Pages

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

5 Seconds of Summer (3) – Week Of October 20, 2018

Hey guys! I have another busy week this week and I was fortunate enough to have some time to get this done at a decent time. I'm still not sure when I will reveal the next ten songs for the 2013 rankdown. But when I decide on a day and time, I'll let you guys know in the comments. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.


  • Brown & Gray – Top Down (#40)
  • Niall Horan – On The Loose (#42)
  • Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#44)
  • DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo – No Brainer (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
The Countdown
45. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#43)
44. Post Malone – Better Now (#32)
43. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love (#39)
42. Weezer – Africa (#18)
41. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#41)
40. NF – Lie (#9)
39. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#36)
38. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#37) [3 Weeks At #1]
37. Loud Luxury/brando – Body (DEBUT)
36. AJR – Burn The House Down (#35)
35. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#35)
34. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#33) [9 Weeks At #1]
33. Walk The Moon – Kamikaze (DEBUT)
32. LSD – Thunderclouds (#26)
31. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#25) [4 Weeks At #1]
30. Kim Petras – Heart To Break (#28)
29. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#31) [2 Weeks At #1]
28. Calvin Harris/Sam Smith – Promises (DEBUT)
27. Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – Shallow (DEBUT)
26. Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore (#24)
25. The Vamps – Just My Type (#27)
24. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#30)
23. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#38)
22. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (#19)
21. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#22) [1 Week At #1]
20. Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan (#23)
19. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#20)
18. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#11)
17. George Ezra – Shotgun (#12)
16. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#6)
15. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#15)
14. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#29)
13. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#3)
12. lovelytheband – Broken (#16)
11. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#17)
10. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#14) [2 Weeks At #1]
  9. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#21)
  8. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#10)
  7. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (#7)
  6. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#8)
  5. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#13)
  4. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#4)
  3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#1) [6 Weeks At #1]
  2. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#5)
  1. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#2) [3rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: NF – Lie (–31)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie Between Dan + Shay – Tequila and Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (+15)

New Entrants
~ First up we have Loud Luxury featuring brando with Body. Right off the bat, I don't like this song. I find it annoying. I don't like the production. The vocals are mediocre. The song is very repetitive. There's not much else to say. It's just annoying. I can't see this doing well here thankfully.

~ Next we have a song that's been chillin' on Hit-Bound for a while. It's Kamikaze by Walk The Moon. I didn't love this one at first, but it has grown on me with repeated listens. It's obviously not as good as One Foot or some of the other songs from What If Nothing, but I like the song for what it is. It's catchy and different. I like the production and Nick does a nice job on the vocals. I'm glad this song is here because Walk The Moon deserve all the success they can get. Hopefully it does decent at the very least.

~ Next we have Calvin Harris with the follow-up to One Kiss, titled Promises. Considering that there really aren't any Calvin Harris singles that I actively dislike (aside from that big 2016 single which we don't speak of), this is one of his weakest singles in his career. It's not a bad song. It just doesn't have much to it. Sam Smith has a great soulful voice, but I'm not sure it fits well in a dance track like this. I much prefer him in his solo work. Of course he does amazing on songs like Latch and Omen by Disclosure. But for some reason, it just sounds off here. The production here is subpar. It's kind of boring and it's one of those songs that would sound good as background music. It's not something I can really focus my attention on. Also, there's this weird female voice in the background in the chorus and it just sounds so out-of-place. I don't really like this song unfortunately. It's in blue, but it's close to red.

~ Finally we have Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper with Shallow from A Star Is Born. I will say that it is a very good song. It's obviously well-written. Lady Gaga sounds great as she always does and even Bradley Cooper sounds good as well. It's a nice ballad-type song. Lady Gaga definitely has the voice for it. However, I do not think this is as good as their other song titled I'll Never Love Again. I said that that one was "beautiful" and I can't exactly say the same about this one. But it's nice and I really like it. I just hope that I'll Never Love Again will have a shot on the countdown as well.


Best Debut of the Week: Walk The Moon – Kamikaze


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


  • Halsey – Without Me
  • Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (DEBUT)
  • Pitbull/Theron Theron – Free Free Free
  • David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (DEBUT)
  • Shawn Mendes – Nervous
  • Camila Cabello – Consequences (DEBUT)
  • Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
  • Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way (DEBUT)
  • Ariana Grande – Breathin
  • Twenty One Pilots – My Blood
  • Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone – Jackie Chan
  • Alex Aiono – Big Mistake
  • The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
  • Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye
  • Lady Gaga – I'll Never Love Again

~ First we have Alec Benjamin with Let Me Down Slowly. There's not much to say about this song. It's kind of underwhelming and I don't really like his voice that much. More on it I guess if it debuts.

