SpinTunes 25 Round 3 Results

The Round 3 results are in, and what fascinating results they are. Remember, the top four artists from this round move on to the Final Round, but so does our Wild Card contestant - the artist from outside the top four with the best combined ranks from all three rounds. That means we've got some extra calculating to do.

But first, let's stick to this round. In an unusual turn of events, we have a tie for first place. Earning their joint spot at the top of the podium are David Taro with his song "One Hit Wonder" and The Alleviators with "Song of the Ravaged".

That leaves third and fourth place to move on as well, but in an usual turn of events (hereafter abbreviated IAUTOE), we have no fourth place finisher, because there's also a tie for third place! This Big Old Endless Sky and Huge Shark earned identical scores, sending them to the final round as well.

But wait, it gets weirder. Keep reading for the full Round 3 results and to find out who the Wild Card contestant will be.

Here are your full Round 3 rankings:

Rank	Artist	Ben	Mike	Nancy	Phil	Total
1	David Taro	7	1	4	1	13
1	The Alleviators	1	4	6	2	13
3	This Big Old Endless Sky	2	12	2	5	21
3	Huge Shark	5	6	3	7	21
5	Governing Dynamics	3	11	1	9	24
6	Hot Pink Halo	9	5	5	8	27
6	The Pannacotta Army	12	2	9	4	27
8	Bob Voyg	4	8	7	10	29
9	Sober	11	3	13	3	30
10	Jealous Brother	6	9	11	6	32
11	Flintsteel	10	7	8	13	38
12	SEE/MAN/SKI	8	13	12	11	44
13	Good Guy Sôjàbé	13	10	10	12	45

From the contestants ranked 5-13, I've combined their ranks from all three rounds, with the results below:

Rank	Artist	R1	R2	R3	Total
1*	Hot Pink Halo	1	10	6	17
2*	The Pannacotta Army	5	6	6	17
3	Flintsteel	4	9	11	24
4	Bob Voyg	10	7	8	25
5	Sober	16	1	9	26
6	Governing Dynamics	19	3	5	27
7	SEE/MAN/SKI	14	12	12	38
8	Good Guy Sôjàbé	18	10	13	41
9	Jealous Brother	20	13	10	43

As you can see, IAUTOE, Hot Pink Halo and The Pannacotta Army earn identical total scores. The rules stipulate that their Round 3 scores should be compared to determine who earns the Wild Card spot. Well... IAUTOE, their Round 3 scores are also tied.

Now what? This is a very specific scenario that I didn't imagine. However, I do have a process for resolving ties when absolutely necessary: comparing head-to-head rankings, i.e. how many individual judges ranked one over the other, regardless of specific score. Of course, with only four judges in Round 3, that's also a tie at 2-2. We're in pretty uncharted territory here, but I decided it would be fair to compare head-to-head rankings across all three rounds. In 14 rankings, Hot Pink Halo scored higher in 8 of them, while The Pannacotta Army scored higher in 6. Therefore, the Wild Card spot goes to Hot Pink Halo.

Your five finalists, who will all compete on an equal footing in the Final Round, and who will be judged by the rest of the SpinTunes 25 contestants, are:

• David Taro
• Hot Pink Halo
• Huge Shark
• This Big Old Endless Sky
• The Alleviators

If the Wild Card contestant (Hot Pink Halo) fails to submit by the Final Round deadline, there will be no shadow reinstatement for that spot. If any of the other four finalists fail to submit, shadow reinstatement remains a possibility!

Rankings are, of course, just one part of the judging process. We also have reviews for you. Find them here:

• Ben's reviews
• Mike of The Dutch Widows' reviews
• Nancy Rost's reviews
• Vehicles of Beware's reviews
• Contestant reviews and discussion on the Song Fight! bulletin board