What’s up, guys? This week, I’ve finally posted my 100,000 Pageview Special! For those of you who haven’t already checked it out, it’s on the right side under Pageview Specials. Once again, I would like to say thank you all for reaching 100,000 Pageviews. You guys here are really the best. Anyway, Ryan Seacrest is absent this week as the band 5 Seconds Of Summer took over as the host. I thought they did pretty good at hosting for the most part. Let’s get right into things. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week:

• All Night by Big Boi (#31)
• Perfect by Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé (#40) [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B.
40. The Way I Am by Charlie Puth (DEBUT)
39. Let You Down by NF (#38) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
38. Lucid Dreams by Juice WRLD (DEBUT)
37. Meant To Be by Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (#36) [–1]
36. Nevermind by Dennis Lloyd (#39) [+3]
35. Jackie Chan by Tiesto & Dzeko featuring Post Malone and Preme (#37) [+2]
34. New Rules by Dua Lipa (#32) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
33. Let You Be Right by Meghan Trainor (#34) [+1]
32. Dinero by Jennifer Lopez featuring Cardi B. and DJ Khaled (#33) [+1]
31. Pray For Me by The Weeknd featuring Kendrick Lamar (#30) [–1]
30. Nice For What by Drake (#20) [–10]
29. Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons (#28) [–1]
28. Lie by NF (#29) [+1]
27. Wait by Maroon 5 (#25) [–2]
26. Home With You by Madison Beer (#26) [=]
25. God Is A Woman by Ariana Grande (#35) [+10]
24. Never Be The Same by Camila Cabello (#22) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
23. Bed by Nicki Minaj featuring Ariana Grande (#24) [+1]
22. Drew Barrymore by Bryce Vine (#23) [+1]
21. I’m A Mess by Bebe Rexha (#21) [=]
20. No Brainer by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, and Chance The Rapper (#27) [+7]
19. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Backstreet Boys (#19) [=]
18. The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey (#17) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
17. In My Blood by Shawn Mendes (#16)
16. Remind Me To Forget by Kygo featuring Miguel (#18) [+2]
15. I Like Me Better by Lauv (#13) [–2]
14. Growing Pains by Alessia Cara (#15) [+1]
13. In My Feelings by Drake (#14) [+1]
12. Youngblood by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#12) [=]
11. Mine by Bazzi (#8) [–3] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
10. One Kiss by Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa (#11) [+1]
9. Back To You by Selena Gomez (#10) [+1]
8. Psycho by Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign (#7) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
7. Love Lies by Khalid featuring Normani (#8) [+1]
6. No Tears Left To Cry by Ariana Grande (#6) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
5. I Like It by Cardi B. featuring Bad Bunny and J. Balvin (#5) [=]
4. Delicate by Taylor Swift (#3) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
3. Friends by Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie (#2) [–1]
2. Better Now by Post Malone (#4) [+2]
1. Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B. (#1) [=] [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes (1^st And Only Week At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Nice For What by Drake (–10)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: God Is A Woman by Ariana Grande (+10)

New Entrants
– Charlie Puth makes his return to the countdown with the next single off of Voicenotes, titled The Way I Am. His music has been improving since the days of Nine Track Mind. His first three single off of his latest album have been more likable among the blogging community and YouTube critics alike. As for his latest single The Way I Am, I can’t say it’s as good as the other three. But it still shows how much Charlie has improved. I do like his vocals here, and he does quite well with handling the production itself. I’ll talk more about this later this weekend when it debuts on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. But yeah, Charlie has done well impressing me so far.

– For our second and final debut of the week, we have Juice WRLD with the song called Lucid Dreams. I’m just going to simply say that right off the bat, I don’t see the appeal to the song whatsoever. Now, I do think his vocals are okay, so I don’t see it as a problem. But there are many reasons why I don’t like it. I’m not a fan of the lyrical content and parts of the song are actually annoying, especially when we get to the bridge. The production here is weak all throughout the song. So yeah, this was not a good first impression at all in my book. I do hope it doesn’t last too long.

Best Debut Of The Week: The Way I Am by Charlie Puth

That’s Just The Way I Blurb
– We’ll start with our two exits. First off, I’m pleased to see All Night by Big Boi not last very long here. Second, we have the departure of Perfect by Ed Sheeran. With that, this will be the first time we don’t have a song from Ed Sheeran on the countdown just January 2017. I’m sad to say that we won’t be getting anymore singles from him for a while. He did have a very nice run and I enjoyed most of his singles from Divide. I’m sure some here are bidding good riddance to Perfect, but I’m not one of them. It’s definitely a candidate for My Top 50 Songs of 2018, which I plan on getting started on very soon. Good-bye Perfect. It’s been a fun ride.

– Post Malone hits a new peak of #2 with Better Now. I wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow ends up being a #1 song down the road. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing it at the top soon.

– There were a couple of big jumps worth mentioning. No Brainer making a 7-spot jump was no surprise, but I’m not all that thrilled about it. However, I’ll gladly take the big jump from God Is A Woman. I liked the performance from the VMA’s and Ariana sounded amazing live. I hope that song continues it success.

– On the opposite end of the spectrum, Nice For What takes a big drop. It’s quite a shame to see this one not do as well as its predecessor. I still like that song quite a lot. It’s one of the best songs off of Scorpion.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Almost Love by Sabrina Carpenter
• SoulMate by Justin Timberlake
• Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid
• Side Effects by The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton
• Somebody by Natalia Ja Rose featuring Jeremih
• She’s Kinda Hot by 5 Seconds Of Summer
• Habits by Tove Lo
• She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds Of Summer
• Super Bass by Nicki Minaj
• What I Like About You by 5 Seconds Of Summer
• All Of Me by John Legend
• Want You Back by 5 Seconds Of Summer

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. I Like Me Better by Lauv
19. Friends by Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie
18. Psycho by Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign

1 – Bad:
17. In My Feelings by Drake

2 – Mediocre:
16. I Like It by Cardi B. featuring Bad Bunny and J. Balvin

3 – Decent:
15. No Brainer by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, and Chance The Rapper
14. Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B.

4 – Good:
13. In My Blood by Shawn Mendes
12. Mine by Bazzi

5 – Great:
11. Better Now by Post Malone
10. Love Lies by Khalid featuring Normani
9. Back To You by Selena Gomez
8. Youngblood by 5 Seconds Of Summer
7. Delicate by Taylor Swift
6. Remind Me To Forget by Kygo featuring Miguel
5. Growing Pains by Alessia Cara
4. No Tears Left To Cry by Ariana Grande
3. One Kiss by Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey
TIE: 1. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Backstreet Boys

Total Score: 74/100 = 74% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Will You Be There by Michael Jackson (1993)

Most Missed Song: Give Your Heart A Break by Demi Lovato

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Happy Now by Zedd featuring Elley Duhé

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Praying by Kesha (#21)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Backstreet Boys
TIE: 1. The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris 
3. God Is A Woman by Ariana Grande
4. No Tears Left To Cry by Ariana Grande
5. One Kiss by Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa

Honorable Mentions: Let You Be Right by Meghan Trainor and Growing Pains by Alessia Cara

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. I Like Me Better
2. Friends by Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie
3. Lucid Dreams by Juice WRLD
4. Meant To Be by Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line
5. Psycho by Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo: I’d say this is one of Major Lazer’s worst singles. The production here is underwhelming, especially for a EDM artist who made a breakthrough with Lean On. Not to mention that none of the artists made any contribution here.
Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man: Some here have faded on this one by now, and for some other it stuck with them. As for me, well I’ll just say that it was nice to see an indie group of this caliber come up with this sleeper hit, even if the song itself may not be interesting to some here anymore.