November 26, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Halsey (7)

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! In countdown land, this was basically your typical slow Thanksgiving weekend. But that being said, there was definitely stuff for me to like about this week. Our Top 10 got a good shake-up, and the aftermath of the American Music Awards did allow me to like a handful of old songs more. There was definitely some change going on, particularly in our Top 20. And even if the growing back into things probably won't last for me, I can say that overall this week was progress in the right direction. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#36) (spent two weeks at #1) (!!!!!!!)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
45. Bacon by Nick Jonas (#44)
44. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#43)
43. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#38)
42. My Way by Calvin Harris (#45)
41. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#39)
40. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#40)
39. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#42)
38. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#32)
37. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#35) (five weeks at #1) (Hang in there!!!)
36. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#37)
35. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#33) (one week at #1)
34. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#41) (two weeks at #1)
33. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#31) (ten weeks at #1)
32. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#30) (three weeks at #1)
31. Play That Song by Train (debut)
30. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#14)
29. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#27)
28. Chase You Down by Runaground (#28)
27. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#23)
26. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#16)
25. Body Moves by DNCE (#21)
24. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (#22)
23. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#19)
22. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#18)
21. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#6) (Ouch!)
20. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha (#34)
19. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#29) (...)
18. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#26)
17. This Town by Niall Horan (#13)
16. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (#24)
15. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#10)
14. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#20)
13. Good Grief by Bastille (#17)
12. Into You by Ariana Grande (#9)
11. Kids by OneRepublic (#8)
10. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#11)
9. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#25)
8. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#7)
7. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer (#15)
6. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#12)
5. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#3) (one week at #1)
4. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#2)
3. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#5)
2. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#4) (one week at #1)
Top 5 This Week One Year Ago: 5. Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon
4. Black Magic by Little Mix
3. Ex's and Oh's by Elle King
2. Drag Me Down by One Direction
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Hello by Adele (third of 12 weeks at #1)
1. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#1) (seventh week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (-16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (+16)

New Entrants
- So, did you know that Train is still making music? Better question: did you care? I sure don't, but they're back after another album from earlier this year, one I haven't heard a lot of big buzz about at all. They are best known for being stiff, whitebread safety adult alternative, most notably the absolutely rotten Hey, Soul Sister from 2010, which I absolutely detest. I'm not gonna go into that right here, but their newest track, Play That Song, is another prime example of such. That guitar just loops for a majority of the song and Pat Monahan's vocals aren't any help. The lyrics are him trying to encourage a DJ to play a song that he and his girl like, apparently. Overall, it's not much and just stiff. It's in blue right now, but that was me being nice. It's not very far from red, so don't be surprised if it turns to red eventually.

Play That Blurb
Alright, everyone. I have a lot to say here, so this may be a long list of blurbs. Get ready.

- As always, we begin with our exit. With New Romantics by Taylor Swift being no more, we have officially bid farewell to the 1989 representations. I thought that Perfect Illusion would leave first, guess not. But it really feels like a long time ago since Shake It Off first debuted in 2014. That song was the first of three so far to spend 12 weeks at #1 here and is one of the biggest songs of the decade. Then you had Blank Space, which was pretty big in late 2014 and then 2015. After that was Style, which remains a big favorite of mine from 2015, then Bad Blood which I didn't enjoy in the long run, Wildest Dreams which I liked a lot (and also debuted the same week that Blank Space left), Out Of The Woods which was decent but not quite as good, and finally, New Romantics here, which flopped everywhere except here. (Oh yeah, and there was Welcome To New York and it lasting one week.) RIP 1989, 8/23/14 - 11/26/16. It's not as insane as Fall Out Boy's three and a half year tenure, but it's still very impressive for one album. While many are probably rejoicing and attending the Taylor Swift be-gone party, I'm not one of them.

- Before introducing We Don't Talk Anymore, Spyder talked about Selena's beautiful speech at the American Music Awards about how she "doesn't need validation", which was considered by many as one of the best moments of the night. It was infuriating seeing comments saying that she's an attention whore for that.

