Zedd (9) – Week Of May 26, 2018

Hey guys! Happy Memorial Day weekend! For those unaware, I posted my review of the Billboard Music Awards the other day. There, I pretty much just ranked all of the performances from worst to best based on my opinion of them. Do check that out if you haven't already. It's my previous post. Onto the countdown, things are looking decent, I guess. It could be better, but it also could be worse. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Alice Merton – No Roots (#39)

Last Week's #1 Song: Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

The Countdown

45. Charlie Puth – How Long (#42) [2 Weeks At #1]

44. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (#45)

43. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#44)

42. Camila Cabello – Havana (#43) [1 Week At #1]

41. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#34)

40. Halsey – Bad At Love (#41) [2 Weeks At #1]

39. Drake – God's Plan (#40)

38. Noah Kahan/Julia Michaels – Hurt Somebody (#22)

37. Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse (#38)

36. Dustin Atlas/Erin Bowman – Fake Friends (#37)

35. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#30)

34. Dua Lipa – New Rules (RE-ENTRY)
33. Zayn – Let Me (#27)

32. Kendrick Lamar, SZA – All The Stars (#35)

31. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#36) [2 Weeks At #1]

30. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#31)

29. AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up (#28)

28. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#9) [1 Week At #1]

27. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#26)

26. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (#32) [1 Week At #1]

25. Bazzi – Mine (#23)

24. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#25)

23. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (#21)

22. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#29)

21. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#24) [5 Weeks At #1]

20. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#20)

19. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (#33)

18. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#17)

17. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me (#16)

16. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days (#12)

15. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#19)

14. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#15) [1 Week At #1]

13. Halsey – Alone (#14)

12. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#13)

11. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses (#11)

10. Bad Wolves – Zombie (#18)

  9. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (#5)

  8. Maroon 5 – Wait (#10)

  7. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#7)

  6. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#8)

  5. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#4)

  4. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#6)

  3. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#2)

  2. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#3) [1 Week At #1]

  1. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#1) [9^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (1)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (–19)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (+14)

New Entrants
~ This week we have the return of New Rules. I'm kinda tired of the song at this point. But given that it's been fading away lately everywhere else, I don't think this will stay long.


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

• Sam Smith/Logic – Pray
• HRVY – Personal
• Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (DEBUT)
• The Wrecks – James Dean
• Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood
• Cardi B – I Like It
• Maren Morris – Rich
• Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar
• Meghan Trainor – Let You Be Right
• lovelytheband – Broken
• In Real Life – Tattoo (How 'Bout You)
• Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind
• Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe
• Hundred Handed – Too Good
• Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (DEBUT)

~ For once, I'm able to review Hit-Bound debuts without having to listen to them because I'm already familiar with them. First we have Fall Out Boy with The Last Of The Real Ones. MANIA was a disappointment of an album, but frankly I wasn't expecting much. The Last Of The Real Ones is one of the few good songs on there and I'm glad it made its debut here. Great production and the vocals are good. It reminds me of the old Fall Out Boy that I loved. It definitely has more of a rock feel than some of the other songs on the album, which is very much a good thing. Hoping this debuts on the countdown soon.

~ Next we have more Brendon Urie with High Hopes, which literally just came out a couple of days ago. I really like this song. It's very fun and enjoyable. The instrumentation is great and Brendon almost never disappoints with his vocals. I'll have more to say when this debuts. But this song is definitely a keeper.

~ We lost two songs this week: Over My Head and Live In The Moment. The former I really didn't care about. Echosmith has definitely done better in my opinion. It just wasn't for me I guess. But the latter is somewhat disappointing, but I'm not really surprised. At least it was on the countdown and, therefore, is eligible for my Top 45 songs of 2018.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

2. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

3. Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar

4. The Wrecks – James Dean

5. Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe

New Blurbs

~ Niall Horan – On The Loose is new to the Top 5. Despite this song not being big anywhere else, I do think it's a good song. So I'm cool with it being where it is. We definitely have worse in the Top 10.

