[chaley]

I would do this, assuming that there is only one priority item

{#genre:'list_contains($, ',', '^bar$', 'bar', sublist(list_sort($, 0, ','), 0, 1, ','))'}

If there can be more than one priority item I would use this as a stored template named list_priority_item

program:
	arguments(lst='No list argument given', items='');
	r = '';
	for l in items:
		if !r then
			r = str_in_list(lst, ',', l, l, '')
		fi
	rof;
	if !r then
		r = sublist(list_sort(lst, 0, ','), 0, 1, ',')
	fi;
	r

and call it like this:

{#genre:'list_priority_item($, 'Completed, Bar')'}

NB 1: calling stored templates from TPM is currently broken running from source. I will submit a fix soon.

NB 2: the loop in the stored template is a bit strange because the template language doesn't have a "break" statement.