- Our bottom 5 is nothing new, as most of them have been hanging there a while and just waiting for the boot. I was a little surprised that Lady Gaga didn't perform Perfect Illusion at the AMAs, but she did play its successor - more on that later. The other three songs I didn't mention have not done a lot.

- Before introducing Stressed Out, Spyder shared an interview with Twenty-one Pilots from the AMAs where they were asked about what their first big purchase was after they got big. It was a car, and they talked about how when going through the drive-thru at McDonald's, they would have to inch closer to the window to be able to grab the food because of how the car was designed. Something like that. Anyway, as for the song itself, it's four weeks away from lasting a year on the countdown, which I'm still rooting for.

- I do like that I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner jumped out of the Bottom 5 and likewise Bottom 10. In a year like this, he's aware of how this year has been, well, sad songs. I seriously won't care if this lasts to the beginning of 2016.

- Well, the biggest drop for Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ kinda came out of nowhere if you ask me. It has been there for a while and it may have enough points to make the final Top 45. But we'll see.

- And on that note, this is the first week that Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay has not been in the Top 20. Adrian is gonna be disappointed there. But it's held up pretty good and should still definitely make the final Top 45.

- There go both The Greatest and Side To Side out of the Top 20. While the former hasn't quite caught up to steam yet, I would like to question why the latter has been having such a floppy run here while it's done so well on other charts.

- While Ride may have left the Top 20 again, it was once again a Most Wutchuwanted stop during Hit-Bound. Do they just decide to spin that and Don't Let Me Down there just because?

- Spyder made a mistake saying that Unsteady went down 10 to #19. It's up 10 to #19. Silly Spyder! But that aside, I get a weird feeling that this song is going to be like My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up) from 2013, and we all remember that nightmare. I HIGHLY doubt this'll have a tenure as long, but this has definitely had by far the weirdest tenure of the year.

- That aside, we have three new entrants to the Top 20, In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha, Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida and All Time Low by Jon Bellion. The former two are completely welcomed there, and the latter I'm still not totally on board with but I do see the appeal.

- Before introducing Starboy, Spyder talked about how he felt like it'd be fun to be on Dancing With The Stars, even if as just a host. That aside, while this rivaled 24K Magic for my favorite performance at the American Music Awards the past weekend, I've heard mixed things about the album, which just dropped yesterday. But False Alarm is one that should get here soon, because that song just bangs.

- You may have seen that I did grow into Kids by OneRepublic. I'm still not totally a fan of the falsetto in the chorus, but the song's meaning is nice at least. Someone once described it as the "perfect anti-90's kids song".

- Speaking of 24K Magic, that song has finally entered the Top 10 like it deserves to. I know that some will be irritated with this, but I don't care. ;D Before introducing it, Spyder talked about the album and Bruno's upcoming tour and how he mentioned that Perm along with the title track were among his favorites from the album. I think mine would have to be the title track, Chunky and Finesse.

- Oh, and Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco also entered the Top 10, so that's cool too. And while I wasn't expecting Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer to enter the Top 10, I'll take it. I managed to catch his halftime show performance on Thanksgiving, that was fun.

- I came quite close to putting This Is What You Came For in orange instead of Sit Still, Look Pretty, but the latter has less of a right to be this high up at this point, especially seeing as it just left the Billboard Hot 100 this past week, while the former at least has name recognition going for it. If we can get that and Starving out of the Top 10, things would be looking pretty nice right about now.

- And on that note, American Music Awards, those performances did allow me to grow back into a handful of songs, like Treat You Better, This Town, and yes, even Closer. Even though my reviews may not have been as nice, it did allow me to like them more to some degree. Don't expect these to last too long, though. Also, on that page Adrian said he was shocked that I didn't give any of the performances a 10/10. I was initially going to do my usual 5 point scale, but decided against it for some reason I don't really know. Let this be a note as to why I prefer the 5 point scale nowadays.

- As much as I would've liked for Heathens to be #1 again, I guess I'm alright with Closer holding at the top, because as I did just say, the AMAs performance admittedly did breathe some life into it. But at least it looks like some are starting to dull on it, hehehe.

