Out of 32 potential champions, only four remain. The third round of Billboard.com’s Hot 100 March Madness has ended, and the Final Four has been decided! 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.
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.
In the third round of voting, the combination of Kanye West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney barely surpassed the duo of Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea, as “FourFiveSeconds” escaped with 51 percent of the vote in by far the closest of the four match-ups. Maroon 5‘s “Sugar” and Sam Smith‘s “I’m Not The Only One” weren’t as lucky, as the songs were easily surpassed by Katy Perry‘s “Dark Horse” and Ellie Goulding‘s “Love Me Like You Do,” respectively.
In the most shocking upset of the tournament, Hozier triumphantly shook off Taylor Swift: “Take Me To Church” captured 55 percent of votes in the showdown with “Shake It Off,” and the Irish singer-songwriter has made his way into the Final Four. So which two songs with make it to the Hot 100 March Madness Finals? Can Hozier’s magical run continue, or will “FourFiveSeconds” prove too star-packed to overcome? And in the battle of pop divas, who has the upper hand, Ellie or Katy? It’s time for you to decide.
On Friday (Apr. 3), we’ll reveal the two songs that won their Round 4 match-ups, and one final round of voting will begin. Vote now in the match-ups below, and keep the Madness going!