~ Bad Wolves – Zombie made a very nice jump into the Top 10 this week. I'm very impressed with how well this song has been doing. Definitely keep the votes coming for this one. I love hearing a good rock song on this station. Frankly, I see no flaws with this song whatsoever. Hopefully it continues to do well.

~ However, Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho made a rather annoying jump into the Top 20. Like I said, I can tolerate Rockstar. But there's really nothing good about Psycho. This is a good example of boring rap music that no one wants to listen to, or at least people with good taste. Hopefully this one drops soon, but I doubt it since Hits 1 appear to have become fans of Post Malone.

~ On the bright side, Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same took a nice drop out of the Top 20. Definitely a little sudden, but I'm very pleased with it. This song has been bad from the start and I'm hoping it can keep declining from here. (Watch it jump back up next week. I'm calling it.)

~ Kendrick Lamar/SZA – All The Stars barely jumped this week and Foster The People – Sit Next To Me dropped right back down to #35. Hopefully the former can make a better jump soon and the latter can recover. Both are great songs that absolutely do not deserve to be underrated.

~ I find it fascinating how Psycho jumped despite God's Plan being the bigger hit of the year so far, and frankly the better song. Yet this doesn't surprise me considering that I've been a Hits 1 listener long enough to understand that they have strange logic.

~ Falling into the Bottom 5, we have MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low. I'm still really impressed with how well this song did here. It's been strong for over a year now. That time might unfortunately be coming to an end soon. Hopefully it did enough to lock itself into Hits 1's Top 45 of 2018 after (barely) missing their Top 45 of 2017.

~ As far as the exit goes, we lost No Roots. It's really not a big loss, at least in my opinion. To reclarify, I don't hate the song. I just find it to be not very interesting. I dislike it, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad song if that makes any sense. I can perfectly understand why people like it. It's just not my personal taste I guess. But whatever. It didn't do so well here, which doesn't really surprise me too much.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho

1 – Bad:

19. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

18. Lauv – I Like Me Better

2 – Mediocre:

17. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses

16. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends

15. Maroon 5 – Wait

3 – Decent:

14. Dua Lipa – IDGAF

4 – Good:

13. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood

12. Taylor Swift – Delicate

5 – Great:

11. Halsey – Alone

10. Niall Horan – On The Loose

9. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be

8. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days

7. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry

6. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes

5. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me

4. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back

3. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me

2. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. Bad Wolves – Zombie

Overall Score: 75/100 = 75% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: The All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell

Most Missed Countdown Song: Selena Gomez – Come & Get It

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Tie Between Christina Aguilera/Demi Lovato – Fall In Line and Bebe Rexha/Quavo – 2 Souls On Fire

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#1)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Bad Wolves – Zombie

2. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me

3. Kendrick Lamar/SZA – All The Stars

4. Walk The Moon – One Foot

5. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

2018 Billboard Music Awards: Performances Ranked

Hey guys! The Billboard Music Awards took place last Sunday night. So I decided to do a quick ranking of all the performances from worst to best. I'll also give a brief explanation for why I liked or disliked each performance. I won't talk about the awards or anything like that because these shows are honestly just popularity contests. So we're just going to talk about the performances here. So with that, I hope you enjoy and let's get right into it.

17. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle
This may just be because of my strong distaste for the song, but I just did not find this performance very interesting at all. I will say that Maren Morris did sound pretty good considering how autotuned her voice sounds in the actual song. But that's the only redeeming quality of this performance. Other than that, it was nothing special. Overall Grade: 2/10

16. Dua Lipa – New Rules
This performance was also not very interesting. It may have something to do with the fact that I'm kind of sick of the song. But there was really nothing interesting going on. Dua Lipa was just singing and she didn't even sound that good. I don't know. The performance just seemed like it was missing a lot. Overall Grade: 2.5/10

