The Chainsmokers & Kelsea Ballerini (1) - Week Of December 15, 2018

Hello, fam! Starting next week, I'll begin posting my Year-End lists. I have two of them that are ready, so it's likely you'll see them this week. Also, I would like to remind everyone once again that I'll be doing a rankdown. You can still submit your rankings right here. The deadline to send me your submissions will be January 5, 2019 at 11:00pm. I may end up extending it if I have to. We're getting ever closer to Christmas, which is 10 days away. So hopefully, you all have bought gifts for your family. You can share your thoughts in the comments about what do you want for Christmas. Alright, I've said enough for my introduction. Let's begin reviewing! Before we get to this week's fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week:

• Loud Luxury featuring Brando – Body (#34)
• Alex Aiono – Big Mistake (#36)
• Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#45)

The Countdown:
Last Week's #1 Song: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
45. Calvin Harris featuring Sam Smith – Promises (#43) [–2]
44. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#44) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
43. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#42) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
42. Bazzi featuring Camila Cabello – Beautiful (Remix) (#41) [–1]
41. George Ezra – Shotgun (#37) [–4]

40. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle (#38) [–2] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]

39. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#39) [=]

38. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#40) [+2]

37. Lady Gaga featuring Bradley Cooper – Shallow (#33) [–4]

36. Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity (#30) [–6]

35. Olly Murs featuring Snoop Dogg – Moves (DEBUT)

34. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#35) [+1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]

33. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan (#32) [–1]

32. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (DEBUT)

31. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#31) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]

30. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (DEBUT)

29. Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You (#20) [–9]

28. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#28) [=]

27. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#25) [–2]

26. The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects (#26) [=]

25. Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There's No Way (#29) [+4]

24. David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (#22) [–2]

23. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#27) [+4]

22. Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (#19) [–3]

21. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – My Blood (#18) [–3]

20. Camila Cabello – Consequences (#16) [–4]

19. Shawn Mendes – Nervous (#13) [–6]

18. Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside (#24) [+6]

17. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks (#15) [–2]

16. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#21) [+5]

15. lovelytheband – Broken (#11) [–4]

14. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower (#17) [+3]

13. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#9) [–4]

12. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess (#14) [+2]

11. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#23) [+12]

10. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies (#10) [=]

9. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#8) [–1]

8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#7) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]

7. Ariana Grande – Breathin' (#12) [+5]

6. Imagine Dragons – Nautral (#5) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]

5. Halsey – Without Me (#6) [+1]

4. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier (#4) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]

3. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood (#1) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]

2. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#3) [+1] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]

1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#2) [+1] [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug – Havana (Ooh, Na-Na) (1^st And Only Week At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You (–9)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (+12)

New Entrants:
- Let's start things off with the return of Olly Murs with a groovy new single of his, by the name of Moves. Olly Murs has had quite a few songs on the countdown before, with his last being Wrapped Up back in 2015. Since then, he's been basically irrelevant, though he did have a couple of songs show up on the YouTube 15. It's nice to see him back. Anyway, Moves is a solid song overall. It has that groove to it, similar to Hundred Handed – Too Good. It's basically something that Bruno Mars would sing to. But I do like his voice and it sounds groovy. It's nice to see Olly go for something different with Moves.

- After Camila Cabello and Normani, we get a new entrant from another member Fifth Harmony who has a new solo single. Lauren Jauregui makes her debut this week with Expectations. I'll start by saying that Lauren has probably the best voice out of all the members from this group. Earlier, she did a collaborated with Steve Aoki in All Night, which I still absolutely love to this day. She sounded amazing in the song and I loved the production as well. Coming into her solo single, I had expectations (no pun intended) that she would deliver. I can say that she did meet some of them. The story of the song is basically about wishing they had no expectations, which is something most people don't really have. Often times, people have high expectations and they ended up not meeting those goals. As for the rest of the song, I do like her voice in the song for the most part, though she doesn't particularly shine in the chorus. But where the song gets me at is the production itself. The guitars are well used. Overall, I do love the song. I like to see some success out of it.

- With the highest debut of the week, we have newcomer Ava Max making her very first appearance on the countdown with her debut single titled Sweet But Psycho. Right off the bat, I can easily say that this a great first impression. First off, I love Ava's voice. It sounds very unique and it shows when she sings the chorus. I didn't have much else to say about it until I found out about the lyrics. What she is telling us is that a person is just being herself and not really psycho. I don't quite get it just yet, but maybe if I look deeper I'll probably have a better understanding. Still, it doesn't make me dislike the song any less. The song is just divine all around. I hope to see it do well.