Hit-Bound
Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott
Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
Love Me Now by John Legend
You're Not There by Lukas Graham
Love On The Brain by Rihanna
Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur
Words by Daya
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa
She Sets The City On Fire by Gavin DeGraw
Mercy by Shawn Mendes
Water Under The Bridge by Adele
The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
HandClap by Fitz and The Tantrums (debut)

- We've got one new entry into Hit-Bound this week: HandClap by Fitz and The Tantrums. Although this song is ridiculous and loud, I seriously can't help but enjoy it a lot.

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

1 — Bad:
19. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
18. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

2 — Meh:
17. Unsteady by X Ambassadors

3 — Decent:
16. All Time Low by Jon Bellion

4 — Good:
15. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
14. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
13. Kids by OneRepublic
12. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco

5 — Great:
11. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber
10. This Town by Niall Horan
9. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
8. Into You by Ariana Grande
7. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
6. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Good Grief by Bastille
4. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
3. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
2. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

Overall score: 78/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
2. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
3. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
4. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
5. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

Countdown Top 5
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
2. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
3. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
4. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
5. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Water Under The Bridge by Adele
2. HandClap by Fitz and The Tantrums
3. The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
4. Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
5. Love Me Now by John Legend

Most Missed Song: Here by Alessia Cara

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: Chunky by Bruno Mars (Heh, I feel like I could choose half a dozen Bruno Mars songs for this one)

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Stand By You by Rachel Platten — The song's cute, I'll give it that. Even if Rachel Platten still comes off as little more than someone who would fit on your average adult contemporary station, I do like this to some degree.

Thanks for reading, everybody!

2016 American Music Awards Performances!

Well, the 2016 American Music Awards were this past weekend. This awards show usually happens late in the year and they honor the music of the year in various awards. While this isn't as big a deal as the Grammys, the AMAs are still an important time to remember what we've had in our year. As always, we had several performances, some of which were fun, others not as much. Let's check them out, shall we?

Opening act: 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

My thoughts: A beautifully done opening performance, as Bruno Mars has always been capable of. I may be a little biased loving the song and all, but Bruno and his guys definitely have moves. The blue lighting definitely made it livelier. And they did a little dubstep breakdown before the bridge, which, as much as I love the song, didn't feel like it really added much to the performance. However, much like his Saturday Night Live performance, I wonder why they cut the first chorus out. Also, I'm surprised they didn't censor "bad bitches and your ugly ass friends" but didn't say the word "shit" in "spend your money like money ain't shit". Either way, still a solid performance and a great way to kick things off.

My rating: 9/10

This Town by Niall Horan

My thoughts: While the song isn't stellar on its own, I do like the way he was able to perform it. He sounded good enough, and the drums in the background were a nice extra touch, and so was the piano, and the way everything else cut out right before that last chorus. Cute performance.

My rating: 7.5/10

That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony

My thoughts: I hate this song, which is already a peg against the performance there. I'll give it a little credit for two things, though: one, Camilla actually sounded a little better than normal. Two, the setting, because I watched the video and recall that's supposed to be a parody of the Syrian war. Something like that. Even though I'm not sure what that has to do with the song. And what was with the breakdown right before the last chorus? Either way, yeah, I really didn't care here. Sorry.

My rating: 3.5/10

Closer by The Chainsmokers and Halsey featuring Travis Barker

My thoughts: I've been getting tired of this song. Halsey didn't sound very appealing, but then out of nowhere, Travis Barker took the helm in that build-up before the last chorus, then things got a bit more interesting. Not enough to save the song for me, but that last bit was cool at least.

My rating: 6.5/10

Let It Go by James Bay

My thoughts: Another watered-down live performance. Feel like he got off a few times here, like on that "and I'll be me" at the end of the second chorus. It didn't help that his guitar didn't have much presence. While the song itself is decent, I feel like I would've liked more if he had played the faster version (the one that was played by Hits 1 while it was here).

My rating: 5/10

Medley of Treat You Better and Mercy by Shawn Mendes

My thoughts: Though I still couldn't stand Treat You Better at that time, I think the backdrop was a nice touch and the guitar playing and singing was a lot more lively than in the studio version. This will be an unpopular opinion, but I thought this performance sounded pretty nice. I will say, I like how there were a few moments of the song stopping for him to make his lines more dramatic. So I will say this did breathe a little more life into Treat You Better right now, but then then he stepped on the piano for Mercy, and the backdrop was still there and he sounded pretty good. However, that one was way too short and they cut out too much.

