September 24, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Daya (3)

Well that escalated quickly! Things are definitely brewing up here, some for better, some for worse. But it's nice to see that we might actually get things going and up to speed, and it helps that we got rid of three pieces of trash this week. I can only hope next year will show some progression, but for now let's not worry about that. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Rise by Katy Perry (#27)
• Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez (#35)
• Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez (#45)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
45. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#44)
44. No by Meghan Trainor (#43)
43. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#38) (one week at #1)
42. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#41)
41. Toothbrush by DNCE (#42)
40. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#36)
39. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#33)
38. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#31) (two weeks at #1)
37. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#40) (two weeks at #1)
36. My Way by Calvin Harris (debut)
35. Missing You by All Time Low (#24)
34. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#29)
33. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#26)
32. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#32) (four weeks at #1)
31. Say by Symon (#25)
30. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (debut)
29. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides (#21)
28. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#20)
27. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#16)
26. Spirits by The Strumbellas (#17)
25. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (debut)
24. The Sound by The 1975 (#15)
23. Gold by Kiiara (#39)
22. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#22) (five weeks at #1) (Not a color-coding error.)
21. I'm Not Famous by AJR (#19)
20. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#34)
19. Kids by OneRepublic (#30)
18. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#14)
17. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#4) (one week at #1)
16. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai (#23)
15. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#11)
14. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#18)
13. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#10)
12. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#37)
11. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#13)
10. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#12)
9. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#28) (In before the haters...)
8. Into You by Ariana Grande (#7)
7. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#6)
6. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#5)
5. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#8)
4. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#9) (ten weeks at #1)
3. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#3)
2. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#2)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon
1. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#1) (third, NOT FOURTH, week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (-13)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (+25)

New Entrants
- Our first new entry comes from Calvin Harris, with My Way, which from the looks of it sounds like a diss track to Taylor Swift. It's about time someone told her off for a change!!!* But even that aside, this does have some nice tropical production, and while Calvin may not have a diverse set of lyrics, it's nice to see him singing when we rarely get that, like in songs like Feel So Close and Summer. I'll enjoy this while it lasts, but it probably won't stick with me for all that long. Not a bad track for the time being.

- Then we've got more Panic! At The Disco. Death Of A Bachelor isn't new per se, as it briefly charted on the Billboard Hot 100 very early in the year in the wake of the eponymous album, but there's surely stuff to like here. Brendon Urie sells it nicely. But that said, there are things I don't like about it (they're a rock band, do they really need drum machines?). I'll take it for now, though.

- And we have more DJ Snake. As you should know, he was behind my #1 favorite song of last year, with You Know You Like It with AlunaGeorge. Here he grabbed Justin Bieber for a new track with Let Me Love You. Putting aside the fact that we've had a handful of songs with that same name, Bieber himself sings pretty well here, and the production is definitely respectable...and yet I can't quite put my finger on what doesn't quite make it great. At least not yet. I could definitely see this growing on me, but for now I do think it's decent at the least.

* Do not get me wrong, I still fully respect Taylor Swift and her music. I just think it's nice that someone is actually trying to take a stand against her.

You Were The One Blurb In My Way
- Very happy about all three of our exits. Hands To Myself had been here for way longer than it deserved to, and thank god Kill 'Em With Kindness finally left. Spyder acknowledged that it was a bad week for Selena Gomez. :P And Rise... Yeah, no complaints there. I'm still looking forward to more from Katy Perry, but that song was a huge disappointment. Good thing it wasn't with us long at all. Thanks, Hits 1!

- I'm honestly wondering how much longer Victorious by Panic! At The Disco will last. It may not last a full year on the countdown (given the six weeks between when it left and re-entered), but hey.

- Missing You by All Time Low did take a noticeable drop after not doing much for so long. It may not be much longer for us. Not that I'll really care.

- Cake By The Ocean by DNCE has held at #32 for three weeks in a row now.

- All five of the songs in the fourth set of five, except for our new debut, took some big drops into that region. I didn't think Spirits by The Strumbellas would drop out of there so soon, but Body Say by Demi Lovato I've been growing out of.

- I'm not very pleased to see The Sound by The 1975 drop out of the Top 20. Not to mention it left the American Top 40 so suddenly, and that's not good.

