Well, that was fun! The first round of our bracket had a few surprises. As you would have thought, none of the top seeds were upset. The Pop region went almost chalk. There were some big upsets in the other 3 brackets. Let’s go region by region and see the results (all “scores” are in percentage).
POP REGION
1 MJ vs 16 Journey
Michael took down Journey with ease 71-29.
8 Mariah Carey vs 9 Christina
A 9 beating a 10 isn’t really an upset, but in the battle of 90’s divas Christina came out victorious over Mariah Carey 56-44. This one was as close as expected.
5 Prince vs 12 Bruno Mars
Prince showed that he is still a strong contender, beating new guy Bruno Mars 69-31.
4 Whitney vs 13 Britney
Whitney put the brakes on Ms Spears’ comeback winning 71-29.
6 JT vs 11 ABBA
Justin Timberlake had an easy time with ABBA, winning 81-19.
3 Beyoncé vs 14 BSB
Beyoncé won in a closer match-up than I expected 63-37.
7 Adele vs 10 T Swift
Adele took down Taylor Swift 59-41. People love them some T Swizzle.
2 Madonna vs 15 NSYNC
The final Pop match-up saw the Queen of Pop knock off NSYNC 71-29.
HIP HOP / R&B REGION
1 Tupac vs 16 Usher
Tupac started off strong, beating Usher 64-36.
8 Dr Dre vs 9 Boyz II Men
The 2nd 9 seed to take down an 8 is Boyz II Men winning over Dre 57-43
5 NWA vs 12 Lionel Richie
In the closest match of the 1st round, N.W.A. beat Lionel Richie 52-48. This match-up came down to 1 vote!
4 The Temptations vs 13 Snoop
The Temptations rolled Snoop Dogg 88-12. It was never in question.
6 Eminem vs 11 Marvin Gaye
Eminem drew a really tough opponent in the first round, but held off to beat Marvin Gaye 64-36.
3 Wu-Tang vs 14 Jay-Z
In the SFA knocks off West Virginia game of our bracket, the 14 seed Jay-Z shocked the bracket winning 83-17 over the 3 seeded Wu-Tang Clan.
7 Mary J Blige vs 10 Stevie Wonder
The 10th seeded Stevie Wonder found his way to victory, beating Mary J Blige 81-19. This one was the blowout I did not see coming.
2 Notorious B.I.G. vs 15 John Legend
Biggie won his first round pairing against John Legend 71-29.
COUNTRY REGION
1 George Strait vs 16 Tim McGraw
George almost got the first 100-0 victory, with only 1 hold out Tim McGraw fan. The final was 94-6.
8 Alabama vs 9 Merle Haggard
Alabama takes out the legend Merle Haggard in a nail biter 57-43.
5 Johnny Cash vs 12 George Jones
Johnny Cash moves on pretty easily over George Jones 81-14.
4 Patsy Cline vs 13 Miranda Lambert
Patsy Cline took out the new girl Miranda 71-29.
6 Dolly vs 11 Reba
In one of only two upsets in the Country Region, the 11th seed Reba took down 6 seed Dolly Parton 60-40.
3 Willie vs 14 Loretta Lynn
Willie Nelson beat Loretta Lynn 69-31.
7 Waylon vs 10 Garth
In a classic 10/7 upset, Garth absolutely rolled over Waylon Jennings 92-8.
2 Hank Williams, Sr vs 15 Carrie Underwood
Hank got the first round win over Carrie Underwood 79-21.
ROCK / ALTERNATIVE REGION
1 Beatles vs 16 Green Day
The Beatles knocked off Green Day 79-21.
8 Metallica vs 9 Guns N Roses
Metallica beat Guns N Roses 60-40.
5 Jimi Hendrix vs 12 NIN
Jimi Hendrix had a pretty easy time with Nine Inch Nails, winning 81-19.
4 Queen vs 13 The Ramones
Queen knocked out the fathers of punk rock 76-24.
6 AC/DC vs 11 RHCP
In a somewhat socking upset, the Red Hot Chili Peppers put together a great showing to beat the 6 seed AC/DC 67-33.
3 Led Zeppelin vs 14 Foo Fighters
Led Zeppelin moved on easily against the Foo Fighters 75-25
7 Van Halen vs 10 Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd knocked out Van Halen 80-20.
2 Nirvana vs 15 Billy Idol
The largest win of the first round and the only unanimous winner was Nirvana just embarrassing Billy Idol 100-0.
That was a lot of fun! And if you thought the first round had hard decisions, wait until you see what these results mean for round two! Again, I’ll link the polls to each match-up so just click on the match-up to go to each poll. Voting for the round of 32 will open immediately and will close Tuesday, March 22 at 5pm.
After the first round, the bracket now looks like this:
Round of 32
POP REGION
HIP HOP / R&B REGION
2 Notorious B.I.G. vs 10 Stevie Wonder
COUNTRY REGION
4 Patsy Cline vs 5 Johnny Cash
2 Hank Williams, Sr vs 10 Garth
ROCK / ALTERNATIVE REGION
That’s it. Let’s get to voting and see who gets into the Sweet 16. Again, to vote just click on each match-up and it will open the poll.
The Clumsy Optimist 
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