My rating: 8/10

Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk

My thoughts: That crystalline hallway that The Weeknd resided in while performing was pretty cool. He's definitely capable of a good live performance, and I like how during the bridge everything just went totally blue. Kinda funny how he's saying "look what you've done" to the people in the crowd, given what the song is supposed to be about. Great performance though.

My rating: 9/10

Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj

My thoughts: I'm not sure what a jungle background has to do with the song, and there were a few times where she let the song talk for her. The background was kinda cool, but there were a few off-key moments that Ariana had. Even with all of that, I have to say I liked this performance better than the VMAs performance.

My rating: 7.5/10

Love Me Now by John Legend

My thoughts: That backdrop with people loving each other did give the song a nice touch, and so did that choir in the last chorus. The song has definitely been growing on me, and this surely made me like it more. He definitely put his talent to good use here.

My rating: 8.5/10

Medley of Heathens and Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots

My thoughts: While they definitely sounded kinda off-key here, that animation during the bridge of Heathens made it pretty neat. And when it went into Stressed Out things got nice. After being hammered in by this song most of the year, it was nice to see one last time for it. Things got really trippy at the end of Stressed Out but it was cool, sure enough. Definitely a performance I liked, even if they were off-key at points. I do understand what people hated here, though.

My rating: 7/10

Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber

My thoughts: As a song among my favorite things that Bieber has done, this performance left a little to be desired. He did sound good, but not sure if it was as good as the studio version. Also, he started off the second verse saying "I used to believe, at the wheel we got a million miles ahead of us". He may have been out of it before this. Very cool spatial backdrop, though.

My rating: 7.5/10

Million Reasons by Lady Gaga

My thoughts: I do like this song, even if I'm not THE biggest fan of it. She was off a few times, but the guitar was a good fit. I guess there was just something missing here, although the background was pretty at least.

My rating: 7/10

Bang Bang by Green Day

My thoughts: I haven't paid as much attention to Green Day's new album, but they were able to pull of this new song well. They were pretty on-key and on-rhythm, and they had a lot of energy to it. And it was bold of them to have that "no Trump" interlude, haha. And once again I am not going to have any political discussion here. But I liked this one. Now I'm curious for their new album.

My rating: 8/10

A medley of Sting's biggest hits

My thoughts: Honestly, this far in I was tired (and distracted as I was multitasking, guess doing what) to really care or pay attention. But Sting has usually not sounded that great live, and it wasn't that engaging. Sure, it was nice to see some of their older songs, but this wasn't anything I cared for.

My rating: 5/10

Do You Mind? by DJ Khaled featuring Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Future, Rick Ross and August Alsina

My thoughts: I actually like the song on its own quite a bit, though I'm not totally sure if this is a song meant to be performed at a live awards show like this. That being said, the acts all sounded pretty good, though I wasn't wild about Khaled constantly shouting random things, including "Miami" when they were in Los Angeles. Who are you, Pitbull? Not to mention "#1 album in the country" when that time is long since past. But this was something I could enjoy, even if it was flawed. And I hope that Future enjoyed getting to perform on his birthday.

My rating: 7/10

Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 featuring Kendrick Lamar

My thoughts: I don't like this song, and it's appropriate that the worst performance was the last one. Adam Levine definitely sounded pretty off here, especially in the pre-chorus parts. And I still wonder what Kendrick adds to the song. Really nothing to say about this beyond that. A very weak closing performance. Ah well.

My rating: 2.5/10

And while I'm here, may as well list the awards and their winners. These are only the awards that were presented on TV, not the ones that were listed online. I think these are enough for me to go through, so sorry for that.

