Hello, fam!  I’m still playing catch-up on my posts as far as the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown goes.  I realize that I’m still behind.  And in case anyone’s wondering, yes, the 2012 Billboard Year-End Rankdown is still going on.  I just have to find time to start on it. There was certainly plenty of action on the Valentine’s Day edition of the countdown.  So, let’s get right into things. Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• 88Rising featuring Joji & Jackson Wang, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer – Walking (#41)
• Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#44) [Spent 1 Week At #1]

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Post Malone – Circles
45. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#43) [–2]
44. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Senorita (#45) [+1]
43. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#42) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
42. Kesha featuring Big Freedia – Raising Hell (#37) [–5]
41. Hot Chelle Rae – I Hate (Love) LA (#40) [–1]
40. Taylor Swift – The Man (DEBUT)
39. Why Don’t We – What Am I (#38) [–1]
38. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep? (#35) [–3]
37. All Time Low – Some Kind Of Disaster (DEBUT)
36. Justin Bieber – Yummy (#31) [–5]
35. Rex Orange County – 10/10 (#30) [–5]
34. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#33) [–1] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
33. The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck (#20) [–13]
32. Lizzo – Cuz I Love You (#29) [–3]
31. Alec Benjamin – Demons (#36) [+5]
30. The Weeknd – Heartless (#39) [+9]
29. Taylor Swift – Lover (#28) [–1]
28. Tayla Parx featuring Florida Georgia Line – Fight (#34) [+6]
27. Tones & I – Dance Monkey (#21) [–6]
26. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#23) [–3]
25. Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted (#24) [–1]
24. Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan (#18) [–6]
23. Halsey – You Should Be Sad (#32) [+9]
22. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People (#22) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
21. Lizzo – Good As Hell (#12) [–9]
20. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours (#9) [–11]
19. Doja Cat – Say So (#25) [+6]
18. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go (#26) [+8]
17. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne (#16) [–1]
16. Jonas Brothers – Only Human (#10) [–6] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
15. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My (#19) [+4]
14. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#14) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
13. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me (#3) [–10]
12. OneRepublic – Wanted (#11) [–1]
11. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer (#27) [+16]
10. Maroon 5 – Memories (#13) [+3]
9. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border (#15) [+6]
8. Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do (#17) [+9]
7. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#7) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
6. Halsey – Graveyard (#8) [+2]
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (#6) [+1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
4. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now (#5) [+1]
3. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya (#4) [+1] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
2. Post Malone – Circles (#1) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
1. Harry Styles – Adore You (#2) [+1] [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (5^th of 7 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck (–13)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer (+16) (…..)

New Entrants:
– So, Lover has pretty much died down elsewhere.  But of course, that doesn’t mean Taylor Swift is going to stop, because she brings us another new single from that album, titled The Man.  I fell in love with the majority of what Lover has had to offer (with the exception of You Need To Calm Down, which thankfully left this week, and we’ll get into that in a little bit).  Soon You’ll Get Better, Cruel Summer, and of course the title track are some of my favorites from her album.  But I find The Man to be pretty good for the most part.  I like Taylor’s voice here, and that’s usually her strength in the majority of her music.  But it’s really the production that gets me here.  I think it’s nicely crafted and I like the lyrics as well.  Is it her best?  Not really.  But The Man is something that is enjoyable and I wouldn’t object to seeing this become another hit for Taylor.

– It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the band All Time Low.  A couple years ago, they had Last Young Renegade which I loved despite it spending a mere four weeks on the countdown.  Fast forward to 2020, and here they are making their return with their comeback single…and it’s Some Kind Of Disaster.  Well, not really.  The title of the song does not speak for itself because when I first listened to the song, I was quite impressed with how it turned out.  First off, the production.  I love the rock vibe here and they did well with their use of instruments.  They haven’t lost a step there.  The vocals we get from them sound pretty good as well, and I like the lyrics.  Overall, it’s a nice comeback for these guys.  I’m hoping it can stick around for a long while.

Best Debut Of The Week: Taylor Swift – The Man

I Can’t Stop Loving Blurbs
– Neither of those exits will really be missed by me.  It’s about time we bid adieu to You Need To Calm Down.  That one was never to my liking, mostly because of the chorus and the underwhelming production.  Taylor can do better than this.  And Walking was not very interesting to say the least.  I didn’t think any of the artists impressed me in that song, so I’m kinda glad it left.

– This week marks one year ago that Who Do You Love debuted on the countdown.  I’m not surprised it’s been around for that long because of Hits 1’s love for 5 Seconds Of Summer.  I do hope it ends up leaving soon.

– On the note of The Chainsmokers, Push My Luck takes a big drop all of a sudden.  I still quite like the song for the most part.  But it’s not much compared to what these guys have done in the past.  I have a feeling it won’t last very long with us.

– Here, we have Say So making its unwelcome entry into the Top 20.  I don’t really see the appeal to this song.  It’s so painfully generic.  Her voice sounds pretty bad and everything else leaves a lot to be desired.  I hope it doesn’t stay in the Top 20 for too long.

– After spending two weeks in the Top 5, Lose You To Love Me is right back to square one.  I had hopes that this would become #1, but that did not happen and I don’t really see it happening ever, especially now since it’s dying down elsewhere.  Feels like it’s been a while since we’ve seen Selena at #1 on the countdown (Fact: her last countdown song to hit #1 was Love You Like A Love Song back in 2012).

– Hot Girl Bummer having the Biggest Jump Of The Week is a big fat no.  Stop this madness.  Now.  I honestly don’t know who the hell supports this.  It has no business being near the Top 10, let along become a hit.  -_-

– I’m fine with seeing South Of The Border in the Top 10, and What A Man Gotta Do jumped in that region pretty quickly.  It looks like the Jonas Brothers may end up having another hit under their belt.  But we’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.

– Finally, we have a cool new #1 song in the form of Adore You.  It’s Harry Styles’s first-ever #1 as a solo artist on this countdown.  I have no problem with this because the song is divine.  I’m so glad this is become somewhat of a hit elsewhere.  I wouldn’t mind seeing this spent a few more weeks at #1.

Hit-Bound:

• Meghan Trainor featuring Nicki Minaj – Nice To Meet Ya
• Louis Tomlinson – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
• Blackbear – Me & Ur Ghost
• Sam Smith – To Die For (DEBUT)
• Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
• Niall Horan – No Judgement (DEBUT)
• Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar
• Khalid featuring Disclosure – Know Your Worth (DEBUT)
• Selena Gomez – Rare
• JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels – If The World Was Ending
• The Weeknd – Blinding Lights (DEBUT)
• Dua Lipa – Physical
• Demi Lovato – Anyone
• Trevor Daniel – Falling (DEBUT)
• Justin Bieber featuring Quavo – Intentions (DEBUT)

Entrant Reviews:
– With How Do You Sleep? finally dying down, Sam Smith brings us another new single in its stead.  It’s titled To Die For.  My initial reaction was pretty good at the first listen.  While I still prefer Dancing With A Stranger by a mile, I still think To Die For is a pretty solid song.  It reminds me of some of the singles from The Lonely Hour.  He has the type of voice that fits well here and the lyrics are pretty good.  I’ll be looking forward to seeing that one debut soon.

– Niall Horan replaces himself with his newer single in the form of No Judgement. I quite like what the song has to offer here.  It’s different compared to some of his music.  I think the production pulls me in.  Niall has been impressing me with his music lately.

– Khalid replaces himself as well, and he collaborates with Disclosure in Know Your Worth.  They did work together in their biggest hit in the form of Talk (despite Disclosure being uncredited).  That song did not work out to my liking.  Know Your Worth is an improvement in most ways.  The production is better and I like the beat here.  Khalid sounds good with his voice.  Yeah, I’m quite digging this song.

– Up next, we get more of The Weeknd with the follow-up to Heartless, titled Blinding Lights.  Everything about this song is just perfection.  I like the 80’s vibe here and his voice fits very well here.  I’ll save most of my words for when it debuts.

– Following that, we have newcomer Trevor Daniel with his single titled Falling.  I don’t have much to say about this one.  What I got out of it when I first listened to this was that it’s kinda forgettable.  The production is okay here, but I’m not huge on his voice.  And the lyrics leave something to be desired.  Yeah, I’m mixed on this overall.

– Hooray! More Justin Bieber, and guess what?  He gives us a song that is worse than Yummy, titled Intentions.  I don’t see any appeal to this.  The production is absolute crap in every way.  Once more, he tries to do a Chris Brown impersonation with no personality and he fails miserably.  But Quavo’s verse is just garbage.  I just cannot stand his voice.  And don’t even get me started on the lyrics.  Those who dislike this song can explain it better than I can.  I simply cannot get behind this at all.  Justin needs to step up his game big time.  Honestly, I’m sticking with 10,000 Hours and Purpose than what he’s got going on right now.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: The Weeknd – Blinding Lights

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
15. Justin Bieber featuring Quavo – Intentions
14. Blackbear – Me & Ur Ghost
13. Meghan Trainor featuring Nicki Minaj – Nice To Meet Ya

1 – Bad:
None!

