It's almost summer, which means I'll be posting more often. However, I do have a life outside of blogging which also means that sometimes my posts will be delayed a bit because there are some stuff going on. Spyder Harrison is back from vacation after Kid Kelly took over for him last week. As far as the countdown goes, there was plenty of activity on the countdown this week, some for better and some for worse. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving the countdown this week:
- The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk - I Feel It Coming (#43)
- Zayn featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR - Still Got Time (#41)
- Machine Gun Kelly featuring Hailee Steinfeld - At My Best (#33)
- TWENTY ØNE PILØTS - Heavydirtysoul (#34)
- Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie - Rockabye (#28)
The Countdown:
Last Week's #1 Song: The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay - Something Just Like This
45. Maroon 5 - Don’t Wanna Know (#44) [3 Weeks At #1]
44. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey featuring Zedd - Starving (#42) [4 Weeks At #1]
43. ONE OK ROCK - American Girls (#38)
42. Machine Gun Kelly featuring Camila Cabello - Bad Things (#45)
41. DNCE - Kissing Strangers (#36)
40. Niall Horan - This Town (#40)
39. Aaron Carter - Sooner Or Later (#39)
38. Ocean Park Standoff - Good News (DEBUT)
37. The Vamps featuring Matoma - All Night (#37)
36. Sam Hunt - Body Like A Back Road (DEBUT)
35. DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper - I’m The One (#26)
34. Hey Violet - Break My Heart (DEBUT)
33. Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson - Just Hold On (#32)
32. Hailee Steinfeld - Most Girls (DEBUT)
31. Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dollar $ign and Nicki Minaj - Swalla (#22)
30. Zayn featuring Taylor Swift - I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (#29)
29. The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey - Closer (#31) [8 Weeks At #1]
28. Selena Gomez - Bad Liar (DEBUT)
27. Liam Payne featuring Quavo - Strip That Down (#35)
26. Miley Cyrus - Malibu (#30)
25. MAX featuring Gnash - Lights Down Low (#26)
24. Fitz & The Tantrums - HandClap (#23)
23. AJR - Weak (#24)
22. Maroon 5 - Cold (#20)
21. Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos - Slide (#15)
20. Niall Horan - Slow Hands (#21)
19. Train - Play That Song (#25)
18. Shawn Mendes - Mercy (#17)
17. Halsey - Now Or Never (#16)
16. Bruno Mars - That’s What I Like (#11) [1 Week At #1]
15. Harry Styles - Sign Of The Times (#14)
14. Lady Gaga - The Cure (#13)
13. Panic! At The Disco - L.A. Devotee (#18)
12. Charlie Puth - Attention (#10)
11. Linkin Park featuring Kiiara - Heavy (#9)
10. The Chainsmokers - Paris (#19) [1 Week At #1]
9. James Arthur - Say You Won’t Let Go (#12)
8. Kygo featuring Selena Gomez - It Ain’t Me (#6)
7. Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You (#7) [9 Weeks At #1]
6. Julia Michaels - Issues (#8)
5. Zedd featuring Alessia Cara - Stay (#3) [2 Weeks At #1]
4. Imagine Dragons - Believer (#5)
3. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay - Something Just Like This (#1) [1 Week At #1]
2. Ed Sheeran - Castle On The Hill (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes - There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (#4) [1st Week At #1]
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Justin Timberlake - Can’t Stop The Feeling
Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper - I’m The One and Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dollar $ign and Nicki Minaj - Swalla (-9)
Biggest Jump Of The Week: The Chainsmokers - Paris (+9)
New Entrants
- This was another week in which we have five debuts, starting with newcomer Ocean Park Standoff with their first song on the countdown called Good News. The band consists of Ethan Thompson (vocalist), Samantha Ronson (DJ and the sister of Mark Ronson), and Pete Nappi. To say the least, it’s a pretty enjoyable track. I thought Ethan’s vocals were good throughout. I don’t really expect it to become a hit, but I like it for what it is.
- Sam Hunt debuted this week with probably the worst song of the year titled Body Like A Back Road. There are many people here in the blogging community bashing this song and I’ll say, I definitely agree with them. The lyrical content is bad all throughout, and his vocals aren’t that good either. To sum it all up, it’s a embarrassment to the country genre, period. And what makes it even worse is that the song is successful everywhere else, which in my opinion represents the decline of the quality of country music in general. I believe that country music was great back in the 2000's and even the early 2010's when you had artists such as Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift, the latter which has long since moved on to pop music although there are rumors that she is planning on going back to country for her next album from what I heard. But anyway, let’s get back to the song itself. Overall, this is easily the new worst song on the countdown and I hope it does not stay long.
- Here is another single from Hey Violet, in the form of Break My Heart. I personally think this is better than Guys My Age, which came earlier this year. Even though I’m not big on the vocals, the beat drop here sounds good. We’ll see how long it lasts.
- We have more Hailee Steinfeld, this time with her new single titled Most Girls. Now, even though I’m really tired of Starving at this point, at least she has great vocals and she’s definitely an artist on the rise. She showcases it in her latest single. This song is about how they’re smart, strong, and beautiful. She’s basically sending a message to girls all over the world, and I like songs like that. It’ll probably be green in the near future.
