Asking us to choose between two great essays by @mfitejohnson.bsky.social and @erinkeane.bsky.social is cruel! But only one song can make it to the final round. (Apart from the other song, which will be determined by another contest.) And so you must vote!

My husband, this spooky ghost captain, and I all encourage you to vote for my Celine @marchxness.bsky.social essay!

Coming up tomorrow it's the cinderellas: Ben Folds Five vs Ani DiFranco!

With thanks to Tiff Fehr who's helping score brackets this year, we have 14 brackets with teams still in play! That's more than we expected given the carnage early on in this tourney. Congrats to those who have one or more final four songs in the final!

One of these @marchxness.bsky.social Final Four contenders is a voluptuously personal gesamtkunstwerk; the other is an exercise in hypercompetent professionalism. I'll be damned if the latter isn't sadder. Voting Celine!

Do it for Stephanie Seymour who left him before he could finish the trilogy.

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION FINAL FOUR HALFTIME SCORE My Heart Will Go On 217, November Rain 188 Vote by 9am AZ time FRI at marchxness.com

My March Sadness essay got an endorsement from Kentucky Shakespeare (the oldest continuously produced outdoor free Shakespeare festival in the country!) so I got that going for me. Maybe you also like a little play called Hamlet? marchxness.com#/finalfour-d...

I have entirely missed this tournament until now and … wow. Two of the most Very songs of the 90s, two incredible essays that have given me something new to hear in both

Now that November Rain has made the March Sadness Final Four, I need to share this cultural artifact I came across when writing about Tomorrow Wendy—Andy Prieboy’s musical White Trash Wins Lotto, based on the life of Axl Rose youtu.be/_iMtnugwkNE?...

Forty years ago today, Guns N’ Roses signed to Geffen Records. Today, “November Rain” faces the formidable Queen Celine in a March Sadness #1 seed match. In this face-off between 2 epic divas, vote Axl! marchxness.com#/finalfour-d...

Vote here! marchxness.com#/finalfour-d...

LOUISVILLE FANS, there's another Louisville team (ME) in another FINAL FOUR today (March Sadness). Remember how many of your high school friends legit believed "Paradise City" was about us! Vote for GN'R today because in your hearts you know you wanted it to be true!

Vote @mfitejohnson.bsky.social /Celine in the Final Four! marchxness.com#/finalfour-d...

Please vote for "November Rain," a song that I am not talented enough to cover but these gals are! marchxness.com/finalfour-di...

All these amazing women playing together across time and space: youtu.be/7p0z4PmM4co?...

I am never gonna record a cover of "November Rain" for March Sadness. I'm very sorry. But what I am gonna do is comb through thousands of covers on YouTube to find amazing women covering this song, and thread them here for you, starting with this badass teenage girl: www.youtube.com/watch?v=88rO...

Woot to the woot! Thank you, NYT and @melissakirsch.bsky.social! @marchxness.bsky.social @nytimes.com

Bumping this up to promote @marchxness.bsky.social Final Four voting, happening now!

Damn, it's hard out here for a bombastic ballad in three acts inspired by a short story and giving Hamlet vibes to one high schooler who inhaled too much ambient hairspray. This essay played round 1 on Jay's birthday & today might be its last. (Please enjoy our photo.) marchxness.com/finalfour-di...

this is the twitter energy this tournament has been missing! (does the essay convince you at all otherwise?)

Final Four @marchxness.bsky.social voting is open now through Friday, March 27, at noon Eastern/9 a.m. Pacific! Please consider voting to send Celine and me (and my dog Jazzy, pictured here) to the championship game!

This @marchxness.bsky.social game is very close right now and my vote goes to @mfitejohnson.bsky.social's moving essay about Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." Also writing a kick-ass essay *WHILE* teaching high school is an amazing accomplishment says this former h.s. English teacher. Go Melissa!

It's FINAL FOUR March Sadness 90s Edition Gameday! Battle of the 1-seeds: (1) Celine Dion, My Heart Will Go On vs (1) GnR, November Rain. @mfitejohnson.bsky.social vs @erinkeane.bsky.social. Listen, read, vote by 9am AZ time FRIDAY 3/27: marchxness.com/finalfour-di...

Another March Sadness "November Rain" warm-up ... can I ask you how fast would you run from the altar if your betrothed did this? (The opening riff to Sweet Child O' Mine was right there for the taking) youtu.be/rG0OAI1EDKM?...

nice to see the coverage!

hell yeah you did

YEAH

Warming up for the March Sadness Final Four over here and who knew, Finland? www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvro...