~ Next we have the first David Guetta song we've gotten in a long time. In an attempt to be relevant, he collaborates with Anne-Marie on Don't Leave Me Alone. The quality of his music has definitely gone down over time. But kudos to him for not following in the footsteps of Zedd and Marshmello and going full-on generic. The production here is still somewhat interesting. Anne-Marie doesn't sound that bad on this song. It's not something memorable, but it's not bad either.

~ Next we have Camila Cabello with Consequences. It's better than her low, but not as good as her high. But I do think this is a good song that deserves success. Her vocals aren't perfect here, but I like what she was going for. It's a very nice ballad with great lyrics. I feel the emotion. I like this one.

~ Finally we have Lauv with Julia Michaels on There's No Way. It's definitely better than I Like Me Better in more ways than one. But I still do not like this one. The production is decent, but I just don't like the vocals here. Lauv does not sound good and Julia Michaels sounds the same as she always does (not good) with her scratchy voice. It's not the worst thing ever, but it's certainly not something I want on the countdown.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Lady Gaga – I'll Never Love Again
2. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin
4. Camila Cabello – Consequences
5. Alex Aiono – Big Mistake


5 Blurbs Of Summer
~ And predictably, Youngblood is back up at #1. This has been doing very well outside of Hits 1 proving itself to be the band's biggest hit. So it was bound to spend some more time at the top. And I'm cool with it. It's still a great song.

~ Khalid/Normani – Love Lies is up to #2. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing this up at #1 sometime in the near future. Even though I've been recommending it since around March and it's just now getting big, it's still a good song. Better late than never.

~ Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess is up in the Top 5. It was only a matter of time. Despite what some people around here think, I like this song. But then again, I also liked Meant To Be, so my opinion probably doesn't have much value. But anyway, I think it's catchy and I like her voice here.

~ The Top 10 looks pretty good aside from that one outlier sitting at #7. This is not a hit, nor is it any good. I shouldn't have to complain about it this much since it shouldn't even be here. I'm praying that Lost In Japan can bump this song down soon.

~ The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling is now up in the Top 10, which is good. I'm glad the good singles from The Chainsmokers are the ones that are doing well here, even if songs like Side Effects did poorly everywhere else. It still did well here at the very least.

~ And of course, Anne-Marie – 2002 is looking for entrance into the Top 10. Can we not let this be a hit? That's all I have to say.

~ Dan + Shay – Tequila made a very nice recovery hitting a new peak at #14. I love a good country song and Tequila is exactly that. This song has very good vocals, nice lyrics, and a great flow. This deserves to do well.

~ After a few weeks of just dropping, Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It made the jump I've been waiting for. I don't think this is actually a single, but I'm cool with it being here because it's a great song. Definitely a stand out from Pray For The Wicked.

~ Everytime I type up this list and have to write Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore, I think to myself, "This song is actually still here?" It is so bland and forgettable. I'm hoping we can kick this one out soon.

~ The mess that is Thunderclouds thankfully fell out of the Top 30. This should not be here and it doesn't deserve to be a hit. All three artists have done MUCH better.

~ AJR – Burn The House Down has been on a decline here lately, which is very much a good thing. This song is terrible, as well as AJR's entire discography. I'm glad the voters are starting to understand this.

~ NF – Lie took quite a drop this week from the Top 10 to near the Bottom 5. It's a good song, but I don't care too much about it. It can leave whenever and I won't really care to be honest. But at least it spent some time in the Top 10.

~ Weezer – Africa also dropped quite a bit into the Bottom 5. Again, I like the song, but I don't care too much about it. I would've liked to have seen some more success out of it, but I guess you can say that I'm happy with how it did since I never thought it would even debut.

~ Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love is also down in the Bottom 5. We'll probably be seeing that one on its way out very soon unfortunately. It's one of her few good songs. But oh well. It stayed a little while at least.

~ As far as the exits go, No Brainer did not do well, which was very predictable. I found this to be a big letdown after Wild Thoughts, which was one of the best songs of 2017. No Brainer is just another I'm The One. On The Loose had quite the run here despite not being a big hit elsewhere. It's definitely one of Niall's best songs, so I'm happy with how it did. Top Down was underrated of course, which is a shame because I really like that one. It deserved better. Lastly, we have Sit Next To Me, which should've been a bigger hit than it was. But I'm glad it was a hit at all and peaking at #6 is pretty good. It was a great song to have around and it will definitely be missed by me.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now

1 – Bad:
19. Anne-Marie – 2002

2 – Mediocre:
18. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am

3 – Decent:
17. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
16. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:
15. George Ezra – Shotgun
14. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

5 – Great:
13. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
12. lovelytheband – Broken
11. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess
10. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects
9. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
8. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
7. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
6. Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan
5. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
4. Imagine Dragons – Natural
3. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
2. Selena Gomez – Back To You

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Dan + Shay – Tequila

Overall Score: 83/100 = 83% (A)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Bee Gees – Stayin' Alive

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

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Dua Lipa/BLACKPINK – Kiss and Make Up

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#6)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Dan + Shay – Tequila
2. Selena Gomez – Back To You
3. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
4. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Panic! At The Disco (6) – Week Of October 13, 2018

Hey guys! I've been a little stressed and overwhelmed these past few days with school and things going on in my personal life, which is why the post is out now. There will be fewer blurbs this week because I am not motivated to write a ton of them this week. But I will briefly go through and rank all of the performances from the American Music Awards last Sunday Tuesday. So that's something. No songs leaving the countdown this week. So let's get right into it!



Last Week's #1 Song: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
The Countdown
45. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo – No Brainer (#45)
44. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#44)
43. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#43)
42. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#42)
41. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#41)
40. Brown & Gray – Top Down (#40)
39. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love (#28)
38. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#31)
37. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#39) [3 Weeks At #1]
36. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#30)
35. AJR – Burn The House Down (#33)
34. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#20)
33. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#21) [9 Weeks At #1]
32. Post Malone – Better Now (#22)
31. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#27) [2 Weeks At #1]
30. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#26)
29. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#29)
28. Kim Petras – Heart To Break (#36)
27. The Vamps – Just My Type (#37)
26. LSD – Thunderclouds (#18)
25. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#13) [4 Weeks At #1]
24. Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore (#34)
23. Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan (#35)
22. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#23) [1 Week At #1]
21. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#32)
20. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#25)
19. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (#38)
18. Weezer – Africa (#17)
17. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#24)
16. lovelytheband – Broken (#19)
15. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#16)
14. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#9) [2 Weeks At #1]
13. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#14)
12. George Ezra – Shotgun (#15)
11. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#12)
10. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#11)
  9. NF – Lie (#8)
  8. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#7)
  7. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (#10)
  6. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#4)
  5. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#6)
  4. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#5)
  3. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#3)
  2. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]
  1. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#1) [6th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (1)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (–14)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (+19)

Blurbs! At The Disco
~ The Top 3 remains unchanged. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier is up to #4. I talked about this song in the latest episode of the Wake The Pop Up podcast, which has yet to be uploaded. But basically, the song is growing on me, but mostly because of Bastille. The production is still underwhelming. But I really like Dan Smith's voice and I like the lyrics as well since they relate to my life to some extent.

~ Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful does not seem to be doing very well. I actually like this song a lot compared to its predecessor. But seeing it go off soon would not be a huge loss. Same goes for Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love.

~ So apparently Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson called off their engagement. I can't say I'm surprised since the whole engagement seemed kind of random and sudden. It did look like they were in love though seeing them at the latest music award shows. And of course, she has a song on her album named after Pete, which probably has no meaning anymore.

~ Because of the very few blurbs, I thought I'd just rate each of the performances from the American Music Awards this past week. If you want an elaborate review for any of them, let me know in the comments.


  • Taylor Swift – I Did Something Bad (5/10)
  • Twenty One Pilots – Jumpsuit (2.5/10)
  • Mariah Carey – With You (4/10)
  • Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan (8/10)
  • Ella Mai – Boo'd Up (5/10)
  • Cardi B/Bad Bunny/J Balvin – I Like It (8/10)
  • Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (8.5/10)
  • Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho / Better Now (3/10)
  • Dua Lipa – One Kiss / Electricity (6/10)
  • Jennifer Lopez – Limitless (7.5/10)
  • Camila Cabello – Consequences (7/10)
  • Ciara/Missy Elliott – Level Up / Dose (5/10)
  • Carrie Underwood – Spinning Bottles (10/10)
  • Panic! At The Disco – Bohemian Rhapsody (9.5/10)
  • A Bunch of People – Aretha Franklin Tribute (9/10)

Those were my performance rankings. I gave some thoughts on the awards in the latest episode of the Wake The Pop Up podcast, which, once again, is not uploaded yet. But when it is, you can listen to it on YouTube or SoundCloud. Our blog is in the "Other Blogs" tab on this site and the new episode, whenever it's uploaded, will be Episode #4.

