Hello, guys! So, my birthday is tomorrow, and I’ll be turning 27. Man, I sure am starting to feel old. Anyway, with my Hits 1 Rankdown finally out of the way, I can now shift my focus towards other things. The first of which is the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End for 2018, which I’ll start working on next week. There’s also some other stuff that I need to work on as well. Basically, I have a lot of catching up to do. While I’m at it, here’s the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown post for you guys on this Super Bowl Weekend. Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Camila Cabello – Consequences (#25)
• Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity (#37)
• Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There’s No Way (#40)
• Steve Aoki featuring BTS – Waste It On Me (#41)
• Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (#44)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Halsey – Without Me
45. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#45) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
44. Jennifer Lopez – Limitless (#42) [–2]
43. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#43) [=]
42. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess (#39) [–3]
41. George Ezra – Shotgun (#38) [–3]
40. Pitbull featuring Rhea – Ocean To Ocean (DEBUT)
39. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#36) [–3] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
38. Charli XCX featuring Troye Sivan – 1999 (DEBUT)
37. Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (#34) [–3]
36. Dean Lewis – Be Alright (DEBUT)
35. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#33) [–2]
34. Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You (#32) [–2]
33. Ariana Grande – Breathin’ (#27) [–6]
32. lovelytheband – Broken (#30) [–2]
31. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (#23) [–8]
30. Seeb featuring Bastille – Grip (DEBUT)
29. Lauren Daigle – You Say (DEBUT)
28. Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely (#29) [+1]
27. James Arthur – Empty Space (#28) [+1]
26. Benny Blanco featuring Calvin Harris – I Found You (#35) [+9]
25. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#26) [+1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
24. Khalid – Better (#22) [–2]
23. Imagine Dragons – Machine (#13) [–10]
22. Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#31) [+9]
21. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks (#24) [+3]
20. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life (#20) [=]
19. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#19) [=]
18. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower (#16) [–2]
17. David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone (#18) [+1]
16. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine (#17) [+1]
15. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies (#14) [–1]
14. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#21) [+7] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
13. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me (#12) [–1]
12. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#7) [–5]
11. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#15) [+4]
10. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#11) [+1]
9. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#10) [+1]
8. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#9) [+1]
7. Benny Blanco featuring Halsey featuring Khalid – Eastside (#6) [–1]
6. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#5) [–1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
5. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#8) [+3]
4. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier (#4) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
3. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#3) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
2. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#2) [=] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
1. Halsey – Without Me (#1) [=] [4^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran and Future – End Game (1^st And Only Week At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Imagine Dragons – Machine (–10)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Benny Blanco featuring Calvin Harris – I Found You and Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (+9)

New Entrants:
– We have five songs debuting this week. To start, we have Pitbull collaborating with Rhea in a song taken from the Aquaman movie, titled Ocean To Ocean. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I actually kinda like this one in a way. Now, I’m not particularly a fan of Pitbull’s verses here, but I thought he sounded okay. The song does use a sample of Africa, where Rhea does most of the singing. I do agree that Pitbull shouldn’t be sampling Africa. I thought Rhea sounded decent with her voice. It’s not necessarily the best, but it’s certainly better than the cover from Weezer, which was terrible. So yeah, I can say this is probably one of his weakest singles, but it’s not all that bad.

– We still have Anne-Marie – 2002 in the Top 10. I’ve actually lost interest in that song now, so I would like it if it started dropping soon. But while we wait, we do have a song that’s similar to 2002, except better. Charli XCX and Troye Sivan both turn back the clock and take us back to 1999 in their single. Like I just mentioned, 1999 is a step up from 2002 in more ways than one. First off, both Charli and Troye have good voices here. They shine in the chorus and their verses are solid. Much like with 2002, it has references to some of my favorite songs such as …Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. But this song does everything better. So yeah, it’s a great song and I’m glad the collaboration between Charli and Troye worked out well.

– We have newcomer Dean Lewis with Be Alright. There’s not a whole lot I know about Dean Lewis. But I do think Be Alright is a solid song. I love the instrumentation here. I think Dean sounds good as well. Hearing his voice, he shows a lot of his personality in the song and I can feel it. I love the lyrics about a relationship not working out well and how to move on after a break-up. He put a lot of effort in writing the song and I’m glad it turned out very well. It’s a nice song overall.

– If you remember Seeb, then you probably know he was behind one of my favorite songs from 2016 with I Took A Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner. This week, he returns and collaborates with Bastille in their new single, Grip. I’ll simply say that it’s not that great of a song, but it is better than Happier in my opinion. I think Seeb did a nice job with the production although at times it’s a little generic. Dan Smith sounds better with his voice here. Although the lyrics aren’t as good as Happier, I still think they’re pretty decent. Yeah, this is pretty good, though I can’t really envision it sticking with me in the long run. But if anything, I’ll take this over Happier any day.

– So, I’m still waiting for Adele to make her comeback, which probably won’t happen for a while. However, we do get an Adele-soundalike who makes her very first appearance on the countdown this week. We have Lauren Daigle with a song that’s been around for quite sometime, titled You Say. I’m sure many here are not very fond of this because she is basically an Adele ripoff, which she is. But as a music critic, I have to judge based on what I hear. And after listening to the song in its entirety, I found plenty to love about this song. Lauren has an amazing voice. When I hear her sing the chorus, I can feel her emotion. That’s something we don’t get in many songs nowadays. I also love the piano work. It sounds really nice. The lyrics are creative and well-written. It’s definitely an awesome ballad and I’m glad this made it to the Weekend Countdown.

Best Debut Of The Week: Lauren Daigle – You Say

Blurbs Say
– Our five exits consist of songs that weren’t necessarily all that popular. Consequences left from a high position at #25. And with that means that Camila Cabello doesn’t have a countdown song for the first time in a while. Electricity and Woman Like Me are both loved by me, but I wasn’t too surprised to see them leave. Waste It On Me I thought was pretty decent, but it wasn’t something worth caring about in the big picture. Finally, good riddance to There’s No Way. I’m glad that song didn’t get as big as its predecessor even though it’s not nearly as annoying. Unfortunately, this is not the last we’ve seen of Lauv as he does have a new song on Hit-Bound, which we’ll get to in a moment.

– So, Charlie Puth is a big fan of Queen, huh? That’s according to Spyder Harrison during his introduction for The Way I Am. I wonder what is Charlie’s favorite song from them? We don’t know for sure, but I’m willing to bet he has a lot of favorites.

– Machine took a big drop this week which was very pleasing. Thankfully, we won’t see this become a huge hit. Instead, we’ll likely see their other song take its place. And their song I won’t mention right now has made its debut on Hit-Bound. We’ll get to that in just a moment.

– Before introducing Sunflower, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Post Malone plans on performing with Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Grammy Music Awards next weekend. That ought to be interesting. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m looking forward to that performance.

– Looks like Natural isn’t giving up yet. It has made its way back into the Top 20 this week despite the fact that it died out a long time ago. I do still like this. In fact, that along with a certain song on Hit-Bound are way better than Machine, which is a mess.

– We don’t get a whole lot of action in the Top 10 other than a few songs changing their positions. Thank U, Next is the only new entrant in the Top 5 this week.

Hit-Bound:

• Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (DEBUT)
• Rita Ora – Let You Love Me (DEBUT)
• lovelytheband – Maybe, I’m Afraid
• Gesaffelstein featuring The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire
• Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me
• Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime (DEBUT)
• Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More
• Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe
• Ariana Grande – 7 Rings (DEBUT)
• Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
• Post Malone – Wow.
• Lauv featuring Troye Sivan – I’m So Tired (DEBUT)
• Jake Miller – Wait For You
• Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It’s Over
• Travis Scott featuring Drake – Sicko Mode

Entrant Reviews:
– We have a big shake-up in the world of Hit-Bound this week. We’ll begin with Imagine Dragons with probably the best single off of Origins, titled Bad Liar. Machine is a complete mess and their worst song they’ve ever released. Thankfully though, the song is declining on this countdown, which means I won’t have to worry about it for too much longer. Hopefully, Bad Liar will take its place soon. Let’s talk about that good song. We don’t get any obnoxious yelling from Dan Reynolds this time like we did with Machine. Here, he sounds good singing. I like the production as well. It’s not as messy and the instrumentation is solid. Overall, this is a really good song and I would like to see that one become another hit for these guys.

– I don’t know too much about Rita Ora, seeing as she’s not relevant. But hearing her music, I actually like most of the songs she has put out. Our latest debut on Hit-Bound this week, Let You Love Me, just happens to be one of them. I briefly discussed the song when it made its debut on the American Top 40. But to sum it up, I like pretty much everything about it. I think Rita has a good voice and she uses it well here. The production is solid. I hope to see it graduate to the Weekend Countdown soon because it’s a really good song.

– Once more, we get another single from Panic! At The Disco, this time with Dancing’s Not A Crime. It’s not the best song off of Pray For The Wicked. I’d much prefer songs like F**k A (Silver Lining), Say Amen (Saturday Night), and High Hopes. But Dancing’s Not A Crime is still good mostly because of Brendon Urie, who sounds great with his voice although here he doesn’t quite shine in the chorus. I’ll save most of my words for when it inevitably debuts.