- Of course that mash-up of itself would take a big jump. 

- #22 is not a color-coding error. I don't even find Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots old anymore. It may be the fact that it's about to leave the Billboard Hot 100 after spending a year there, but it really isn't a song that I can see myself hating. While it's not as good as the two biggest songs from last year, I have no qualms with still liking it at all.

- Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ has done nothing but jump since it debuted. It'll probably be Top 10 soon, and I'll be cool with that. I also only just found out yesterday that Major Lazer are American acts, which surprises me because a lot of commonplace EDM acts (i.e. David Guetta, Zedd, DJ Snake, Avicii, Calvin Harris) tend to be foreigners...and that is not helped by the fact that most of the acts that Major Lazer work with are foreigners as well.

- I was not expecting Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd to take such a huge jump on its second week. We'll see if this lasts.

- That big jump for Unsteady by X Ambassadors back into the Top 10 came out of literally nowhere, because I have not heard that song at all this past week. Also, the guest DJ who announced it was from Philadelphia, which I live right near. Go PA representatives! :D

- On that note, this is also the first week that Into You by Ariana Grande has dropped at all since it debuted.

- Before introducing Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots, Spyder Harrison went on a ramble about being a fan of the Miami Dolphins and hating the Denver Broncos because his girlfriend had been a fan of them while she lived there. Something like that. Although it had nothing to do with the song, it was pretty funny. xP

- This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna is officially annoying. Please start making your way down soon.

- Can Ride by Twenty-one Pilots quit getting blocked at #2 and hit #1 already? :P Yes I know that last week I said it may not be in green much longer, but the song does have meaning behind it.

- Looks like we're finally getting some activity here! Let's hope this momentum keeps up after the very slow summer.

Hit-Bound
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (debut)
Good Grief by Bastille (debut)
The Little Things by Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey
The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
Red Dress by MAGIC!
I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien
Green Light by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo
Bacon by Nick Jonas
This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
Be As You Are by Mike Posner
Chase You Down by RUNAGROUND (debut)

- It's been quite a while since we've heard from Daft Punk, and here they are with our good friend The Weeknd, with Starboy. It's definitely not as good as Get Lucky, Can't Feel My Face or The Hills, but I have a feeling this song is gonna get huge.

- I doubt many remember Bastille aside from Pompeii, their huge 2014 hit. Good Grief, well, kinda speaks for itself, because I forgot the song almost right after hearing it the first time earlier this week, and I still don't remember it after hearing it today.

- Chase You Down by RUNAGROUND is another one that I actually recognize, as I've heard it on Venus a couple times. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded like something by Robin Schulz, making that one of two songs on Hit-Bound that seem to be taking off his style.

- Red Dress by MAGIC! has been with us for what feels like 3,000 years. I do like the song, but I won't be devastated if it doesn't debut.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

1 — Bad:
19. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna

2 — Meh:
18. Unsteady by X Ambassadors
17. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya


3 - Decent:
16. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
15. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
14. Kids by OneRepublic
13. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez

4 — Good:
12. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer
11. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
10. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
9. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
8. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
7. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai

5 — Great:
6. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga5. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
4. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
3. Into You by Ariana Grande
2. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
1. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots

Overall score: 71/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Me Too by Meghan Trainor
2. No by Meghan Trainor
3. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
4. Toothbrush by DNCE
5. Gold by Kiiara

(Three of my Bottom 5 are in the Bottom 5 of the countdown. How appropriate.)

Countdown Top 5
1. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
2. The Sound by The 1975
3. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
4. Into You by Ariana Grande
5. Spirits by The Strumbellas

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Green Light by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
2. Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo
3. This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
4. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
5. Chase You Down by RUNAGROUND

Most Missed Song: Get Lucky by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: Mercy by Shawn Mendes

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
That's How You Know by Nico and Vinz featuring Bebe Rexha and Kid Ink — Doesn't really feel like there's much going on in this one. Video's funny though, with Nico and Vinz at a psychologist describing a drunken night out.
The Hills by The Weeknd — One of my favorite Billboard Hot 100 #1 songs of the decade. It's too bad that Hits 1 wasn't nicer to it. If I were to remake my 2015 Year-End Hot 100 piece, this would definitely be Top 10.
Let's Love by Echosmith — There's not much to this song, but it's at least fun to some capacity.
On My Mind by Ellie Goulding — Yay for Ellie and Ed writing songs about each other!

