Week 6: Vote for the winner!

Congratulations to our five finalists for making it this far! It's been a tough road, littered with lots of amazing songs, but now things get really serious -- the winner this week will be crowned Song Search champion, an accolade that comes with the added bonus of $5,000. Two runners-up will also be given $1,000 each.

The contest turned out to be a great display of democracy in action, as each week, after reading the expert commentary of our guest bloggers (Simon Reynolds from Blissblog, and Blair from Music for Robots), voters continually went against the picks of celebrity judges Rob Thomas, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla and Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori.

By and large, voters seemed to favor softer, poppier tracks over heavier fare like Generals & Major's "Every Night's a Bust in NYC," which was ousted in a come-from-behind victory by Bishop Allen's gently bittersweet "Like Castanets." Likewise, Mammoth's darkly challenging "Tenochitlan" was no match for the insistent choruses of the Main Drag's "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter." Masonic, with "End of Summer," and the Caterpillars, with "Motorbike," both scored victories with summery psychedelic indie rock. And in something of an upset, Hallelujah the Hills' rollicking self-titled tune beat out blogger and celebrity fave Eli Reed's vintage soul slow-burner, "I'll Roll With You."

Almost two months after we began, voters' favorites below are the only songs left standing. So make the best of your last chance to download, listen and vote in the poll at the end of this post!

A note on the voting: Concerns have been raised about whether the poll can be gamed. We will be closely monitoring the voting as this final week progresses, and we will police any irregularities as best we can. So don't try to cheat, unless you're prepared for public humiliation! Besides, it's really not in the spirit of this competition. Trust us: The karmic retribution will be swift and extremely painful.

The finalists are listed below in alphabetical order:

(Click link to listen)

"Like Castanets," Bishop Allen

"Motorbike," the Caterpillars

"Hallelujah the Hills," Hallelujah the Hills

"A Jagged Gorgeous Winter," the Main Drag

"End of Summer," Masonic