#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Imagine Dragons – Believer (2^nd of 3 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: MNEK featuring Hailee Steinfeld – Colour (–17)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies (+22)

New Entrants
– We have two new groups making their first appearance on the countdown. We’ll start with the band PRETTYMUCH with their new single titled Summer On You. Last year, they did have a song on Hit-Bound with Would You Mind. I enjoyed that one and I was sad when it did not graduate Hit-Bound. After listening to that new single of theirs, I can say I found it to be decent. The vocals here are okay for the most part. But I’m not really huge on the production. It kinda reminds me of I Like Me Better. The only difference here is that the lyrics aren’t cringe-worthy, and these guys have some nice vocals. Overall, while it’s not memorable, it’s a decent song.

– For our second entrant this week, we have lovelytheband making their debut with the song called Broken. The group consists of Mitchy Collins, Jordan Greenwald, and Sam Price. Right off the bat, I did find this to be okay at first. But with time, it has slightly grown on me. The lyrics are pretty good throughout the song. I like how they talk about meeting people and forming relationships. The production here is okay, even though it’s not necessarily a stand-out. However, I do find the vocals just a bit underwhelming, but I do somewhat like the chorus. So yeah, it’s definitely not a bad song at all. It’s possible that I could put this in green soon.

Best Debut Of The Week: lovelytheband – Broken

Is It Cool That I Blurbed All That?
– So, we have two exits this week. First off, good riddance to Rich. I absolutely love Maren Morris, but this song didn’t appeal to me whatsoever. I’m glad that one didn’t stay for too long. Too Good was not destined to stick around for a long time. I do enjoy the song for its throwback groove, but I’m not heartbroken by its departure.

– Before introducing Mine, Kid Kelly mentioned that Bazzi likes to turn his songs into feelings. I guess he has a desire for making songs like this. Plus, he did release a remix of his latest single, Beautiful with Camila Cabello. I wonder will that end up being a success as his predecessor?

– Before introducing One Foot, Kid Kelly talked about Walk The Moon’s performance at a baseball game. Looks like these guys are still doing some work even though they’ve become one hit wonders. It’s nice to see that they aren’t giving up.

– Didn’t think Colour would drop back down to the 30’s after the big jump it had last week. Looks like that song might be in for a short tenure.

– I would like for Never Be The Same to leave the countdown soon. I don’t know anybody who still likes this.

– It’s very disappointing to see Jumpsuit drop out of the Top 30 in its third week. I will not take it kindly if it ends up leaving us so soon, which it’ll probably end up doing.

– So, did Kid Kelly mention that they had big plans for Meghan Trainor soon? If that’s the case, then it looks like something special may be on the horizon. We’ll see what happens. That aside, I do wish Let You Be Right is doing better than what it deserves.

– Before introducing Growing Pains, Kid Kelly mentioned that Alessia Cara did a cover of Ariana Grande’s latest single, God Is A Woman. I haven’t really heard Alessia’s cover of that song. But I’ll bet it’s really good given that Alessia does have a good voice overall.

– Not too thrilled about the big drop from IDGAF either. It did relatively well here considering it’s has died out elsewhere, so I’ll give it that. I do hope it can stick around for a little longer.

– In My Blood takes another big hit, this time dropping out of the Top 10 altogether after just recently hitting #1 two weeks ago. I thought that one might stay in the Top 5 for a while, but I was wrong. Seeing as that one is faltering elsewhere, I probably shouldn’t be surprised to see this drop.

– While we have some songs making big drops, we also get a enormous big jump from Love Lies. I’m certain that one will end up being a real hit given that it’s still going strong elsewhere and I wouldn’t mind at all.

– The Top 10 entrant from Don’t Go Breaking My Heart is very pleasing to see. I don’t really expect it to stay in that region for long, but you never really know for sure. Anything can happen when it comes to Hits 1.

– Nothing really has changed in the Top 5 other than the fact that Friends is somehow back in that region. I don’t know who the heck is still voting for this song, but it really needs to start dropping soon. Hopefully, Delicate can hold the #1 spot for as long as possible. Heck, I’d rather have The Middle back at #1 so that it can block Friends from taking the crown.

Hit-Bound:

• PNAU – Go Bang (DEBUT)
• Weezer – Africa
• Years & Years – If You’re Over Me
• DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, and Chance The Rapper – No Brainer (DEBUT)
• Brown & Gray – Top Down
• Zedd featuring Elley Duhé – Happy Now
• Charlie Puth – The Way I Am
• Train featuring Cam and Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir
• Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
• Justin Timberlake – SoulMate
• Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
• Dan + Shay – Tequila
• Big Boi – All Night
• Noah Cyrus featuring MAX – Team (DEBUT)
• Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind

– To kick off this week new entrants on Hit-Bound, we have PNAU with the single Go Bang. Right off the bat, I do like the production, but the vocals are pretty underwhelming. They kinda sound childish for my tastes. Not much else I can say about this one.

– DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber have teamed up again, this time with a new single titled No Brainer. Simply put, it’s just basically I’m The One 2.0. I’ll save most of my words for when it debuts.

– Finally, we have the return of Noah Cyrus, and this time she collaborates with MAX in the single, Team. I can say that this is definitely Noah’s best song. I love her vocals all throughout the song. MAX makes a nice contribution as well. The guitars are put to great use here. I’ll have more words should it debut.

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
TIE: 1. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Elley Duhe – Happy Now
3. Dan + Shay – Tequila
4. Brown & Gray – Top Down
5. Noah Cyrus featuring MAX – Team

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends

1 – Bad:
19. Cardi B. featuring Bad Bunny and J. Balvin – I Like It

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
17. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know
16. Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B. – Girls Like You 

4 – Good:
15. Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
14. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
13. Post Malone – Better Now

5 – Great:
12. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes 
11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
10. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)
9. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
8. Selena Gomez – Back To You
7. Taylor Swift – Delicate
6. Alessia Cara – Growing Pains
5. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry
4. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones 
3. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
2. Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa – One Kiss

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

Overall Grade: 80/100 = 80% (B–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Elvis Presley – All Shook Up (1957)

Most Missed Countdown Song: TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Stressed Out

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Welshly Arms – Legendary

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Shawn Mendes featuring Khalid – Youth

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#3)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Jumpsuit
TIE: 1. Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
3. Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa – One Kiss
4. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
5. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones

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

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Julia Michaels – Uh Huh: Honestly, this was a horrible follow-up to her predecessor, Issues. It’s simply bad in every way possible, from the lyrical content to her scratchy voice. Fortunately, this didn’t get as popular as her predecessor.