Thanks for reading, everybody!

September 17, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Daya (2)

So to start, I noticed that we hit 4,000 pageviews! Thanks, everyone! It's great that you guys have been viewing this blog that I made pretty much because I have no life. :P It'd be great if we can hit 5,000 by the end of the month, and maybe 10,000 before 2016 is out?! We'll see what happens. As for the countdown, Hit-Bound was where things really got interesting. We'll get to that later, but even though there wasn't much activity in the countdown we still had some new stuff, for better or for worse. I can only hope that as we enter the fall things will pick up. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• * Figure Me Out by The Summer Set (#38)
• Once In A While by Timeflies (#41)
• One Dance by Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla (#42)
• All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony (#45) (You've gotta be kidding me...)

* Was not announced as an exit by Spyder Harrison.

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
45. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez (#43) (How are you still here?!)
44. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#44)
43. No by Meghan Trainor (#39)
42. Toothbrush by DNCE (#40)
41. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#37)
40. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#36) (two weeks at #1)
39. Gold by Kiiara (debut)
38. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#34) (one week at #1)
37. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (debut)
36. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#33)
35. Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez (#35)
34. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (debut)
33. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#29)
32. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#32) (four weeks at #1)
31. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#31) (two weeks at #1)
30. Kids by OneRepublic (debut)
29. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#27)
28. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#30)
27. Rise by Katy Perry (#25)
26. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#18)
25. Say by Symon (#21)
24. Missing You by All Time Low (#24)
23. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai (#23)
22. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#28) (five weeks at #1)
21. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides (#20)
20. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#26)
19. I'm Not Famous by AJR (#15)
18. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#19)
17. Spirits by The Strumbellas (#22)
16. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#17)
15. The Sound by The 1975 (#10)
14. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#13)
13. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#14)
12. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#15)
11. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#11)
10. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#7)
9. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#5) (ten weeks at #1)
8. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#6)
7. Into You by Ariana Grande (#8)
6. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#12)
5. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#9)
4. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#3) (one week at #1)
3. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#4)
2. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#2)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd
1. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (second week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Mama Said by Lukas Graham (-8) (...)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots, Setting The World on Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk, and (+6) (...)

New Entrants
- To start off with, we have, much to the dismay of most here, Gold by Kiiara. From the first few seconds I heard this, I thought it was some kind of joke. Apparently, making a pop song out of a YouTube Poop is enough to get you success. That's kinda sad. The lyrics aren't memorable at all, either. Let's hope this doesn't stay long.

- Then we've got Hailee Steinfeld, with Zedd and someone else I've never heard of before named Grey, with Starving. And...she sounds good enough, but there's not much to the guitars, and the drop is just crap. There are also the lyrics, which a part of me wants to call so bad it's good, but I don't know. Right now this really is not that exciting a song for me and will probably be red eventually.

- And most importantly, we have another long-awaited return, this one from Lady Gaga, name of Perfect Illusion. And this will probably be an unpopular opinion in this community, but right now I think this song is really cool. While her vocals are a little strong here and loud, not to mention there's a lot of glimmering, I still think the song is cool right about now. It does come together for me, better than I feel like it should. Also, one of the people behind both writing and producing this song was Mark Ronson, and guess what song he did! That said, I can see myself getting sick of this if it gets overplayed, but right now I am definitely enjoying it.

- Finally we have Kids by OneRepublic. To say the least, I'm still not sure if I'm completely used to this new sound from them, as my initial reaction to Wherever I Go was not favorable when it debuted and I did grow into that. Right now I do think this is pretty decent, but we'll see if I come to like it more.

