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.