colour order -> yellow qf, red semi, blue final (also shamelessly swiping tommy's format here lol)
Quarter-finalists: i blanked this here, and the thing is that the song ain't bad. it's just really unremarkable, so this makes sense
i just love these types of songs which is an unpopular opinion. inshallah you'll get another "a tomar x el culo" to send, but i love how much you showcase local artists
honestly a banger, but sadly only 4 could q and the others outshone you a bit
Semi-finalists:
yeah the math maths, even if i quite like this
i'm just a huge fan of music from the horn of africa. i had a feeling this would sadly plop, and unfortunately i was right. hate how if i was actually in the semi i would've more than doubled the points
this is at 400% volume why tf was this so quiet?
that aside, it's a bland pop song that tries to serve cunt but is only serving salmonella i fear
i love some gqom, but clearly i was in the minority. saur robbed
basically what i said for the comoros, but double the liking
this made me so upset. absolute banger but clearly nobody else really thought so
this was easily the weakest of the arabic songs, but this was still quite nice
I'M SO GONNA THROW HANDS. HONESTLY THE ROBBERY OF THE CENTURY
yeah this was just kinda here
maybe it's cause i'm a huge fan of spirita, but you chose what has to be her worst song by miles. hopefully you'll bring her back but with an actually good song
idk who said they thought you'd qualify, but i was genuinly shocked this got over 15 points tbh. so often this style of song just dies off, but i'm so glad you got as many points as you did
another absolute robbery. i thought this would contend for an aq tbh
yet another absolutely gorgeous song left in the dust. i hate y'all for this. so much
of the two rap songs this edition, this was by far the better of the two. i actually really like it, and it is now on my workout playlist and was super close to getting something from me in the rotw. as a bit of a tip from someone who's been here for a hot minute, hip-hop or rap can do well here (i mean, 4 of the winners have rap in them:
3,
7,
12 and
16), but these songs often have other things to latch onto. this really didn't. i am so glad you are gonna stick with chad and focus primarily on native artists, and i cannot wait to see what you'll deliver next
i was kinda shocked this wasn't last. this is very straight man rap, and i mean that derogatorily. there's parts that aren't bad, but it's not something i could ever see myself listening to again
excluding the fact that downloading the rv for this nearly set my computer on fire, this also happens to be my least favourite song of aziza's that's been sent. "no me digas" would be so awesome from her, but at the very least, congrats on escaping the qf zone
pig bottom rv video aside, this really didn't do anything for me. i kinda wanted this to q simply so nissa seych didn't have all of your qs ksajdllajkds
it's nice, but that's kinda it
i love how much you go off the beaten path with egypt. sadly, this was my least favourite of your egyptian songs, but you set that bar soooooooooooooooooooooooooo high that it was innevitably going to happen some day
i kinda forgot this existed, but congrats nontheless
take me to church liloca. absolute robbery, thought this would've aqed
this just grew on me too late, but congrats on being the nq with the most points in any own contest. that's a feat.
Finalists:
i love this song so much. maybe it's just the r&b stan in me, but this being last feels so wrong. i wish this would've at least been top 20, but being from detroit, i can't have shit here ig
your commitment to refusing to serve rvs is impressive. the song itself is decent, but it is forgettable
i'm not a fan of drops in general, but this one was pretty decent tbh. i know you'll serve next edition, so i'm looking forward to seeing the serves
of the afropop dolls this edition, this was the weakest, so it makes sense unfortunately. still a gem of a track
now this is mother behaviour. thank you so much for introducing me to ewube
the way this was on my nvsc shortlist for a bit until i found out she's algerian aflskjdfljaskd congrats on another q btw
yeah this wasn't for me, but chimlin, making lesotho into a powerhouse is insane. keep it up
i quite like it, but you got the own contest small nation boost. if angola sent this, nq and likely qf
now maybe it's just me being japanese, but i hear taiko and i go feral. mc yallah also is an incredible artist. put the two together, and you get a song that is genuinly one of my favourite songs ever. in any other edition, this would easily be my 12.