I Didn't Know That I Was Blurbing Till I Tasted You
- So to start off, our exits. Two of them outright did not deserve to go, one I really couldn't care less about, and the other I did enjoy while it lasted. Well, Once In A While did take that big drop a little while ago so I can't say I'm completely surprised, but All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony was completely undeserved. Also, Spyder Harrison didn't announce Figure Me Out as one of the exits. Was he too sad about that departure? :P

- Our bottom 5 seriously needs cleaning out. I'm not even gonna comment on Kill 'Em With Kindness, No and Work From Home again, and Toothbrush by DNCE needs to leave. I can safely say that I only liked this song to start because I wanted to like it and because I was sick of its predecessor. But I realized how stupid the lyrics are, especially in the pre-chorus, and that falsetto is not helping.

- So Taylor Swift apparently crashed a date between Zayn Malik and his girlfriend Gigi Hadid? I remember her thinking he was cool, so that's kinda funny.

- Three of the songs in our third set of five held their positions from last week.

- Heh. Didn't think Mama Said by Lukas Graham would drop that hard. And on that note, we actually had single digit biggest drops and jumps. Honestly, it feels like it's been 3,000 years since that's happened.

- It's nice to see some indie folk in the form of Spirits by The Strumbellas get some traction.

- So, random story. The other day, I was at a sports bar, and they were playing some classics, and in the middle of one of them they cut out for Rihanna, then Blank Space by Taylor Swift came on. Let me make one thing clear: I do still like that song, but it is NOT a club song. I also heard a few other not club songs while I was there, like We Don't Talk Anymore, Stressed Out, Send My Love (To Your New Lover), and Treat You Better. It felt weird, but I still had fun there. I couldn't imagine those songs being played in a Chickie's and Pete's or something. At least they played some fun stuff, too.

- The Sound by The 1975 dropped out of the Top 10, which leaves me hoping that it won't be cut too short like two of our exits today. Let's hope it can make the final Top 45.

- There are quite a few songs I've grown into here, most notably Cold Water and Closer, which, while they're not songs that I'd pay for on iTunes with my money, I'm all game for hearing them now. We'll see how long they stick with me.

- Speaking of We Don't Talk Anymore, before introducing that song, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Charlie himself is currently seeking. What happened, Charlie Puth? Did things not work out with you and Meghan Meghans? Ah, I can only guess that they...don't talk anymore. Okay, that was a lame pun.

- As for the elephant in the room... It had a reportedly high amount of spins, so it did catch me a little off-guard seeing Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake drop out of the Top 5. Even so, I haven't been hearing it as much as I did throughout the summer, so its shot at 12 weeks may be finished. But we'll see.

- Yes, Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots is in purple. I've listened to that song so many times this past week and really, this song just gets cooler and cooler every time I hear it. I have a feeling that Ride may not be in green for much longer, but this is just so eerie and awesome. So yeah, take that, Graham. ;D

- I'm still wondering if Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul still has a chance to hit #1.

- You silly Spyder, this is not Don't Let Me Down's third time at #1!!! :P He also didn't call it "this week's numero uno", which was disappointing.

Hit-Bound
I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (debut)
Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo (debut)
Bacon by Nick Jonas
This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
Green Light by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (debut)
Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
My Way by Calvin Harris (debut)
Be As You Are by Mike Posner
Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco
The Little Things by Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding (debut)
Red Dress by MAGIC!
Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (debut)
The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (debut)

- So we did lose some songs from Hit-Bound this week, including Wild by Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara, Cruel by Snakehips featuring Zayn, Superstitious by MKTO, and most sadly, Back 2 U by Steve Aoki and Boehm featuring Walk The Moon, the very latter of which is currently in contention for my Lights Over Paris award come December. But we're thinking a bit ahead here, so that aside, we got A LOT of debuts here. Let's just go through them quick.

- To start, we have I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien. I like this one, it's kinda sad but it's a nice little song for one that tells a story about two estranged lovers.

- Then we've got something new from Jason Derulo, in Kiss The Sky. This song kicks butt pretty hard. It has so much energy and charisma to it, unlike quite a few of his other hits in recent memory (looking at you, Wiggle and Trumpets).

- Green Light by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida has some pretty solid bluesy production, and a nice return from LunchMoney Lewis after Bills from 2015 sadly failed to take off. Definitely my new favorite song on Hit-Bound. Let's hope it debuts soon!

- Calvin Harris looks to finally be striking back against Taylor Swift, with from what I've heard is a diss track known as My Way. Ooooooh!!! I can tell that Hits 1 is going to really adore this one, because I'm already hearing it more than once. To say the least, it's nice to have Calvin Harris singing for a change, like in songs like Feel So Close and Summer.