- Lastly, Selena Gomez has a new single debuting on the countdown called Bad Liar. I can’t really say I’m enjoying this song at the moment. This is basically Hands To Myself, except it’s slightly worse and there’s more whispering going on. Whether or not this is the lead single from her new album remains to be seen at this point. It’s in blue for now, but I can see myself putting it in red soon.
I Need Some Good Blurbs, Baby, Give It To Me
- First up, let’s talk about the exits this week. I’m thrilled about the departure of Still Got Time, as I mentioned a couple weeks ago that it really wasn’t an interesting song. But the other four exits are undeserving. At My Best sadly flopped everywhere to no one’s surprise. I’m also sad about the departure of Rockabye and Heavydirtysoul. This marks the first time we don’t have a TWENTY ØNE PILØTS song since December 20, 2015. Finally, there’s I Feel It Coming, which was pretty much a fan favorite to everybody (including myself) in the blogging community. Farewell, I Feel It Coming. You will be missed.
- I'm quite surprised to see There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back at #1 this week. But apparently, Hits 1 has fallen in love with Shawn Mendes given that his recent singles have either hit #1 or at least have been in the Top 5. Either way, I'm definitely happy about this, despite that it unfortunately dethroned Something Just Like This from the top spot.
- Looks like Believer is gaining traction everywhere following their performance at the Billboard Music Awards, so it's no surprise that it jumped a spot this week. They have a new follow-up on Hit-Bound, which we'll get to later. Even though this song isn't necessarily my first pick to be #1, I have a feeling it's going to happen at some point.
- Paris was surprisingly honored the Biggest Jump Of The Week especially considering it has been declining everywhere else as of right now. But I can't say that I'm complaining though. It can stay in the Top 10 as long as it wants.
- So, I kinda grew into Now Or Never. It has gotten better with every listen, in part because I like the beat drop. However, it’s still not all that amazing. I don’t really see it lasting in green.
- I’m not even going to comment on Play That Song jumping back into the Top 20.
- This week, we have two songs tied for the Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week. I’m not happy about Swalla dropping out of the Top 30, and this come right after it had the Biggest Jump Of The Week last week. Also, I’m The One took a surprise drop considering how popular it is everywhere else. But of course, Hits 1 does not like hip-hop. Fun fact: both the biggest drop and jump of the week moved the exact same number of spots.
- The guest DJ that introduced Sooner or Later mentioned that Aaron Carter was her childhood crush. That's pretty cool especially considering that his brother, Nick, was part of the Backstreet Boys which was one of the most popular boy bands back in the day.
- The guest DJ that introduced Sooner or Later mentioned that Aaron Carter was her childhood crush. That's pretty cool especially considering that his brother, Nick, was part of the Backstreet Boys which was one of the most popular boy bands back in the day.
- Spyder Harrison mentioned that Joe Jonas and DNCE went undercover as LYFT drivers. That’s pretty cool stuff if you ask me. That said, I’m thrilled to see Kissing Strangers dropped into the Bottom 5 on its third week although it’s gotten slightly better with each listen. Still, I’m hoping that drop is a sign that it’s flopping.
- On that note, Don’t Wanna Know dropping down to #45 would've been appropriate had Body Like A Back Road not debut this week. But yeah, I'm still waiting for this song to leave the countdown already.
Hit-Bound
Camila Cabello - Crying In The Club
Paramore - Hard Times (DEBUT)
Mansionz featuring G-Eazy - Wicked
Noah Cyrus - Stay Together
Katy Perry featuring Nicki Minaj - Swish Swish
Imagine Dragons - Thunder (DEBUT)
Fall Out Boy - Young & Menace
Jon Bellion - Overwhelming
Carly Rae Jepsen - Cut To The Feeling (DEBUT)
All Time Low - Good Times (DEBUT)
Bruno Mars - Versace On The Floor
Erin Bowman - Good Time, Good Life
Shawn Hook featuring Vanessa Hudgens - Reminding Me (DEBUT)
Shawn Hook featuring Vanessa Hudgens - Reminding Me (DEBUT)
- All Time Low hosted Hit-Bound this week, and the list looks really good, other than Young & Menace.
- Remember Paramore? Well, they’re back with Hard Times, which has some cool stuff going on. Their music video looks pretty much like a throwback, but it’s still pretty good.
- Carly Rae Jepsen has her new single titled Cut To The Feeling, which is from the soundtrack of the movie called Leap! which will debut in theaters in August. To say the least, I absolutely love this (as well as Adrian). I’ll have more words if it debuts.
- We have All Time Low themselves debuting with their new single Good Times. It’s definitely one of their better songs to date.
- As for the other two debuts, I haven't really gotten around to listening Thunder or Reminding Me at all, which is why I don't have an opinion on either of them at the moment.
- As for the other two debuts, I haven't really gotten around to listening Thunder or Reminding Me at all, which is why I don't have an opinion on either of them at the moment.
