#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Liam Payne – Strip That Down (1^st of 2 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato – Solo (–16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: NF – Lie (+11)

New Entrants
– We have the return of The Vamps, and this time around they bring their latest single Just My Type. I’ve never really been the one to care for their music like that, but at least their music is better than a certain band who I won’t mention. Anyway, the last time we saw The Vamps was early last year when they had All Night, which was slow-paced. But Just My Type is more of a fast-paced song. I like the use of guitars throughout the song. The guys show that they have nice vocals overall. I’d say it’s one of my favorites they’ve released so far, though I’m not sold on it lasting long here.

– Next, we have newcomer Bryce Vine making his debut with the song that’s named after the actress, Drew Barrymore. Right off the bat, the song isn’t very interesting for my tastes. I’m not big on Bryce’s voice, and the production is pretty mediocre all around. I don’t really have too much else to say about it. While the song itself is not horrific by any means, it’s not necessarily a fun listen for me.

– At #33, we have a new artist making her first appearance on this countdown. And believe it or not, she’s actually transgender. Her name is Kim Petras, and she has a song called Heart To Break. Now, I will say that this is a fun, upbeat song right from the jump. Kim shows that she has a good voice and she sounds energetic throughout the song. I love the production in this one as well as the lyrics. Yeah, this is definitely a fun listen. It’s actually quite rare that one of those types of fun, upbeat songs come around. Kim did a very nice job impressing me.

– So, Friends has now officially fallen to the bottom 5 of this countdown, and the end just can’t come soon enough. But then, we get another song from Anne-Marie as she turns back the clock and takes us to 2002. It’s quite an interesting song in a way, mainly because it has references to past hits, such as Baby One More Time from Britney Spears, Bye Bye Bye from NSYNC, and some other past hits I won’t mention. I think Anne-Marie has a nice voice and she uses it pretty well, unlike in Friends where she didn’t do much for that song at all. The production here is pretty decent. So yeah, it’s a step up from Friends. I don’t see it sticking with me in the long run, but I do like this.

– I’m sure there are some people here who are getting sick of Panic! At The Disco right about now. But if you’re like me and are looking forward to hearing more from them, then I’ve got good news for you (and myself). Brendon Urie and company make their highest debut of the week with Hey Look Ma, I Made It. And with that, they now have three representations currently on the countdown. Unlike it’s two predecessors, this one is a little bit more slow-paced. As always, I love Brendon’s vocals. The production here is great, especially with the horns. What the song talks about is one’s journey to success, and then showing your parents that you did it. It’s definitely a good song overall and I’m certain it’ll do well just like its two predecessors.

Best Debut Of The Week: Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It

Oops!… I Blurbed It Again
– Neither of those five exits will really be missed by me. I Like It and In My Feelings were not to my liking, so I have no complaints about their departures. Nevermind and Summer On You were okay, but they were not something that I’ll remember in a year or so. Home With You I did kinda like and I thought was pretty decent, but it just didn’t stick with me long term.

– In its second week, Solo actually had the biggest drop. Very rarely does a song have a big drop in its second week of its tenure. Something tells me that this won’t last very long here.

– We have some other songs taking big drops this week. Broken was bound to drop eventually, though I’m not too heartbroken about it. Africa, on the other hand, I’m pleased about. Hopefully, the song can leave us soon.

– Say Amen (Saturday Night) has dropped out of the Top 10 this week. It’s the first time the song hasn’t been in that region since back in July, I think. I’m sure there are some here who will be happy about this.

– And just like that, The Way I Am jumps right back into the Top 10 this week. It almost seems like that drop from last week didn’t happen.

– Other than a few songs changing positions, not much happened in the Top 5. High Hopes gets another week at #1, while Don’t Go Breaking My Heart reaches a new peak at #3. I didn’t think it would last long in the Top 5, but I’m glad I was wrong. It may not be a big hit elsewhere, but at least it’s doing well on this countdown.

Hit-Bound:

• Loud Luxury featuring Brando – Body
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – My Blood (DEBUT)
• Jason Derulo & David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William – Goodbye
• The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (DEBUT)
• The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
• Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
• Calvin Harris featuring Sam Smith – Promises
• Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
• Tiesto & Dzeko featuring Post Malone and Preme – Jackie Chan
• Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity
• Pitbull featuring Theron Theron – Free Free Free
• Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan (DEBUT)
• Alex Aiono – Big Mistake (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande – Breathin’ (DEBUT)

Entrant Reviews:
– After both Jumpsuit and Nico And The Niners, we get the next single from TWENTY ØNE PILØTS titled My Blood, from their latest album Trench which comes out next week. I can say that it’s not nearly as good as Jumpsuit, but it does show that these guys can write good lyrics and Tyler’s vocals are good. I’m sure it’ll end up debuting on the countdown at some point in time. Whether the song will be a success or not, only time will tell on that.

– The Chainsmokers have another new single, and they’re collaborating with a rising country star Kelsea Ballerini in This Feeling. Simply put, I absolutely LOVE this. Kelsea and Drew both song great together. This is probably their best release since Closer. As much as I love Side Effects, I may like this even more.

– I’ve been waiting for Shawn Mendes to release Lost In Japan as his next single off of his self-titled album. Sure enough, my wish was granted. Though, it only took for a remix with Zedd to make it happen. But I’ll only be reviewing the original version of the song itself. It has that groove which pulls me in, and Shawn does show off his good voice. Looking at the lyrics, it’s basically about romance. I’ll save most of my words for when it inevitably debuts.

– Next, we have Alex Aiono with the song titled Big Mistake. I talked about this last week when it was on the YouTube 15. It’s an upbeat song with good vocals and nice production. Alex did a good job of managing to impress me with his debut single.

– Finally, there’s Ariana Grande with her next single off of Sweetner titled Breathin’. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to some of you that I love this song given that I’m a huge fan of Ariana and her music. I’m sure that one will end up making its debut soon, and by then I’ll talk more about it.

Best Debut Of The Week: Tie between The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling and Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
TIE: 1. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
4. Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity
5. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – My Blood

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

1 – Bad:
None!

2 – Mediocre:
19. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

3 – Decent:
18. Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B. – Girls Like You

4 – Good:
17. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am

5 – Great:
16. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)
15. NF – Lie
14. Imagine Dragons – Natural
13. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
12. Selena Gomez – Back To You
11. Post Malone – Better Now
10. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
8. Dan + Shay – Tequila
7. Taylor Swift – Delicate
6. Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
5. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
4. The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects
3. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Elley Duhé – Happy Now

Overall Grade: 91/100 = 91% (A–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Britney Spears – Oops!… I Did It Again (2000)

Most Missed Countdown Song: X Ambassadors – Renegades

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Sia – Elastic Heart

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kesha – Praying (#10)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Elley Duhé – Happy Now
TIE: 1. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
3. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
4. The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects
5. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
2. Train featuring Cam and Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir
3. AJR – Burn The House Down
4. LSD – Thunderclouds
5. Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Sabrina Carpenter – Why: Not her best effort whatsoever. This is pretty weak compared to her other singles. At least Almost Love doesn’t sound anything like this.
Selena Gomez featuring Gucci Mane – Fetish: I’m sorry, Selena. But I don’t but this whole “you got a fetish for my love”. It doesn’t sound right to me. And even editing out Gucci Mane’s verses on Hits 1 doesn’t make the song any better.
Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255: This got big around the time Chester Bennington from Linkin Park passed away due to suicide. It’s such a moving song and this is something all of us can relate to.

QOTW: Last week, Avril Lavigne made her comeback with Head Above Water. How do you guys feel about this?