Niall Horan (2) – Week Of September 16, 2017

Hey guys! Not too much happened this week. But at least the post is out earlier than last week. Hopefully, I'll have time this week to review the America's Got Talent finals. Performances air tonight and the results are tomorrow night. Maybe I'll even talk about some of my favorite acts that made it to the live shows (but not the finals) to make up for all the skipped posts. I'm not entirely sure yet. But that'll be determined sometime this week depending on my workload. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• DJ Khaled/Rihanna/Bryson Tiller – Wild Thoughts (#43)

Last Week's #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back

The Countdown

45. Calvin Harris/Pharrell/Katy Perry – Feels (#39)

44. AJR – Weak (#28)

43. The Chainsmokers/Halsey – Closer (#45) [8 Weeks At #1]

42. Julia Michaels – Issues (#44)

41. Bruno Mars – That's What I Like (#41) [1 Week At #1]

40. Linkin Park/Kiiara – Heavy (#42)

39. Lady Gaga – The Cure (#38)

38. The All-American Rejects – Sweat (DEBUT)

37. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#26)

36. Fall Out Boy – Champion (#31)

35. Kygo/Selena Gomez – It Ain't Me (#36)

34. Panic! At The Disco – L.A. Devotee (#33)

33. Hailee Steinfeld – Most Girls (#24)

32. All Time Low – Good Times (#29)

31. The Chainsmokers – Honest (#25)

30. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#27) [9 Weeks At #1]

29. Bruno Mars/David Guetta – Versace On The Floor (#30)

28. Andy Grammer – Give Love (#37)

27. Justin Bieber/BloodPop – Friends (#32)

26. Harry Styles – Two Ghosts (#40)

25. Halsey – Bad At Love (#34)

24. Linkin Park – One More Light (#6)

23. Hey Violet – Hoodie (#21)

22. Maroon 5/SZA – What Lovers Do (#23)

21. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee/Justin Bieber – Despacito (#22)

20. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#11) [3 Weeks At #1]

19. Louis Tomlinson/Bebe Rexha/Digital Farm Animals – Back To You (#18)

18. P!nk – What About Us (#15)

17. Cheat Codes/Demi Lovato – No Promises (#16)

16. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#35)

15. Macklemore/Skylar Grey – Glorious (#20)

14. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#17)

13. Charlie Puth – Attention (#14) [1 Week At #1]

12. Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay (#10) [4 Weeks At #1]

11. Kesha – Praying (#13)

10. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#12)

  9. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#10)

  8. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road (#3)

  7. The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#5) [3 Weeks At #1]

  6. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#8) [3 Weeks At #1]

  5. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#9)

  4. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#19)

  3. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#2)

  2. Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back (#1) [5 Weeks At #1]

  1. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#4) [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers/Daya – Don't Let Me Down

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Linkin Park – One More Light (–18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (+19)

New Entrants
~ Our lone new entrant this week consists of the return of The All-American Rejects after a few years with Sweat. I've enjoyed these guys' music for quite a while now and I would consider myself a fan. Move Along was an enjoyable album and had three fantastic singles. If I'm being totally honest, Sweat wasn't that great at first listen. But it's a perfect example of a song that takes several listens to get into it. Now I actually really like it. The vocals are on point, even in the chorus with the continuous shouting of "sweat." For some reason, I find that enjoyable. I really like the instrumentation and the production, especially in the chorus. Not to mention that awesome guitar solo right before the final chorus. Overall, I find it quite enjoyable. It's catchy and it brings a great amount of energy to this countdown. This is the kind of music I personally want to hear more of. I love it, so I hope it does well.


Hit-Bound
~ Here is the Hit-Bound list:

• PRETTYMUCH – Would You Mind
• Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes
• Sabrina Carpenter – Why
• Zayn/Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
• The Script – Rain
• Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go
• Ed Sheeran – Perfect (DEBUT)
• Why Don't We – Something Different
• Dua Lipa – New Rules (DEBUT)
• Selena Gomez – Fetish
• Evaride – Heartless
• Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft
• Taylor Swift – ...Ready For It?
• Zedd/Liam Payne – Get Low

~ Ed Sheeran debuts this week with Perfect. This is probably the best single off of Divide so far. Everything about it is amazing, from the lyrical content to Ed Sheeran's vocals. I'll talk more about it when it debuts. But fun fact: Ed Sheeran actually had a concert this past weekend near where I live as part of his current tour. I would've loved to have gone, but I couldn't get my hands on any tickets. Oh well.