15. Jennifer Lopez/DJ Khaled – Dinero
This song is honestly just not good. The performance of it was not that good either. There really wasn't anything special about it. Jennifer Lopez has sounded better. I don't really need to listen to her go on about how she wants money. DJ Khaled did absolutely nothing to help this performance. His shouting may have been somewhat amusing when he performed Wild Thoughts at the Grammys, but now it was just annoying. So yeah. Not a good song and not a great performance. I know JLo can do better. Overall Grade: 3.5/10

14. BTS – Fake Love
The big performance of the night was really not that big of a deal. I find these guys to be overrated and most of the Korean girls to be crazy. Now I won't say they're completely talentless because there are good dancers. I'll give them that. But that's the only thing they have going for them to me. I don't really like the song. I'm not really huge on them. Yet these guys seem to be a pretty big deal right now. My friend was texting me as the show was going and she said that she was only watching for BTS. I don't know. I guess I'm just on board with K-pop as a whole. But let's be real here, I don't think these guys will be remembered in about a year from now. They are no One Direction. They will soon fade away. Overall Grade: 4/10

13. John Legend – A Good Night
Now things are starting to get good. John Legend is one of those artists who I may not always keep up with. But he has good songs every now and then and he is a talented individual. That being said, I do think this song is good and he sounded pretty good vocally. I guess my only piece of criticism is that it wasn't very memorable. There wasn't really much going on, which I guess can also be looked at as a good thing from a different perspective. Sure, the backup dancers were cool and all. But when I was going through the list of performances in my head by the end of the show, I completely skipped over this one. It was good though, just not very memorable. Overall Grade: 7/10

12. Camila Cabello/Pharrell – Sangria Wine / Havana
Pharrell Williams and Camila Cabello started this one off with a performance of their new song Sangria Wine. I haven't listened to it in full yet, but it sounded decent from the performance. I'm not sure what was going on with Pharrell's outfit. But that aside, the performance of it was good. Nothing great. But it was enjoyable to watch. But I did enjoy the performance of Havana more. Sure, Camila is not the best singer. But I will admit that she has good stage presence and she is a great dancer, which is no surprise since she was once part of Fifth Harmony. So overall, I enjoyed this a reasonable amount, which is pretty good considering that I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Overall Grade: 7.25/10

11. Janet Jackson – Nasty / If / Throb
Before receiving her icon award, Janet Jackson made her big stage return. I don't have much to say here and I'm really not the best person to critique this performance given that I'm not familiar with the majority of her music. But I have much respect for her to still be able to perform as good as she did. It wasn't amazing to me, but I found it to be enjoyable and I'm sure people who grew up listening to her loved it more than I did. Overall Grade: 7.5/10

10. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
From Dublin, we got to see Ed Sheeran perform the very Irish hit of his, Galway Girl. I don't think I've ever seen or heard this song performed live, but I thought he did a great job. I don't have much to say about it other than the fact that he sounded great and he's very talented with that guitar. Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable performance. Overall Grade: 8/10

9. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
The first of two Shawn Mendes appearances is his performance of his current hit, In My Blood. I never really talked about the song ever since it debuted on the Weekend Countdown. I've had it in blue the past couple of weeks, but I might change it back to green because I do think it is a good song. He certainly did a nice job performing it live. I really liked the set. All in all, I thought it was a pretty good performance. Overall Grade: 8/10

8. Salt-N-Pepa/En Vogue – Shoop / Let's Talk About Sex / Push It / Whatta Man
I don't have much to say here because I actually don't know who these people are. But I thought the performance was very energetic and enjoyable. These ladies really brought the energy to the stage and I found the performance to be thoroughly entertaining. It was a great way to close out the show. Not much else to say. But overall, I thought it was pretty damn good. Overall Grade: 8/10