TOMORROW FRENZ IT IS THE FINAL FOUR / BATTLE OF THE 1-SEEDS. GNR VS CELINE. PREPARE THYSELVES.

And a mere 16 votes more put Ani over Collective Soul. Tremendous work, everyone! marchxness.com#/elite8-coll...

Amazing games this round. Another one-point win, this one for Brick over Glycerine. marchxness.com#/elite8-fold...

Alas, Collective Soul & I have fallen. Thanks to @marchxness.bsky.social for the wild ride (best thing on the internet!) & to everyone who read / commented on my essay, listened to & sent kind words re Laura's & my "The World I Know" cover, and talked music & writing, etc., with me these past weeks!

Sending our condolences to @thejasonthayer.bsky.social and @jamcharlesworth.bsky.social for deep tournament runs and excellent essays. Well fought games today. This tournament remembers you.

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION ELITE 8 DAY 2 FINAL SCORES Brick 301, Glycerine 300 (!!) You Had Time 217, The World I Know 201 We congratulate the winners. What a wild ride these games were. We'll see Ben Folds / Cicily Bennion and Ani DiFranco / @susannadonato.bsky.social in the FINAL FOUR!

We're on a 16-0 run & closing the gap! Still 1.5 hours to VOTE "THE WORLD I KNOW" BY NOON ET! marchxness.com/elite8-colle... @marchxness.bsky.social

CORRECTED MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION ELITE 8 DAY 2 SCORES, 100' to play: Brick 253, Glycerine 203 You Had Time 166, The World I Know 133 Who makes it into the Final Four? Vote by 9am AZ time WED at marchxness.com

Collective Soul & I are still way behind & NEED YOUR VOTE in the Elite Eight of @marchxness.bsky.social! ICYMI Last week my wife, Laura, & I did a cover & I'm unearthing it again to spur the comeback! READ & VOTE "THE WORLD I KNOW" BY NOON ET TODAY!! 👇 marchxness.com#/elite8-coll...

Behind the Music, @marchxness.bsky.social edition. A few hours remain to vote for me and Ani DiFranco’s “You Had Time” in March Sadness ‘90s Edition! marchxness.com#/elite8-coll...

(ya-uh) whoa-oh-oh-oh let your light shine down on @jamcharlesworth.bsky.social for @marchxness.bsky.social - vote collective soul

I didn't start a magazine of single-sentence prose 5 years ago to help me win @marchxness.bsky.social, but right now my essay on "Glycerine" is down against "Brick." If you're part of the Comp Sent hive, VOTE my essay and "Glycerine" SADDEST! Polls close 9am PST marchxness.com#/elite8-fold...

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION ELITE 8 DAY 2 SCORES, 100' to play: Glycerine 253, Brick 203 You Had Time 166, The World I Know 133 Who makes it into the Final Four? Vote by 9am AZ time WED at marchxness.com

If you find yourself mourning Round Here’s @marchxness.bsky.social loss today and need a little more Counting Crows content (plus a good dose of Third Eye Blind, and driving around Midwestern back roads, and plenty of sadness), here’s a little something else! kenyonreview.org/piece/drivin...

We do love a performance!

Man, the essays have been great this year! The songs have been pretty good too! But the real @marchxness.bsky.social heads know that from the Elite 8 on it's about the ground game, & people are SHOWING UP. This one's semi-close—but if you're leaning Team Brick, better start pushing buttons.

Two quite sad, QUITE different songs facing off in this @marchxness.bsky.social match. As I've said before, the sweetly maladroit 2-minute (!) piano intro of "Time" is awesome... but is it Final Four awesome? I dunno, man!

I love the March Sadness essays that help me really appreciate a song either for the first time, or in entirely new ways. James Charlesworth’s piece on “The World I Know” is one of those, and its dual narratives are perfectly in sync. Recommended reading if you like hope and pigeons.

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION ELITE 8 DAY 2 HALFTIME SCORES Glycerine 149, Brick 125 You Had Time 131, The World I Know 88 Who makes it into the Final Four? Vote by 9am AZ time WED at marchxness.com

Collective Soul & I are down big at the half but hope still lingers on! We've been here before & have shown we're a 2nd half team--still plenty of time for a comeback! Still plenty of time to READ & VOTE "THE WORLD I KNOW" by Noon ET Wednesday! @marchxness.bsky.social marchxness.com/elite8-colle...