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
12. Trevor Daniel – Falling
11. Selena Gomez – Rare
10. JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels – If The World Was Ending

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
9. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar
8. Niall Horan – No Judgement
7. Khalid featuring Disclosure – Know Your Worth
6. Louis Tomlinson – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
5. Sam Smith – To Die For
4. Demi Lovato – Anyone
3. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
2. Dua Lipa – Physical

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. The Weeknd – Blinding Lights

Overall Grade: 55/75 = 73% (B)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Bruno Mars – Chunky

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
2. Dua Lipa – Physical
3. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
4. Demi Lovato – Anyone
5. Sam Smith – To Die For

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
20. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
19. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
18. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne

1 – Bad:
17. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My
16. Doja Cat – Say So
15. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
14. Maroon 5 – Memories

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
13. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go
12. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth
11. OneRepublic – Wanted

4 – Good:
10. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
9. Post Malone – Circles

5 – Great:
8. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border
7. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours
6. Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do
5. Halsey – Graveyard
4. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
3. Harry Styles – Adore You
2. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now

Overall Grade: 62/100 = 62% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Ray Charles – I Can’t Stop Loving You (1962)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris – We Found Love

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It’s Over (#18) and The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#1)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
2. Lizzo – Good As Hell
3. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me
4. Harry Styles – Adore You
5. The Weeknd – Heartless

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
2. Justin Bieber – Yummy
3. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
4. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne
5. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love: Hits 1’s #1 song for 2019.  I liked this at first, but it got on my nerves after a while.  The drop has become quite irritating.  I’m sure these guys have done much worse.  But I can’t with this anymore.

Travis Scott featuring Drake – Sicko Mode: Do I even need to explain this?  It’s the worst single off of Astroworld and I don’t think anyone can argue with me otherwise.  I don’t like the verses, the production is crap and the vocal effects are unnecessary.  Yeah, this did not deserve to be as big as it was.  Good thing it didn’t last very long on Hits 1.

Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me: This is basically reminds me of Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato, except it’s slightly worse.  While I think the production is fine, Sabrina’s voice bought the song down quite a bit.  Yeah, it’s pretty forgettable for the most part.

Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger: My favorite song from Sam Smith, and he had a little help with the best single from Fifth Harmony.  Everything about the song works well to perfection.  I’m glad this was a huge hit last year.

Jake Miller – Wait For You: While he has a good voice and he uses it pretty well, I can’t quite get behind the production.  It’s a little too weird for my liking, especially in the chorus.  Not bad, but it’s not something I’ll look back on in a year or so.

Ariana Grande – 7 Rings: My #1 least favorite song of 2019, and for a very good reason.  Between Ariana barely singing, the god-awful trap production, and a poor interpolation from The Sound Of Music, everything about the song is a mess.  This was basically the bottom falling out in Ariana’s music.  She can do MUCH better.

Hello, fam! So, 2020 is a leap year. And with it comes the only AT40 countdown for that weekend. February 29th is a day that many have celebrated. Whether it was your birthday or wedding, I’m sure some had a good time. But anyway, on to the countdown post. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Teeth by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#22)
  
• Make It Right by BTS featuring Lauv (#27)
  
• Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#38)
  

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Memories by Maroon 5
40. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#40) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
39. Yellow Hearts by Ant Saunders (#39) [=]
38. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#35) [–3] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
37. Intentions by Justin Bieber featuring Quavo (DEBUT)
36. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#33) [–3] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
35. Make You Mine by PUBLIC (#36) [+1]
34. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#31) [–3]
33. Know Your Worth by Khalid featuring Disclosure (DEBUT)
32. Time by NF (#29) [–3]
31. Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi (#32) [+1]
30. Underdog by Alicia Keys (#30) [=]
29. The Man by Taylor Swift (#37) [+8]
28. Highest In The Room by Travis Scott (#25) [–3]
27. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#26) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
26. Rare by Selena Gomez (DEBUT)
25. Cuz I Love You by Lizzo (#34) [+9]
24. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#23) [–1]
23. Falling by Trevor Daniel (#28) [+5]
22. Trampoline by SHAED (#21) [–1]
21. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin (#24) [+3]
20. Panini by Lil Nas X (#18) [–2]
19. Yummy by Justin Bieber (#14) [–5]
18. You Should Be Sad by Halsey (#20) [+2]
17. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B (#16) [–1]
16. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby (#17) [+1]
15. What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers (#15) [=]
14. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#19) [+5]
13. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber (#11) [–2]
12. Adore You by Harry Styles (#13) [+1]
11. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish (#12) [+1]
10. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#9) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
9. Good As Hell by Lizzo (#7) [–2] [Spent 6 Weeks At #1]
8. Heartless by The Weeknd (#10) [+2]
7. Dance Monkey by Tones & I (#6) [–2]
6. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear (#8) [+2]
5. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas (#5) [=]
4. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez (#3) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
3. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#4) [+1]
2. Memories by Maroon 5 (#1) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
1. Circles by Post Malone (#2) [+1] [6^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Without Me by Halsey (4^th And Final Week At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Yummy by Justin Bieber (–5)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Cuz I Love You by Lizzo (+9)

New Entrants:
– Yippee.  Justin Bieber has another new single, this time collaborating with Quavo in Intentions.  I have not been impressed with what Justin Bieber has had to offer so far this year (outside of his collaboration with Dan + Shay in 10,00 Hours).  He gave us Yummy which was terrible and now his latest single is even worse.  I can go on and on about how god-awful Yummy is and how bad it sounds.  But at least that one I can laugh at.  Intentions, however, is a much different story.  Right off the bat, the trap production is just terrible and the beat is no good.  The lyrics are even more cringe-worthy than that of its predecessor.  It’s basically him trying to impress a girl and failing miserably.  Quavo adds virtually nothing to the song whatsoever with his shitty verse and very little personality to speak of.  And here we go with Bieber trying to make an awful Chris Brown impression with no personality at all.  Simply put, this is just a mess from top to bottom and I’m hoping this dies off fast, because my reaction will not be pretty if it ends up becoming another hit.

– Now onto the much better debut of the week.  It comes from Khalid and he collaborates with EDM duo Disclosure in their new single called Know Your Worth.  They have previously worked together in its predecessor Talk, which I wasn’t a fan of for the most part.  But Know Your Worth is a step up from that in most ways.  Disclosure did much better in the production department with the drop and the solid beat, something that was lacking in Talk.  Khalid has proven himself to be a great vocalist once more.  I feel like he’s been getting better ever since he went mainstream.  While the song itself isn’t memorable in the long run, I still think it’s pretty good song overall.  These guys have managed to impress me with this one.

– Finally, we have more Selena Gomez with her latest single in the form of Rare, the title track for the album.  I did listen to her new album which recently came out and I had mixed feelings about it.  There were some good songs, and some not-so-good songs.  Rare pretty much sits in the middle, at least when it comes to my opinion.  Selena sounds pretty good with her vocals.  But the production lacks something in some aspects and it’s not too interesting to say the least.  And the lyrics leave quite a bit to be desired.  It’s a fine song overall, but I can’t picture myself coming back to this in about a year or so.

Best Debut Of The Week: Know Your Worth by Khalid featuring Disclosure

Know Your Blurbs
– As far as our exits go, Make It Right wasn’t very good for the most part, and Goodbyes was due to leave for some time.  As for Teeth, I did recently started to come around to this and it would’ve been nice to see it become another hit for the band.  But it was not to be.

– Maroon 5’s reign at the top thankfully didn’t last very long as Circles takes back the #1 spot yet again.  This song just continues to stay strong on the charts.  Hopefully it can hold the #1 spot as long as it possibly can.  If we can get Don’t Start Now to #1, that would be great.

– Yummy took a big drop this week, which is good.  I’m glad this song actually ended up flopping on this countdown.  Hopefully, it’s successor follows suit.  Like I said in the review, I haven’t been impressed with what Justin has had to offer so far.

– I’m not thrilled by the big jump from Cuz I Love You.  The song just doesn’t appeal to me, mostly because of Lizzo’s voice where shes sounds pretty bad with the yelling.  I do hope it can die out soon, but I doubt it.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Say So by Doja Cat
• Sad Tonight by Chelsea Cutler
• The Box by Roddy Ricch
• Ride It by Regard
• SUGAR by BROCKHAMPTON

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
• In My Feelings by Drake
• Graveyard by Halsey
• What Am I by Why Don’t We
• Young, Dumb & Broke by Khalid
• Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer
• When The Party’s Over by Billie Eilish
• Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
• How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith
• Me, Myself & I by Beyoncé
• Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
19. Yummy by Justin Bieber
18. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
17. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas

1 – Bad:
16. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby
15. Memories by Maroon 5

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
14. You Should Be Sad by Halsey
13. Panini by Lil Nas X

4 – Good:
12. Circles by Post Malone

5 – Great:
11. What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber
9. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B
8. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish
7. Dance Monkey by Tones & I
6. Heartless by The Weeknd
5. Adore You by Harry Styles
4. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo
2. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa

Total Score: 68/100 = 68% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Live Your Life by T.I featuring Rihanna (2008)

Most Missed Song: Roses by The Chainsmokers featuring ROZES

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Physical by Dua Lipa

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: This Feeling by The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini (#9)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa
2. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo
4. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
5. Adore You by Harry Styles

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
2. Intentions by Justin Bieber featuring Quavo
3. Yummy by Justin Bieber
4. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
5. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande: A step up from 7 Rings, but not by much.  While Ariana’s voice is better, I don’t like the message that it sends and the trap percussion doesn’t helps matters.  I know Ariana is capable of much better.

Hurts Like Hell by Madison Beer featuring Offset: A poor follow-up to Home With You, which I thought was pretty solid overall.  This one just doesn’t work for me.  I’m not fond of the production and Offest hardly adds anything to the song.

Undrunk by FLETCHER: I was impressed with what FLETCHER did with her fist ever single.  The lyrics are relatable and I really like her voice overall.  Plus, the production and the beat are just divine.  Too bad this didn’t end up becoming a bigger hit that I wanted it to be.