7. Kelly Clarkson – Medley of Hits
After her little introduction, host Kelly Clarkson did a little bit of a mashup performance singing a bunch of 2017-2018 hits like Humble, Thunder, Young Dumb & Broke, There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back, Look What You Made Me Do, Too Good At Goodbyes, Finesse, and Shape of You as well as Maren Morris' 2016 country hit, My Church. I thought this was very entertaining and enjoyable. I personally didn't see it coming. But I enjoyed just about every second of it. So yeah. Kelly Clarkson is killing it. Overall Grade: 8/10

6. Shawn Mendes/Khalid – Youth
Soon after In My Blood, Shawn Mendes returns with Khalid for an emotional performance of their new song Youth from Shawn's new self-titled album. I think this song is really good and I really liked their performance of it. It's a song that I think needs to be heard by everyone as the lyrical content ties into the big problem in the world currently of school shootings. Both artists sounded very good on the vocals and I like how they brought in that choir. It made the performance much more emotional and moving. Overall, I thought it was a powerful performance. Overall Grade: 8.5/10

5. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days
The dynamic duo returns yet again. Macklemore and Kesha perform the underrated Good Old Days. A performance of this song is nothing we haven't seen before. But these two bring their A-game every time. Macklemore sounds the same as he usually does, which doesn't mean bad by any means. But Kesha sounded amazing in this performance, which I guess is also nothing new. But I can't help but think about all those comments saying that she can't sing without autotune. This performance was live proof that this woman has a naturally fantastic voice. I love the song and I thought the performance was great. Overall Grade: 9/10

4. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
Next we have the performance from Khalid and Normani Kordei from Fifth Harmony of the hit from the Love, Simon soundtrack, Love Lies. I thought this was a great performance and these two should certainly collaborate again. It was definitely a steamy performance and I could really feel the chemistry between these two artists. Khalid sounded really good (congrats on Top New Artist by the way) as well as Normani. And to make it even better, Normani really showed off her incredible dancing. I know she competed on Dancing With The Stars last year and made it to the finals. It makes perfect sense why. This girl has some serious moves. I always knew she was good in Fifth Harmony. But damn, she still has it even when she goes solo. So yeah. Great performance. Overall Grade: 9/10

3. Kelly Clarkson – Whole Lotta Woman
Of course the show wouldn't be complete without a performance from the host, Kelly Clarkson herself. She is a very talented artist and she is truly a gem from American Idol. This performance showcased exactly what I love about her. She sounded fantastic live and the song is catchy. The chills were strong towards the end. I don't have anything else to say because you just need to watch the performance to understand what I'm getting at. Overall Grade: 9.5/10

2. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry
The opening performance ended up being one of the best of the night. My expectations were not very high for this performance. But Ariana really did kill it with her performance of No Tears Left To Cry. I've noticed in the past that she always sounds fantastic performing live and this performance was no different. She was pitch perfect. She sounded amazing. I loved the set. The song has definitely grown on me. Ariana Grande has impressed me again. Overall Grade: 10/10

1. Christina Aguilera/Demi Lovato – Fall In Line
There may be a little bit of bias here because I love Fall In Line. Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato are two of the biggest female voices in the music industry currently and hearing them come together is just amazing in my opinion. I understand that the performance wasn't exactly perfect as Demi Lovato struggled a little bit vocally. But putting that aside, I thought they did a fantastic job. I absolutely love Christina's voice and Demi sounded great for the majority of it. The set was good. I loved their outfits. I love the song's deeper meaning. At the end, you can see Tyra Banks in the audience saying, "That was powerful," and it really was. So yeah. Like I said, I probably favored this because I love the song. But either way, it was a fantastic performance and, in my opinion, the best of the night. Overall Grade: 10/10



So yeah. That was my ranking of all the performances from the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. Keep in mind that these were all my opinions. But that's all I have for you guys today. I hope you enjoyed. I'll be back either tomorrow or Sunday hopefully with the Weekend Countdown post for this upcoming weekend.