~ 2013 Rankdown Update: For those who were interested, but haven't been paying attention, the Bottom 10 for the 2013 Billboard Year-End chart rankdown was revealed last Thursday night. The next ten songs (#90 - #81) are scheduled* to be revealed this upcoming Thursday night. So I just wanted to let you guys know where I am on that.

*Scheduled meaning it's tentative and last minute changes could happen, though it's unlikely.


Top 20 Review
– Crap:
20. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now

1 – Bad:
NONE

2 – Mediocre:
19. Anne-Marie – 2002
18. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am

3 – Decent:
17. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity
16. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
15. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You
14. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

4 – Good:
13. George Ezra – Shotgun

5 – Great:
12. NF – Lie
11. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess
10. lovelytheband – Broken
9. Weezer – Africa
8. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects
7. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
5. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
4. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
3. Imagine Dragons – Natural
2. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Selena Gomez – Back To You

Overall Score: 81/100 = 81% (A)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Beyoncé/Jay-Z – Crazy In Love

Most Missed Countdown Song: Travie McCoy/Jason Mraz – Rough Water

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Cardi B/Kehlani – Ring

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between Macklemore/Skylar Grey – Glorious (#14) and Logic/Alessia Cara/Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 (#17)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Selena Gomez – Back To You
2. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
3. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
4. Dan + Shay – Tequila
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Panic! At The Disco (5) – Week Of October 6, 2018

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a good week. We are entering the last quarter of the year, which is crazy. Time has gone by so fast. Soon I gotta start putting together my year-end posts for December. It felt like it was not that long ago that I was putting together my Top 45 songs of 2017. Now we're almost through a whole other year. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.


  • Dua Lipa – IDGAF (#35)
  • Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir (#36)
  • Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato – Solo (#43)

Last Week's #1 Song: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
The Countdown
45. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Chance The Rapper/Quavo – No Brainer (#45)
44. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me (#44)
43. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#41)
42. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#42)
41. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (#39)
40. Brown & Gray – Top Down (#38)
39. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#17) [3 Weeks At #1]
38. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (DEBUT)
37. The Vamps – Just My Type (#40)
36. Kim Petras – Heart To Break (#33)
35. Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan (DEBUT)
34. Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore (#37)
33. AJR – Burn The House Down (#34)
32. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (DEBUT)
31. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#29)
30. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#26)
29. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#19)
28. Sabrina Carpenter – Almost Love (#28)
27. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#32) [2 Weeks At #1]
26. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#30)
25. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#9)
24. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#31)
23. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#21) [1 Week At #1]
22. Post Malone – Better Now (#18)
21. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#8) [9 Weeks At #1]
20. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#22)
19. lovelytheband – Broken (#27)
18. LSD – Thunderclouds (#24)
17. Weezer – Africa (#25)
16. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#14)
15. George Ezra – Shotgun (#23)
14. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#12)
13. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#16) [4 Weeks At #1]
12. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#10)
11. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#11)
10. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (#20)
  9. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#5) [2 Weeks At #1]
  8. NF – Lie (#15)
  7. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#3)
  6. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#4)
  5. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#13)
  4. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#7)
  3. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#6)
  2. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]
  1. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#1) [5th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Liam Payne/Quavo – Strip That Down

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Taylor Swift – Delicate (–22)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now (+10)

New Entrants
~ First up this week, we have Silk City, which consists of Diplo and Mark Ronson. They bring Electricity with vocals from Dua Lipa. I can see why people may enjoy this. I'm personally a little sick of Dua Lipa's voice at the moment, so I don't love the song. However, I do like the production here. It's a catchy song. I just personally don't love the vocals. I'm not sure how well this song will do here. We'll have to wait and see.

~ Next we have Shawn Mendes with the Zedd remix of Lost In Japan. I talked a lot about this last week. Despite Zedd's recent music being no good, I actually enjoy this remix. The ticking clock is overused, but I do like the production here for the most part. I like the drop and Shawn's vocals sound good here even if his voice is layered in autotune courtesy of Zedd. His voice with the autotune is not grating like Maren in the The Middle and Elley in Happy Now. So I actually enjoy this. It's not the Zedd I used to love, but it's a step up from what he's done recently. And obviously I think the original version of Lost In Japan is better. But I enjoy the remix for what it is.