west african amapiano is saur good, even if sa does it better. isn't it crazy how the best songs you've set (ginger aside) all are local nigerian artists and not mediocre pop songs that the artist just happens to be nigerian?
please keep serving hits like "ba mi lo" "try me" and "obi," it's so nice
this and tanzania are really cut from a similar cloth, but i think this one just grew off of me as i had to keep listening to it as i was editing, but a well deserved q
KUBE BENDIZIJONGILE NGABE UYAPHILA UMNTANOMUNTUUUUUUUUUUU south african amapiano is my favourite flavour of it, and i'm so glad this qualified. keep serving the way you have been recently
idk what's in this song, but it has been earworming me for the past week. it's so good
excluding "aladdin" and "wen," i haven't really enjoyed a song of yours since "nshdowny alyke". that being said, congratulations on continuing to qualify with libya. still can't believe you have a better qualification percentage with them than i do with the drc. that's genuinely impressive
fifa wishes their world cup songs were as good as akwaba. two icons and an artist i've never listened to before makes such good music
this ain't for me but werk ig
Top 10:
i will forever be a "kitenge" apologist, but i will say, your commitment to serving afrohouse whoppers is incredible. sooner as opposed to later you'll get that aq i just know it. keep it up
i love ami, but this is one of her weaker songs. but her worst is better than a lot of people's best. welcome back and i hope you'll continue to serve
i love this, but 8th is a bit higher than i could've ever seen this being. i'm just glad that every nation now has been in a final, even though gabon will likely struggle to get back
fountain baby is such a good album, and the fact that you chose easily one of the three worst songs on the album is kinda crazy. "angels in tibet" or "co-star" would've demolished the contest. that being said, i'm shocked this didn't aq
we both know this song will never see the light of nvsc as long as i'm the hod. this just ain't for me, but welcome back to the aq zone anton. maybe we could see some amazight stuff next edition 👀👀👀👀👀 i'll gladly share some artists if you want them
it's a fine song, but a little too 2010s for me. regardless, welcome back to the final and congrats on the aq
buruntuma has got to have the second highest average placement for artists who have been to oafsc three times. i was gonna say first but hawa boussim is gonna be hard to beat. i still prefer "nha nomi" over "salia," but bangers nonetheless. congrats on another aq
SOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY god this song is so good and i am so glad that you finally got out of that rut you should've never been in. "ocean" and "mon amour" were both so goddamn good that i wasn't sure if you'd be able to outserve them, but clearly i was so wrong. we have never been more back than we are now. a well deserved aq for you miss ma'am
god i feel so awful that i screwed you out of a win, especially since you were leading from day one until the very last handful of votes came in. i will say, what an absolute bang to introduce yourself with guinea. genuinely excited to see where you'll go from here
i really don't know what to say. i started competing in own contests in september 2019 with
new caledonia. i got my first aq almost a year later with a reunionese artist that i sent for new caledonia. i started the contest because i was competing in the now-closed festival of miracles, where i was taking a different african nation each edition, and almost every time, i was debuting that nation. i started this in e41. this didn't really sit right with me, as african artists are soooo good, but many contests that allowed nations from around the world barely touched africa. i asked mihail if i could open up oafsc to give a platform for these artists that didn't have a platform on this site. over the past 4 years, seeing the passion that this contest has created for african music is all i could've ever hoped for.
lova lova has been an artist i've known for a bit. i found "
tshikata" and kept him in a massive playlist of congolese songs that i've been growing since edition one. when i heard "mambu" for the first time, i genuinley couldn't believe that it was the same man from "tshikata" on that track. i had a feeling that "mambu" was more of a song that would be appreciated in fantasia contest. but since he was from kinshasa, i figured that i would keep it for oafsc. i could have never imagined that this would be my first ever own contest win. i love this song so much, and i can't thank you enough for the support for lova lova. i cannot wait to invite you back to the drc for the first time since 2020