Favorite Pop Rock Duo Or Group: Twenty-one Pilots

Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Album: Views by Drake

Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist: The Chainsmokers

Favorite Collaboration Of The Year: Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign

Favorite Country Song: Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw

New Artist Unleashed: Zayn Malik

Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Drake

Favorite Soundtrack: Purple Rain

Favorite Country Duo/Group: Florida Georgia Line

Favorite Alternative Rock Artist: Twenty-one Pilots

Favorite Pop Rock Female: Selena Gomez

Artist Of The Year: Ariana Grande

And that was this year's American Music Awards! I'm not going to bother listing my top/bottom 5 performances because there were some I liked and others that I didn't. And while the Artist of the Year was a surprise, I'm definitely happy for it, as I've always enjoyed Ariana Grande and her music so this was quite something for her to acquire. And sorry if this post feels rushed, once again I haven't had as much time as I would like to really perfect it.

And with that, thanks for reading, everybody!

November 19, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Halsey (6)

So this may not have been THE highest activity week, but we definitely had things going on here and there. Even if our #1 isn't the most welcome sign. We also have the American Music Awards tomorrow night. And yes, I do plan to do reviews of the performances. I might also have other stuff in store! What could that be, you may ask? Wait and find out. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Gold by Kiiara (#39)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
45. My Way by Calvin Harris (#35)
44. Bacon by Nick Jonas (#32)
43. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#43)
42. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#44)
41. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#37)
40. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#38)
39. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#41)
38. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#42)
37. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#45) (...)
36. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#34) (two weeks at #1)
35. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#33) (five weeks at #1)
34. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha (debut)
33. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#31) (one week at #1)
32. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#18)
31. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#29) (ten weeks at #1)
30. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#28) (three weeks at #1)
29. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#21)
28. Chase You Down by Runaground (#20)
27. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#19)
26. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#26)
25. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#15)
24. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (#24)
23. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#27)
22. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (#16)
21. Body Moves by DNCE (#36)
20. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#30)
19. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#23)
18. Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj (#22)
17. Good Grief by Bastille (#40)
16. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#9)
15. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer (#25)
14. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#14)
13. This Town by Niall Horan (#13)
12. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#11)
11. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#10)
10. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#8)
9. Into You by Ariana Grande (#12)
8. Kids by OneRepublic (#17)
7. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#7)
6. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#6)
5. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#3)
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#4) (one week at #1)
3. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#1) (one week at #1)
2. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#3)
Top 5 This Week One Year Ago: 5. Stitches by Shawn Mendes
4. Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon
3. Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift
2. Drag Me Down by One Direction
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Hello by Adele (second of 12 weeks at #1)
1. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#2) (sixth week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (-14)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Good Grief by Bastille (+23)

New Entrants
- We're left with but one new entrant, that new entrant being In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha. The breakdown is shrill, but Bebe Rexha has a pretty good performance here. We haven't really heard much at all from Martin Garrix since Animals in 2014, so it's nice to see more from him. We'll find out if this becomes a real hit, but I'm hoping that it can.

In The Name Of Blurbs
- So it's definitely refreshing to say goodbye to Gold by Kiiara. Described by some as a "YouTube Poop of a song" and a "mash-up of itself", it's safe to say it won't be missed.

- Before introducing Perfect Illusion, Spyder was talking about magazine covers...and how he's not on the cover of one. :P Anyway, this is I think the third week in a row that this song has held at #43. It's definitely not bound for much longer here. And while it's not Lady Gaga's most prime work to me, it's still my favorite of the "flopping diva comeback" trio, as I call it. In other words, I'll take it over Rise or Make Me any day.

- I'm not exactly thrilled about This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna jumping out of the bottom 5. But it's still on other charts so I shouldn't be surprised it didn't leave.

- Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco took a sudden drop out of the Top 20.

- I did hear Body Moves by DNCE quite a few times over the week, so it's no surprise that it took a big jump.

- Two of our debuts from two weeks ago held their positions, but thankfully That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony dropped out of the Top 20.

- Before introducing Starboy, Spyder got super sad about The Weeknd and girlfriend Bella Hadid breaking up and sarcastically hoping he was going to get to attend that wedding they would presumably have. Not really, but you get what he was sad about. :P On that note, it's about time this damn thing at least entered the Top 20.

- Usually they do Box Office Biggies - which I don't know if it's been changed to Monster Movies for good or not - plays after #9, but here they had a first round at #19, after Ride. But then they had another one after Into You, so that doesn't look to have changed.

