Panic! At The Disco (3) – Week Of March 23, 2019

Hey guys! The due date for my rankdown is a week from today. I'm most likely going to extend it in case anyone else still wants to send. I'm pretty flexible and am not too picky about when I close the form. I'd rather wait longer and have more people who are interested participate. So that will probably be extended. If you're interested, you should really get going on it. All the information you need is in the rankdown page. Now let's get to the countdown as there is quite a bit to talk about this week. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over (#30)
• Lauren Daigle – You Say (#35)
• Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe (#38)
• Seeb/Bastille – Grip (#39)
• George Ezra – Shotgun (#41)
• Jennifer Lopez – Limitless (#42)
• lovelytheband – Broken (#44)

Last Week's #1 Song: Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It

The Countdown

45. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#43)

44. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#45)

43. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#40)

42. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#34)

41. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#37)

40. Post Malone – Wow (#36)

39. Kelsy Karter – Harry (DEBUT)

38. Zedd/Katy Perry – 365 (#32)

37. Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – Shallow (RE-ENTRY)

36. Madison Beer/Offset – Hurts Like Hell (DEBUT)

35. LSD/Lil Wayne – Genius (DEBUT)

34. Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me (#23)

33. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#33) [1 Week At #1]

32. Maren Morris – GIRL (DEBUT)

31. Cardi B/Bruno Mars – Please Me (#31)

30. Meghan Trainor – All The Ways (DEBUT)

29. Lil Peep/iLoveMakonnen/Fall Out Boy – I've Been Waiting (#28)

28. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#26)

27. Jake Miller – Wait For You (#29)

26. Grandson – Apologize (#25)

25. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#27) [5 Weeks At #1]

24. Khalid – Better (#24)

23. Yungblud/Halsey/Travis Barker – 11 Minutes (DEBUT)

22. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#16)

21. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#22)

20. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#21)

19. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#17)

18. Lauv/Troye Sivan – I'm So Tired (#19)

17. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More (#18)

16. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#20)

15. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (#12)

14. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#13)

13. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#14)

12. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#11)

11. Ariana Grande – 7 Rings (#4)

10. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#9) [8 Weeks At #1]

  9. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#10)

  8. Dean Lewis – Be Alright (#15)

  7. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#6) [7 Weeks At #1]

  6. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#3) [2 Weeks At #1]

  5. Halsey – Without Me (#2) [5 Weeks At #1]

  4. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#5)

  3. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#8)

  2. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#7)

  1. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#1) [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (3)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me (–11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Dean Lewis – Be Alright (+7)

New Entrants
~ We have seven entries this week including one re-entry. We'll go from worst to best starting with what could possibly be one of the worst songs of 2019. It is Harry by Kelsy Karter. I don't know where Hits 1 found this song, but it's honestly just horrendous. I want to think this song is some kind of joke because this is one of the most obnoxious things I've heard in a while. Apparently this song is about Harry Styles, which just makes the song so weird when reading through the lyrics. It probably wouldn't be as weird if she didn't name the song after him. And her vocals here are awful. Her screaming in the chorus is hard to listen to and I don't really like her voice in the verses. Overall, this song is just more annoying than anything else and I don't understand why it's here. I hope it doesn't stick around very long.

~ Next we have Madison Beer returning with her "newer" song, Hurts Like Hell. I put quotes around that word because this song has been around for a while now. I did not like it when it was first released and nothing has changed. She is not a bad singer by any means, but her voice is not that interesting or unique. I don't like the production here and I find the chorus kind of annoying. Hits 1 did remove Offset from the song, which made it slightly better. But it's still generic. I preferred the forgettable, but fine Home With You. Even though that song wasn't that great, Hurts Like Hell is worse in almost every way. I hope this doesn't become a hit.

~ After having a big year in 2018, Maren Morris has finally released a new album and this week, we get the lead single and title track, Girl. Even though I did not like The Middle and Rich, I remember first learning about her in 2016 when I heard My Church, which I loved. I know she's very talented, but I just don't hear it in this new song. It sounds too much like 80s Mercedes, which is another song I love. So it just feels unoriginal and like it's been done before. I haven't listened to her album in full yet, but the few songs I have listened to like her collab with Brandi Carlile are better because they feel original and her talent shows more. As far as Girl goes, it's just generic unoriginal pop that's destined for radio. There's nothing special about this whatsoever.