Hello, fam! The bad news is that the Hits 1 countdown posts are still late. But the good news is that I’ve been able to get the AT40 posts out at a reasonable time. I’m improving a little bit, but not by much We’re gonna just jump right in this very late post. Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Louis Tomlinson – We Made It (#25)
• Charlie Puth – Mother (#33)
• SHAED – Trampoline (#34)
• Lil Nas X – Panini (#43)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Post Malone – Circles
45. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#44) [–1]
44. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#45) [+1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
43. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#41) [–2]
42. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#42) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
41. 88Rising featuring Joji & Jackson Wang, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer – Walking (#37) [–4]
40. Hot Chelle Rae – I Hate (Love) LA (#36) [–4]
39. The Weeknd – Heartless (DEBUT)
38. Why Don’t We – What Am I (#27) [–11]
37. Kesha featuring Big Freedia – Raising Hell (#24) [–13]
36. Alec Benjamin – Demons (DEBUT)
35. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep? (#14) [–21]
34. Tayla Parx featuring Florida Georgia Line – Fight (#38) [+4]
33. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#31) [–2] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
32. Halsey – You Should Be Sad (DEBUT)
31. Justin Bieber – Yummy (#39) [+8]
30. Rex Orange County – 10/10 (#40) [+10]
29. Lizzo – Cuz I Love You (#32) [+3]
28. Taylor Swift – Lover (#23) [–5]
27. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer (#35) [+8]
26. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go (DEBUT)
25. Doja Cat – Say So (#30) [+5]
23. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#28) [+5]
22. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People (#7) [–15] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
21. Tones & I – Dance Monkey (#26) [+5]
20. The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck (#19) [–1]
19. Camilla Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My (#21) [+2]
18. Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan (#20) [+2]
17. Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do (#18) [+1]
16. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne (#22) [+6]
15. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border (#16) [+1]
14. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#11) [–3] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
13. Maroon 5 – Memories (#13) [=]
12. Lizzo – Good As Hell (#8) [–4]
11. OneRepublic – Wanted (#17) [+6]
10. Jonas Brothers – Only Human (#4) [–6] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
9. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours (#15) [+6]
8. Halsey – Graveyard (#10) [+2]
7. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#9) [+2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (#3) [–3] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
5. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now (#12) [+7]
4. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya (#2) [–2] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
3. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me (#5) [+2]
2. Harry Styles – Adore You (#6) [+4]
1. Post Malone – Circles (#1) [=] [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Halsey – Without Me (5^th And Final Week At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep? (–21)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Rex Orange County – 10/10 (+10)

New Entrants:
– To kick off this week’s new round of arrivals, we have the return of The Weeknd! He brings us his new single titled Heartless. The Weeknd has always been a favorite of mine ever since 2015 when he had his breakout year. It was a couple years back when he collaborated with Kendrick Lamar in Pray For Me. I fell in love with that song and it was a huge favorite of mine back in 2018.  This year, he makes his comeback.  I listened to the song for the first time upon its release and I was genuinely impressed with the way it turned out.  I actually love the production.  It is very top notch and it meshes well with The Weeknd’s voice.  I think I may have said this before.  But he reminds me of the late Michael Jackson.  I can easily hear the similarities between the two.  He does have a follow-up with Blinding Lights which is better than this.  But Heartless is something that I love and it’s always nice to hear music from The Weeknd.

– Next, we get more of Alec Benjamin with Demons.  I’ve had a mixed relationship in terms of his music.  I wasn’t really the biggest fan of Let Me Down Slowly before, but I’ve slightly come around to it.  He actually has a few stuff that I like, but they’re few and far between.  Demons is another one of those songs I’m indifferent on.  Lyrically, I like what it’s going for and the production is okay.  But my concern is that his voice just doesn’t quite work for me.  That’s what brings the song down a little bit.  I don’t have much else I can say beyond that.  It’s pretty decent for me, but I don’t see myself coming back to this in the long run.

– Following that, we have more of Halsey with her single titled You Should Be Sad.  I pretty much explained my thoughts on the song in my previous posts.  You can check them out in case you haven’t already.  But let’s recap what I’ve said.  I didn’t like her attempt at going rock when she created Nightmare.  Actually, I did initially, but that got old real fast.  That one was just a mess with her obnoxious yelling and some lyrics I just couldn’t get on board with.  You Should Be Sad is her attempt at going country.  After hearing the song in its entirety, I’ve got some decent results out of it.  I do like her voice in this one and she sounds better here.  The production and instrumentation are both fine.  But it lacks some country elements that make it stand out.  Yeah, it’s okay.  But like with Demons, it’s not something I’ll revisit in the future if it leaves.

– Finally, with the highest debut of the week, we have more of Lewis Capaldi with Before You Go.  I did like this one from the beginning because I thought it was a lot more interesting that that of its predecessor.  But my opinion has changed overtime.  The instrumentation is pretty decent and I quite like the guitar, but the rest of the production leaves plenty to be desired.  I’m still not a fan of Lewis’s voice although he sounds better here than in its predecessor.  The lyrics still lack depth of any kind and I don’t like what the rest has to offer.  Yeah, I think it’s pretty underwhelming.

Best Debut Of The Week: The Weeknd – Heartless

Before You Blurb
– As far as our exits go, We Made It dropped out pretty early.  The Same can be said for Mother, and that just comes after it had the Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week.  Dang!  Trampoline had an okay run and became somewhat of a sleeper hit this past year.  And Panini didn’t really do much on this countdown.  So it’s no surprise that it left too soon.

– Adore You has now hit a new peak of #2.  This has the potential to become a #1 hit pretty soon.  Knowing how much Hits 1 loves most things One Direction, this won’t be much of a problem.

– Don’t Start Now has made a big jump into the Top 5!  It has become a huge favorite of mine and I’m so glad that this is becoming another hit for Dua Lipa.  I hope it’s momentum continues from there.

– We saw some songs take big drops over the weekend.  Beautiful People is no longer in the Top 10 for the first time in what appears to be forever.  Then, How Do You Sleep? takes a large fall out of the Top 20 and ultimately out of the Top 30 entirely.  That one has actually been around for a while and it became a minor success elsewhere.  Of course, I much prefer Dancing With A Stranger over this.  But I’ve since warmed up to the song a little bit.  We’ll see how long it can stick around.

Hit-Bound:

• BTS featuring Lauv – Make It Right
• Demi Lovato – Anyone (DEBUT)
• Khalid – Up All Night
• Selena Gomez – Rare
• X Lovers – Play Your Game
• Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar
• Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
• Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
• Taylor Swift – The Man
• Meghan Trainor featuring Nicki Minaj – Nice To Meet Ya (DEBUT)
• Louis Tomlinson – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
• All Time Low – Some Kind Of Disaster
• Blackbear – Me & Ur Ghost (DEBUT)
• JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels – If The World Was Ending (DEBUT)
• Dua Lipa – Physical (DEBUT)

Entrant Reviews:
– I’ll begin with Demi Lovato’s comeback single in the form of a ballad titled Anyone. She performed this song at the Grammy’s last month just before its release and I thought it was phenomenal. I love the well-written lyrics here and Demi sounds great. It’s a nice piano ballad.

– Next, we get more of Meghan Trainor who is collaborating with Nicki Minaj in her version of Nice To Meet Ya. It goes without saying that this is better than the monstrosity of Wave. But that in and of itself isn’t saying a lot because her newest single is just not good. I don’t like what it’s going for and the verses are pretty bad. I want something more along the lines of All About That Bass and some of her earlier singles. Not this mess.

– Oh boy…we have more of Blackbear here, and he gives us his latest single in the form of Me & Ur Ghost. It’s a bit of a step up from is predecessor, but not by much. There are parts where the production is okay, but at the same time it’s still underwhelming. And I still don’t like his voice at all, even though it sounds better here. So yeah, I’m not a fan of this. Moving on.

– Then, there’s newcomer JP Saxe, and he teams up with Julia Michaels in their new single titled If The World Was Ending. This is basically a piano ballad here. I quite like what the song has to offer lyrically. But my concern is the vocals we get from them. They sound underwhelming in some parts. I fell like I would like this more if there was a better singer. Right now, I’m a little mixed on this.

– Lastly, we have more of a Dua Lipa, who has established herself as a big name in music. She wants us to be a little more…Physical.  It’s pretty much everything I’ve expected from a follow-up to Don’t Start Now, which has become a favorite of mine so far from her music.  Her vocals are great as usual and the production is top notch.  I do hope we see it debut soon.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: Dua Lipa – Physical

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
15. Blackbear – Me & Ur Ghost
14. Meghan Trainor featuring Nicki Minaj – Nice To Meet Ya

1 – Bad:
13. BTS featuring Lauv – Make It Right

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
12. Selena Gomez – Rare
11. JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels – If The World Was Ending

4 – Good:
10. All Time Low – Some Kind Of Disaster

5 – Great:
9. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar
8. X Lovers – Play Your Game
7. Khalid – Up All Night
6. Louis Tomlinson – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
5. Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
4. Demi Lovato – Anyone
3. Taylor Swift – The Man
2. Dua Lipa – Physical

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want

Overall Grade: 57/75 = 76% (B)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Years & Years – If You’re Over Me

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
2. Dua Lipa – Physical
3. Taylor Swift – The Man
4. Demi Lovato – Anyone
5. Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
20. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
19. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne

1 – Bad:
18. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My
17. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
16. Maroon 5 – Memories

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
15. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth
14. OneRepublic – Wanted

4 – Good:
13. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
12. Post Malone – Circles

5 – Great:
11. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border
10. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours
9. Halsey – Graveyard
8. Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan
7. Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do
6. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
5. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
4. Harry Styles – Adore You
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
2. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now

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

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Boyz II Men – End Of The Road (1992)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Bruno Mars –Treasure

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Alicia Keys – Underdog

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Dan + Shay – Speechless (#14)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
2. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
4. Harry Styles – Adore You
5. The Weeknd – Heartless

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
2. Justin Bieber – Yummy
3. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
4. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne
5. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe: Ah yes, Charlie Puth’s brother.  Everything about this song works quite well, and what sets him apart from his brother is that he uses a baritone voice, which I think is very unique and it meshes well with the song overall.

Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It’s Over: The comeback single from Avril after so long.  It’s too bad that they didn’t pick up on Head Above Water, which was actually released before this.  But this is still divine in every sense of the word.  Avril has not lost a step vocally and I adore the lyrics here.  I’m glad she’s still making music.

Hello, fam!  I’ve been getting my AT40 countdown reviews out at a reasonable time.  But I’m still behind on my posts as far as Hits 1 goes.  Hopefully, I’ll find time to catch up on those.  Things are slightly improving for me, but not by much.  I can’t say this week was a good week in terms of the AT40 countdown.  I’ll have more to say about it in the blurbs down below.  Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Good Thing by Zedd featuring Kehlani (#33)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
40. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#39) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
39. Yellow Hearts by Ant Sanders (#40) [+1]
38. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#37) [–1]
37. The Man by Taylor Swift (DEBUT)
36. Make You Mine by PUBLIC (#36) [=]
35. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#34) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
34. Cuz I Love You by Lizzo (#38) [+4]
33. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#31) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
32. Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi (#35) [+3]
31. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#29) [–2]
30. Underdog by Alicia Keys (#32) [+2]
29. Time by NF (#27) [–2]
28. Falling by Trevor Daniel (#33) [+5]
27. Make It Right by BTS featuring Lauv (#28) [+1]
26. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#24) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
25. Highest In The Room by Travis Scott (#26) [+1]
24. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin (#25) [+1]
23. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#22) [–1]
22. Teeth by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#23) [+1]
21. Trampoline by SHAED (#17) [–4]
20. You Should Be Sad by Halsey (#21) [+1]
19. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#20) [+1]
18. Panini by Lil Nas X (#15) [–3]
17. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby (#18) [+1]
16. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B (#16) [=]
15. What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers (#19) [+4]
14. Yummy by Justin Bieber (#12) [–2]
13. Adore You by Harry Styles (#13) [=]
12. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish (#14) [+2]
11. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber (#9) [–2]
10. Heartless by The Weeknd (#10) [=]
9. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#8) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
8. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear (#11) [+3] (Ugh…)
7. Good As Hell by Lizzo (#7) [=] [Spent 6 Weeks At #1]
6. Dance Monkey by Tones & I (#5) [–1]
5. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas (#6) [+1] (Double ugh…)
4. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#4) [=]
3. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez (#1) [–2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
2. Circles by Post Malone (#3) [+1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
1. Memories by Maroon 5 (#2) [+1] [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Without Me by Halsey (3^rd of 4 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Trampoline by SHAED (–4)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Falling by Trevor Daniel (+5)

New Entrants:
– We get only one new entrant this week.  It comes from Taylor Swift with her latest single from Lover, titled The Man.  I’ll be straight up and say that this doesn’t quite live up to her other singles off her album.  I prefer Soon, You’ll Get Better, Cruel Summer (which I think is a better choice for the next single), and the title track.  But The Man is still somewhat enjoyable to a degree.  I like what the song is going for here.  Taylor sounds pretty good, which really isn’t anything new since she usually has a good voice most of the time. I think the production is nicely crafted and the lyrics are nice, even if some parts of the songwriting leave quite a bit to be desired.  I like this for the most part, and I’m interested to see how long it’ll stick around.

I’d Be The Blurb
– So, we bid adieu to Good Thing by Zedd featuring Kehlani.  I couldn’t quite get into that song the same way I did with Zedd’s other singles like Stay, The Middle, and Happy Now.  Kehlani sounded pretty good here, but I felt like it lacked something to make it interesting.  So yeah, I’m kinda glad this didn’t become a hit.

– It comes as no shock that Memories by Maroon 5 is the new #1 song for the week.  But it doesn’t make me happy.  I’m sure this will encourage them to continue to make more mediocre music like this.  It’s sad that we’ll probably never get to hear something more along the lines of what they had before.  At least Lose You To Love Me got to spend some time at #1.  But I’m not thrilled that Memories is the song to replace it.  Of course with Maroon 5 still being relevant and all, who knows how long it’ll last at the top?

– Roxanne entering the Top 5 is a definite NO-NO.  I honestly don’t know who supports this mess of a song.  I can’t stand Arizona being drowned in auto-tune and the asinine lyrics aren’t helping matters.  So yeah, this has no business being in the Top 5.  I do hope Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa can get to #1, like soon.

– And don’t even get me started with Hot Girl Bummer entering the Top 10.  I don’t know why the hell are we making this a bigger hit.  This song is just crap all around and it has no business being in that region.  And the sad thing is, I don’t see this one leaving anytime soon.

– In better news, Yummy appears to be finally slipping and it may end up leaving in a matter of weeks.  Thankfully, we didn’t see this one fully take off.  He did release a follow-up with Intentions, which really isn’t any better.  But yeah, it’s nice to see that Yummy is nearing the end of its tenure.

– Yeah….so I’ve finally grown to like Teeth now.  I still much prefer Jet Black Heart and some of their other singles.  But I think Teeth is pretty good.  The rock production definitely pulls me in and these guys put more effort here.  They show that they’re a band.  So I wouldn’t object to seeing that one stick around for a while.

– Underdog by Alicia Keys is gaining a little momentum on this countdown.  I’m in love with the song and it’s nice to see Alicia still making music after a while.  I’m glad she still has it in her.

Breakouts/On The Verge

• Rare by Selena Gomez
  
• Sad Tonight by Chelsea Cutler
• Sugar by BROCKHAMPTON
• The Box by Roddy Ricch
• Say So by Doja Cat
• Ride It by Regard

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Want To Want Me by Jason Derulo
  
• Locked Out Of Heaven by Bruno Mars
• Can’t Stop The Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
• Lean On by Major Lazer featuring DJ Snake and MØ
• One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown
• Heathens by TWENTY ØNE PILØTS
• Nice To Meet Ya by Niall Horan
• Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
• Raising Hell by Kesha featuring Big Freedia
• Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
19. Yummy by Justin Biebe
18. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
17. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas

1 – Bad:
16. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby
15. Memories by Maroon 5

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
14. You Should Be Sad by Halsey
13. Panini by Lil Nas X

4 – Good:
12. Circles by Post Malone

5 – Great:
11. What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber
9.South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B
8. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish
7. Dance Monkey by Tones & I
6. Heartless by The Weeknd
5. Adore You by Harry Styles
4. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo
2. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa

Total Score: 68/100 = 68% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Who Knew by P!NK (2006)

Most Missed Song: Just Like Fire by P!NK

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Physical by Dua Lipa

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: This Feeling by The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini (#8)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa
2. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo
4. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
5. Adore You by Harry Styles

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
2. Yummy by Justin Bieber
3. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
4. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas
5. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
You Say by Lauren Daigle: This Adele soundalike actually made a good first impression with this song.  I really like Lauren’s voice and the piano is very nice.  I’m glad this ended up become as big as it was.

Swan Song by Dua Lipa: Taken from the Alita: Battle Angel movie soundtrack, this became another favorite of mine from Dua.  Everything about the song works well from the production to her vocals.  Too bad this ended up flopping elsewhere.  Luckily, she’s made up for it this year with her current representation on the countdown.

Hello, fam! Happy Valentine’s Day weekend to you all. Hopefully, you guys bought your special someone a nice gift. As for me, I’m still single and just living my best life. So yeah, I’m enjoying it right now. I do hope that I find someone soon. Also, the new Sonic The Hedgehog movie is out. I do plan on seeing that one soon. Anyway, let’s get on with this Valentine’s Day Weekend edition of the American Top 40! Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Graveyard by Halsey (#31)
• How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (#34)
• We Made It by Louis Tomlinson (#37)
• Talk by Khalid (#40) [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
40. Yellow Hearts by Ant Saunders (DEBUT)
39. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#38) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
38. Cuz I Love You by Lizzo (DEBUT)
37. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#36) [–1]
36. Make You Mine by PUBLIC (DEBUT)
35. Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi (DEBUT)
34. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#32) [–2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
33. Falling by Trevor Daniel (#39) [+6]
32. Underdog by Alicia Keys (#35) [+3]
31. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#29) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
30. Good Thing by Zedd featuring Kehlani (#30) [=]
29. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#27) [–2]
28. Make It Right by BTS featuring Lauv (#33) [+5]
27. Time by NF (#23) [–4]
26. Highest In The Room by Travis Scott (#25) [–1]
25. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin (#26) [+1]
24. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#19) [–5] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
23. Teeth by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#22) [–1]
22. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#17) [–5]
21. You Should Be Sad by Halsey (#24) [+3]
20. Blinding Lights by The Weekend (#21) [+1]
19. What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers (#28) [+9]
18. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring Baby (#20) [+2]
17. Trampoline by SHAED (#13) [–4]
16. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B (#18) [+2]
15. Panini by Lil Nas X (#9) [–6]
14. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish (#15) [+1]
13. Adore You by Harry Styles (#16) [+3]
12. Yummy by Justin Bieber (#12) [=]
11. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear (#14) [+3]
10. Heartless by The Weekend (#11) [+1]
9. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber (#10) [+1]
8. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#7) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
7. Good As Hell by Lizzo (#4) [–3] [Spent 6 Weeks At #1]
6. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas (#8) [+2]
5. Dance Monkey by Tones & I (#5) [=]
4. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#6) [+2]
3. Circles by Post Malone (#2) [–1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
2. Memories by Maroon 5 (#3) [+1]
1. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez (#1) [=] [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Without Me by Halsey (2^nd of 4 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Panini by Lil Nas X (–6)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers (+9)

New Entrants:
– We’ll start things off with newcomer Ant Saunders making his first ever appearance on the AT40 countdown. His song is called Yellow Hearts. There really isn’t a whole lot this don’t has to offer. I think it’s okay in some parts in terms of the production. But at times it can be a little underwhelming. I’m not too find of the guy’s voice and the lyrics leave something to be desired. Of course, this is based off the first listen and my opinion can change with time. But as it is right now, I’m not that impressed. Let’s move on.