- On that note, between Side To Side, Fresh Eyes and Good Grief, we have some nice new entrants into the Top 20. Things there are looking better than last time, that's for sure.

- Before introducing 24K Magic, Spyder talked about how Bruno Mars has announced his world tour to promote the album, which just dropped yesterday. Awwwwwww yeah! 8) Definitely planning to go to one of the two shows he'll have here in Pennsylvania!

- Once again, our Top 10 isn't in THE best shape. While there are some good ones here, we still have some of the obnoxious stuff sticking around. I won't be happy if Starving hits #1, I'll say that now.

- And before they got to Hello by Adele, last year's #1, Mikey Piff did a rewind to the entire Top 5 from this week one year ago. Very interesting. Guess that'll give me something more to add to the section.

- Well, now that I don't have to be at the edge of my seat hoping that Closer won't break the record for weeks on top of the Hot 100 (for this decade), I don't have to put it in red yet. Guys, I promise, I am trying my hardest to not hate this song again. But it really is not that amazing of a song, and I wonder how almost everyone here is still giving it a pass after being so hard on certain other massive smashes that to me are far better (including two from last year). Eh. Maybe I'm just old. Who knows. And once again I am getting sick of having to search for pictures of the three. If I used this one already then I don't care.

- But on that note, wow, only six songs on this countdown that I would genuinely consider bad. Maybe I'm just giving things here too much credit.

Hit-Bound
You're Not There by Lukas Graham (debut)
Words by Daya
She Sets The City On Fire by Gavin DeGraw
Love On The Brain by Rihanna
Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott (debut)
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa
Water Under The Bridge by Adele (debut)
Play That Song by Train
Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
Love Me Now by John Legend
The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur
Mercy by Shawn Mendes

- So we had two dropouts, Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo and Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding. The former it was disappointing to see of, but the latter I don't really care.

- More Lukas Graham... Anyway, You're Not There is another song that tries to tell a story, but much like the other two songs they had I can see people seeing it as a conceited ego trip.

- We also have Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott. Piano ballads are really hit or miss, and with this one I'm not totally sold. That could change but I don't know.

- But then we come to the real star of the show here, a song that's been widely anticipated by many - including myself - to become a real single: Water Under The Bridge by Adele. I'll talk more about it if it debuts on the countdown (which, it being Adele, I'm sure it will), but this is a magnificent song. My new favorite song on Hit-Bound for sure. Let's see it have success!

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
19. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

1 — Bad:
18. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
17. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

2 — Meh:
16. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey

3 — Decent:
15. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
14. Kids by OneRepublic
13. This Town by Niall Horan

4 — Good:
None!

5 — Great:
12. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber
11. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
10. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
9. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
8. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
7. Into You by Ariana Grande
6. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
5. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
3. Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
2. Good Grief by Bastille
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

Overall score: 73/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
2. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
3. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
4. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
5. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd

Countdown Top 5
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
2. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
3. Good Grief by Bastille
4. Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
5. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Water Under The Bridge by Adele
2. The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
3. Love Me Now by John Legend
4. Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
5. Mercy by Shawn Mendes

Most Missed Song: Chandelier by Sia - A huge fan favorite from 2014.

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: We Don't Know by The Strumbellas

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
House Party by Sam Hunt — Already talked about this one in July, it does have appeal but I thought it was ironic that Hits 1 picked up on it after its chart run died out.
Lay It All On Me by Rudimental featuring Ed Sheeran — Although Ed Sheeran and EDM shouldn't mix this well, to me they do. Has more going on than Thinking Out Loud, but it's not quite as good as Don't.
Sorry by Justin Bieber — A lot of people from this community seem to hate this one now. I'll have more words for it in a month or two, but it's not that hard for me to see why it's been turned on.
New Americana by Halsey — This song is just a mess lyrically. Hey, Halsey, just so you know, Biggie and Nirvana are not this generation's prime sounds. And being high on legal marijuana is not something to condone to the younger.
Focus by Ariana Grande — Passed off by many as nothing more than a worse version of Problem, I don't care. This song bangs.
My House by Flo Rida — While I can surely predict that this will be in Adrian's Top 10 songs of 2016, to me it doesn't quite match up to some of his bigger songs that he's had. I'll give him credit for not bringing any guest acts or using any sampling, though.