- I talked a little bit about Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding last week when it was on the YouTube15, and, well, it's pretty, even if it's no Love Me Like You Do.

- Next up we have Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber. I can appreciate what the song wants to be, but for now it's only in blue. I can certainly see it growing on me in time, however. Also, they used the cover of Bieber's My World 2.0 album when the song came on, and I do think that's pretty silly. It's 2016, not 2010.

- Finally we come to The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar. To say the least, this song is very...not Sia. This doesn't sound like something she would perform. This'll probably turn red eventually. Also, I'm surprised they kept Kendrick in this seeing as they tend to cut rappers out of a lot of songs (i.e. all three Fifth Harmony singles, Bad Blood, etcetera).

- Hit-Bound is actually looking pretty good right about now if you ask me. Aside from the crappy The Little Things, every song here is at least decent (or bearable, at absolute worst).

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

1 — Bad:
None!

2 — Meh:
19. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna

3 — Decent:
18. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
17. I'm Not Famous by AJR

4 — Good:
16. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez
15. Body Say by Demi Lovato
14. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
13. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk
12. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer
11. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
10. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
9. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya

5 — Great:

8. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ

7. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake

6. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
4. Spirits by The Strumbellas
3. The Sound by The 1975
2. Into You by Ariana Grande
1. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots

Overall score: 80/100 - Great

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Me Too by Meghan Trainor
2. No by Meghan Trainor
3. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
4. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez
5. Toothbrush by DNCE

Countdown Top 5
1. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
2. Into You by Ariana Grande
3. The Sound by The 1975
4. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga
5. Spirits by The Strumbellas

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
2. Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo
3. This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
4. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien
5. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco

Most Missed Song: Style by Taylor Swift - Man, I am not making friends with Graham today, am I?

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Levels by Nick Jonas — Not quite as good as Chains, but still a pretty respectable track with a nice groove.
Ex's and Oh's by Elle King — I've already discussed this one, but it's pretty nice when we get banging bluesy rock like this in the 2010s. Also, fun fact: this song left both the Weekend Countdown and the Hot 100 on the same week.
Bring It Back by Shy Carter — I feel like I should like this a lot more than I do, because it has an interesting oldies vibe, but it feels too full-force at more points than one.
Hold Each Other by A Great Big World featuring Futuristic — Eh, I was juggling between blue and green for this one, and decided it wasn't quite enough for me to call great, but for another song about being close to those that we love, I think it's well-written. I don't think it's quite as good without Futuristic, who adds more meaning to the song, though, but of course Hits 1 hates rap, hence why I crossed out the words "featuring Futuristic". Plus, Chad King is gay, huh? Never would've guessed. Video's pretty interesting, too.

Thanks for reading, everybody!

September 10, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Daya (1)

Yeah, some things are showing activity but as we get into the fall, things might pick up. We're not quite out of the summer lull just yet but surely it should happen soon enough. I don't know what'll happen from here on out, but as the new music starts to come in with the fall, that might finally be the point where things get back on track. But for the time being, this is what we're stuck with. At least we got something that many have been longing for, and we'll get to that, but some songs get worse even as the long-time hits stick with me. There are no songs leaving us this week, so let’s go.

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
45. All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony (#29)
44. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#44)
43. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez (#45)
42. One Dance by Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla (#43)
41. Once In A While by Timeflies (#41)
40. Toothbrush by DNCE (#24)
39. No by Meghan Trainor (#37)
38. Figure Me Out by The Summer Set (#32)
37. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#38)
36. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#42) (two weeks at #1) (Yay! Never leave?!)
35. Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez (#35)
34. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#28) (one week at #1)
33. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#30)
32. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#39) (four weeks at #1)
31. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#27) (two weeks at #1)
30. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#34)
29. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#32)
28. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#26) (five weeks at #1)
27. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#23)
26. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#19)
25. Rise by Katy Perry (#40) (As expected...)
24. Missing You by All Time Low (#22)
23. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai (#31)
22. Spirits by The Strumbellas (#36)
21. Say by Symon (#20)
20. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides (#17)
19. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#25)
18. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#21)
17. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#13)
16. I'm Not Famous by AJR (#15)
15. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#16)
14. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#10)
13. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#18)
12. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#14)
11. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#11)
10. The Sound by The 1975 (#7)
9. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#6)
8. Into You by Ariana Grande (#8)
7. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#12)
6. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#9)
5. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#1) (ten weeks at #1)
4. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#2)
3. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#3) (one week at #1)
2. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#5)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Photograph by Ed Sheeran
1. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#2) (first week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony and Toothbrush by DNCE (-16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Rise by Katy Perry (+15)