~ Next is a song that has been around for quite a while now. It's from one of the worst pop artists this decade and it's called All The Ways. I've already talked about why I despise Meghan Trainor because I don't like her messages in her music such as promoting laziness and putting down skinny people (All About That Bass) as well as putting men down in order to uplift women (No, No Excuses, probably the majority of her discography). I think she's a bad songwriter and she's been pretty consistent throughout her career so far. It seems like the general public is also catching on with how much her last few songs have flopped and how she just took down her album that was supposed to come out last August. Having said all that, I don't hate All The Ways. I think it's one of her better songs because there is an obvious improvement in the songwriting. It's not great lyrically, but it's fine. I don't really like her voice here and the song feels generic, but it's nowhere near the worst thing she's ever made. I don't want this to get big and I don't think it will, but it's far from the worst thing on the countdown.

~ Next is the highest debut of the week, which comes from Yungblud, Halsey, and Travis Barker from Blink-182. The song is called 11 Minutes. I feel like I should dislike this, but I don't. I don't like it and I probably never will. But the instrumentation and production here is solid and Travis Barker did the best job out of the three artists involved. I don't like Yungblud here. I think his voice is really annoying and I would prefer if he didn't become the next big thing. Halsey sounds okay. She's better here than on Without Me, but this is nowhere near her best work vocally. So yeah, I'm pretty mixed on this as a whole. This is definitely not something I want to become a hit, but it probably will since radio loves Halsey. That's literally the only reason why the song is even here. So yeah. I hope this doesn't get big.

~ Moving on, we have our first good debut in the form of Genius by LSD. This song has been around for a really long time and is only just now getting big because of the remix with Lil Wayne. Despite me not liking LSD and hating songs like Audio and Mountains, Genius is easily their best song. The remix is good, but not as great. I don't love Lil Wayne's verse and his random shouting throughout the song. They also took out the last minute of the song for some reason, which also brings it down for me. So I obviously prefer the original version, but the remix is still good. I think the chorus is catchy and I like Labrinth and Sia's vocals for the most part. Even though the song is old, I'm happy to see it become a pop single because it's their best work. I'd like to see this do better than Thunderclouds because this is the better song, no question.

~ Finally we have our re-entry from Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. As you all should know, I adore this song and it's gotten even better recently for different reasons. Their performance of this at the Oscars was amazing and easily the best moment of the night. Both of them have really great voices, especially Bradley Cooper, which is impressive. These two have incredible chemistry as seen in the performance. It really was amazing and that along with it winning Best Original Song managed to get it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which is absolutely amazing. I also saw A Star Is Born recently and hearing the song in the context of the movie also made it even better. It's just such a well-written, well-sung, and well-produced song that is full of emotion and gives me chills every time I hear it. The fact that pop radio abandoned this song so early is absurd, but I am happy to see this song getting picked up again and re-entering countdowns like this and the American Top 40. This song is just incredible in every way and I hope it can actually stick around this time.


Best Entrant of the Week: Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – Shallow

Best Debut of the Week: LSD/Lil Wayne – Genius


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

• Ally Brooke/Tyga – Low Key
• P!nk – Walk Me Home
• Austin Brown – In Betweenin'
• Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me (DEBUT)
• Fletcher – Undrunk
• lovelytheband – Maybe, I'm Afraid
• Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime
• Kygo/Valerie Broussard – Think About You
• Avril Lavigne/Nicki Minaj – Dumb Blonde
• Ariana Grande – Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored
• Louis Tomlinson – Two Of Us
• Ava Max – So Am I (DEBUT)
• Bebe Rexha – Last Hurrah
• Billie Eilish – Bury A Friend
• NOTD/Felix Jaehn/Georgia Ku/Captain Cuts – So Close

~ Our two debuts this week are songs that are both pretty identical to their predecessors. The better of the two is obviously Here With Me by Marshmello and CHVRCHES. This is basically Happier. It sounds just like it. The only different is that it features a different pop/alt group and the drop sounds slightly different. But Happier is a great song and this is as well. I like the build-up and the drop is interesting. Lauren Mayberry sounds great on here. I really love her voice and that goes for a lot of CHVRCHES' material as well. This is obviously not the best thing CHVRCHES have ever been a part of, but I hope this gives them the mainstream success they've deserved for a while now.