Best Debut Of The Week: Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho


Baby Don't Blurb Me, No More
- As always, we'll begin with our exits. To start, I didn't exactly care for Body in the long run but I kinda still like it in a guilty pleasure way. Big Mistake is still enjoyable, but I didn't think it would last long. Finally, we lost God Is A Woman. As polarizing as the song was, I still fell in love with it and I can safely say that it's one of my favorite songs of the year. While I'm sure there are some happy about its departure, I'm not among that crowd.

- So, I read somewhere that Maroon 5 are struggling to find new artists to perform with them in next year's Super Bowl. I wonder what's up with that? I guess some people are just not interested. At least Justin Timberlake has some artists perform with him last year.

- Hey Look Ma, I Made It makes a massive jump back into the Top 20. It looks like the song is starting to gain back its momentum. We'll see how long it lasts.

- The Last Of The Real Ones has spent a seemingly long time in the Top 10. Not that I'm complaining though, as I still like the song. I have a feeling that it may end up being ranked high on the Hits 1 Year-End Countdown, which is next weekend.

- Speaking of the Top 10, we have Breathin' make its entrance in that territory. I would've thought the presence of Thank U, Next would kill its momentum. But it's not the case. I much prefer Breathin' over its successor, though. I'm hoping its success continues.

- Finally, we've come to our brand new #1 song for this week! I'm definitely pleased that This Feeling was able to take the crown. It's easily their best song since Closer. They did perform this at the halftime show during the Chiefs-Rams game and I have to say, the performance was just divine. Kelsea was just phenomenal with her singing. Hopefully it can hold at #1 for a while.

Hit-Bound:

• Dan + Shay – Speechless
• Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine
• Seeb featuring BΔSTILLE – Grip (DEBUT)
• Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
• Imagine Dragons – Machine
• Steve Aoki featuring BTS – Waste It On Me
• Dean Lewis – Be Alright
• Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
• Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
• James Arthur – Empty Space
• Charli XCX featuring Troye Sivan – 1999 (DEBUT)
• Khalid – Better
• Lauren Daigle – You Say (DEBUT)
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Killer Queen

Entrant Reviews:

- Ryan Sampson is filling in for Mikey Piff as the host of Hit-Bound this week, who seems to have taken a vacation. We've got three new songs on the list, starting with Seeb collaborating with BΔSTILLE in their latest single, Grip. If you remember Seeb, then you probably know they were the ones who did the remix for Mike Posner – I Took A Pill From Ibiza back in 2016. This is better than Happier. The production is better and I like Dan's voice. More on this when it debuts (hopefully).

- Charli XCX and Troye Sivan both take us back to 1999 with their single making its debut on Hit-Bound. I talked about this on the YouTube 15 a couple months ago when it was trending. To me, I find this to be better than Anne-Marie's single, 2002. I like their vocals and they blend together nicely. We'll see if it ends up debuting.

- Finally, we have Lauren Daigle with You Say. I know this may be an unpopular opinion to some people, but I actually really like this song. I personally Lauren has a great voice, and I like the piano work in this one. Here's to hoping it debuts soon.

Best Debut On Hit-Bound: Lauren Daigle – You Say

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Dan + Shay – Speechless
2. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
3. Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
4. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
5. Lauren Daigle – You Say

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess

1 – Bad:
19. Halsey – Without Me

2 – Mediocre:
18. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

3 – Decent:
17. Shawn Mendes – Nervous
16. Anne-Marie – 2002
15. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:
14. lovelytheband – Broken

5 – Great:
13. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
12. Camila Cabello – Consequences
11. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
10. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
9. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
7. Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural
4. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin'

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Dan + Shay – Tequila
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

Overall Grade: 83/100 = 83% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Haddaway – What Is Love (1993)

Most Missed Countdown Song: The Chainsmokers featuring ROZES – Roses

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Pentatonix – Hallelujah

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kesha – Praying (#12)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
TIE: 1. Dan + Shay – Tequila
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin'
4. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan
5. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess
2. Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There's No Way
3. Halsey – Without Me
4. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier
5. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Symon – Lonely Girl: It was this time last year that Symon, who is currently one of the hosts for Hits 1 In Hollywood, came out of nowhere with this single. It's quite a sweet song for what it is. It's better than her predecessor in more ways than one.
Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days: The collaboration between these two artists turned out to be a great one. The song is just beautiful in every way possible. That's all I can say about this one (for now).

QOTW: What is your favorite song from Avril Lavigne? And why?