Halsey (4) - February 2, 2019

Hey guys! It has been a long week, but it is finally over! Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, and I am hoping that the halftime show is pretty good this year. As for the game, I am getting pretty tired with the Patriots always being part of it, even though they are probably going to win...again. Anyways, as for the countdown this week...I am pretty upset over our exits. I would have been okay with them if we had got something good in return. However, we got some pretty mediocre songs instead. With that being said, onto this week's fresh 45. Before we get to it, here are the songs that we are saying goodbye to this week.

• Camila Cabello - Consequences (#25)
• Silk City & Dua Lipa - Electricity (#37)
• Lauv/Julia Michaels - There's No Way (#40)
• Steve Aoki/BTS - Waste It On Me (#41)
• Little Mix/Nicki Minaj - Woman Like Me (#44)

Last Week's #1 Song: Halsey - Without Me
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future - End Game

The Countdown
45. Shawn Mendes - In My Blood (#45) [2 Weeks At #1]
44. Jennifer Lopez - Limitless (#42)
43. Charlie Puth - The Way I Am (#43)
42. Bebe Rexha - I'm A Mess (#39)
41. George Ezra - Shotgun (#38)
40. Pitbull & Rhea - Ocean To Ocean (DEBUT)
39. Panic! At The Disco - Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#36) [4 Weeks At #1]
38. Charli XCX/Troye Sivan - 1999 (DEBUT)
37. Backstreet Boys - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#34)
36. Dean Lewis - Be Alright (DEBUT)
35. Selena Gomez - Back To You (#33)
34. Maroon 5/Cardi B - Girls Like You (#32)
33. Ariana Grande - Breathin (#27)
32. lovelytheband - Broken (#30)
31. Lauren Jauregui - Expectations (#23)
30. Seeb & Bastille - Grip (DEBUT)
29. Lauren Daigle - You Say (DEBUT)
28. Alessia Cara - Trust My Lonely (#29)
27. James Arthur - Empty Space (#28)
26. Benny Blanco & Calvin Harris - I Found You (#35)
25. Fall Out Boy - The Last Of The Real Ones (#26) [2 Weeks At #1]
24. Khalid - Better (#22)
23. Imagine Dragons - Machine (#13)
22. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#31)
21. The Struts/Kesha - Body Talks (#24)
20. Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life (#20)
19. Dan + Shay - Speechless (#19)
18. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower (#16)
17. David Guetta/Anne-Marie - Don't Leave Me Alone (#18)
16. Twenty One Pilots - Chlorine (#17)
15. Khalid & Normani - Love Lies (#14)
14. Imagine Dragons - Natural (#21) [1 Week At #1]
13. Ellie Goulding & Diplo - Close To Me (#12)
12. Dan + Shay - Tequila (#7)
11. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho (#15)
10. Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly (#11)
9. Anne-Marie - 2002 (#10)
8. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#9)
7. Benny Blanco, Halsey, & Khalid - Eastside (#6)
6. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Youngblood (#5) [5 Weeks At #1]
5. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next (#8)
4. Marshmello & Bastille - Happier (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]
3. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling (#3) [4 Weeks At #1]
2. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (#2) [8 Weeks At #1]
1. Halsey - Without Me (#1) [4th Week At #1]

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Imagine Dragons - Machine (-10)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie Between Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart and Benny Blanco & Calvin Harris - I Found You (+9)

#1 Recommendation Of The Week: Gabbie Hanna - Medicate

Best Countdown Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Camila Cabello - Never Be The Same


New Entrants

~ First up this week, we have our new worst song on the countdown, in the form of Ocean To Ocean. This is brought to us from Pitbull, who I can absolutely not stand, and Rhea, someone I have never heard of before this. This song is godawful. He, in my personal opinion, had no room to sample Africa in this song. He definitely does the song a grand amount of injustice. Vocally and conceptually, Pitbull serves up the usual meaningless garbage in his verses, and Rhea frankly makes it ten times worse. I mean this is embarrassing and sad. Very sad, and very laughable. It is such a horrible song, I don't know who would want to listen to this in their free time. I seriously hope that this song doesn't stay long, because it makes me want to tear off my ears every time I hear it. It is so, so, so, so, so bad.

