Hello, fam! This weekend, college football is making its comeback. If you’re like me and love to watch sports, then I’m sure you’re as excited as I am about watching college football. Also, the MTV Video Music Awards take place this Monday. I plan on watching the show in its entirety, though it’s not likely that I’ll do a review on the performances. But I’m sure it’ll be plenty of fun. Taylor Swift had her Weekend Takeover as she hosted both the Weekend Countdown and Hit-Bound. I think she did great at hosting. There were some interesting things she said about some artists. Let’s jump right into things, shall we? Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• P!NK – Hustle (#37)
• Andy Grammer – Don’t Give Up On Me (#40)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
45. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#45) [=]
44. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier (#44) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
43. Halsey – Without Me (#41) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
42. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#42) [=]
41. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#38) [–3] [Spent 7 Weeks At #1]
40. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her (DEBUT)
39. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#39) [=] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
38. Asher Angel featuring Wiz Khalifa – One Thought Away (#36) [–2]
37. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#26) [–11]
36. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#30) [–6]
35. Ava Max – So Am I (#33) [–2]
34. Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie – ME! (#31) [–3]
33. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#34) [+1]
32. Zara Larsson – All The Time (DEBUT)
31. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix) (#29) [–2]
30. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#19) [–11]
29. Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello – Find U Again (#23) [–6]
28. SHAED – Trampoline (#35) [+7]
27. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#27) [=]
26. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You (#43) [+17]
25. Stephen Puth – Look Away (#32) [+7]
24. Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter (#20) [–4]
23. OneRepublic – Rescue Me (#24) [+1]
22. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#22) [=]
21. Katy Perry – Small Talk (#28) [+7]
20. Post Malone featuring Young Thug – Goodbyes (#25) [+5]
19. AJR – 100 Bad Days (#21) [+2]
18. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#18) [=]
17. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#10) [–7]
16. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#17) [+1]
15. Halsey – Nightmare (#13) [–2]
14. Khalid – Talk (#16) [+2]
13. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime (#15) [+2]
12. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#14) [+2]
11. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#11) [=]
10. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#9) [–1]
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#6) [–3]
8. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care (#12) [+4]
7. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#5) [–2]
6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#3) [–3] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
5. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#7) [+2]
4. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#8) [+4]
3. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#4) [+1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
2. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#2) [=] [Spent 13 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#1) [=] [7^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (1^st of 2 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me and PUBLIC – Make You Mine (–11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You (+17)

New Entrants:
– It’s about time Hits 1 has picked up on Thomas Rhett. He makes his first appearance, I believe, on the countdown with his single titled Look What God Gave Her. I’m going to go on the record and say that Look What God Gave Her doesn’t quite live up to Marry Me, which was a huge favorite of mine outside of Hits 1 back in 2018. But it’s still pretty good for the most part. I like the lyrical content here. It shows how talented Thomas is as a songwriter. He has a nice voice and he uses it well. I like the chorus, along with the production of the song. I think it exceptional. Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing it have some success.

– Zara Larsson makes her return to the countdown this week. This time around, she gives us All The Time. She did give us Ruin My Life at the beginning of this year, which is a solid song overall and I enjoyed it for the most part. I think All The Time is a little bit of a step up from its predecessor, in large part because of the production. I absolutely adore it and the beat is interesting. Zara has a good voice and she genuinely impressed me with her performance in the song. The computerized backing vocals are just awesome to listen to. Simply put, this song is such a bop. It is fun, upbeat, and just makes me want to dance! When I hear the song come on, it definitely puts a big smile on my face. Yeah, she really wowed me with this track!

Best Debut Of The Week: Zara Larsson – All The Time

How Do I Blurb Without You
– We have two exits this week, but they were both expected. I did enjoy Don’t Give Up On Me quite a bit. But I’m not necessarily saddened by its exit considering that Andy Grammer hasn’t been a presence since Honey, I’m Good was his last huge hit. Hustle didn’t really take off elsewhere as it wasn’t an official single off of Hurts 2B Human. This is probably the last we’ll hear from P!NK for a while.

– Before introducing High Hopes, Taylor Swift mentioned that the song inspires people. I definitely agree with her on that statement. After all, Brendon Urie does have the talent to pull it off. I love when he’s able to create songs like this. With it having been on the countdown for well over a year, could this possibly break the record for number of weeks spent on the countdown? We’ll have to see.

– Before introducing Trampoline, Taylor Swift mentioned that the members of SHAED heard the song while they were shopping at a local store. One of the employees mentioned to them that they love the song. Well, guess what? So do I. I’ve heard stories of workers who share their favorite songs to their customers. I’ll bet they have some good taste in music.

– Did we really need With You to make a big jump like that? Come on, people. I wasn’t never fond of the song from the start. But now, I’ve had it. This song gives me another reason as to why I’ve been losing faith in the EDM genre lately. While With You isn’t as bad as One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown (which I referenced during my review of the song on the American Top 40 that it’s my new least favorite song of the year), it is still undesirable in every way. Meghan’s poor vocal performance and weak effort from Kaskade aren’t helping matters.

– Stephen Puth makes a move up this week as his song, Look Away, enters the Top 25. It won’t be much longer until his brother Charlie comes back, because he just released his new single which I’ll get to in just a bit. Looks like we have a family reunion next week, perhaps?

– Before introducing Mother’s Daughter, Taylor Swift mentioned that Miley Cyrus also has a thing for cats, much like Taylor does. Though, Miley has some pets which are different animals. I’ll bet Taylor would like to visit her and meet her pets.

– Thank you, voters, for allowing Love Me Less to drop out of the Top 10 this week. The sooner this asinine mess of a song leaves the countdown, the better. We don’t need anymore songs like that polluting the countdown, let alone the Top 10.

– On that note, our Top 10 is a pretty mixed bag. If I Can’t Have You holds at #1 once more, which is good considering it’s the best song in the Top 5 at this moment. There are songs that I would like to see start moving down soon. I hope Señorita can hit #1 real soon and hopefully hold the top spot until we get some better music.

Hit-Bound:
Taylor Swift is the host of Hit-Bound this week to celebrate the release of her new album, Lover. Here is the full list:

• Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me
• Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA
• Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
• Lizzo – Good As Hell
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend
• Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?
• Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20’s
• Charlie Puth – I Warned Myself (DEBUT)
• Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
• Taylor Swift – Lover
• Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
• Jonas Brothers – Only Human
• Waterparks – Dream Boy

Entrant Reviews:
– First, we have more of 5 Seconds Of Summer as they bring us their new single titled Teeth, taken from the 13 Reasons Why soundtrack for the second season. I will say that it’s a step up from Easier because there’s some resemblance of a band here. But I’m not that impressed, mostly because I don’t like their vocal work. The lyrics also leave something to be desired. This’ll likely end up debuting on the countdown soon, because Hits 1 can’t seem to get enough of these guys.

– And of course, Charlie Puth makes his big return this week. He brings us his brand new single in the form of I Warned Myself. I came into this one with high expectations and he did not deliver for the most part. It lacks lyrical depth in many areas and the production leaves a lot to be desired. I also don’t like the way he chokes in the second verse. So yeah, this is just underwhelming all around. I have it in blue, but it’s closer to red.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend

1 – Bad:
14. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?

2 – Mediocre:
13. Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
12. Charlie Puth – I Warned Myself
11. Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA

3 – Decent:
10. Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth

4 – Good:
8. Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me

5 – Great:
7. Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20’s
6. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
5. Waterparks – Dream Boy
4. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
2. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Taylor Swift – Lover

Overall Grade: 53/75 = 71% (C–)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Kungs vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This Girl

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Taylor Swift – Lover
2. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
4. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
5. Waterparks – Dream Boy

YouTube 15:

• Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
• Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolls $ign – Hot Girl Summer
• ILLENIUM featuring X Ambassadors – In Your Arms
• Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
• Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
• Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
• Niki – Indigo
• Lizzo – Truth Hurts
• Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
• Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
• Miley Cyrus – Slide Away
• Khalid – Talk
• Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
• Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down
• Normani – Motivation

Song Reviews:
– EDM producer ILLENIUM collaborates with the group, X Ambassadors in their latest single titled In Your Arms. I’m going to be straight up and simply say that this is divine. I love the vocals we get from Sam Harris. He is a good singer as he showed me in Renegades, which was a huge favorite of mine from 2015, and Ahead Of Myself which I also liked. ILLENIUM did an excellent job as an DJ and I like his work here. I feel that he has the potential to get better. This is a fine work of art for him.

– On the less interesting side, we have a new singer named Niki, and she brings us Indigo. There’s not a whole lot about this one that is worth caring about. Her voice is not too good and the production is underwhelming at best. It lacks in many different areas that makes it unique. Yeah, I’m not a fan of this. NEXT!

– Miley Cyrus has a newer single that she just recently released following the break-up of Liam Hensworth. It’s called Slide Away. The song basically tells a story about their past relationship and moving on from said relationship. I like the lyrical depth in this one. Miley sounds good in the chorus and I like the beat here. Overall, it’s a solid song.

– Finally, we have more of Normani, who has been a big name following the success of Love Lies and Dancing With A Stranger. She brings us her new single titled Motivation. First off, I would like to say that the music video is pretty cool. It has a little bit of a throwback feel to it and I love that it transitions to the present day. The beginning definitely reminded me of the days when I watched music videos on television. Those were good times, indeed. Anyway, on to my opinion. I referenced before that Normani is one of the two best singers out of all the members of Fifth Harmony (the other being Lauren Jauregui) and I stand by that. But I’m not particularly sold on Motivation. She sounds decent here, but not at her best. Something about the production kinda puts me off. I don’t know why, but it’s not working for me in most aspects. Yeah, I’m not totally in love with this one. My opinion could change. But right now, I’d rather stick with her two biggest hits.

YouTube 15 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
14. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)

1 – Bad:
13. Niki – Indigo
12. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
11. Khalid – Talk
10. Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved

3 – Decent:
8. Normani – Motivation
7. Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign – Hot Girl 

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
6. Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
5. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
4. Miley Cyrus – Slide Away
3. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
2. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The YouTube 15:
1. ILLENIUM featuring X Ambassadors – In Your Arms

Overall Grade: 45/75 = 60% (D–)

Most Missed YouTube 15 Song: Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson – Symphony

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. ILLENIUM featuring X Ambassadors – In Your Arms
2. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
3. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
4. Miley Cyrus – Slide Away
5. Lizzo – Truth Hurts

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
19. AJR – 100 Bad Days

1 – Bad:
18. Jonas Brothers – Cool
17. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
16. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
15. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
14. Khalid – Talk

3 – Decent:
13. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
12. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care
11. Halsey – Nightmare
10. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other

4 – Good:
9. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime
8. Post Malone featuring Young Thug – Goodbyes

5 – Great:
7. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
5. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
4. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
3. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
2. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Katy Perry – Never Really Over

Overall Grade: 63/100 = 63% (D–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: LeAnn Rimes – How Do I Live (1997)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton – Say Something

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: The Chainsmokers & ILLENIUM featuring Lennon Stella – Takeaway

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#20), Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle (#10), and Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (#7)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Katy Perry – Never Really Over
TIE: 1. Zara Larsson – All The Time
3. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
4. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me
5. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
2. AJR – 100 Bad Days
3. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
4. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You
5. Jonas Brothers – Cool

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
George Ezra – Shotgun: This doesn’t quite live up to Budapest, but it’s still solid, mostly because I do like George’s voice here. It is very unique and I like the instrumentation here. Yeah, this is enjoyable.
Train featuring Cam and Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir: This is just as bad as Hey, Soul Sister. Pat Monahan’s voice is just obnoxious from the very first line, and the “oh oh oh oh oh” is annoying. Neither Cam and Travie McCoy made any sort of contribution here. Yeah, this blows. NEXT!
Brown & Gray – Top Down: This came a week after Dan + Shay debuted on the countdown last year with Tequila. I think Tequila is the better song, in part because it has better harmonies. But Top Down is upbeat and fun. Kaci Brown and Sam Gray both made a good first impression here. I like the vocal chemistry between the two and the guitar sounds great. I enjoyed it when it was new. They did just recently release Last To Know, which is pretty divine as well. I recommend listening to that song.
Weezer – Africa: I’ll never really understand the appeal to this. Underwhelming production combined with poor vocal performance from Rivers Cuomo does not make this a fun listen. Yeah, this was a terrible cover of the 1982 song from Toto.
Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind: The groove is there, but the song itself is so repetitive and not very interesting for the most part. Yeah, it’s not something I’ll remember in about two years or so.
Charlie Puth – The Way I Am: One of the weakest singles from Voicenotes, though it’s definitely not a bad song. I still like how Charlie handles the production, though. But everything else leaves quite a bit to be desired. One thing’s for sure though, I’d rather hear this than his newer single at the moment.
Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman: A controversial single if you will. But despite this, Ariana sounds amazing in the song, especially in the final chorus. Her voice alone is what makes me fall in love with this one.