Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don’t (–18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (+13)

New Entrants
– I remember listening to Jess Glynne for the very first time back in 2014 when she was featured on Clean Bandit’s single Rather Me and she sounded amazing. That one was a huge favorite of mine from that year. Her solo single, Hold My Hand, was also one of my favorites in 2015. I asked myself this question: will I ever hear more from her again? This week, I got my wish as she returns along with Rudimental in their collaboration titled These Days, which also features Macklemore and Dan Caplen. Right off the bat, I think Rudimental did a very nice job with the production overall. Jess Glynne sounds amazing throughout the song, in particular the chorus. The verses from Dan Caplen and Macklemore are pretty divine as well. Overall, I’m loving this and I hope to see it do well.

– This next debut is one in which Spyder Harrison mentioned that newcomer Alice Merton apparently doesn’t know where she’s from (seriously?!). Or does she? Anyway, she makes her first appearance on the countdown with No Roots. I didn’t exactly care for this one at first because I thought it wasn’t something memorable. But after a while (a.k.a. more listens), I’ve come to enjoy it. This song has a killer groove all around. Alice’s voice is definitely an interesting one. As soon as the chorus kicks in and combined with the killer groove I just mentioned, I’m pulled in. Yeah, everything about this one is spot on. I’m looking forward to seeing this one blow up.

Best Debut Of The Week: Alice Merton – No Roots

We’ll Wish We Could Come Back To These Blurbs
– We’ll begin, as always, with our exits. First, All Falls Down I knew it would be underrated even though I like the song overall, and Noah Cyrus showcases her vocal talent well. The other exit is New Rules, which despite being a big hit elsewhere, was unfortunately also underrated on this countdown. It was enjoyable all around and I’m thankful for the success that it had on other charts. New Rules will definitely be missed by me.

– Hold Me Tight Or Don’t took a massive fall this week. I’m not too heartbroken about this as I was losing interest, though I do kinda wished the song deserved better. I guess people have moved on from Fall Out Boy.

– On that note, we have quite a few songs that had some saddening drops this week. For starters, Beautiful Trauma definitely did not deserve to drop like this. Looks like it won’t follow its predecessor’s footsteps in terms of being another #1 hit for P!NK.

– We also have songs like Perfect and Finesse dropping out of the Top 20 as well. The latter definitely deserved to do better. The former, however, has been in the Top 10 for a while and it looks like people are tired of Ed Sheeran right about now. We’ll see how long they stick around with us.

– This week officially marks the one-year anniversary of Lights Down Low. It made its debut this time one year ago  and despite all odds, it’s still going strong on the countdown, as well as many other places. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon, so I’ll have to put up with it for a little while longer.

– On that note, songs like I Like Me Better and Never Be The Same both need to leave this countdown now! They will both be orange when Friends and Sober Up are no more. Same applies to Meant To Be, but unfortunately that one will be sticking around for a while also.

– It’s nice to see On The Loose, Woman, and Pray For Me enter the Top 10. The former two I’m quite surprised about despite them not being big elsewhere. Pray For Me, on the other hand, was expected given that the Black Panther hype is still going strong. I’m hoping they stay in that region for a while.

– Not much has changed in the Top 5 other than Want You Back entering that region, in large part because Hits 1’s obsession with 5 Seconds Of Summer. I do like the song, so I don’t really have a problem with it. But before long, I know there will be some who will start to get sick of it eventually. Just wait (not a Maroon 5 reference).

Hit-Bound:

• Sam Smith featuring Logic – Pray (DEBUT)
• Dua Lipa – IDGAF
• Hundred Handed – Too Good (DEBUT)
• Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA – All The Stars
• Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
• Halsey – Alone
• Dustin Atlas featuring Erin Bowman – Fake Friends
• Maren Morris – Rich
• Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho
• The Chainsmokers – Everybody Hates Me
• Echosmith – Over My Head
• Why Don’t We – Trust Fund Baby
• Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends
19. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
18. Lauv – I Like Me Better
17. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same
16. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low

1 – Bad:
15. Maroon 5 – Wait
14. NF – Let You Down

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
13. Imagine Dragons – Thunder

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
12. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses
11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back
10. Taylor Swift – Delicate
9. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
8. Walk The Moon – One Foot
7. Niall Horan – On The Loose
6. G-Eazy featuring Halsey – Him & I
5. Bad Wolves – Zombie
4. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
3. Kesha featuring The Dap-Kings Horns – Woman
2. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. The Weeknd featuring Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me

Overall Grade: 66/100 = 66% (D)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight (1981)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Ellie Goulding – On My Mind

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kygo featuring Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me

My Top 5 Picks
1. The Weeknd featuring Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me
2. Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B. – Finesse (Remix)
3. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
4. Kesha featuring The Dap-Kings Horns – Woman
5. Alice Merton – No Roots

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends
2. AJR featuring Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
3. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
4. Lauv – I Like Me Better
5. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low: I’ll discuss more about this one in depth later on. If you’ve been following my blog as of late, you probably know how I feel about this now.
Snakehips featuring MØ – Don’t Leave: I can see why some don’t like this. Sure, MØ may not have the best voice. But at least this one has something going for it, mainly the lyrical content about telling someone not to leave. That said, I kinda wished it deserved better.
The Vamps featuring Matoma – All Night: I feel like I should like this more, but they sound a little too childish for my tastes. I think without the children in the chorus, I’d probably like this a lot more.