Hello, fam!  Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve been blogging (approximately a couple of months ago).  My life is full of work lately and my motivation is at an all time low.  I know, it’s sad.  But this week, I’ve decided to make a comeback.  Yes, folks.  I’m back, and this time for good.  Yes, I do plan on playing a lot of catch up with my posts.  It’ll take lots of time, so you’ll just have to bear with me for the time being.  Right now, I’m ready to get on with it!  Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Kelsea Ballerini featuring Halsey – The Other Girl (#33)
• 24KGoldn – City Of Angels (#34)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
45. Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B – South Of The Border (#43) [–2]
44. Tones & I – Dance Monkey (#44) [=]
43. Jonas Brothers – Only Human (#45) [+2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
42. Halsey – Graveyard (#41) [–1]
41. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne (#42) [+1]
40. Niall Horan – Nice To Meet Ya (#35) [–5] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
39. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer (#40) [+1]
38. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (#37) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
37. Saint Jhn – Roses (DEBUT)
36. Sam Smith featuring Demi Lovato – I’m Ready (#31) [–5]
35. Regard – Ride It (DEBUT)
34. Ariana Grande featuring Justin Bieber – Stuck With U (DEBUT)
33. The Black Eye Peas featuring J Balvin – RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) (#36) [+3]
32. Harry Styles – Adore You (#24) [–8] [Spent 10 Weeks At #1]
31. Marshmello featuring Halsey – Be Kind (#25) [–6]
30. Post Malone – Circles (#28) [–2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
29. Alesso featuring Liam Payne – Midnight (#29) [=]
28. Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted (#23) [–5]
27. Blackbear – Me & Ur Ghost (#26) [–1]
26. Jonas Brothers – What A Man Gotta Do (#22) [–4]
25. Powfu featuring Beabadoobee – Coffee For Your Head (#32) [+7]
24. BENEE featuring Gus Dapperton – Supalonely (#21) [–3]
23. Justin Bieber featuring Quavo – Intentions (#15) [–8]
22. Halsey – You Should Be Sad (#18) [–4]
21. Surfaces – Sunday Best (#13) [–8]
20. Lady Gaga – Stupid Love (#9) [–11]
19. Alec Benjamin – Oh My God (#27) [+8]
18. Taylor Swift – The Man (#17) [–1]
17. Lauv – Modern Loneliness (#20) [+3]
16. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now (#7) [–9]
15. JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels – If The World Was Ending (#12) [–3]
14. Trevor Daniel – Falling (#30) [+16]
13. Maren Morris – The Bones (#39) [+26]
12. The Weeknd – In Your Eyes (#19) [+7]
11. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Level Of Concern (#16) [+5]
10. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My (#5) [–5]
9. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar (#6) [–3]
8. Demi Lovato – I Love Me (#11) [+3]
7. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Old Me (#8) [+1]
6. Dua Lipa – Break My Heart (#14) [+8]
5. Niall Horan – No Judgement (#4) [–1]
4. Doja Cat – Say So (#3) [–1]
3. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go (#2) [–1]
2. Conan Grey – Maniac (#10) [+8]
1. The Weeknd – Blinding Lights (#1) [=] [4th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Jonas Brothers – Sucker (8th of 13 Weeks At #1) 

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Lady Gaga – Stupid Love (–11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Maren Morris – The Bones (+26)

New Entrants:
– I’ll be reviewing the new songs in just one paragraph.  I’ll start with the first two that debuted this week.  Roses is pretty generic for my tastes.  There’s really not a lot to like about this and I don’t find their vocals interesting.  Ride It is slightly worse because I find the production to be more underwhelming and the vocals are mediocre at best.  The one good debut of the week comes from the return of Ariana Grande who collaborates with Justin Bieber in Stuck With U.  I like the chemistry between the two and while it is bland at times, everything else is mostly on point.  I think the vocals are solid and the production is pretty good.  In addition, I quite like the lyrics here.  Overall, I like this song quite a lot.

Best Debut Of The Week: Ariana Grande featuring Justin Bieber – Stuck With U

Stuck With Blurbs
– Since I’ve been away, I wanted to see how things went in Hits 1 Countdown land.  Some things have changed for the better and some not quite as much.  I’ll begin with the #1 song.  Blinding Lights holds on to the top spot for a 4th consecutive week.  I’m so happy that The Weeknd is having a successful year chart wise.  I still enjoy that song since it first came out and it’s nice to see it become another huge hit for him.

– Maniac has reached a new peak of #2.  This song has grown on me quite a bit since it was released.  I honestly did not envision it being successful.  But I’m kinda glad I was wrong.  Conan Gray made a nice first impression with his first single.  I’m interested to see what he has next.

– Say So and Before You Go both have no business being in the Top 5.  The former is so incredibly generic and the fact that it’s becoming a major hit only makes matters worse.  I can’t believe this.  The latter, while being a bit better than its predecessor, is undesirable.  Lewis Capaldi hasn’t done much to impress me as an artist in my opinion.

– Break My Heart has quickly made its way into the Top 10.  Well, I have a good feeling that Dua Lipa will end up having another hit on her hands and I’m cool with that because I’m in love with the song.  Dua has impressed me a lot with her music and I’m happy that she is becoming successful.  Also, Don’t Start Now is still very enjoyable even after it’s falling elsewhere.  I’m proud of her.  🙂

– I Love Me has entered the Top 10.  I have to say, I’m not very fond of the song.  As someone who has been a big fan of Demi Lovato, it just doesn’t appeal to me.  The production is quite weird to my liking and some of the lines are pretty questionable.  So yeah, I’m not all that thrilled about seeing it in that region.

– It appears that some former #1 songs from earlier this year (Nice To Meet Ya, Adore You, Circles) are beginning to die out.  It seems like yesterday those songs were in the Top 10 and now they’ve pretty much died out elsewhere.  It won’t be long until those songs end up leaving.

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
20. Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby – My Oh My
19. Doja Cat – Say So

1 – Bad:
18. Lauv – Modern Loneliness
17. Lewis Capaldi – Before You Go
16. Demi Lovato – I Love Me

2 – Mediocre:
15. JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels – If The World Was Ending
14. Trevor Daniel – Falling

3 – Decent:
13. Alec Benjamin – Oh My God
12. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Old Me

4 – Good:
11. Taylor Swift – The Man

5 – Great:
10. Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar
9. Niall Horan – No Judgement
8. Lady Gaga – Stupid Love
7. Maren Morris – The Bones
6. Conan Gray – Maniac
5. Dua Lipa – Break My Heart
4. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
3. The Weeknd – In My Eyes
2. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Level Of Concern

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. The Weeknd – Blinding Lights

Overall Grade: 68/100 = 68% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Britney Spears – Oops…I Did It Again (2000)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: N/A

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (#16)

My Top 5 Picks
1. The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
2. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Level Of Concern
3. The Weeknd – In My Eyes
4. Alesso featuring Liam Payne – Midnight
5. Harry Styles – Adore You

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Blackbear – Hot Girl Bummer
2. Justin Bieber featuring Quavo – Intentions
3. Surfaces – Sunday Best
4. Arizona Zervas – Roxanne
5. Blackbear – Me & Ur Ghost

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Jordan McGraw – Flexible: Not a good pair of debuts from last year.  The more interesting thing I can say about this is he the son of Dr. Phil.  But that’s it.  Everything about this is just terrible all around.  He did not make a good first impression here.

Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care: The comeback of two big acts…and if I’m being honest, it didn’t really turn out well to my liking.  There’s not much chemistry here and the song isn’t quite a fun listen for me.