Halsey (5) - Week Of February 9, 2019

Hey guys! The 61st Annual Grammy Awards take place tonight. I will be watching. I may decide to review the performances after the show, but it depends on how good or bad they turn out being. Anyways, I hope that you all have had a fantastic week and I am excited to jump right into this week's countdown review! Before we get to this week's fresh 45, here are the songs that we are saying goodbye to this week.

• The Struts/Kesha - Body Talks (#21)
• Lauren Jauregui - Expectations (#31)

Last Week's #1 Song: Halsey - Without Me
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Charlie Puth - How Long

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

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between Fall Out Boy - The Last Of The Real Ones, Imagine Dragons - Machine, and Imagine Dragons - Natural (-6)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Dean Lewis - Be Alright (+18)

#1 Recommendation Of The Week: Dua Lipa - Swan Song


New Entrants

~ Our first entrant to the countdown this week comes from Charlie Puth's younger brother, Stephen with his debut single Sexual Vibe. At first, I wasn't a huge fan of this song, but I eventually got into it a bit more. His voice is definitely a lot different from his brothers. It is quite deep, but it does work well with this track. Additionally, the track has some nice instrumentation and production, even if it is quite simple. Anyways, I am hoping to hear more from Stephen Puth in the future. He is certainly not a bad singer.

~ Second up this week we have Avril Lavigne with her return just before the dawn of her newest album Head Above Water, which comes out this Friday. I am excited to see what she has in store for us. The first couple of songs that she has released have been great, and that includes the magnificent Tell Me It's Over, which joins us this week. I really like her voice on this track. It is vocally appealing to me. There isn't a huge amount that goes into the instrumentals or production, but it is definitely sufficient. Although I am a little sad that Hits 1 failed to pick up on Head Above Water, I am glad that they decided to pick up on this one. I am hoping to see this one have some success here.

Best Debut Of The Week: Avril Lavigne - Tell Me It's Over

Exit-to-Entrant Comparisons:

1. Sexual Vibe > Expectations
2. Tell Me It's Over > Body Talks, Expectations

Hit-Bound

• Lil Peep & iLoveMakonnen/Fall Out Boy - I've Been Waiting (DEBUT)
• Sam Smith & Normani - Dancing With A Stranger
• Lauv & Troye Sivan - I'm So Tired...
• Panic! At The Disco - Dancing's Not A Crime
• Post Malone - Wow.
• Grandson - Apologize (DEBUT)
• The Chainsmokers & 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love (DEBUT)
• Imagine Dragons - Bad Liar
• Sabrina Carpenter - Sue Me
• Rita Ora - Let You Love Me
• lovelytheband - Maybe, I'm Afraid
• Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
• Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd - Lost In The Fire
• Kelsea Ballerini - Miss Me More
• Jake Miller - Wait For You
• Alternate: Travis Scott - Sicko Mode

~ Our first new Hit-Bound song this week is delivered to us by a posthumous Lil Peep with iLoveMakonnen and featuring Fall Out Boy. The song is called I've Been Waiting. It is a pretty good song, even if I wasn't expecting to like it. Lil Peep isn't that awful here, and both iLoveMakonnen and Fall Out Boy make decent contributions. I could definitely see myself getting sick of it at some point down the line, but I am enjoying it for the time being.

~ Next up we have Grandson with Apologize. This one isn't awful, but it isn't great. Conceptually, I like this song. The instrumentals are pretty good here, and the production is't bad overall. However, I am just not a huge fan of this guy's voice. I could see myself growing into it after more listens though. We will have to just wait and see.

~ Finally, with my favorite debut of the week, we have The Chainsmokers and 5 Seconds Of Summer with Who Do You Love. I am really digging this track. The vocals here are superb, and we don't hear Drew Taggart here, which is definitely a change in scenery. Additionally, I enjoy the drop here. It is very nice. It is certainly much better than what we have been hearing from them in recent months. I am sure it will debut the countdown, and I am hoping that it has success elsewhere. 

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Lauv & Troye Sivan - I'm So Tired...
2. The Chainsmokers & 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love
3. Sam Smith & Normani - Dancing With A Stranger
4. Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd - Lost In The Fire
5. Ariana Grande - 7 Rings


Blurb Me It's Over

~ At this point, I am a bit dissatisfied with the quality of both our top 10, and top 20 for that matter, as a whole. There is really nothing to be super proud of here. We have quite a few songs that are failing to get recognized to the lengths that they should be.

~ The only new member that we received for the top 20 this week was Be Alright. I guess I am not mad about this, because it is a good song. But, there are better songs that could have been introduced to the top 20 other than this one.

~ It is kind of sad to see that Trust My Lonely isn't really taking off, very similar to Nothing Breaks Like A Heart. These are two good songs that definitely deserve more recognition here.

~ I am certainly hoping that this does not mark the end of Breathin on the countdown. I just hope that this song can stick around for a while longer. It deserved a lot more than what it got here, and everywhere. It is such a good song.

~ To round off this uneventful week, we have a drop from Ocean To Ocean in its second week. Hopefully this signifies that it won't be staying much longer.

~ If you haven't seen the final results of the rankdown that I had hosted, please click here. I am so glad that I had an opportunity to do it, and I would love to possibly host more in the future.


Let's Do A Top 20 Review!

0-Garbage
NONE

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

2-Mediocre
NONE

3-Decent
13. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes

4-Good
12. Khalid & Normani - Love Lies
11. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower
10. Dean Lewis - Be Alright
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Youngblood 

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

Score: 66% (D-)


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

Top 5 Countdown Picks
1. Ariana Grande - Breathin
2. Alessia Cara - Trust My Lonely
3. Avril Lavigne - Tell Me It's Over
4. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
5. Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life

Thanks for reading!

~ Jack :)