Zedd (8) – Week Of May 19, 2018

Hey guys! This week on the countdown was okay I guess. We had some good debuts. But we lost good songs and a lot of bad moves happened this week. The Billboard Music Awards are on tomorrow night and I plan on watching. I may also do a review depending on how the night goes. So we'll see what happens. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• P!nk – Beautiful Trauma (#39)
• Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (#41) [1 Week At #1]
• Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#42) [1 Week At #1]

Last Week's #1 Song: 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back

The Countdown

45. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (#43)

44. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#44)

43. Camila Cabello – Havana (#38) [1 Week At #1]

42. Charlie Puth – How Long (#45) [2 Weeks At #1]

41. Halsey – Bad At Love (#36) [2 Weeks At #1]

40. Drake – God's Plan (#40)

39. Alice Merton – No Roots (#37)

38. Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse (#34)

37. Dustin Atlas/Erin Bowman – Fake Ass Friends (DEBUT)

36. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#29) [2 Weeks At #1]

35. Kendrick Lamar, SZA – All The Stars (DEBUT)

34. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#25)

33. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (#32)

32. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (#24) [1 Week At #1]

31. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#28)

30. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#35)

29. Selena Gomez – Back To You (DEBUT)

28. AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up (#27)

27. Zayn – Let Me (#21)

26. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#20)

25. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#26)

24. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#18) [5 Weeks At #1]

23. Bazzi – Mine (#23)

22. Noah Kahan/Julia Michaels – Hurt Somebody (#31)

21. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (#6)

20. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#19)

19. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#32)

18. Bad Wolves – Zombie (#22)

17. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#33)

16. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me (#16)

15. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#7) [1 Week At #1]

14. Halsey – Alone (#17)

13. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#14)

12. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days (#15)

11. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses (#9)

10. Maroon 5 – Wait (#5)

  9. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#4) [1 Week At #1]

  8. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#8)

  7. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#13)

  6. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#12)

  5. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (#11)

  4. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#10)

  3. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#1) [1 Week At #1]

  2. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#3)

  1. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#2) [8^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (–15)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Dua Lipa – IDGAF (+16)

New Entrants
~ First up we have Dustin Atlas and Erin Bowman with Fake Friends. I've kind of grown out of this one a little bit with how long it was on Hit-Bound. But I'd still consider it to be a good song, I guess. The problem with it is that it's just slightly underwhelming. But other than that, it's enjoyable to a certain extent. I think they did a nice job on the vocals and I like the lyrical content. So yeah. Not much else to say about this one. For now, I can enjoy it for what it is.

~ Next we have returning artists Kendrick Lamar and SZA with the lead single from the Black Panther soundtrack, All The Stars. I've been enjoying this one for quite a while now and I'm glad it finally made its debut. I love the production here. Kendrick Lamar is a great artist and one of the few I currently can stand from the rap genre. His verse is really good. But SZA steals the show here with that awesome chorus and I really like her verse as well. She does take on the majority of the song and I like that because she has a great voice and frankly, she deserves another hit. Overall, I love this song and I really hope it does well here.

~ Finally we have Selena Gomez with Back To You, which is from the soundtrack for season 2 of the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. I've definitely heard some mixed opinions on the show. I haven't actually watched it and I don't really plan on it, so I can't actually say anything. But either way, I'm here to talk about the music. This new song is pretty good for Selena Gomez, especially compared to the garbage she released last year in the form of Fetish and Bad Liar. There is still some mumbling going on, but there's also more singing going on, which is good. I like the production for the most part. It still doesn't really top her older work. But I'm just glad she finally released something good without the help of Kygo or Marshmello. Given how fast this debuted here, I'm pretty sure it'll do well.


