Hello, fam!  First off, I want to talk about the game between the Falcons and the 49ers.  It was a thrill watching them pull off the upset on the road against one of the best teams in the NFC.  That’s some good stuff!  Anyway, I know this countdown post is a little late.  But that’s only because I’m still hard at work on my Year-End posts.  So, I’ll try to make this as quick as possible.  Let’s get right into it.  Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Billie Eilish – All The Good Girls Go To Hell (#33)
• Liam Payne featuring A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie – Stack It Up (#45)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
45. Halsey – Nightmare (#44) [–1]
44. AJR – Dear Winter (#43) [–1]
43. Camila Cabello – Liar (#42) [–1]
42. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar (#39) [–3]
41. Fall Out Boy featuring Wyclef Jean – Dear Future Self (Hands Up) (#40) [–1]
40. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#38) [–2] [Spent 13 Weeks At #1]
39. Sofi Tukker – Purple Hat (#37) [–2]
38. Lauv featuring Anne-Marie – I’m Lonely (#41) [+3]
37. Kesha featuring Big Freedia – Raising Hell (#35) [–2]
36. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#36) [=]
35. Panic! At The Disco – Into The Unknown (DEBUT)
34. Harry Styles – Lights Up (#30) [–4]
33. Hot Chelle Rae – I Hate (Love) LA (#34) [+1]
32. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne (#31) [–1]
31. Louis Tomlinson – We Made It (#32) [+1]
30. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#29) [–1]
29. Why Don’t We – What Am I (#28) [–1]
28. Tones & I – Dance Monkey (#27) [–1]
27. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#26) [–1]
26. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype (#22) [–4]
25. Harry Styles – Adore You (DEBUT)
24. NF – Time (#25) [+1]
23. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#23) [=]
22. Selena Gomez – Look At Her Now (#24) [+2]
21. Diplo featuring Jonas Brothers – Lonely (#21) [=]
20. SHAED – Trampoline (#20) [=]
19. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#19) [=] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
18. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#14) [–4]
17. Charlie Puth – Mother (#15) [–2]
16. Maroon 5 – Memories (#18) [+2]
15. Marshmello featuring Kane Brown – One Thing Right (#17) [+2]
14. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours (#13) [–1]
13. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep? (#12) [–1]
12. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me (#16) [+4]
11. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#11) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
10. Halsey – Graveyard (#9) [–1]
9. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People (#3) [–6]
8. Lizzo – Good As Hell (#5) [–3]
7. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#7) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
6. Taylor Swift – Lover (#10) [+4]
5. Post Malone – Circles (#7) [+2]
4. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (#4) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
3. Jonas Brothers – Only Human (#6) [+3] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
2. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#3) [+1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
1. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya (#1) [=] [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (1^st of 7 Weeks At #1) 

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People (–6)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me and Taylor Swift – Lover (+4)

New Entrants:
– We get the return of Brendon Urie and company not long after the departure of Hey Look Ma, I Made It a couple weeks ago.  They give us their cover of Into The Unknown, which is from the Frozen 2 movie soundtrack.  It goes without saying that this is not as good as the original.  But I do like it quite a bit.  Brendon Urie is a good singer overall and he shows me why in the song.  I like how he hits those high notes in the chorus.  The production is pretty neat as well.  It’s pretty good.  And I don’t mind it sticking around for a while.

– Our second and final debut of the week comes from Harry Styles with his third song on the countdown as he recently released his new album titled Fine Line.  This time, he gives us Adore You.  Unlike his previous two singles which took me a while to get into, I actually fell in love with this right from the start.  The production has plenty of life to it.  It’s got a groovy beat.  Harry sounds good with his voice.  The lyrics are nicely written.  I haven’t heard his new album as of yet, but I’m definitely interested.  This is a a really good song and I do hope it has some success here.

Best Debut Of The Week: Harry Styles – Adore You

Just Let Me Adore Blurbs
– Yeah…so, there really isn’t much to talk about in terms of the blurbs, in part because there was a lot of inactivity on this week’s countdown.  But I’ll do my best.

– Our two exits consist of songs that aren’t worth caring about very much.  Stack It Up is pretty underwhelming for a Liam single.  I just couldn’t get into it.  It reminded me too much of Selena Gomez – Same Old Love.  All The Good Girls Go To Hell was a bit of a step down from Billie Eilish’s discography and I’m kinda glad it didn’t catch on.  I do hope to see Everything I Wanted debut on the countdown soon.

– Probably the only noticeable drop comes from Beautiful People, which dropped out of the Top 5.  This one is declining elsewhere, but I’m very happy that it got some success and it managed to hit #1 here on this countdown.

Hit-Bound:

• OneRepublic – Wanted
• Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border
• Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
• Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
• Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go (DEBUT)
• The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck
• Camila Cabello – Living Proof
• Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
• Halsey – Finally // Beautiful Stranger (DEBUT)
• Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me (DEBUT)
• Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan
• Meghan Trainor featuring Mike Sabath – Wave
• AJ Mitchell featuring Ava Max – Slow Dance (DEBUT)
• 88Rising featuring Joji & Jackson Wang, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer – Walking
• Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted
• Lil Nas X – Panini

Entrant Reviews:
– Yeah….I’m going to skip Hit-Bound debuts for this week, in part because I’m working on some Year-End posts.  They will return in the next post.  The color code for these new debuts explains my thoughts on them.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
16. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
15. Meghan Trainor featuring Mike Sabath – Wave

1 – Bad:
None!

2 – Mediocre:
14. Camila Cabello – Living Proof

3 – Decent:
13. OneRepublic – Wanted
12. 88Rising featuring Joji & Jackson Wang, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer – Walking
11. Halsey – Finally // Beautiful Stranger
10. AJ Mitchell featuring Ava Max – Slow Dance
9. Lil Nas X – Panini

4 – Good:
8. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border

5 – Great:
7. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go
6. Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan
5. The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck
4. Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
3. Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted
2. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now

Overall Grade: 57/80 = 71% (B)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Carly Rae Jepsen – Run Away With Me

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
2. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
3. Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted
4. Harry Styles – Adore You
5. The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. Marshmello featuring Kane Brown – One Thing Right
19. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
18. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier

1 – Bad:
17. Maroon 5 – Memories
16. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
15. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth
14. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?

4 – Good:
13. Post Malone – Circles

5 – Great:
12. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
11. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
10. Halsey – Graveyard
9. Charlie Puth – Mother
8. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours
7. SHAED – Trampoline
6. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
5. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
4. Lizzo – Good As Hell
3. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
2. Taylor Swift – Lover

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me

Overall Grade: 73/100 = 73% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Tie between Donny Hathaway – This Christmas (1970) and The Temptations – Silent Night (1968)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Owl City – Fireflies

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: The Weeknd – Heartless

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Dan + Shay – Tequila (#13) and The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#1)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me
2. Taylor Swift – Lover
3. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
4. Lizzo – Good As Hell
5. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Marshmello featuring Kane Brown – One Thing Right
2. Halsey – Nightmare
3. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne
4. AJR – Dear Winter
5. Lauv featuring Anne-Marie – I’m Lonely

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Olly Murs featuring Snoop Dogg – Moves: It was nice for Olly Murs to make his comeback, and boy did he have some groove to it with this song.  It reminds me of Bruno Mars’s latest music.

Lauren Jauregui – Expectations: Production-wise, I really like the guitar and Lauren puts on a nice performance.  While it’s not something I’ll actively seek out in the long run, it’s a pretty good start for Lauren.

Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho: I really love what this song has to offer.  Ava has an unique voice and the production is just catchy.  I’m pleased that this became a hit in 2019.  I’ll talk more about this in my Year-End posts.