– Next, we have more of Lizzo here with my least favorite single from her so far. It’s titled Cuz I Love You. I have much respect for Lizzo since this past year when Truth Hurts became her biggest hit, and Good As Hell following suit. I liked them both. Cuz I Love You, on the other hand, is a much different story. I don’t really like what this song has to offer. Here, Lizzo doesn’t sound good. She’s basically yelling out of the top of her lungs and I don’t think it worked out very well, at least for me. The instrumentation is very loud and too noisy. I think it was executed poorly. Lizzo is capable of much better. But this doesn’t work for me at all and it’s the first song that I’ve legitimately disliked from her.

– Our next debut is from newcomer PUBLIC with Make You Mine. This song has actually been out since 2014 and was starting to gain a little momentum late last year. My thoughts on the song are basically the same since it debuted several months back on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. I pretty much like the simplicity of the song. The production is well-crafted and I quite like their vocals. I think these guys sound good and they have the potential to get better. So yeah, despite this being around for several years, I still like it overall.

– Finally, with the highest debut of the week, we have more of Lewis Capaldi with his latest single called Before You Go. I kinda liked it at first, but it’s slowly been fading on me with every additional listen. It goes without saying that this is better than Someone You Loved. But even then, it’s really not saying a lot. I think the instrumentation is okay, but everything else in terms of the production leaves a lot to be desired. I still don’t like his voice here for the most part, especially in the chorus. He hasn’t improved on that aspect. The lyrics are still kinda hollow and lack any depth of some kind. I just really don’t see anything interesting about the song other than the fact that it’s better than its predecessor. Overall, I find this to be pretty underwhelming.

Best Debut Of The Week: Make You Mine by PUBLIC

Yellow Blurbs
– We say goodbye to four songs this week. Graveyard by Halsey fell off rather quickly after that big drop last week. We Made It by Louis Tomlinson lasted only a mere two weeks. None of Louis Tomlinson’s singles have done much of anything chart-wise, so this comes as no shock. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith had a better run than I thought it would when it first debuted. I still prefer Dancing With A Stranger over this (which actually debuted this week one year ago, believe it or not). But I’ve kinda warmed up to the song over time. Finally, we thankfully bid adieu to Talk by Khalid, which was long overdue. I’m glad I won’t have to put up with it anymore.

– Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa is certainly welcome in the Top 5. I’m glad this ended up becoming another hit for Dua Lipa. We could potentially be in for a repeat of 2018 when New Rules hit #1 this week two years ago and it would eventually go on to be the #1 song for that year on the AT40. Hopefully, it’ll happen. But honestly, I’m happy about its success so far.

– Heartless by The Weeknd made its way into the Top 10. And Blinding Lights looks to follow suit as it has just reached the Top 20 for the first time. It’s refreshing to see The Weeknd doing well so far in 2020. Ideally, I would like to see one of those two become a #1 hit here.

– It looks like Yummy has pretty much stalled elsewhere. The big comeback for Justin Bieber as a solo artist turns out to be a flop. That’s a good thing, because this song has no redeeming qualities. It’s messy in every way, and Justin doing a failed Chris Brown impression with no personality isn’t helping matters. Thankfully, we’ll see the end of its tenure soon.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Sad Tonight by Chelsea Cutler
• Rare by Selena Gomez
• The Box by Roddy Ricch
• Ride It by Regard
• Sugar by BROCKHAMPTON
• The Man by Taylor Swift

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
19. Yummy by Justin Biebe
18. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
17. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas

1 – Bad:
16. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby
15. Memories by Maroon 5

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
14. Panini by Lil Nas X

4 – Good:
13. Circles by Post Malone

5 – Great:
12. What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers
11. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber
9. Trampoline by SHAED
8. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish
7. Dance Monkey by Tones & I
6. Heartless by The Weeknd
5. Adore You by Harry Styles
4. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo
2. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa

Total Score: 70/100 = 70% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles (1962)

Most Missed Song: We Found Love by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Physical by Dua Lipa

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#8)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa
2. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo
4. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
5. Adore You by Harry Styles

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
2. Yummy by Justin Bieber
3. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
4. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas
5. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani: Sam Smith really impressed me here. This song is pure perfection in every sense of the word. And interestingly, he was a big fan of Fifth Harmony when they were together. I’m glad he chose Normani because she is the best singer out of all of them.

Hello, fam! Believe it or not, I celebrated my 28^th birthday last week. I am inching a bit close to 30. I would like to say thank you all for the birthday wishes. I can’t wait to see what the next chapter will bring. In terms of how the countdown went on my birthday week, it was pretty divine. Let’s jump in! Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Lover by Taylor Swift (#23)
• Raising Hell by Kesha featuring Big Freedia (#24)
• If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#40)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Circles by Post Malone
40. Talk by Khalid (#38) [–2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
39. Falling by Trevor Daniel (DEBUT)
38. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#36) [–2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
37. We Made It by Louis Tomlinson (#37) [=]
36. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#34) [–2]
35. Underdog by Alicia Keys (DEBUT)
34. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (#32) [–2]
33. Make It Right by BTS featuring Lauv (#33) [=]
32. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#30) [–2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
31. Graveyard by Halsey (#13) [–18]
30. Good Thing by Zedd featuring Kehlani (#31) [+1]
29. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#27) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
28. What A Man Gotta Do by Jonas Brothers (DEBUT)
27. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#26) [–1]
26. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin (#35) [+9]
25. Highest In The Room by Travis Scott (#28) [+3]
24. You Should Be Sad by Halsey (#39) [+15]
23. Time by NF (#21) [–2]
22. Teeth by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#22) [=]
21. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#29) [+8]
20. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby (#25) [+5]
19. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#19) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
18. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B (#20) [+2]
17. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#14) [–3]
16. Adore You by Harry Styles (#18) [+2]
15. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish (#15) [=]
14. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear (#16) [+2]
13. Trampoline by SHAED (#10) [–3]
12. Yummy by Justin Bieber (#17) [+5]
11. Heartless by The Weeknd (#12) [+1]
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber (#11) [+1]
9. Panini by Lil Nas X (#8) [–1]
8. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas (#9) [+1]
7. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#6) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
6. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#7) [+1]
5. Dance Monkey by Tones & I (#5) [=]
4. Good As Hell by Lizzo (#3) [–1] [Spent 6 Weeks At #1]
3. Memories by Maroon 5 (#4) [+1]
2. Circles by Post Malone (#1) [–1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
1. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez (#2) [+1] [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Without Me by Halsey (1^st of 4 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Graveyard by Halsey (–18)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: You Should Be Sad by Halsey (+15)

New Entrants:
– I’m going to be reviewing the entrants for last week that I didn’t get to, as well as this week’s new arrivals. I’ll start with more of Halsey here, as she brings us another single from Maniac, titled You Should Be Sad. This is basically Halsey’s attempt at going country. She did go for rock in Nightmare and while I liked that song at first, it started to get annoying after a while. As far as You Should Be Sad goes, I think it’s a fine song overall. I quite like her vocals here. But the production is a little underwhelming in some parts outside of the guitar and I feel like more could’ve been done here. It’s missing some country elements to make it interesting. Some of the lyrics leave quite a bit to be desired. So yeah, this is okay. But I don’t really see it sticking with me in the long run. I haven’t listened to her new album in its entirety yet. But hopefully, I can find some better songs from that album when I get time.

– Next, we have the return of Louis Tomlinson with his solo single in the form of We Made It. I believe this is his second solo single to make it to the AT40 countdown. The last time he made an appearance on the countdown was a couple years back when he collaborated with Bebe Rexha and Digitial Farm Animals in Back To You, which I liked. He did have some other singles from his last album which I enjoyed as well, such as Miss You. As far as We Made It goes, it’s pretty good. I definitely like the instrumentation and the guitar is well used. Louis’s voice sounds good from start to finish. I love the lyrics here, and it shows how talented he is as a songwriter. There are some other singles off of Walls which are better than this. But We Made It is something that I can enjoy. Louis impressed me with this single.

– Then, we get more of The Weeknd here, and he bought us some Blinding Lights last week. This was actually released two days following Heartless. While I enjoy that song in general, I found Blinding Lights to be even better. First off, I love the 80’s vibe it has to it. The production is just phenomenal in every sense of the word. His voice fits very well here with this style of music. It really shows how much he has evolved as an artist. He really crafted up this fine work of art here. I’m interested to see what his new album brings. I’ll be waiting.