~ Lastly we have The Chainsmokers with This Feeling featuring country singer Kelsea Ballerini. I also talked about this one last week. This is a step in the right direction for these guys. It is better than everything they have released this past year except for Side Effects. That one is still the best from this new project. I like the vocal duet between Drew and Kelsea. The production is good, but not great. It's one of those songs that may grow on me with more listens. Right now, Something Just Like This is still my favorite song from The Chainsmokers and it'll be hard to top that. But I do think This Feeling is a good song and it deserves to be here.


Best Debut of the Week: Shawn Mendes/Zedd – Lost In Japan


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


  • Calvin Harris/Sam Smith – Promises
  • Shawn Mendes – Nervous (RE-ENTRY)
  • Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone – Jackie Chan
  • Halsey – Without Me (DEBUT)
  • Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
  • Pitbull/Theron Theron – Free Free Free
  • Ariana Grande – Breathin
  • The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
  • Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye
  • Lady Gaga – I'll Never Love Again (DEBUT)
  • Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
  • Alex Aiono – Big Mistake
  • Twenty One Pilots – My Blood
  • Loud Luxury/brando – Body

~ Like Dua Lipa, I'm a little tired of Halsey's voice at the moment. I think we've gotten enough from her this year. But of course, she releases Without Me. I don't know if she thinks she's being edgy with the single cover having a skull on it. But it just doesn't seem like Halsey. The weird production with her autotuned vocals just don't mix well. This is not a good song overall, but it'll probably do well anyway because Halsey.

~ The A Star Is Born soundtrack is now out and from that, we get I'll Never Love Again from Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Lady Gaga is, in my opinion, one of the most talented artists of our time. This song is beautiful. Her vocals are quite amazing and the lyrics really spoke to me. I really want this on the countdown.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Lady Gaga – I'll Never Love Again
2. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin
4. Alex Aiono – Big Mistake
5. Walk The Moon – Kamikaze


Lost In Blurbs
~ Selena Gomez – Back To You is back up in the Top 3. I still really like this one, especially compared to what we've gotten from Selena last year. I have a hard time picturing this song at #1 at this point. But I really like it and I'm glad it's having this amount of success.

~ Of course The Way I Am just had to outpeak Done For Me, which is easily the superior of the two quality-wise. The production was great and I loved the vocals, especially Kehlani's. The same can't be said for The Way I Am and it's a shame to see this one doing better.

~ Meanwhile, Marshmello/Bastille – Happier jumps into the Top 10 telling us that this could very well be a bigger hit than Friends. While the song is definitely better, it still should not be this big of a hit. I like Bastille and they deserve success. But I'm quite tired of mainstream Marshmello at this point.

~ Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now is up in the Top 10 despite not being a hit because Hits 1 loves this new mediocre mainstream Zedd. This song just keeps getting worse, so I really hope they realize that this isn't a hit and kick it out. I would take the Lost In Japan remix over this in a heartbeat.

~ The Middle is out of the Top 20 fortunately. But of course, now we have Thunderclouds in the Top 20. One bad song replaces the other. Glorious.

~ Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You took a tumble down to #25. I still think this song is only okay. It was a little uncalled for to have it drop like that. But I haven't grown attached to it at all. So it could leave whenever and I probably won't care all too much.

~ Taylor Swift – Delicate dropped out of the Top 20 towards the Bottom 5 this week. This song has faded on me big time. While it's definitely better than that odd lead single we got, it's not that great of a song. It's very boring and Taylor does not have the best voice. So there really isn't much to enjoy in my opinion. Three weeks at the top was pushing it. It deserved some success, but not this much.

~ As far as the exits go, IDGAF was never a good song. It was okay and then I grew out of it after hearing it so much. It stayed longer than it should've. Solo is the second song this year to last only two weeks. I actually liked this one quite a bit. So I'm a little disappointed. But oh well. These things happen. Good riddance to Call Me Sir, which was also never a good song. Train should go back to more fast, upbeat songs. This style does not suit them.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now
19. LSD – Thunderclouds

1 – Bad:
NONE

2 – Mediocre:
18. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am

3 – Decent:
17. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
16. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman

4 – Good:
15. George Ezra – Shotgun

5 – Great:
14. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful
13. NF – Lie
12. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen
11. Weezer – Africa
10. lovelytheband – Broken
9. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects
8. Imagine Dragons – Natural
7. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess
6. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
4. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
3. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
2. Selena Gomez – Back To You

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Overall Score: 83/100 = 83% (A)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Coldplay – The Scientist

Most Missed Countdown Song: fun. – Some Nights

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water (there's no other good stuff worth recommending)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Macklemore/Skylar Grey – Glorious (#8)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
2. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
3. Selena Gomez – Back To You
4. Dan + Shay – Tequila
5. Brown & Gray – Top Down