~ Next is So Am I by Ava Max. This is Sweet But Psycho with different lyrics. So Am I sounds more identical to Sweet But Psycho than Here With Me does to Happier. The beat and production is literally the same. And Sweet But Psycho is not even that great of a song. Here With Me managed to still have some uniqueness to it probably because it's a different vocalist. But So Am I is completely unoriginal. Ava Max's career is not going to go very far if she keeps releasing songs that sound just like each other. This shows her lack of originality and uniqueness as an artist and that she's not very capable of making anything other than forgettable pop songs that may be a little catchy. So I would rather have this not be a hit.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Kygo/Valerie Broussard – Think About You
2. Avril Lavigne/Nicki Minaj – Dumb Blonde
3. Louis Tomlinson – Two Of Us
4. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me
5. P!nk – Walk Me Home


Blur-Blur-Blur-Blur-Blur-Blur-Blurbs
~ Hey Look Ma, I Made It continues to hold at #1, which is cool with me. But we did see jumps from Sucker up to #2 and Sweet But Psycho up to #3. I'd be cool with Sucker getting some weeks at #1, which I'm sure it will. I don't want Sweet But Psycho at #1, but it wouldn't be the worst thing ever. I'd definitely take that over Let Me Down Slowly, which sits at #4.

~ New to the Top 10 this week, we have Be Alright by Dean Lewis, which I'm definitely happy about as this is a great song. It deserves this success and I'm glad to see it doing well because it's a really well-written tune. What's even better is that it knocked 7 Rings by Ariana Grande out of the Top 10 deservingly. It's pretty clear which is superior vocally, musically, and lyrically.

~ Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me seems to just be jumping high one week and then falling hard the next. Considering that this really isn't much of a hit, I think we should get rid of it soon, especially since we didn't let Almost Love become a hit, which is easily the much better song.

~ Zedd/Katy Perry – 365 seems to be declining everywhere and dying fast on radio. I blame the lack of promotion for this song because part of the reason The Middle was such a huge hit was because of all the Target commercials that used the song. And Katy Perry hasn't had a real hit since Dark Horse in 2014. I do think this song deserved better as it's really the only tolerable post-sellout Zedd song. But I'm cool with it if it means the world is starting to realize how generic Zedd has become. The man needs another banger like Addicted To A Memory or Transmission. I need True Colors Zedd back.

~ We have a few songs falling into the Bottom 5 for the first time. They're all pretty old. I'm really sick of Girls Like You at this point and I don't know why it's still here. Love Lies is even older, although Girls Like You feels older with how much it was overplayed. I still kinda like Love Lies, although I'd prefer if it left soon. And I still really like Don't Go Breaking My Heart and I'm glad Hits 1 let this song be a hit. It'll probably be on its way out soon, but I'm happy that it did as well as it did. It's still a bop.

~ Despite getting rid of seven songs, songs like Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess and Charlie Puth – The Way I Am somehow managed to survive. The Way I Am was always bad and I'm A Mess is fading on me, so it'd be nice to get rid of both of them soon, at least before getting rid of Don't Go Breaking My Heart.

~ As far as the exits go, I would've kept most of them over the songs that took their places. But life is not always fair, so we got rid of a few really good songs. But we also got rid of Grip, which was very mediocre, and Limitless, which was very forgettable and generic. Neither of them should've ever debuted in the first place. We also lost Broken, which was quite old so I'm happy to see it go. But we also lost You Say, which I think is a great song and I really like her voice. Shotgun stuck around longer than I thought it would, but I'm happy about it because I do really like his voice. Sexual Vibe deserved better because it's a really catchy song. And Avril Lavigne deserves a hit and it's sad to see Tell Me It's Over go so soon. Even though it's not as great as Head Above Water, I still really like it and would've loved to see it get big and give her the hit she deserves. Oh well. It will be missed.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Ariana Grande – 7 Rings
19. Halsey – Without Me
18. Lauv/Troye Sivan – I'm So Tired

1 – Bad:
17. Anne-Marie – 2002
16. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly
15. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine

2 – Meh:
NONE

3 – Decent:
14. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me
13. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho

4 – Good:
NONE

5 – Great:
12. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
11. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
10. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
9. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside
8. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
7. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
6. Dan + Shay – Tequila
5. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar
4. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
3. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
2. Dean Lewis – Be Alright
1. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More

Overall Score: 69/100 = 69% (B)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Backstreet Boys – As Long As You Love Me

Most Missed Countdown Song: fun. – Some Nights

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Backstreet Boys – No Place

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Walk The Moon – One Foot (#2)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – Shallow
2. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More
3. Dean Lewis – Be Alright
4. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
5. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart