Taylor Swift went 1-for-2, Hozier scored a surprising win and voters were NOT all about that bass — the second round of Billboard.com’s Hot 100 March Madness has ended, with just eight songs still standing! The annual twist on the college basketball tournament bracket is now in its fourth year, and once again, we’re asking pop fans to vote for their favorite recent hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The initial round of 32 has shrunk to the Elite Eight, and it’s time for another round of voting.
To help choose the winner of Hot 100 March Madness 2015, check out the updated bracket of songs, and vote for your favorite tracks in the head-to-head match-ups!
The 32 original songs were the most recent hits to appear in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100, through the chart dated March 14, 2015. The match-ups within the bracket were decided arbitrarily, so don’t worry about any NCAA-style rankings — any of the 32 songs were given the same chance of following Britney Spears‘ “Hold It Against Me,” Will.i.am and Britney Spears’ “Scream and Shout” and Miley Cyrus‘ “Wrecking Ball” and capturing Hot 100 March Madness glory.
Looking back at the second round of action, Meghan Trainor suffered a pair of defeats, as “Lips Are Movin'” and “All About That Bass” lost in the second round to Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea‘s “Problem” and Sam Smith‘s “I’m Not The Only One,” respectively. Although the latter song was not as huge as “Stay With Me,” that Smith track went down to Katy Perry‘s “Dark Horse,” which earned 54 percent of the vote in its matchup. On the right side of the bracket, Maroon 5 and the combination of Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney kept humming along, with “Sugar” and “FourFiveSeconds” moving into Round 3 (although Maroon 5’s other candidate, “Animals,” was put to sleep).
The closest match-ups were also the most surprising results: Hozier‘s “Take Me To Church” squeaked by “Fancy” in Round 2 with 51 percent of the vote against Iggy and Charli. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift‘s latest No. 1 single, “Blank Space,” lost to Ellie Goulding‘s “Love Me Like You Do” which earned 52 percent of the votes in its battle. Can Taylor “shake off” Hozier and make it into the Final Four? And will Ellie take down Sam Smith? It’s up to you guys to decide.
On Tuesday (Mar. 31), we’ll reveal the four songs that won their Round 3 match-ups, and another round of voting will begin. Vote now in the match-ups below, and keep the Madness going!