Best Debut of the Week: Kendrick Lamar and SZA – All The Stars


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

• The Wrecks – James Dean
• Meghan Trainor – Let You Be Right
• lovelytheband – Broken
• Echosmith – Over My Head
• Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind (DEBUT)
• 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (DEBUT)
• Sam Smith/Logic – Pray
• Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• In Real Life – Tattoo (How 'Bout You)
• Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar
• Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe
• Cardi B – I Like It (DEBUT)
• Maren Morris – Rich
• Hundred Handed – Too Good
• Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment
• HRVY – Personal

~ Nevermind has been around for quite a while at this point. It was released almost a year ago. But here it is. I have it in green because I was feeling generous. But this is by no means a great song. First off, it's two and a half minutes. I don't get why artists make short songs like this. I much prefer a song that's four and a half minutes. And the vocals aren't that great. They're good, but nothing that stands out. The song is also very repetitive. But I love the production here, which is why I decided to be nice and put it in green. But it could be demoted to blue at any point in time.

~ Of course any single released by 5 Seconds of Summer is bound to make it onto Hits 1. Here we have Youngblood, which is not as good as Want You Back. This one is also in green because I was being very nice. It's a step down in terms of the production. It could easily change to blue soon. But I'll talk more about if it debuts on the countdown.

~ Now we have more Cardi B as she debuts with I Like It. I will say that it's definitely a step up from some of the shit she has released like Bartier Cardi. But this is still not good. I hate her voice. She sounds so dumb and I know that sounds rude, but it's the truth. She sounds dumb even when she's just talking normally in an interview or something. And I hate the Latin vibe mixed with trap production. I'm particularly picky with Latin songs and this one is just not good. I think Hits 1 edited out Bad Bunny and J Balvin. But frankly, neither of them did any good for the song. So yeah. Not a fan.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar

2. Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment

3. The Wrecks – James Dean

4. Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe

5. Sam Smith/Logic – Pray

All The Blurbs

~ The beyond mediocre The Middle appears to be back at #1 for some unknown goddamn reason. America slowly continues to disappoint me. This song is NOT GOOD. I can name a hundred EDM tracks that are much better than this that didn't even come close to being as successful. Seriously. It's time to stop this.

~ The rest of the Top 5 looks pretty good though. Whatever It Takes is back up at #2 and hopefully it can be our new #1 song next week. Say Amen and Tell Me You Love Me also made some nice jumps. Both are very welcome.

~ Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends appears to have jumped into the Top 10 much to my displeasure. But thankfully, we saw some slight drops from Maroon 5 – Wait and Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same.

~ The big jump back into the Top 20 from Lauv – I Like Me Better was very unnecessary and uncalled for. Once again, I do not see what people could possibly like about this song. It's straight up annoying and the line "I like me better when I'm with you" is just not good. That's not a very good compliment in my opinion.

~ The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me made quite a sudden drop out of the Top 20. I will admit that it has been fading on me, but this seemed a little too sudden. But hopefully this means that All The Stars can take over.

~ Noah Kahan/Julia Michaels – Hurt Somebody has randomly hit a new peak at #22. This song does absolutely nothing for me. I'm surprised it's still here. I personally would prefer if it just dropped again because frankly, no one cares about this one. Most people probably don't even know what this is.

~ As far as the exits go, End Game lasted longer than I thought it would. I'm pretty sure it only hit #1 because of Ed Sheeran. Beautiful Trauma was pretty underrated overall, but it did decent here peaking in the Top 10, so I'm happy with that. And finally, Good Old Days was also very underrated everywhere except here. I'm so glad the song did well here because it really is one of the best songs of the year so far. It deserved that one week at the top. Hopefully it did enough to make it onto Hits 1's Top 45 of 2018. Goodbye, Good Old Days. You will surely be missed. I believe these two will be performing it at the Billboard Music Awards. So I look forward to that.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

1 – Bad:

19. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

18. Lauv – I Like Me Better

2 – Mediocre:

17. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses

16. Maroon 5 – Wait

15. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends

3 – Decent:

14. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood

13. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry

12. Dua Lipa – IDGAF

11. Taylor Swift – Delicate

4 – Good:

NONE

5 – Great:

10. Niall Horan – On The Loose

9. Halsey – Alone

8. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be

7. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days

6. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes

5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back

4. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me

3. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

2. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. Bad Wolves – Zombie

Overall Score: 71/100 = 71% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreet's Back)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Karmin – Acapella