– Next, we have Ariana Grande with my least favorite single from her, by the name of 7 Rings. As I’ve stated many times, I’m a big supporter for Ariana Grande’s music. Almost every single she has released throughout her career has been really good in my eyes. But unfortunately, 7 Rings is a much different story. This song is just terrible. First off, I don’t like her voice in this one. She sounds underwhelming and at times, pretty annoying. The production is pretty bad and I don’t like the beat at all. And don’t even get me started on the lyrics. I feel like she acts very conceited with her bragging and what not. Simply put, this song is shit, and this is coming from someone who adores her. Huge disappointment for Ariana. I’ve been questioning her direction when it comes to her latest music, although I still kinda like Thank U, Next even though it’s not amazing. But 7 Rings is just the bottom falling out in Ariana’s music. I’ll stop right there for now, but I won’t take it very kindly when it graduates to the Weekend Countdown. When I prefer to listen to Sicko Mode over this mess, that’s a bad thing.

– Lastly, we have another song that I’m not very fond of either. We get another single from Lauv, and this time he collaborates with Troye Sivan in I’m So Tired. There’s almost nothing I like about the song. Lauv sounds pretty bad, and the production is not good. Troye sounds okay, but even he can’t save the song from being mediocre at best. Overall, it’s a bad song and it’s the worst thing Troye has been a part of. And the sad thing is, I’d rather listen to Sicko Mode than this one, along with 7 Rings which I just talked about.

Best Debut Of The Week: Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar
2. Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It’s Over
3. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
4. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More
5. Gesafflestein featuring The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire

YouTube 15:

• Khalid – Better
• Alan Walker featuring Au/Ra and Tomine Harket – Darkside
• Walk The Moon – Timebomb
• Travis Scott featuring Drake – Sicko Mode
• Clean Bandit featuring Marina And The Diamonds and Luis Fonsi – Baby
• Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower
• Julia Michaels featuring Selena Gomez – Anxiety
• Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
• The Chainsmokers featuring Winona Oak – Hope
• Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You
• PRETTYMUCH – Blind
• Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
• Calvin Harris featuring Rag’N’Bone Man – Giant
• Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
• FLETCHER – Undrunk

Song Reviews:
– We have the latest from Walk The Moon, in the form of Timebomb. Right off the bat, this song is just a upbeat jam. Most of the music they’ve released has been awesome. The production is amazing and I love Nick’s voice. It sounded like they were having a blast singing that song, much like with One Foot, one of my favorites from 2018. So yeah, this is really good.

– Next, we get a collaboration between Julia Michaels and Selena Gomez in Anxiety. I’m going to be straight up and simply say that this song sucks. Julia is just not a good singer and it shows when I hear her verses. Selena doesn’t do much for me either and while she doesn’t sound as bad as Julia, her contribution is underwhelming. I also don’t like the instrumentation. The guitars are a little scratchy and there’s not much else to the production. So yeah, this is just bad in pretty much every way. And once again, if I prefer to listen to Sicko Mode over this one, that’s not a good thing.

– PRETTYMUCH are back with yet another new single, this time with Blind. It’s a bit of a step up from Jello, which was their worst song. But that isn’t saying too much. I’ll admit their vocals are somewhat better, but I don’t like the lyrical content and the beat isn’t too interesting. Overall, it’s not a good song. It’s really sad that we’ll likely never get something more along the lines of Would You Mind, which is easily their best song.

– Lastly, we have new artist FLETCHER with her new single, Undrunk. Not too much I can say about this one, except I like her voice overall and the production is solid. The lyrics are pretty decent. Yeah, I’m content with this.

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. Walk The Moon – Timebomb
2. Alan Walker featuring Au/Ra and Tomine Harket – Darkside
3. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower
4. Clean Bandit featuring Marina And The Diamonds and Luis Fonsi – Baby
5. FLETCHER – Undrunk

Top 20 Review:
0 – Horrific:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly
19. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier

2 – Mediocre:
18. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine
17. Anne-Marie – 2002

3 – Decent:
16. Halsey – Without Me

4 – Good:
15. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
14. David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone

5 – Great:
13. Imagine Dragons – Natural
12. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
10. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
9. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
8. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma I Made It
7. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
6. Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
5. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower
4. Dan + Shay – Tequila
3. Dan + Shay – Speechless
2. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me

Overall Grade: 83/100 = 83% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: The Human League – Don’t You Want Me (1981)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Paramore – Still Into You

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Paramore – Hard Times

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Maren Morris – GIRL (not a whole lot of good music worth recommending)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Kesha – Praying (#37), Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B – Finesse (#22), and Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves (#3)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
2. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
3. Dan + Shay – Speechless
4. Lauren Daigle – You Say
5. Dan + Shay – Tequila

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
2. Imagine Dragons – Machine
3. Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely
4. James Arthur – Empty Space
5. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
All Time Low – Last Young Renegade: I may not care that much for All Time Low, but this is one of their best songs. I like the production here, and the chorus is solid. I wish this deserved better.
Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle: Once again, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I still love this song, even if it isn’t his best.

QOTW: Who do you want to win the Super Bowl in Atlanta? Patriots or Rams?