Sorry if this post feels rushed, I've definitely been playing Pokémon Sun and Moon so you can blame it on that :P Anyway, thanks for reading, everybody!

November 12, 2016 - Shawn Mendes (1)

So first off, I'm sorry this countdown post is out a little later than usual, I overslept this morning and missed the first third of the countdown or so. Sometimes I wonder why I've been making myself wake up at 6 AM just to listen to some music and talk about it to people who are far younger than me... Not to mention Donald Trump has officially become president of the United States (well, he will be sworn in come January, if I'm not mistaken). And yet, that has nothing to do with my not feeling great, though I do think people's reactions are getting disproportionate. And let me state right now: I would like to keep my political views out of this blog, so please don't bring it up here. Got it? Yes? Good. But on a much happier note, Pokémon Sun and Moon are releasing this coming Friday, and so is Bruno Mars' new album 24K Magic, both of which are gonna be awesome. Can't wait for that, at least! So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Just Like Fire by P!nk (#38)
• Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#45)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
45. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#27)
44. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#42)
43. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#43)
42. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#44)
41. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#40)
40. Good Grief by Bastille (debut)
39. Gold by Kiiara (#22)
38. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#36)
37. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#41) (two weeks at #1)
36. Body Moves by DNCE (debut)
35. My Way by Calvin Harris (#37)
34. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#33)
33. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#30) (five weeks at #1)
32. Bacon by Nick Jonas (#23)
31. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#32) (one week at #1)
30. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#29)
29. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#28) (ten weeks at #1)
28. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#25) (three weeks at #1)
27. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#24)
26. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#33)
25. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer (#26)
24. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (#39)
23. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#9)
22. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#20)
21. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#21)
20. Chase You Down by Runaground (#31)
19. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#17)
18. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#6)
17. Kids by OneRepublic (#19)
16. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (#35)
15. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#15)
14. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#8)
13. This Town by Niall Horan (#13)
12. Into You by Ariana Grande (#10)
11. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#14) (GET IN THE TOP 10!!!)
10. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#18)
9. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#16)
8. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#11)
7. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#12) (Are you serious...)
6. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#4)
5. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#3)
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#2)
3. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#4)
2. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#2) (five weeks at #1)
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Hello by Adele (first of 12 weeks at #1)
1. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#7) (first week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (-18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (+19)

New Entrants
- Remember Bastille? Those guys with that well-known hit Pompeii from 2014? Well they're back, with Good Grief. It's a song about an ex that the lead singer lets on that he doesn't like, but if she were to leave, he'd miss her. He'd miss her. He'd miss her more. At first I found this really unmemorable and could barely remember any lines from it aside from the chorus, but I've come to like it a lot more. While I don't see it blowing up like Pompeii did and it's definitely not as good, I hope to see success from it.

- Then there's DNCE, with Body Moves. Not too much to say about this one aside from it being more disco-esque and fun for right now. It's not quite as sleazy as Cake By The Ocean or as uninteresting as Toothbrush, but we'll see how long it sticks with me.

I Blurb You, I Blurb You, I Blurb You More
- So, for starters, our two exits. Even though both of them were unavailable for vote on the site, I was not expecting either of them to leave right away seeing as I heard both of them while out this past week. Heck, I even heard Just Like Fire yesterday. That one I know was a huge fan favorite among this community, but eventually it did get old to me. We'll see if it has a chance at my top songs of the year, though. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony, on the other hand, got its completely deserved boot out of here. While I know that two certain people I won't name are grieving its departure, I was well past sick of these five saying I should quit my job. Good day.

- Very cathartic to see Gold by Kiiara take a big drop. Hopefully it won't be much longer for the countdown.

- Bacon by Nick Jonas is sandwiched in between two former #1s. Haha, wow, that was not an intentional pun.

- Something tells me that Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk will be leaving us soon. That makes me a sad panda.