Never Be Like Blurbs
- Dang, I was hoping that All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony would do better than this. With Work From Home having done as good as it did, I thought this would have had more success, but I guess not.

- Speaking of Work From Home, both that and No need to leave!!! They are seriously irritating the crap out of me every time they come on and they will both be in orange if Me Too leaves before them!!!

- I'm still not growing out of either of the two week #1s we have here. One of them it's nice to see that it did as well as it did, and the other may have underperformed elsewhere but Hits 1 gave it some love for an artist who we won't be hearing from for a little bit. On that note, I just knew that Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston wouldn't last. :P Hey TayTay, when's that album?

- I still don't see why Unsteady by X Ambassadors is infuriating so many people here. Sure, it's been with us a while, but that other week when it hit #7 almost everyone seemed to turn on it, and last week many were saying it deserved that huge DRRRRRRROP!!!. Can I please ask why?

- Not surprising that Katy Perry had the biggest jump of the week. But the song hasn't gotten any better for me.

- Spyder Harrison commented on how Jacob Whitesides is the CEO of his own record label. And he's got a pretty kickass song here on the countdown. For a guy who's only 18, that is pretty awesome.

- Yes, Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey is now in blue. Maybe it'll turn green soon. We'll see.

- In the third 4-1-1 Weekend Rewind, which was right before Sit Still, Look Pretty, Alex T. from The Morning Mash-Up said that Drake and Kanye West are indeed working on a collaborative album. Ugh, don't remind me... I mean, Drake just had Billboard's biggest song of the summer, he's released three albums in just over a year and a half... Can he just take a break already?

- Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots continues to get more interesting and enjoyable when I hear it. This might gain more steam as we go into October and the Halloween season.

- I really hope that The Sound by The 1975 can stick with us longer because I still like this song a lot. But it could end up going down the same path that other songs that have shown up here but not elsewhere, like Once In A While and Figure Me Out, have. It recently debuted on the American Top 40, though, so maybe it'll stick with us.

- Can This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna move down some? Because I'll probably have it in red very soon.

- This is the third time that Ride by Twenty-one Pilots has had a (female) guest DJ while in the Top 10. I was hoping that it would be our #1...

- ...But that brings us to our new #1. I do still enjoy Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya, probably more than I should at this point. I'm happy that it's #1. Also, when introducing it, Spyder Harrison made a mistake in saying that it was the song's second time being at #1. Silly Spyder! :P

Hit-Bound
Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
Back 2 U by Steve Aoki and Boehm featuring Walk The Moon
Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco
Gold by Kiiara
Superstitious by MKTO
Kids by OneRepublic
This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
Be As You Are by Mike Posner
Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
Cruel by Snakehips featuring Zayn
Wild by Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara
The Little Things by Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey
Bacon by Nick Jonas
Red Dress by MAGIC!
Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (debut) (?)

- Ryan Sampson from The Morning Mash-Up hosted Hit-Bound this week.

- I'm confused... Is Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga on Hit-Bound? Because I didn't hear it there today, and I don't see it for vote on the website, but it was mentioned as a Hit-Bound entrant.

- As you can see, I have Starving in both blue and red, as I'm not sure which color it should go in, in that some of its elements are awkward but I do find it overall tolerable, but I don't know if I will much longer. We'll see which color it takes.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 - Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

1 - Bad:
None!

