Hello, fam! So, this week’s countdown was hosted by songwriter Oak Felder, who is subbing for Ryan Seacrest. We’ve had quite a bit of activity here and there. I’m running out of things to say, so let’s just get right into it. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Potion by Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa and Young Thug (#28)
• 2Step by Ed Sheeran featuring Lil Baby (#31)
• When You’re Gone by Shawn Mendes (#39)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: About Damn Time by Lizzo
40. One Right Now by Post Malone featuring The Weeknd (#40) [=]
39. Easy Lover by Ellie Goulding featuring Big Sean (DEBUT)
38. Stay by The Kid LAROI featuring Justin Bieber (#37) [–1] [Spent 11 Weeks At #1]
37. Out Of Time by The Weeknd (#21) [–16]
36. Ghost by Justin Bieber (#35) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
35. SUPERMODEL by Måneskin (#38) [+3]
34. Betty (Get Money) by Yung Gravy (DEBUT)
33. Heat Waves by Glass Animals (#32) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
32. Can’t Stop Us Now by Pitbull featuring Zac Brown (#36) [+4]
31. Flowers by Lauren Spencer-Smith (#33) [+2]
30. Enemy by Imagine Dragons featuring JID (#29) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
29. Bad Habit by Steve Lacy (DEBUT)
28. WAIT FOR U by Future featuring Drake and Tems (#34) [+6]
27. Woman by Doja Cat (#25) [–2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
26. Massive by Drake (#27) [+1]
25. Bones by Imagine Dragons (#24) [–1]
24. Thousand Miles by The Kid LAROI (#13) [–11]
23. Sweetest Pie by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Dua Lipa (#16) [–7]
22. 10 Things I Hate About You by Leah Kate (#22) [=]
21. THAT’S WHAT I WANT by Lil Nas X (#20) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
20. Don’t You Worry by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira and David Guetta (#23) [+3]
19. Vegas by Doja Cat (#30) [+11]
18. I Ain’t Worried by OneRepublic (#26) [+8]
17. Left And Right by Charlie Puth featuring Jung Kook (#19) [+2]
16. Boyfriend by Dove Cameron (#10) [–6]
15. Glimpse Of Us by Joji (#17) [+2]
14. Numb by Marshmello featuring Khalid (#18) [+4]
13. So Good by Halsey (#15) [+2]
12. Love Me More by Sam Smith (#14) [+2]
11. Big Energy by Latto (#11) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
10. Break My Soul by Beyoncé (#12) [+2]
9. I Like You (A Happier Song) by Post Malone featuring Doja Cat (#9) [=]
8. Numb Little Bug by Em Beihold (#7) [–1]
7. First Class by Jack Harlow (#5) [–2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
6. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush (#8) [+2]
5. Get Into It (Yuh) by Doja Cat (#4) [–1]
4. Sunroof by Nicky Youre featuring dazy (#6) [+2]
3. As It Was by Harry Styles (#2) [–1] [Spent 6 Weeks At 1]
2. Late Night Talking by Harry Styles (#3) [+1]
1. About Damn Time by Lizzo (#1) [=] [6^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Good For U by Olivia Rodrigo (4^th of 7 Weeks At #1) 

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Out Of Time by The Weeknd (–16)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Vegas by Doja Cat (+11)

New Entrants:
– Well, what do we have here? It’s the return of Ellie Goulding, and she collaborates with Big Sean in Easy Lover. In case I haven’t really made it clear, I’m very fond of her music. Ever since she gave us Lights back in 2011, she has impressed me with almost every single she’s released. Along with Lights, I adored songs such as Anything Can Happen, Burn, Love Me Like You Do, Something In The Way You Move, and others. It was almost four years ago that she made her comeback with Close To Me, which is also a favorite of mine. However, I was pretty mixed on the rest of her last album as a whole. Although I did enjoy songs like Close To Me and Flux, there were some others such as Hate Me, which I was very indifferent on after a while, and Worry About Me, which was just a mess and easily my least favorite single from her. As far as her new single goes, it is just divine. This song reminds me of the Ellie that I know in the past. She’s basically returning to her electropop roots here. I find the beat to be very interesting and she sounds great in the chorus. I love the way she can hit those high notes, which proves that she hasn’t lost a step vocally. Big Sean made a good contribution here even though he only sings just one verse. Yeah, I’m in love with this song and it’s great comeback for Ellie.

– Up next is newcomer Yung Gravy who brings us his single titled Betty (Get Money). Right off the bat, I’m pretty split on this. This samples Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, which is used for most of the song. I can’t say it’s a bad thing because I kinda like the production here, and his voice is okay. But the lyrics are questionable somewhat, in part because it has some cheesy lines (for the lack of a better word). That’s really all I can say for this one. It might grow on me with more listens, I don’t know.

– Lastly, we have another newcomer, by the name of Steve Lacy. He makes his first appearance with Bad Habit. So, he comes from the band called The Internet (no joke), which he had been a part of. I’m not really familiar with their music, in part because they’re very irrelevant. I recently found out that he got into music all thanks to spending countless hours playing Guitar Hero. Heh, I myself never really played Guitar Hero back in my childhood, and I say this as someone who is a hardcore gamer. But anyway, onto the song. Here, he mentions about loving someone and that he wishes the person would feel the same. The production basically consists of synths and a groove which resembles that of the 80’s, which is a nice plus considering that it was executed well. I think Steve is an decent singer and that he has potential. But I feel like something is missing here because I find that he doesn’t quite shine in the chorus. I came close to putting this song in green, but it didn’t quite do it for me, at least not right now. We’ll see how far this one goes.

Best Debut Of The Week: Easy Lover by Ellie Goulding featuring Big Sean

Easy Blurber
– Let’s first talk about our exits. First off, Potion wasn’t exactly to my liking. I don’t know. I just felt like it was underwhelming at times. I do hope to see Calvin’s newest single, Stay With Me debut soon. Also, good riddance to 2Step. That one will never be missed. And When You’re Gone deserved better. It’s one of the few songs from Shawn Mendes I liked recently. But it just didn’t take off. Oh well.

– Are you kidding me? Out Of Time tanked hard all the way down to the Bottom 5 this week. I’m afraid this is going to end up being another flop for The Weeknd given that it has died down elsewhere. Definitely not ideal, since I enjoy that song a lot. It’s a shame that it and Sacrifice didn’t become hits off of Dawn FM.

– Can we please get Enemy out of the countdown? What is it still doing here? The song has been annoying me for months on end. Same applies to Bones.

– We have two unwelcome new entrants in the Top 20: Don’t You Worry and I Ain’t Worried. The latter looks like it’s going to become OneRepublic’s first hit since I don’t know how long and I’m not looking forward to that.

– In better news, Break My Soul enters the Top 10! This song is just a bop and I’m glad to see Beyoncé get another hit. It just recently hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, much to my pleasure. Plus, it kicked Boyfriend by Dove Cameron to the curb, so that’s good.

– New to the Top 5 this week is the entry from Sunroof by Nicky Youre featuring dazy. Sure, I’ll gladly take it! The song has its sights set on potentially getting the #1 and I wouldn’t mind seeing it happen.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Wasted On You by Morgan Wallen
• Where Are You Now by Lost Frequencies featuring Calum Scott
• 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) by Lizzo
• Grand by Kane Brown
• SUBSTANCE by Demi Lovato

Extras/Optional Extras:

• One Last Time by Ariana Grande
• Hot In Herre by Nelly
• Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
• Only Human by Jonas Brothers
• Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
• Dynamite by Taio Cruz
• Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug
• Who Do You Love by The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer
• Sue Me by Sabrina Carpenter

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. Boyfriend by Dove Cameron
19. I Like You (A Happier Song) by Post Malone featuring Doja Cat
18. Love Me More by Sam Smith:

1 – Bad:
17. Don’t Worry About Me by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira and David Guetta
16. I Ain’t Worried by OneRepublic:

2 – Mediocre:
15. Big Energy by Latto

3 – Decent:
14. Get Into It (Yuh) by Doja Cat
13. As It Was by Harry Styles
12. Numb by Marshmello featuring Khalid

4 – Good:
11. Left And Right by Charlie Puth featuring Junk Kook
10. Late Night Talking by Harry Styles
9. Vegas by Doja Cat

5 – Great:
8. Sunroof by Nicky Youre featuring dazy
7. So Good by Halsey
6. Numb Little Bug by Em Beihold
5. Glimpse Of Us by Joji
4. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush
3. First Class by Jack Harlow
2. Break My Soul by Beyoncé

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. About Damn Time by Lizzo

Overall Grade: 66/100 = 66% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Phyiscal by Olivia Newton-John (1981)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Stay With Me by Calvin Harris featuring Justin Timberlake, Halsey, and Pharrell

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Levitating by Dua Lipa (#9)

My Top 5 Picks
1. About Damn Time by Lizzo
2. Break My Soul by Beyoncé
3. Sweetest Pie by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Dua Lipa
4. Easy Lover by Ellie Goulding featuring Big Sean
5. First Class by Jack Harlow

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Boyfriend by Dove Cameron
2. Stay by The Kid LAROI featuring Justin Bieber
3. I Like You (A Happier Song) by Post Malone featuring Doja Cat
4. Enemy by Imagine Dragons featuring JID
5. Heat Waves by Glass Animals

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Wild Side by Normani featuring Cardi B: Although the rest of Fifth Harmony are mostly nonexistent as far as making music (Save for Camilla, of course), Normani still keeps going. As far as the song goes, I like the chemistry between her and Cardi B and the rest is pretty divine. Too bad it ended up flopping, but oh well.

Skate by Silk Sonic: Not quite as divine as its predecessor, but I still like what this song is going for. As opposed to the slow but awesome Leave The Door Open, this one is more fun and upbeat. And both Bruno and Anderson.Paak shine vocally.

Traitor by Olivia Rodrigo: Can’t say it’s one of the best Sour has had to offer, but it’s certainly not bad. Lyrically, it does showcase her talent as a songwriter. However, it can be a little underwhelming at times. That’s just my opinion, though.

I Like That by Bazzi: Yeah, there’s not much about the song that’s seriously worth caring about. Bazzi doesn’t sound his best here and I’m not feeling the beat. It’s quite a shame we’ll never get something that hits the height of Cosmic.

INDUSTRY BABY by Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow: Yeah, I love the use of the trumpets here. That combined with their good chemistry together makes this a fun listen for me.