- Before introducing Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake, Spyder Harrison had Justin's version of True Colors, which is also featured in the Trolls movie, playing in the background and mentioned how Justin said that he cried when he heard it himself watching the movie. Spyder also mentioned how when he's crying when leaving a theater, he tends to pretend that he's tired. Something like that.

- Ride by Twenty-one Pilots has dropped out of the Top 20. It has definitely been in that region for a long time, so it was to be expected eventually. But during Hit-Bound, it was the second Most Wutchuwanted stop of three, so it may rebound next week.

- How the heck did Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj drop?!?! I heard it so much over the past week.

- I wonder if this will be it for Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul for real this time.

- All three of our debuts from last week progressed. One took a moderate jump, one thankfully took a pretty nice jump, and the other unfortunately had the biggest jump of the week into the Top 20.

- Before introducing Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ, Spyder talked about how Justin Bieber was recently in a bar in Toronto and played on a piano doing stuff like his own music, Beethoven and Beatles songs. Very interesting. He's not on their level but that does sound cool at least.

- Before introducing Dangerous Woman, Spyder mentioned Ariana Grande and boyfriend Mac Miller were possibly soon for a wedding, even though they've only been dating like two months. I also heard him hastily pick up a piece of paper. Then before introducing Into You, he said that they were considering having kids. Wow, are we about to have another former tween star go crazy? I wonder what kind of impressions her children would get seeing this album if that were to actually happen.

- Oh my god, enough with Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya jumping in and out of the Top 10!!! I know I rant about this like every week but it's taking up a spot in there that could be occupied by far better songs.


- On that note, our Top 10 is a mixed bag. We have two songs that are extremely annoying - including our #1, which I'll get to in a bit, two that while not quite on that level are still pretty undesirable, one that is about to become very annoying, four great songs and one that's not quite as good but still pretty fun. There are certain other songs that would make for good replacements (hint: one spot right below the Top 10).

- Which brings us to our top spot. While I am glad that Closer isn't there, I'm not wild about our new #1. I had a feeling it would hit #1 back in the fall...but now it's really old. But I heard it introduced as a Most Wutchuwanted earlier this week, so I was concerned about the possibility of it. It doesn't help that the song just left the top 10 on the Hot 100 recently. But he did have a previous #1 on the countdown, so I guess it is a song that does make sense as a #1.

Hit-Bound
In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo
Play That Song by Train
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts (debut)
Love Me Now by John Legend
Mercy by Shawn Mendes
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa (debut)
She Sets The City On Fire by Gavin DeGraw
Love On The Brain by Rihanna
The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur (debut)
Words by Daya (debut)

- We have quite a few debuts this time around. For starters, we've got Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts, which is pretty fun, but a little screwy at times. I'll talk more about it if it debuts.

- Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa feels a little cheesy, and her voice can get annoying at times, but I kinda like it.

- I talked a little bit about Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur last I reviewed the YouTube15, and I find it quite reminiscent of Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran.

- Daya has yet another song here, with Words. That drop is kind of annoying, but the lyrics are okay I guess. It's definitely better than the lousy Hide Away and Sit Still, Look Pretty, but I can't see it turning green anytime soon.

- And on that note, Red Dress by Magic! has FINALLY left Hit-Bound. So we're looking pretty good right about now.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
19. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
18. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

1 — Bad:
17. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
16. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

2 — Meh:
15. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
14. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul

3 — Decent:
13. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk
12. Kids by OneRepublic

4 — Good:
11. This Town by Niall Horan
10. Chase You Down by Runaground
9. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco
8. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber

5 — Great:
7. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
6. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
5. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
4. Into You by Ariana Grande
3. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
2. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

Overall score: 63/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
2. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
3. Gold by Kiiara
4. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
5. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

Countdown Top 5
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
2. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
3. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
4. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
5. Good Grief by Bastille

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
2. The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
3. Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
4. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
5. Love Me Now by John Legend

Most Missed Song: Treasure by Bruno Mars

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Hotline Bling by Drake — Memes. Memes. Memes and more memes. That basically sums up this song for you. Too bad the rest of the song isn't that exciting. And it flopped here.

Thanks for reading, everybody!