My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
TIE: 1. Carly Rae Jepsen - Cut To The Feeling
TIE: 1. Katy Perry featuring Nicki Minaj - Swish Swish
3. Bruno Mars - Versace On The Floor
4. Paramore - Hard Times
5. All Time Low - Good Times
YouTube 15
For this week, I decided to review the YouTube 15, which is hosted by Jenna Marbles. Here’s the list of songs trending this week:
For this week, I decided to review the YouTube 15, which is hosted by Jenna Marbles. Here’s the list of songs trending this week:
Bruno Mars - 24K Magic
Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson - Symphony
Logan Paul featuring Why Don’t We - Help Me Help You
The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk - Starboy
Stargate featuring Sia and P!NK - Waterfall
Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You
Lauv - I Like Me Better
DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper - I’m The One
Alan Walker featuring Gavin James - Tired
Bruno Mars - That’s What I Like
Martin Garrix featuring Troye Sivan - There For You
The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay - Something Just Like This
Rita Ora - Your Song
Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie - Rockabye
Mackenzie Ziegler - Monsters
- Symphony is easily the best song on the YouTube15 (along with Something Just Like This). I’m absolutely in love with Zara’s vocals, and the production here is very well done. It kinda reminds me of a song from the 90's. It’s recently been pushed to radio, so here’s to hoping it can debut on the countdown soon.
- While I only find Help Me Help You to be decent on it’s own, there’s some good stuff going on, including a reference to Scooby-Doo and Despicable Me, in which he dresses up in a Minions costume.
- It’s nice to see Sia & P!NK join forces in the single produced by Stargate titled Waterfall. The production sounds pretty lively. And while it’s not my first pick to be on the weekend countdown, I like it for what it is.
- I can’t really say I’m enjoying I Like Me Better. I’m not really a fan of Lauv’s vocals. If I’m being honest, it’s not really bad, but he could’ve done better.
- Tired is another one of those EDM songs currently trending on YouTube. Norwegian DJ Alan Walker does a great job on the production in this track.
- We have more Martin Garrix, this time with Troye Sivan in their new single There For You. While it’s not his best work, at least Martin has some potential to become one of the better EDM acts, as he has proven with In The Name Of Love recently.
- Rita Ora has a new single titled Your Song. Although I do like some things about this song, I’m not really big on Rita’s vocals, which kinda downgrades the song for me. But I can see it growing on me in the future.
- Finally, we have 12-year-old Mackenzie Ziegler with her debut single called Monsters. I think it tells a story and it tells pretty well, and I like the production on this track.
- Some of the other songs here (24K Magic, Starboy, Shape Of You, I’m The One, That’s What I Like, Something Just Like This, and Rockabye) all appeared on the weekend countdown, and the color codes I’ve given them pretty much explains my opinions on these songs.
My Top 5 Picks For The YouTube 15
TIE: 1. Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson - Symphony
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay - Something Just Like This
3. Bruno Mars - 24K Magic
4. The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk - Starboy
5. Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie - Rockabye
Top 20 Review
0 - Awful:
20. Train - Play That Song
1 - Bad:
None!
2 - Mediocre:
19. Julia Michaels - Issues
3 - Decent:
18. James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go
4 - Good:
17. Halsey - Now Or Never
16. Linkin Park featuring Kiiara - Heavy
15. Imagine Dragons - Believer
5 - Great:
14. Charlie Puth - Attention
13. Panic! At the Disco - L.A. Devotee
12. Niall Horan - Slow Hands
11. The Chainsmokers - Paris
10. Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You
9. Harry Styles - Sign Of The Times
8. Zedd featuring Alessia Cara - Stay
7. Shawn Mendes - Mercy
6. Ed Sheeran - Castle On The Hill
5. Bruno Mars - That's What I Like
4. Kygo featuring Selena Gomez - It Ain't Me
3. Lady Gaga - The Cure
2. Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back
BONUS: 6 - Best Song On The Countdown:
1. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay - Something Just Like This
Overall Grade: 88/100 (B+)
Throwback Pick Of The Week: Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On (Pretty much anything by Celine Dion in general)
Most Missed Countdown Song: Demi Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd - Really Don’t Care
#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson - Symphony
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Justin Timberlake - Can’t Stop The Feeling and Mike Posner - I Took A Pill In Ibiza
My Top 5 Picks
1. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay - Something Just Like This
2. Shawn Mendes - There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back
3. Lady Gaga - The Cure
4. Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dollar $ign and Nicki Minaj - Swalla
5. Bruno Mars - That’s What I Like
My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Sam Hunt - Body Like A Back Road
2. Maroon 5 - Don’t Wanna Know
3. Train - Play That Song
4. MAX featuring Gnash - Lights Down Low
5. Maroon 5 - Cold
Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Pitbull featuring Enrique Iglesias - Messin’ Around: I don’t like it as much as some people do, but I don’t really hate it as much as others do. I recently found out that this song uses the sample from Take It On The Run.
OneRepublic - Wherever I Go: This comeback single came unexpectedly and I still love it today. Unfortunately, it failed to become a big hit unlike their previous singles.