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: OneRepublic/Logic – Start Again

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#4)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Bad Wolves – Zombie

2. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me

3. Kendrick Lamar/SZA – All The Stars

4. Walk The Moon – One Foot

5. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me

5 Seconds of Summer (1) – Week Of May 12, 2018

So I'm currently in week one of summer break and the post is still out later than it should be. My apologies for that. This was pure laziness on my part. But hey, it's out before Friday. So that's improvement. Slowly, they'll start coming out earlier and earlier again. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment (#28)
• NF – Let You Down (#42)

Last Week's #1 Song: Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

The Countdown

45. Charlie Puth – How Long (#43) [2 Weeks At #1]

44. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#45)

43. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (#30)

42. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#44) [1 Week At #1]

41. Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (#41) [1 Week At #1]

40. Drake – God's Plan (#36)

39. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma (#39)

38. Camila Cabello – Havana (#40) [1 Week At #1]

37. Alice Merton – No Roots (#37)

36. Halsey – Bad At Love (#38)

35. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (DEBUT)

34. Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse (#34)

33. Dua Lipa – IDGAF (DEBUT)

32. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#29)

31. Noah Kahan/Julia Michaels – Hurt Somebody (#35)

30. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (#32)

29. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#33) [2 Weeks At #1]

28. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#15)

27. AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up (#31)

26. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#25)

25. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#26)

24. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (#17) [1 Week At #1]

23. Bazzi – Mine (#18)

22. Bad Wolves – Zombie (#22)

21. Zayn – Let Me (#23)

20. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#24)

19. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#21)

18. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#19) [5 Weeks At #1]

17. Halsey – Alone (#27)

16. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me (#20)

15. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days (#13)

14. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#14)

13. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#11)

12. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#12)

11. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (#9)

10. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#8)

  9. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses (#7)

  8. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#10)

  7. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#6) [1 Week At #1]

  6. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (#5)

  5. Maroon 5 – Wait (#16)

  4. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#1) [1 Week At #1]

  3. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#4)

  2. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#3) [7 Weeks At #1]

  1. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#2) [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I and Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (–13)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Maroon 5 – Wait (+11)

New Entrants
~ Not long after the exit of New Rules, Dua Lipa makes her return with her follow-up single, IDGAF. I don't really have much to say about this one. This song is not as good as its predecessor, but it's decent overall. I find the song rather boring at certain points. I do think she delivers well on the vocals. But the production here is lacking and I just don't really find it that interesting. I don't really care how it does here given how much stuff here is worse.

~ Next we have the long-awaited return of Foster The People, who had that big song in 2011 called Pumped Up Kicks as well as a few other minor hits that didn't take off as much. This week they bring Sit Next To Me. At first I thought it was good, but it really didn't take long for me to fall in love with it. Frankly, I'm not too sure why I love it as much as I do. But something about it just grabs my attention. The vocals are good as well as the production. I think it's a very catchy song. It's one that I find hard not to sing along to. Overall, it's such a great song and I really hope it does well.


Best Debut of the Week: Foster The People – Sit Next To Me


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

• Sam Smith/Logic – Pray
• Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• In Real Life – Tattoo (How 'Bout You)
• Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe
• Dustin Atlas/Erin Bowman – Fake Ass Friends
• Echosmith – Over My Head
• The Wrecks – James Dean
• Kendrick Lamar, SZA – All The Stars
• HRVY – Personal
• Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar
• Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment (RE-ENTRY)
• Selena Gomez – Back To You (DEBUT)
• Maren Morris – Rich
• Hundred Handed – Too Good
• lovelytheband – Broken
• Meghan Trainor – Let You Be Right (DEBUT)

~ Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment has apparently left the countdown after a short three weeks and is now back on Hit-Bound. I'm hoping it can redebut sometime soon because it deserves to do well. But even if it doesn't, it's technically eligible for my Top 45 songs of 2018.

