
Round 2, left side of the bracket - April 27 - April 29
Round 2, right side of the bracket - April 29 - May 1
Round 3 - May 1 - May 3
Quarterfinals - May 3 - May 5
Semifinals - May 5 - May 7
Final - May 7 - May 9

Here's how the matchups will work:

For each matchup, give each song a number of points out of 10. Half-points are allowed, but please don't be more specific (4.5 is ok, but not 4.7). Whichever song has more points in a matchup wins that matchup and advances to the next round.

I'll usually update this at night.

More to come tomorrow, including the official start of the tournament.

Hmm interesting

No CMM

The bracket, with the matchups we're doing right now in the red box.

Round 1 (left side of the bracket):

This round will take place from now until April 24th, and will involve the Round 1 matchups on the left side of the bracket.

Give each song a score out of 10, and round to the nearest 0.5. Whichever song ends up with more points will advance to Round 2.

Matchups:

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun
Taylor Swift - Blank Space vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong vs. Calvin Harris - Summer
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake
Pharrell Williams - Happy vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams
Sam Smith - Stay With Me vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Lorde - Royals vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang
Charli XCX - Boom Clap vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc vs. Bastille - Pompeii
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church
Maroon 5 - Sugar vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars 8.5 vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun 9
Taylor Swift - Blank Space 8 vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons 7.5
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong 3 vs. Calvin Harris - Summer 7.5
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off 7 vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake 8.5
Pharrell Williams - Happy 9 vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams 9
Sam Smith - Stay With Me 7 vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball 3
Lorde - Royals 9 vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang 6
Charli XCX - Boom Clap 9 vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko 6.5
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man 7 vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars 8.5
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton 9 vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night 9
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX 5.5 vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin 8
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha 6 vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing 7.5
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc 9 vs. Bastille - Pompeii 9
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J 7 vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn 7
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass 2 vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church 8
Maroon 5 - Sugar 8 vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One 7

Matchups:

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars (4) vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun (10)
Taylor Swift - Blank Space (9) vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons (8.5)
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (5) vs. Calvin Harris - Summer (6.5)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off (10) vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake (0)
Pharrell Williams - Happy (8.5) vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams (9.5)
Sam Smith - Stay With Me (6.5) vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (5.5)
Lorde - Royals (10) vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang (0)
Charli XCX - Boom Clap (9.5) vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko (8)
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man (7) vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (8.5)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton (3) vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night (8.5)
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX (6) vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin (9.5)
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha (7) vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing (9.5)
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc (5) vs. Bastille - Pompeii (6.5)
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J (9) vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn (3)
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (9) vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church (10)
Maroon 5 - Sugar (8) vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One (6.5)

I actually love every song on this list except 1 I don't think there's anything below a 9/10 or so.
So I'll just rate the songs I want to win the match higher than the other.

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars (7) vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun (10)
Taylor Swift - Blank Space (10) vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons (7.5)
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (4) vs. Calvin Harris - Summer (10)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off (10) vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake (7)
Pharrell Williams - Happy (9) vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams (9)
Sam Smith - Stay With Me (7) vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (10)
Lorde - Royals (7) vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang (10)
Charli XCX - Boom Clap (10) vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko (7)
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man (7) vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (10)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton (8) vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night (10)
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX (10) vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin (8)
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha (10) vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing (7)
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc (7) vs. Bastille - Pompeii (10)
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J (10) vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn (7)
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (10) vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church (0)
Maroon 5 - Sugar (6) vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One (10)

Give each song a score out of 10, and round to the nearest 0.5. Whichever song ends up with more points will advance to Round 2.
Matchups:

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars (10) vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun (8.5)
Taylor Swift - Blank Space (1.5) vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons (10)
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (6.5) vs. Calvin Harris - Summer (2.5)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off (0) vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake (8)
Pharrell Williams - Happy (1.5) vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams (2)
Sam Smith - Stay With Me (10) vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (2.5)
Lorde - Royals (1.5) vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang (0)
Charli XCX - Boom Clap (8.5) vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko (1.5)
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man (6.5) vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (5)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton (10) vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night (3)
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX (0) vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin (7)
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha (2.5) vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing (3)
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc (9) vs. Bastille - Pompeii (10)
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J (0) vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn (1.5)
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (6) vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church (2)
Maroon 5 - Sugar (9) vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One (10)

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars 3/10 vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun 8/10
Taylor Swift - Blank Space 10/10 vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons 6/10
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong 1/10 vs. Calvin Harris - Summer 10/10
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off 8/10 vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake 10/10
Pharrell Williams - Happy 1/10 vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams 3/10
Sam Smith - Stay With Me 1/10 vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball 10/10
Lorde - Royals 7/10 vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang 6/10
Charli XCX - Boom Clap 7/10 vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko 6/10
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man 1/10 vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars 8/10
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton 10/10 vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night 1/10
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX 10/10 vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin 7/10
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha 6/10 vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing 6/10
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc 6/10 vs. Bastille - Pompeii 7/10
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J 10/10 vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn 6/10
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass 9/10 vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church 2/10
Maroon 5 - Sugar 1/10 vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One 2/10

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! (7) f/Bruno Mars vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun (9)
Taylor Swift - Blank Space (8) vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons (9.5)
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (6) vs. Calvin Harris - Summer (6.5)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off (7.5) vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake (8.5)
Pharrell Williams - Happy (5.5) vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams (6.5)
Sam Smith - Stay With Me (6.5) vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (6)
Lorde - Royals (7) vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang (0.5)
Charli XCX - Boom Clap (9) vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko (7.5)
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man (6) vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (7.5)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton (9) vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night (6)
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX (4) vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin (6.5)
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha (7) vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing (8)
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc (7.5) vs. Bastille - Pompeii (8.5)
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J (8) vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn (6)
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (7) vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church (6)
Maroon 5 - Sugar (7) vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One (9.5)

Pop radio, its taste

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars 4 vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun 6
Taylor Swift - Blank Space 1 vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons 1
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong 9 vs. Calvin Harris - Summer 5
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off 1 vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake 5
Pharrell Williams - Happy 1 vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams 6
Sam Smith - Stay With Me 1 vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball 8
Lorde - Royals 1 vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang 1
Charli XCX - Boom Clap 7 vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko 6
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man 2 vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars 9
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton 4 vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night 2
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX 3 vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin 7
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha 7 vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing 10
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc 2 vs. Bastille - Pompeii 1
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J 5 vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn 2
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass 1 vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church 1
Maroon 5 - Sugar 6 vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One 1

I've just set an official end time for this first half of Round 1, and it is 9PM Friday night.

Make sure to post your scores for the matchups before then!

Matchups:

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk! f/Bruno Mars (1) vs. Paramore - Ain't It Fun (10)
Taylor Swift - Blank Space (10) vs. Imagine Dragons - Demons (6)
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (5) vs. Calvin Harris - Summer (6)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off (10) vs. Katy Perry - Wide Awake (10)
Pharrell Williams - Happy (1) vs. Daft Punk - Get Lucky f/Pharrell Williams (5)
Sam Smith - Stay With Me (2) vs. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (9)
Lorde - Royals (7) vs. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang (6)
Charli XCX - Boom Clap (0) vs. Rihanna - Stay f/Mikky Ekko (10)
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man (4) vs. OneRepublic - Counting Stars (3)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us f/Ray Dalton (4) vs. Maroon 5 - One More Night (5)
Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/Charli XCX (10) vs. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child f/John Martin (8)
Pitbull - Timber f/Kesha (10) vs. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing (7)
Avicii - Wake Me Up! f/Aloe Blacc (5) vs. Bastille - Pompeii (6)
Katy Perry - Dark Horse f/Juicy J (10) vs. Ellie Goulding - Burn (10)
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (10) vs. Hozier - Take Me To Church (8)
Maroon 5 - Sugar (7) vs. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One (3)

Make sure to get your scores in before 9pm!

Round 1, Left Side Of Bracket RESULTS:



Here's the updated bracket:

The updated bracket, with the matchups we're doing now in the red box.

Round 1 (right side of the bracket):

This round will take place from now until April 27th, and will involve the Round 1 matchups on the right side of the bracket.

Give each song a score out of 10, and round to the nearest 0.5. Whichever song ends up with more points will advance to Round 2.

Matchups:

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud vs. Zedd - Clarity f/Foxes
Taylor Swift - Style vs. Selena Gomez - Come & Get It
Katy Perry - Roar vs. Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
Maroon 5 - Animals vs. Maroon 5 - Daylight
Ariana Grande - Problem f/Iggy Azalea vs. Pitbull - Time Of Our Lives f/Ne-Yo
Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble vs. Ed Sheeran - Don't
Jason Derulo - Talk Dirty f/2 Chainz vs. P!nk - Just Give Me A Reason f/Nate Ruess
Justin Timberlake - Mirrors vs. Kesha - Die Young
Lorde - Team vs. Eminem - The Monster f/Rihanna
Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven vs. Nick Jonas - Jealous
Tove Lo - Habits (Stay High) vs. Ariana Grande - Love Me Harder f/The Weeknd
Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines f/T.I. & Pharrell Williams vs. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop f/Wanz
John Legend - All Of Me vs. Disclosure - Latch f/Sam Smith
Iggy Azalea - Black Widow f/Rita Ora vs. Ellie Goulding - Lights
MAGIC! - Rude vs. Natalie La Rose - Somebody f/Jeremih
Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do vs. Icona Pop - I Love It f/Charli XCX