– The highest debut for last week came from Camila Cabello with her single My Oh My. I was not very fond of what Romance has had to offer. I thought it was a step down from her previous album. I enjoyed some of her self-titled album, mostly because the songs from there were interesting and had some kind of substance. Havana was ranked as my #5 favorite song of 2018 and I liked some of her other stuff (save for Never Be The Same). But her singles from Romance aren’t doing much for me. My Oh My is probably one of my least favorite songs from her latest album, maybe even worse than Living Proof. There is no appeal. The production is weak as hell. Camila does not sound good here. DaBaby’s verse isn’t helping matters. I didn’t think he contributed to any part of the song. I know Camila is capable of making better songs. But this is not what I want to hear. I’m sticking with something more along the lines of Havana because that song is a work of art. My Oh My is another good example of why Camila isn’t that good of a singer. I do hope it doesn’t last long.

– Now we’re going to be moving right along with this week’s debuts. We’ll start with newcomer Trevor Daniel with his single titled Falling. Right off the bat, I don’t find it very interesting. I think the production is okay for the most part. But I’m not too fond of his vocals. As far as the rest of the song goes in terms of the lyrics and some other stuff, there’s quite a bit to be desired. I don’t have much else to say. So yeah, it’s kinda forgettable. But I can’t really picture myself loathing this.

– The return of Alicia Keys definitely excites me. She brings us her newest single, and she’s the Underdog here (see what I did there?). It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten solo music from her. I believe the last time she had a big hit was back in 2013 with Girl On Fire. Other than her hosting the Grammy Music Awards for the past few years, she hasn’t really been that relevant in terms of music. Now, here she is making her comeback this year. When I heard her new single for the first time, I was genuinely impressed. She sounds good vocally and it shows that she hasn’t lost a step. I enjoy the production on this track and everything else about it is divine. Overall, I love this new single of hers and it’s nice that she continues to make music.

– Finally, with the highest debut of this week, we get more of the Jonas Brothers, this time with their single in the form of What A Man Gotta Do. After having a big year in 2019 with their reunion, they are looking to repeat their success throughout 2020 with this song. I think it’s pretty fun. I love the upbeat give here and these guys sound pretty good. It definitely makes me want to dance. Sure, the lyrics aren’t the best. But at this point, I don’t really care if everything else about the song is fun. I’ll take it! We’ll see if it ends up becoming another hit for these guys.

Best Debut Of The Past Few Weeks: Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

Blinding Blurbs
– We bid adieu to three great songs this week. Raising Hell was a nice comeback for Kesha, and I was hoping it would become another hit similar to Praying a couple years back. But it didn’t happen. Lover had a nice run, but I wish it would’ve been a much bigger hit that it ultimately ended up being. Finally, there’s If I Can’t Have You. I enjoyed a lot of what the song had to offer and it showed how much Shawn has evolved as an artist. That song will be missed by me and I’ll look back on it as one of his best songs.

– Lose You To Love Me finally managed to achieve the #1 spot! It’s Selena Gomez’s first #1 since her feature in It Ain’t Me (with Kygo) a couple years back. I’m very happy about this because it’s a divine song overall. It’s a nice way to celebrate my birthday this week.

– Last week, we saw the rise of Dance Monkey the Top 5, replacing Someone You Loved. Please disregard my original opinion on the song when I said I didn’t like it at first. It’s very unique in every way and it’s nice to see this become a sleeper hit. I wonder how far up it’ll go? We’ll have to wait and see in the next couple of weeks.

– It looks like the life of Panini by Lil Nas X is beginning to die out.  I don’t particularly care for the song in the long run.  But I actually do find it somewhat catchy in a way.  We’ll see how long it hangs around.

– You Should Be Sad made a big jump this week.  It looks like we’re going to be seeing this song on the countdown for a while.  Again, I’m not all that fond of the song since I think there were better choices off of the album.  But it’s certainly a lot better than the mess that is of Nightmare.

– Speaking of Halsey, the massive drop we saw from Graveyard was expected. It’s pretty much done elsewhere, too. It’s one of the more interesting songs I’ve heard from Halsey since Bad At Love (which I loved) and it’s sad that it’s not quite getting the same treatment.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi
• Make You Mine by PUBLIC
• SUGAR by BROCKHAMPTON
• Yellow Hearts by Ant Saunders

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Attention by Charlie Puth
• Shallow by Lady Gaga featuring Bradley Cooper
• Mirrors by Justin Timberlake
• Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani
• This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna
• One Last Time by Ariana Grande
• Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
• Youngblood by 5 Seconds Of Summer
• In My Blood by Shawn Mendes
• My Type by Saweetie
• Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
19. Yummy by Justin Bieber
18. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
17. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas

1 – Bad:
16. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby
15. Memories by Maroon 5

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
14. Panini by Lil Nas X

4 – Good:
13. Only Human by Jonas Brothers
12. Circles by Post Malone

5 – Great:
11. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber
9. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
8. Trampoline by SHAED
7. Adore You by Harry Styles
6. Dance Monkey by Tones & I
5. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish
4. Heartless by The Weeknd
3. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
2. Good As Hell by Lizzo

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa

Total Score: 70/100 = 70% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: End Of The Road by Boyz II Men (1992)

Most Missed Song: Treasure by Bruno Mars

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Physical by Dua Lipa

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#9)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa
2. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo
4. Adore You by Harry Styles
5. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
2. Yummy by Justin Bieber
3. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
4. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas
5. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
7 Rings by Ariana Grande: Easily my least favorite single from Ariana. I don’t know why in the hell she would brag about being rich and what not. Her rapping sucks and the way she interpolates The Sound Of Music only makes matters more asinine. Honestly, this song is a mess all around.

Lost In The Fire by Gesafflestein featuring The Weeknd: I’m not sure what I was thinking when I liked that song before. I ranked this as my #8 least favorite song of 2019. Gesafflestein did not impress me there and the lyrics are stupid. It’s a good thing this didn’t take off.

Hello, fam!  I don’t really have much to say here.  I’ll say that things got a little interesting as we enter the month of February.  We have a new #1 song and some interesting moves.  So yeah, let’s jump into it.  Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Panic! At The Disco – Into The Unknown (#37)
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype (#39)
• Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#42)
• Halsey – Nightmare (#44)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
45. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#41) [–4] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
44. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#45) [+1]
43. Lil Nas X – Panini (#) [=]
42. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#35) [–7] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
41. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#32) [–9]
40. Rex Orange County – 10/10 (DEBUT)
39. Justin Bieber – Yummy (#) [–3]
38. Tayla Parx featuring Florida Georgia Line – Fight (DEBUT)
37. 88Rising featuring Joji & Jackson Wang, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer – Walking (#) [+3]
36. Hot Chelle Rae – I Hate (Love) LA (#34) [–2]
35. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer (#38) [+3]
34. SHAED – Trampoline (#33) [–1]
33. Charlie Puth – Mother (#15) [–18]
32. Lizzo – Cuz I Love You (DEBUT)
31. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#29) [–2] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
30. Doja Cat – Say So (#30) [=]
29. Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted (#27) [–2]
28. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#26) [–2]
27. Why Don’t We – What Am I (#22) [–5]
26. Tones & I – Dance Monkey (#23) [–3]
25. Louis Tomlinson – We Made It (#20) [–5]
24. Kesha featuring Big Freedia – Raising Hell (#21) [–3]
23. Taylor Swift – Lover (#18) [–5]
22. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne (#20) [–2]
21. Camilla Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My (#28) [+7]
20. Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan (#24) [+4]
19. The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck (#25) [+6]
18. Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do (DEBUT)
17. OneRepublic – Wanted (#31) [+14]
16. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border (#17) [+1]
15. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours (#13) [–2]
14. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep? (#12) [–2]
13. Maroon 5 – Memories (#16) [+3]
12. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now (#10) [–2]
11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#11) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
10. Halsey – Graveyard (#8) [–2]
9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#4) [–5] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
8. Lizzo – Good As Hell (#7) [–1]
7. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People (#6) [–1]
6. Harry Styles – Adore You (#5) [–1]
5. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me (#14) [+9]
4. Jonas Brothers – Only Human (#3) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
3. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (#9) [+6] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
2. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya (#1) [–1] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
1. Post Malone – Circles (#2) [+1] [1st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Halsey – Without Me (4th of 5 Weeks At #1) 

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Charlie Puth – Mother (–18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: OneRepublic – Wanted (+14)

New Entrants:
– To start this week’s new round of arrivals, we have newcomer Rex Orange County with his single titled 10/10.  Despite what the name of the song implies, this song is not a “10/10” whatsoever.  For me, it’s more like a 5/10.  I don’t really like his voice here with him sounding in monotone.  The production is not interesting either and it lacks some sort of substance to make it better.  So yeah, I’m not really feeling the song.  I don’t see it growing on me and I can see myself putting this in red sometime soon.

– Up next is newcomer Tayla Parx who collaborates with Florida Georgia Line in their single titled Fight.  I’m not sure who gave those two the green light to create this song because there’s nothing about it that works for me at all.  It reminds me a lot of Meant To Be and not in a good way.  And I never liked that song at all.  But at least it had a little bit of substance.  Fight has virtually no substance of any kind whatsoever.  There is no chemistry between the two and Tayla has very little presence in the song whatsoever.  Even when she sings, she shows absolutely no personality.  And I’m not even going to comment on Florida Georgia Line basically taking over the song, because their vocals are obnoxious.  Yeah, in short, this blows.  NEXT!

– Next, we have more of Lizzo here, and she gives us Cuz I Love You.  I have much respect for Lizzo since last year when Truth Hurts became a massive hit.  I loved her other singles such as Juice and Good As Hell.  But Cuz I Love You is not very good and it’s probably the first song that I legitimately disliked from her.  The lyrics aren’t bad necessarily.  It’s basically about loving someone and all.  But it was poorly done as we get Lizzo yelling and she doesn’t sound too good at that.  The production is very loud and too noisy as well.  Yeah, this was not a good choice for a single.  I’m sticking with her first three singles and I’m skipping this one.