~ Next we have Dua Lipa debuting with New Rules. You may know her from Martin Garrix's track Scared To Be Lonely from earlier this year, which made it somewhat big. This new song is very catchy. I think Dua Lipa has a great voice and she shows it well on this song. I would like to see this song do well on Hits 1.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Zayn/Sia – Dusk Till Dawn

2. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/F.G.L./watt – Let Me Go

3. Ed Sheeran – Perfect

4. The Script – Rain

5. Dua Lipa – New Rules

What Blurbers Do

~ Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl is already in the Top 5 on its third week. I totally wouldn't mind see this song at the top soon. It's currently the best song in the Top 5 and I would much rather see this at the top spot than our #3 and #5.

~ Imagine Dragons – Believer is still cruising around the Top 10. Most people are probably sick of it by now. But I have to say, this song isn't as bad now as it was when it first debuted. I have grown slightly into it. Not enough for it to change to blue. But I'd say enough to eliminate any chances of it appearing in my Bottom 10 songs of the year.

~ Mono Mind – Save Me A Place is already in the Top 10 on week #3, which I'm very happy about. It's unlike any song I've ever heard and I'm glad that it's been pretty successful on this countdown so far. It deserves this kind of recognition.

~ I did not think Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still would already have the Biggest Jump of the Week on its second week. But I'm pretty happy about. It's arguably the best debut from last week. So it's nice to see it already doing well here.

~ I have given What Lovers Do repeated listens this past week. Now I don't know what to think of it. It's kind of boring, but kind of catchy at the same time. So right now I don't know. But don't be surprised if this changes to blue or maybe even green within a week or two. It seems to be one of those grower tracks similar to The All-American Rejects – Sweat.

~ Linkin Park – One More Light took quite a fall this week. I guess it was nice while it lasted. But seriously. A song that makes almost everyone think of Chester should not drop so much so suddenly. Let it slowly fade over time. It is a little saddening though because I had started to really enjoy it a couple of weeks ago. But I guess this is what happens when you bring in a non-official single.

~ We have five songs dropping out of the Top 30 this week. Four of them are good, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if they left one of these upcoming weeks. But the fifth one that is currently sitting at #44 deserved to drop. I've been waiting months for this to happen. Now let's get it off the countdown for good.

~ Calvin Harris/Pharrell/Katy Perry – Feels has now officially fallen to the bottom of the countdown. Quite saddening, but at least it did somewhat well here. Hopefully it doesn't leave just yet. I'd appreciate if it'd just hang around for a little while longer.

~ Our one exit this week is a little saddening. I do believe that Wild Thoughts was Top 10 worthy. It's been one of the biggest songs in the country the past couple of months, yet it did poorly here. I'm not too surprised considering Hits 1 has a tendency to underrate songs that many would consider to be overrated everywhere else. But whatever. At least it was here for a little while.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Liam Payne – Strip That Down

1 – Bad:

19. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry

2 – Mediocre:

18. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road

17. Imagine Dragons – Believer

3 – Decent:

16. Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay

4 – Good:

NONE

5 – Great:

15. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do

14. Charlie Puth – Attention

13. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill

12. Imagine Dragons – Thunder

11. Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back

10. Niall Horan – Slow Hands

9. Cheat Codes/Demi Lovato – No Promises

8. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl

7. The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This

6. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still

5. Louis Tomlinson/Bebe Rexha – Back To You

4. Macklemore/Skylar Grey – Glorious

3. Kesha – Praying

2. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. P!nk – What About Us

Total Score: 84/100 = 84% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Cobra Starship/Sabi – You Make Me Feel...

Most Missed Countdown Song: Neon Trees – Sleeping With A Friend

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Logic/Alessia Cara/Khalid – 1-800-273-8255

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Coldplay – Hymn For The Weekend (#10)

My Top 5 Picks

1. P!nk – What About Us
2. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place
3. Kesha – Praying
4. Macklemore/Skylar Grey – Glorious
5. The All-American Rejects – Sweat