~ This week, Selena Gomez brings Back To You from the soundtrack for season 2 of the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. It is definitely a step up from her previous solo work. It still doesn't reach the height of her older work, but I think it's enjoyable for what it is.

~ Let You Be Right sounds exactly like No Excuses. Meghan Trainor is probably one of the least original pop artists currently.

~ So I heard Familiar on Hits 1 for the first time this past week and I did not realize they edited out J Balvin. I have to say Hits 1, that was a really shitty move. What's wrong with having some Spanish in a song that is full of Latin vibes??? He's pretty much the reason this song is good. Sometimes I just don't understand this station.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Kendrick Lamar/SZA – All The Stars
2. Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar
3. Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment
4. The Wrecks – James Dean
5. Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe


Blurb Next To Me
~ And just like that, one of the most predictable things has happened as 5 Seconds Of Summer have hit #1 with Want You Back. Normally, I'd be questioning this given that the song really isn't that big. But I'll admit, it's a solid track and after last week's terrible #1, I was very happy with this. So yeah. I wouldn't mind it spending more time at the top if it means we can keep some other songs away.

~ And out of nowhere, Maroon 5 – Wait makes a rebound back into the Top 5. I've been losing interest in this song lately, but now I've had it. This song is just not good as is the majority of their latest album (with a few exceptions). Maroon 5 has become The Adam Levine Experience.

~ So I have been growing into Taylor Swift – Delicate lately. It's actually a pretty decent song and it might get promoted to green soon. There are still some moments that I find boring. But it's a chill song and I can appreciate that, especially since it's different for Taylor Swift.

~ However, as you probably noticed, I have grown out of Meghan Trainor – No Excuses and Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends. Both of them suck ass in the lyrical department. From Meghan Trainor putting down men for no reason to Anne-Marie being rude to a friend who happened to like her, these songs just don't do it for me anymore.

~ Lauv – I Like Me Better has finally dropped out of the Top 30. I'm still not sure why this was a big hit and why people like this song. There is honestly no better definition of bland and generic than this song.

~ Alice Merton – No Roots has done absolutely nothing these past few weeks and it's literally just sitting here hogging up a spot that could be occupied by a much better song that can actually do well. It's time to let go of this one, Hits 1.

~ Meanwhile, Drake – God's Plan has fallen near the Bottom 5 for a song that's arguably the biggest song of the year so far. They do this every year. Last year was Despacito (although that did okay, it didn't do nearly as well as it should've) and the year before that was One Dance. While I don't love God's Plan by any means, I do find it to be a catchy song and it's definitely better than a lot of the songs ranked above it.

~ I've also been losing interest in Charlie Puth – How Long. I'm mostly just tired of hearing it. Voicenotes finally came out and I haven't finished listening to it yet, but it's definitely a step up from Nine Track Mind. The album cover was changed a few days before the release and I kinda liked the other one better, but the current one is good too I guess.

~ As far as the exits go, Live In The Moment went too soon, but we'll (hopefully) see it back here sometime in the future. What's annoying is that Feel It Still is still here. We also say goodbye to Let You Down, which I was slowly getting back of. But it was definitely a good song and it lived a good life here.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

1 – Bad:
19. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle
18. Imagine Dragons – Thunder

2 – Mediocre:
17. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses
16. Maroon 5 – Wait
15. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends

3 – Decent:
14. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
13. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry
12. Taylor Swift – Delicate

4 – Good:
NONE

5 – Great:
11. Niall Horan – On The Loose
10. Halsey – Alone
9. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
8. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me
7. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
6. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back
4. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me
3. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me
2. Walk The Moon – One Foot
1. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

Overall Score: 72/100 = 72% (B)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way

Most Missed Countdown Song: Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: OneRepublic/Logic – Start Again

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#3)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Bad Wolves – Zombie
2. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)
3. Walk The Moon – One Foot
4. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days
5. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me