– Finally, we have more of the Jonas Brothers as they give us their latest single in the form of What A Man Gotta Do.  These guys had a big year in 2019 with their reunion.  Sucker was their biggest hit and their other singles have followed suit.  I quite liked what their album has had to offer, with a few exceptions.  I think their new single is pretty fun.  I like the upbeat vibe here and it’s quite catchy.  They sound good with their vocals and the production is pretty solid.  I don’t have much more to say at this moment.  It’s a good song and I wouldn’t object to seeing this become another hit for these guys.

Best Debut Of The Week: Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do

I’m Cryin’, Cuz I Love Blurbs
– We’ll begin with the exits as always.  First off, we must celebrate as Nightmare has finally left the countdown!  It’s about time we bid adieu to that song.  My love for it died out pretty fast, mostly because of how bad the chorus sounds.  If We Have Each Other was due to leave for some time as well.  I was never too fond of it, but it was nothing I loathed in the long run.  Into The Unknown left us and with that, we say goodbye to Brendon Urie and company, this time for good.  It’s pretty sad that we won’t hear from these guys for a while.  The only other exit I’m sad about is The Hype.

– We finally got a new #1 for the first time in two months!  Circles has made its way to the top spot.  This is Post Malone’s first ever #1 song on Hits 1, and I’m fine with that since it’s still a pretty good song.  It’s nice to have a different #1 for a change.

– Lose You To Love Me finally enters the Top 5 after hanging around in the teens for a while.  I still think it’s a great comeback for Selena.  Although I didn’t love her latest album as a whole, this is one of the standouts for her.  We’ll see if it ends up getting any higher.

– I’m not necessarily thrilled about Wanted making a comeback this week.  There’s really not a whole lot to like about the song.  OneRepublic have certainly done better in the past.  I guess it could be worse.  But ideally, I would prefer if it started moving back down soon.

– On that note, Mother took an insanely big drop this week.  I’m afraid that this won’t become another hit for Charlie Puth.  We’ll see how long it sticks around.

Hit-Bound:

• Alec Benjamin – Demons
• Selena Gomez – Rare
• X Lovers – Play Your Game
• The Weeknd – Heartless
• Taylor Swift – The Man (DEBUT)
• Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go
• Khalid – Up All Night
• Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
• Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
• All Time Low – Some Kind Of Disaster
• Zedd featuring Kehlani – Good Thing
• Halsey – You Should Be Sad
• Louis Tomlinson – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart (DEBUT)
• BTS featuring Lauv – Make It Right
• Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar

Entrant Reviews:
– I’ll be going over some of the entrants of the past two weeks that I haven’t talked about, as well as this week’s new round of arrivals.  First, we’ll start with more of Selena Gomez with the single titled Rare.  I was in love with Lose You To Love Me.  I didn’t really like Look At Her Now.  Her new single kinda lands somewhere in the middle.  I quite like her voice here, but the production is a little underwhelming at times.  So yeah, it’s fine but not memorable.

– Then, we have the return of Khalid with his new single in the form of Up All Night.  I don’t have much to say about this one at the moment.  I like Khalid’s voice here and the beat is pretty good.  It’s a good song, but it pales in comparison to Love Lies and Better, which are two of his best songs.

– All Time Low has made their return with their brand new single, and it’s Some Kind Of Disaster.  The title of the song doesn’t really speak for itself since I like this one as well.  It has a solid rock vibe and I’m a sucker for those.  Their vocals are nice and I quite like the lyrics.  Overall, it’s a good song and I wouldn’t mind seeing it debut soon.

– Now, onto this week’s debuts.  First up is more of Taylor Swift with The Man, which is another single off of Lover.  Right off the bat, I like this overall.  It doesn’t quite live up to some of her singles off her album (Lover, Paper Rings, etc.), but everything about this works well here.  I’ll save most of my words for when it inevitably debuts.

– And then, there’s more of Louis Tomlinson, and he gives us Don’t Let It Break Your Heart.  Lyrically, I think it’s a nice song.  I like his voice and the instrumentation is pretty solid.  It’s not quite as good as some of his other solo singles.  But I still like it.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: Taylor Swift – The Man

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
None!

1 – Bad:
15. BTS featuring Lauv – Make It Right

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
14. Alec Benjamin – Demons
13. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go
12. Halsey – You Should Be Sad
11. Selena Gomez – Rare
10. Zedd featuring Kehlani – Good Thing

4 – Good:
9. All Time Low – Some Kind Of Disaster

5 – Great:
8. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar
7. X Lovers – Play Your Game
6. Khalid – Up All Night
5. Louis Tomlinson – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
4. Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
3. Taylor Swift – The Man
2. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. The Weeknd – Heartless

Overall Grade: 61/75 = 81% (B)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Welshly Arms – Legendary

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. The Weeknd – Heartless
2. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
3. Taylor Swift – The Man
4. Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
5. Louis Tomlinson – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
20. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved

1 – Bad:
19. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
18. Maroon 5 – Memories

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
17. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth
16. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?
15. OneRepublic – Wanted

4 – Good:
14. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
13. The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck
12. Post Malone – Circles

5 – Great:
11. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border
10. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours
9. Halsey – Graveyard
8. Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan
7. Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do
6. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
5. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
4. Harry Styles – Adore You
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
2. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now

Overall Grade: 79/100 = 79% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Madonna – Frozen (1998)

Most Missed Countdown Song: The Weeknd – The Hills

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Demi Lovato – Anyone

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me (#13)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
2. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me
3. Harry Styles – Adore You
4. Lizzo – Good As Hell
5. Taylor Swift – Lover

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
2. Justin Bieber – Yummy
3. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
4. Tayla Parx featuring Florida Georgia Line – Fight
5. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Pitbull featuring Rhea – Ocean To Ocean: I actually liked this back then when it was new.  But now I’m not so sure what I was thinking.  It’s another mediocre cover of Toto’s 1982 song Africa. Pitbull verses aren’t too good and while I like Rhea’s voice, everything else is done poorly.  So yeah, it’s not well executed.

Charli XCX featuring Troye Sivan – 1999: This is basically a better version of Anne-Marie – 2002.  Everything here works well to perfection from the production on down to their beautiful verses.

Dean Lewis  – Be Alright: I think it’s a nice acoustic track and there’s really nothing to loathe about it.  His voice is fine and I like the lyrics.  But ultimately, it just did not stick with me in the long run.  I felt like something was missing to make it a little more interesting.

Seeb featuring BΔSTILLE – Grip: I actually preferred this over Happier at one point in time.  But my opinions have drastically changed since then.  I still like what some of the song has to offer.  But it’s really not much compared to what Seeb has done in the past.  Just look at his collaboration with Mike Posner in I Took A Pill In Ibiza, which is infinitely better.

Lauren Daigle – You Say: Despite not getting any new music from Adele last year, Lauren made a very good first impression as an Adele soundalike.  I love the piano and her voice is amazing.

Hello, fam!  I’ve been slow to get my latest posts out recently.  So, what I’ll be doing here is just a combination of posts so that I won’t fall too far behind.  I’m going to review last week’s AT40 countdown first.  It’ll just be me providing the countdown as well as some other stuff.  So, let’s get into it.

Week Of January 25, 2020:

Now to begin, here are the exits for that week:

• Sucker by Jonas Brothers (#40) [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Circles by Post Malone
40. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani (#39) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
39. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#37) [–2]
38. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin (#36) [–2]
37. Talk by Khalid (#35) [–2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
36. Good Thing by Zedd featuring Kehlani (#38) [+2]
35. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#33) [–2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
34. Make It Right by BTS featuring Lauv (#34) [=]
33. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#31) [–2]
32. What Am I by Why Don’t We (#30) [–2]
31. My Type by Saweetie (#29) [–2]
30. Highest In The Room by Travis Scott (#32) [+2]
29. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#28) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
28. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (#19) [–9]
27. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#26) [–1]
26. Raising Hell by Kesha featuring Big Freedia (#27) [+1]
25. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#22) [–3]
24. Nice To Meet Ya by Niall Horan (#25) [+1]
23. Teeth by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#24) [+1]
22. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B (#23) [+1]
21. Yummy by Justin Bieber (DEBUT)
20. Time by NF (#17) [–3]
19. Adore You by Harry Styles (#20) [+1]
18. Lover by Taylor Swift (#18) [=]
17. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish (#21) [+4]
16. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#15) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
15. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear (#16) [+1]
14. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#13) [–1]
13. Heartless by The Weeknd (#14) [+1]
12. Graveyard by Halsey (#11) [–1]
11. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas (#12) [+1]
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber (#9) [–1]
9. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#10) [+1]
8. Trampoline by SHAED (#7) [–1]
7. Dance Monkey by Tones & I (#8) [+1]
6. Panini by Lil Nas X (#6) [=]
5. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#5) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
4. Memories by Maroon 5 (#4) [=]
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo (#3) [=] [Spent 6 Weeks At #1]
2. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez (#2) [=]
1. Circles by Post Malone (#1) [=] [4^th Week At #1]

#1 Song On That Week One Year Ago: High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco (4^th And Final Week At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (–9)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish (+4)

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
19. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
18. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas

1 – Bad:
17. Memories by Maroon 5

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
16. Time by NF
15. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith
14. Panini by Lil Nas X