~ After that ridiculous monstrosity, we have a breath of fresh air from Charli XCX and Troye Sivan. They do a nice job on 1999. I have always liked Troye Sivan and his music, so I knew that I would like this song in some capacity going into it. I can't say the same for Charli XCX, but she does sound good here. I like the upbeat vibe and catchy lyrics to this song. At least these two were able to make a fun song about a specific point in time, unlike Anne-Marie with 2002. She did no good with her song about my birth year, but I am more convinced that 1999 was a better time than 2002 given this song. Anne-Marie has been bested once again.

~ Next up, we have Dean Lewis with Be Alright, which is a song that I have been outgrowing lately. I used to really like this song a lot, but that was months ago. Hits 1 definitely picked up on this a little late, in my opinion. So, at this point, it is still good, but not something I am going to go out of my way to listen to. I enjoy his voice here. It is unique, and I remember liking it a lot when I heard Waves, a song that he released a while back that I still like to listen to. Nevertheless, he is very talented, but Be Alright is kind of fading on me. At least we have his new single, 7 Minutes, to listen to now. I really like that one. I don't mind it staying too long here, but I don't really know if I see it being too successful here for some reason.

~ Following that, we have Seeb and Bastille pairing up for Grip. I don't really find this song amazing at all. Dan Smith sounds good here, but that is about the only true highlight to the song. Seeb gives a pretty underwhelming production here, compared to what he gave us in Mike Posner's I Took A Pill In Ibiza. This is worse than Happier. I don't think the whole EDM thing really suits Bastille, given the nature of this song. It is incredibly forgettable. I forgot Grip was on Hit-Bound pretty much every week I came to take a listen. It is boring, and has no substance--in terms of lyrics. So, truthfully, I couldn't care less how it does here.

~ You Say by Lauren Daigle is our final debut of the week. It is another song that I have been listening to for a while. I am usually not a fan of Christian-influenced music, but she does an incredible job with this one. It is a beautiful ballad, and I love ballads (need I remind you that one of my favorite ballads left this week). Lyrically, this song tells a beautiful and uplifting story. She has a nice voice as well. It is a bit late to the party, similar to Be Alright, but I am glad that this one was able to make it big.

Best New Entrant Of The Week: Lauren Daigle - You Say

Exit-to-Entrant Comparisons:

1. Ocean To Ocean < Consequences, Electricity, There's No Way,           Waste It On Me, Woman Like Me
2. 1999 < Consequences
3. Be Alright < Consequences, There's No Way, Woman Like Me
4. Grip < Consequences, There's No Way, Waste It On Me, Woman Like Me
5. You Say < Consequences

Hit-Bound

• Imagine Dragons - Bad Liar (DEBUT)
• Rita Ora - Let You Love Me (DEBUT)
• lovelytheband - Maybe, I'm Afraid
• Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd - Lost In The Fire
• Sabrina Carpenter - Sue Me
• Panic! At The Disco - Dancing's Not A Crime (DEBUT)
• Kelsea Ballerini - Miss Me More
• Stephen Puth - Sexual Vibe
• Ariana Grande - 7 Rings (DEBUT)
• Sam Smith & Normani - Dancing With A Stranger
• Post Malone - Wow.
• Lauv & Troye Sivan - I'm So Tired... (DEBUT)
• Jake Miller - Wait For You
• Avril Lavigne - Tell Me It's Over
• Travis Scott - Sicko Mode

~ First up this week, we have a song that should heave been here in replace of Machine, and that is Bad Liar by Imagine Dragons. This is a very good song, and I have been listening to it for a while now. I usually get sick of this band's songs after a while, but that hasn't happened for me with this one yet. I'm sure that Hits 1 will eventually do that for me, because they tend to have a big role in that. All set aside, Dan Reynolds does a great job vocally, and the production on this track is interesting--and I like it. I am hoping to see this one join the countdown in the near future.

~ Let You Love Me by Rita Ora is another song that I have been listening to for a while now that is finally here. Her voice is better than usual here, and the production is fairly good. It's not her best song by any means, but I am glad that it is here. She deserves more recognition than she usually gets.

~ Much like they did with Twenty One Pilots and Chlorine recently, Hits 1 has decided to throw a non-single from Panic! At The Disco into the mix in the form of Dancing's Not A Crime. This one isn't that special in my eyes. I like Brendon Urie's voice, as usual, but that is about the only good thing about the song. Lyrically, I don't love it, and I feel like it is overproduced. I wouldn't mind if this never made it onto the countdown. But, knowing Hits 1, it probably will.

~ Next up, we have Ariana Grande with 7 Rings. This is definitely not her best by any means at all, but that being said--I like this song in more of a guilty pleasure kind of way. The production here is pretty lazy, but I can be okay with it. I still find the song to be fun, but I don't see it as something that will stick with me in the long run. Her vocals are not being showcased as they normally are, but that all started with Thank U, Next. I am hoping that she at least shows of some sense of vocal ability with her new album next week.

~ Soon after, we have our final, and best, in my opinion, debut onto Hit-Bound this week. We have Lauv and Troye Sivan teaming up to bring us I'm So Tired... this week. I really like this song. Vocally, I like how they sound together. I like the simplicity of the song, and its repetitiveness works in this case. Production-wise, it is done nicely in my opinion. I have just really enjoyed listening to this song in the past week.

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Lauv & Troye Sivan - I'm So Tired...
2. Sam Smith & Normani - Dancing With A Stranger
3. Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd - Lost In The Fire
4. Avril Lavigne - Tell Me It's Over
5. Ariana Grande - 7 Rings


Blurb Alright

~ We only go rid of one song from the top 10 last week, and not much really moved around in there, so there isn't much to say. However, I am really glad that Let Me Down Slowly was able to replace Tequila at the very least. Additionally, I warmly welcome Thank U, Next into the top 5.

~ I am glad to see that Natural was able to stunt Machine's success here by replacing it in the top 20 this week. Even if it isn't the top pick I would have to replace it, I am still very okay with it.

~ It is nice to see Nothing Breaks Like A Heart get a bit of a boost in the ranks this week. I was beginning to think that it would never get anywhere.

~ It looks like the run for Ariana Grande - Breathin is beginning to come to an end. I am sad to see it, but I expected it to happen sooner or later.

~ It looks like Limitless is never going to take off here, so I would appreciate it if it were to exit soon, as it is just taking up unnecessary space at this point.

~ As for our exits, I am sad to see Woman Like Me and There's No Way depart this week, but it was their time. On a similar note, I am super mad that Consequences left this week. It was pretty unexpected. It should have lasted longer, but what can you do? Waste It On Me wasn't really taking off, and it was taking up unnecessary space, similar to Limitless, so I was okay with it. As for Electricity, I suppose it was time, even if there was worse songs that could have exited in place of it.

~ Rankdown results have been updated! All we have left now is the top 10. Check out what is left in the competition by clicking here.


Let's Do A Top 20 Review!

0-Garbage
NONE

1-Bad
20. Dan + Shay - Tequila
19. Twenty One Pilots - Chlorine
18. Anne-Marie - 2002
17. Dan + Shay - Speechless
16. Benny Blanco, Halsey, & Khalid - Eastside
15. David Guetta/Anne-Marie - Don't Leave Me Alone 

2-Mediocre
14. Imagine Dragons - Natural

3-Decent
NONE

4-Good
13. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower
12. Khalid & Normani - Love Lies
11. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes
10. Marshmello & Bastille - Happier
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Youngblood 

5-Great
8. Ellie Goulding & Diplo - Close To Me
7. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It
6. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling
5. Halsey - Without Me
4. Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly
3. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
2. Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
1. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next

Score: 73% (C)


My Bottom 5 Countdown Picks
1. Pitbull & Rhea - Ocean To Ocean
2. Imagine Dragons - Machine
3. Dan + Shay - Tequila
4. Twenty One Pilots - Chlorine
5. Anne-Marie - 2002

My Top 5 Countdown Picks
1. Ariana Grande - Breathin
2. Alessia Cara - Trust My Lonely
3. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next
4. Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
5. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho

Have a great week!

~ Jack :)