2 - Meh:
19. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna

3 - Decent:
18. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
17. I'm Not Famous by AJR
16. Mama Said by Lukas Graham
15. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez
14. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
13. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey

4 - Good:
12. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer
11. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
10. Body Say by Demi Lovato
9. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
8. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya

5 - Great:
7. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
6. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
4. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
3. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides
2. Into You by Ariana Grande
1. The Sound by The 1975

Overall score: 75/100 - Solid

Also, since I don't have work today and my shift yesterday ended earlier, not to mention that we have no exits, I decided to do something I don't usually do: cover the YouTube15. This is a show with Jenna Marbles that airs every Friday evening at 6, and is re-aired a few times over the weekend, and in it she talks about some trending songs on YouTube. It's interesting, but it gets annoying when she spends like ten seconds talking after introducing a song before getting to it. That aside, we do get some odd stuff here, but some songs that end up here are ones that have existed for a while but not overly popular at all, and there are some things on the countdown. I won't do this every week, but if the chance presents itself and the songs here get interesting I might do it more. So without further ado, here are the songs that were on the YouTube15 this week.

Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
Perfect Strangers by Jonas Blue featuring JP Cooper
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
Wish That You Were Here by Florence & The Machine
Panda by Desiigner
In The Name of Love by Martin Garrix with Bebe Rexha
Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
Tears by Clean Bandit with Louisa Johnson
Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
May We All by Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw
Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
Tag You're It by Melanie Martinez

Ellie Goulding returns with another soundtrack song, Still Falling For You, from Bridget Jones' Baby. It's definitely not as good as Love Me Like You Do, but it's still lovely for what it is.

One funny thing about Panda by Desiigner is that when the chorus repeats twice, they censor out the word "killas" the first time it's used but not the second. And yes, I find Work From Home in orange - as I said, it is simply infuriating me at this point.

We haven't heard a lot from Martin Garrix since Animals in 2014, so here he is with Bebe Rexha in In The Name Of Love. I feel like I should hate the drop, but I just don't and the song feels too pretty for me to not like.

For those of you that don't remember Clean Bandit, they made the absolutely magical Rather Be with Jess Glynne, which is a big fan favorite from 2014, regarded by many (myself included) as the best song from that Year-End Hot 100. Now here they have Tears with Louisa Johnson, which, while it doesn't match up, is still a pretty solid dance track.

On that front, we have the recently arrived Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj, which is pretty fun. These two work quite well together, and while it's no Into You, I do like it, as much as these two shouldn't mix with reggae as well as they do.

There's also another country track with May We All by Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw, but this song is awfully compressed. And the 2Pac line is unnecessary.

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Me Too by Meghan Trainor
2. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
3. No by Meghan Trainor
4. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez
5. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

Countdown Top 5
1. The Sound by The 1975
2. Into You by Ariana Grande
3. Spirits by The Strumbellas
4. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides
5. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (Did I have this same Top 5 last week? That's what happens when you have no exits...)

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
2. Back 2 U by Steve Aoki and Boehm featuring Walk The Moon
3. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga
4. Superstitious by MKTO
5. Bacon by Nick Jonas

YouTube15 Top 5
1. Tears by Clean Bandit featuring Louisa Johnson
2. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix with Bebe Rexha
3. Perfect Strangers by Jonas Blue featuring JP Cooper
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj

Most Missed Song: Ho Hey by The Lumineers - With Spirits having jumped and going through the recently made Decade-End Hot 100 predictions thread on Pulse Music Boards, this is a song I had to mention. It's one of the songs that looks like it'll barely miss that cut, despite its outrageously long run on the Hot 100.

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
What Do You Mean? by Justin Bieber — Say one thing, mean the other, yes Bieber, welcome to the world of girls and maturity.
Renegades by X Ambassadors — Already talked about this one, but it's cool that we have a song that's about people living to overcome their disabilities. Even if this thing is a Jeep commercial.
Can't Sleep Love by Pentatonix — I'm not gonna say this song is great per se, but it's stupid, bubbly fun.
Downtown by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and a bunch of other names I'm too lazy to remember — This song is the shit. The verses are as ridiculous as can be, and so are those gang vocals, but the chorus is absolutely epic in every sense of the word. The Mack returned hardcore.

One other thing to state real quick, next week (September 17) the countdown won't be on its usual schedule, given I'll be working from 8 AM to 4:30 PM, which I don't often work at. But I'll still bring my iPad with me so I can watch certain parts of the countdown when necessary. Thanks for reading, everybody!