4 – Good:
13. Circles by Post Malone
12. Only Human by Jonas Brothers

5 – Great:
11. Graveyard by Halsey
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber
9. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
8. Trampoline by SHAED
7. Adore You by Harry Styles
6. Dance Monkey by Tones & I
5. Heartless by The Weeknd
4. Lover by Taylor Swift
3. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
2. Good As Hell by Lizzo

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa

Total Score: 74/100 = 74% (B)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#11)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa
2. Good As Hell by Lizzo
3. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
4. Lover by Taylor Swift
5. Raising Hell by Kesha featuring Big Freedia

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
2. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
3. My Type by Saweetie
4. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas
5. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin

Songs That Debuted On That Week One Year Ago:
Love Someone by Lukas Graham:

Week Of February 1, 2020:

Alright, now it’s time to get into this week’s countdown.  Here, I’ll just be doing the blurbs for the countdown.  So before we begin, here are the exits for this week:

• Nice To Meet Ya by Niall Horan (#24)
• My Type by Saweetie (#31)
• What Am I by Why Don’t We (#32)
• Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani (#40) [Spent 1 Week At #1]

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Circles by Post Malone
40. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#39) [–1]
39. You Should Be Sad by Halsey (DEBUT)
38. Talk by Khalid (#37) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
37. We Made It by Louis Tomlinson (DEBUT)
36. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#35) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
35. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin (#38) [+3]
34. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#33) [–1]
33. Make It Right by BTS featuring Lauv (#34) [+1]
32. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (#28) [–4]
31. Good Thing by Zedd featuring Kehlani (#36) [+5]
30. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#29) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
29. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (DEBUT)
28. Highest In The Room by Travis Scott (#30) [+2]
27. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#27) [=]
26. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#25) [–1]
25. My Oh My by Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby (DEBUT)
24. Raising Hell by Kesha featuring Big Freedia (#26) [+2]
23. Lover by Taylor Swift (#18) [–5]
22. Teeth by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#23) [+1]
21. Time by NF (#20) [–1]
20. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B (#22) [+2]
19. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#16) [–3] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
18. Adore You by Harry Styles (#19) [+1]
17. Yummy by Justin Bieber (#21) [+4]
16. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear (#15) [–1]
15. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish (#17) [+2]
14. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#14) [=]
13. Graveyard by Halsey (#12) [–1]
12. Heartless by The Weeknd (#13) [+1]
11. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber (#10) [–1]
10. Trampoline by SHAED (#8) [–2]
9. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas (#11) [+2]
8. Panini by Lil Nas X (#6) [–2]
7. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#9) [+2]
6. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#5) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
5. Dance Monkey by Tones & I (#7) [+2]
4. Memories by Maroon 5 (#4) [=]
3. Good As Hell by Lizzo (#3) [=] [Spent 6 Weeks At #1]
2. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez (#2) [=]
1. Circles by Post Malone (#1) [=] [4^th Week At #1]

#1 Song On That Week One Year Ago: Thank U, Next by Ariana Grande (1^st And Only Week At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Lover by Taylor Swift (–5)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Good Thing by Zedd featuring Kehlani (+5)

Blurbs
– The only thing that I’ll be doing this week is just talking about the exits.  Last week, we saw the departure of Sucker by Jonas Brothers.  It was the comeback single from them that became a massive hit.  I liked that song overall and it hasn’t really faded on me.  I’m glad it was a success.  As far as this week’s exits go, we bid adieu to four songs.  First off, good riddance to My Type by Saweetie.  That one was just a mess with her obnoxious voice and terrible production.  I was starting to grow out of What Am I by Why Don’t We, so I don’t have any complaints about it leaving.  Nice To Meet Ya was a flop elsewhere except for Hits 1, and it’s pretty sad since I enjoyed that one.  I think it’s one of Niall’s better songs.  But the one exit that I’ll mostly miss is my #1 favorite song of 2019, Dancing With A Stranger.  The collaboration turned out very well for both Sam and Normani and I’m very happy that this became a success.  Thank you for your time & service on this countdown.  You will be missed.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
19. Yummy by Justin Bieber
18. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
17. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas

1 – Bad:
16. Memories by Maroon 5

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
15. Panini by Lil Nas X

4 – Good:
14. Only Human by Jonas Brothers
13. Circles by Post Malone

5 – Great:
12. South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B
11. Graveyard by Halsey
10. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber
9. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
8. Trampoline by SHAED
7. Adore You by Harry Styles
6. Dance Monkey by Tones & I
5. Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish
4. Heartless by The Weeknd
3. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
2. Good As Hell by Lizzo

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa

Total Score: 73/100 = 73% (B)

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#10)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa
2. Good As Hell by Lizzo
3. Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez
4. Lover by Taylor Swift
5. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
2. Yummy by Justin Bieber
3. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
4. Roxanne by Arizona Zervas
5. RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin

Songs That Debuted On That Week One Year Ago:
There’s No Way by Julia Michaels:
Wow. by Post Malone:

Hello, fam!  So yeah, here’s another late countdown post.  This time around, I won’t have much to say because nothing really happened that week.  So, I’ll skip the blurbs for this post and just give you guys the countdown and Hit-Bound.  There are no songs leaving the countdown this week, so let’s get right to it.

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
45. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#42) [–3]
44. Halsey – Nightmare (#45) [+1]
43. Lil Nas X – Panini (#43) [=]
42. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#44) [+2]
41. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#40) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
40. 88Rising featuring Joji & Jackson Wang, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer – Walking (#41) [+1]
39. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype (#38) [–1]
38. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer (#39) [+1]
37. Panic! At The Disco – Into The Unknown (#36) [–1]
36. Justin Bieber – Yummy (#37) [+1]
35. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#34) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
34. Hot Chelle Rae – I Hate (Love) LA (#32) [–2]
33. SHAED – Trampoline (#31) [–2]
32. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#30) [–2]
31. OneRepublic – Wanted (#29) [–2]
30. Doja Cat – Say So (#) [+5]
29. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#28) [–1] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
28. Camilla Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My (#33) [+5]
27. Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted (#23) [–4]
26. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#24) [–2]
25. The Chainsmokers – Push My Luck (#27) [+2]
24. Fall Out Boy – Bob Dylan (#26) [+2]
23. Tones & I – Dance Monkey (#25) [+2]
22. Why Don’t We – What Am I (#21) [–1]
21. Kesha featuring Big Freedia – Raising Hell (#20) [–1]
20. Louis Tomlinson – We Made It (#17) [–3]
19. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne (#22) [+3]
18. Taylor Swift – Lover (#16) [–2]
17. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border (#18) [+1]
16. Maroon 5 – Memories (#19) [+3]
15. Charlie Puth – Mother (#13) [–2]
14. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me (#11) [–3]
13. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours (#15) [+2]
12. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep? (#12) [=]
11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#10) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
10. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now (#14) [+4]
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (#7) [–2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
8. Halsey – Graveyard (#9) [+1]
7. Lizzo – Good As Hell (#8) [+1]
6. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People (#6) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
5. Harry Styles – Adore You (#5) [=]
4. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#3) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
3. Jonas Brothers – Only Human (#2) [–1]
2. Post Malone – Circles (#4) [+2]
1. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya (#1) [=] [8^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Halsey – Without Me (3^rd of 5 Weeks At #1) 

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted (–4)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Doja Cat – Say So and Camilla Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My (+5)

Hit-Bound:

• Rex Orange County – 10/10
• Khalid – Up All Night
• All Time Low – Some Kind Of Disaster (DEBUT)
• BTS featuring Lauv – Make It Right
• Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go
• Halsey – You Should Be Sad
• Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
• Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
• The Weeknd – Heartless (DEBUT)
• Alec Benjamin – Demons
• Selena Gomez – Rare
• Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar (RE–ENTRY)
• X Lovers – Play Your Game
• Zedd featuring Kehlani – Good Thing
• Taylor Swift – Paper Rings (DEBUT)

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
None!

1 – Bad:
15. BTS featuring Lauv – Make It Right

2 – Mediocre:
14. Rex Orange County – 10/10

3 – Decent:
13. Alec Benjamin – Demons
12. Selena Gomez – Rare
11. Halsey – You Should Be Sad
10. Zedd featuring Kehlani – Good Thing

4 – Good:
9. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go
8. All TIme Low – Some Kind Of Disaster

5 – Great:
7. Khalid – Up All Night
6. X Lovers – Play Your Game
5. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar
4. Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
3. Taylor Swift – Paper Rings
2. The Weeknd – Heartless

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want

Overall Grade: 59/75 = 79% (B)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Carly Rae Jepsen – Cut To The Feeling

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott – Take What You Want
2. The Weeknd – Heartless
3. Taylor Swift – Paper Rings
4. Niall Horan – Put A Little Love On Me
5. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
20. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
19. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne

1 – Bad:
18. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
17. Maroon 5 – Memories

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
16. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth
15. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?
14. Charlie Puth – Mother

4 – Good:
13. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
12. Post Malone – Circles

5 – Great:
11. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border
10. Dan + Shay featuring Justin Bieber – 10,000 Hours
9. Halsey – Graveyard
8. Louis Tomlinson – We Made It
7. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
6. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya
5. Harry Styles – Adore You
4. Lizzo – Good As Hell
3. Taylor Swift – Lover
2. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now

Overall Grade: 75/100 = 75% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Alicia Keys – Fallin’ (2001)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Ally Brooke – No Good

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me (#12)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
2. Selena Gomez – Lose You To Love Me
3. Taylor Swift – Lover
4. Lizzo – Good As Hell
5. Kesha featuring Big Freedia – Raising Hell

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
2. Justin Bieber – Yummy
3. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
4. Halsey – Nightmare
5. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Benny Blanco featuring Calvin Harris – I Found You: