1. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood (#2) [+1] [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (2^nd of 4 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: NF – Lie (–31)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It and Dan + Shay – Tequila (+15)

New Entrants
– We have a new round of arrivals this week. To start things off, we have Loud Luxury and brando with the song titled Body, which I heard on Venus quite a few times. There are quite a few things that I do like, such as the production. However I do find brando’s voice to be a little underwhelming. But for some reason when we get to the chorus, I can’t help but pull myself in. While I have a mixed opinion about the song, there’s just something about it that makes me kinda-sorta like it. Yeah, this is probably one of the few guilty pleasures of mine at this moment.

– After One Foot, we get the next single from Walk The Moon titled Kamikaze, from their album What If Nothing. The intro to the songs basically resembles Happy Now. When I first heard it, I knew it would turn out to be a good song. Sure, it’s not as good as its predecessor, but it’s still enjoyable to some degree. The vocals and the chorus here is on point for most of the song. I love the production. These guys have proven that they don’t disappoint when it comes to their music. I first heard Shut Up And Dance back when it was huge and it was phenomenal. I’m glad Walk The Moon are still around to make good music. Overall, it’s enjoyable.

– With One Kiss likely on its last legs, we have Calvin Harris with his new single titled Promises, which features Sam Smith. Personally, I think One Kiss is the better song of the two he’s released this year. Though if I’m being honest, Promises is still a good song in and of itself. Sam Smith is mostly the type of artists who often does ballads such as Stay With Me and Too Good At Goodbyes. But he has been featured in some songs done by EDM artists, such as Disclosure who collaborated with him in Latch. That one I thought was pretty good. I can say the same for Promises. I do like Sam’s voice in the song. He doesn’t particularly shine, but he does a nice job with the chorus. Calvin does well with the production. I like that he’s trying something new and I’m glad it’s working for him so far. Overall, it’s an enjoyable song.

– Finally, we get a single from A Star Is Born movie soundtrack. Lady Gaga collaborates with the star of the movie Bradley Cooper in Shallow. Although I haven’t really listened to the soundtrack in its entirety, it does have some good songs, including this one and the one made a re-entry to Hit-Bound. But we’ll get to that later. Now, I’ll say that Lady Gaga is the one who mostly impresses me with her music. I like how her voice sounds in this one, which is a slow ballad. Bradley doesn’t sound bad for an actor. He’s proven to have a good voice in the song. I like the lyrics, and the production is nicely done. So yeah, I definitely love this collaboration and I would like to see it do well.

Best Debut Of The Week: Lady Gaga featuring Bradley Cooper – Shallow

Un-Break My Blurbs
– We’ll start with our exits. To begin, No Brainer was getting less interesting. Thus I don’t have any complains about it leaving. I kinda grew out of Sit Next To Me a while ago. Top Down I thought was good, but it was underrated. Finally, we lost On The Loose. And because of that, this is the first countdown in two years that we don’t have a solo song from any One Direction member. Talk about a good run for these guys.

– So earlier this week, Ariana Grande and Pete Davison decided to break up. I guess that means that we won’t be able to see Ariana in her wedding dress anytime soon.

– NF – Lie had probably the biggest drop of the year so far tanking from the Top 10 all the way down to near the bottom 5. Wow. I definitely did not see it coming. I guess the voters decided that two weeks in the Top 10 was too much.

– After a few weeks of dropping, Hey Look Ma, I Made It finally makes a big move up in the Top 30. It’s nice to see the song finally gain momentum on this countdown. I knew Hits 1 wasn’t going to let this song leave us so soon.

– And then, we get a big jump from Tequila as well. It almost seemed like the song’s decline was short-lived. Now the real question is, I wonder how long will that resurgence last?

– This Feeling entered the Top 10 much faster than Side Effects did. Definitely thrilled about this. Though I’m not exactly sure how long it’ll stay in that region, but I’m grateful for its early run so far.

– Blech. I’m A Mess has entered the Top 5 just to annoy me. Just great. I have a bad feeling that the song is going to be here to stay for a long while much like its predecessor. I never thought it would come to this, but songs like High Hopes need to stay higher for as long as possible.

-On that note, Youngblood is back at #1 this week. A part of me is relieved to see a song from Panic! At The Disco not hold the #1 spot this week. But at the same time, I hoping High Hopes and Youngblood can stay at the top 3 for as long as possible to keeps songs like Happier and I’m A Mess from hitting #1 until we get some better songs in the Top 5.

Hit-Bound:

• Halsey – Without Me
• Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (DEBUT)
• Pitbull featuring Theron Theron – Free Free Free
• David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone (DEBUT)
• Shawn Mendes – Nervous
• Camila Cabello – Consequences (DEBUT)
• Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
• Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There’s No Way (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande – Breathin’
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – My Blood
• Tiesto & Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone – Jackie Chan
• Alex Aiono – Big Mistake
• The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
• Jason Derulo & David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William – Goodbye
• Lady Gaga – I’ll Never Love Again (RE–ENTRY)

– It’s nice to see that I’ll Never Love Again has re-entered Hit-Bound. Hopefully, we’ll see it debut on the countdown soon.

– We have four new songs entering Hit-Bound this week. First, there’s Alec Benjamin with Let Me Down Slowly. I don’t really have too much to say about this one. I’ll say that the song is nothing special. Although the production is pretty decent, I find his voice to be underwhelming and a little childish. So yeah, I’m not much of a fan of the song.

– Next, we have David Guetta who is collaborating with Anne-Marie in Don’t Leave Me Alone. Much like with Body, it was on Venus when I first heard it and I’ve listened to it quite a few times. It’s a lot better than Friends. But I’ll also say that this is better than 2002, though I still find the song to be interesting. Anne-Marie really shines with her voice, and I like how David Guetaa handles his work as a DJ. Hopefully, we’ll see it make its debut.

– We get the next single from Camila Cabello, titled Consequences. Vocally, it’s a step up from Never Be The Same. It’s a slow ballad and Camila has a nice voice, as opposed to her predecessor where she tries too hard and sounded bad. I’m sure it’ll end up graduating to the Weekend Countdown.

– Last and definitely least, we have the return of Lauv who is collaborating with Julia Michaels in There’s No Way. It’s really not a good song for the most part. The production isn’t as awful as in I Like Me Better, but I find their vocals to be underwhelming. I’ll have more on this when it debuts.

Best Debut On Hit-Bound: David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
TIE: 1. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
TIE: 1. Lady Gaga – I’ll Never Love Again
3. David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone
4. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – My Blood
5. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks

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
16. lovelytheband – Broken
15. Anne-Marie – 2002

5 – Great:
14. Selena Gomez – Back To You
13. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
12. George Ezra – Shotgun
11. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
10. Dan + Shay – Tequila
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
7. Imagine Dragons – Natural
6. Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
5. The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects
4. Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
3. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Elley Duhé – Happy Now

Overall Grade: 89/100 = 89% (B+)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Toni Braxton – Un-Break My Heart (1996) (Believe it or not, it’s been 22 years since it came out)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Rachel Platten – Stand By You

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Little Mix – Touch

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Gryffin featuring Elley Duhé – Tie Me Down

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Kesha – Praying (#17) and Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#1)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Elley Duhé – Happy Now
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
3. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
4. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan
5. Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. AJR – Burn The House Down
2. LSD – Thunderclouds
3. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
4. Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends
5. Weezer – Africa

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Ed Sheeran – Perfect: The title of the song speaks for itself. It’s easily the perfect song to dance to in a wedding. I’ll have more on this when I do my Year-End posts.
Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know: Don’t get me wrong. I like Fergie, but this song is just not very good. I find her voice to be annoying, and I don’t like Nicki’s verses. Both artists have done much better in the past.
Evaride – Heartless: I like how Hits 1 picked this song up from a new band I haven’t even heard of. The rock vibes in the song are just divine. I’ll just leave it at that.

QOTW: Who do you guys think will win the World Series this year and why?