Well after the disappointment that was last week, things actually got active this time around. I don't know if it was post-Grammys hype that got people voting here, or if they got bored of streaming and decided to jump back onto the bandwagon. Yeah, who needs streaming when you can vote for songs and declare them the real deal, huh?! But I digress. Anyway, we had some surprises, some of which were good, but others not to my welcoming. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.
- Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#44) (spent one week at #1)
- I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#42)
The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
45. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (#43)
44. Kids by OneRepublic (#40)
43. In the Name of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha (#41)
42. You're Not There by Lukas Graham (#36)
41. Chase You Down by Runaground (#15)
40. Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur (#32)
39. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#45) (three weeks at #1)
38. Hymn For the Weekend by Coldplay (#38)
37. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#31)
36. This Town by Niall Horan (#14)
35. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#37)
34. Cold by Maroon 5 (debut)
33. Love on the Brain by Rihanna (#39)
32. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#28) (two weeks at #1)
31. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#33)
30. Scars to Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#24)
29. Love Me Now by John Legend (#8)
28. Guys My Age by Hey Violet (#30)
27. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#25)
26. Heavydirtysoul by Twenty-one Pilots (#26)
25. Words by Daya (#21)
24. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#20)
23. I Got You by Bebe Rexha (#29)
22. Death of a Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#22)
21. Chained to the Rhythm by Katy Perry (debut)
20. Play That Song by Train (#10)
19. Issues by Julia Michaels (#34)
18. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars (#35)
17. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#8) (three weeks at #1)
16. Paris by The Chainsmokers (#13)
15. After The Afterparty by Charli XCX (#19)
14. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#23)
13. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson (#18)
12. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#16) (two weeks at #1)
11. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#27)
10. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (#17)
9. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#12) (four weeks at #1)
8. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camilla Cabello (#11)
7. Water Under The Bridge by Adele (#5)
6. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift (#7)
5. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#6)
4. Mercy by Shawn Mendes (#4)
3. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums (#3)
2. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#2) (eight weeks at #1)
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (first of 5 weeks at #1)
1. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran (#1) (second week at #1)
Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Chase You Down by Runaground (-26)
Biggest Jump Of The Week: That's What I Like by Bruno Mars (+17)
New Entrants
- Yay, more Maroon 5, woo-hoo. As Don't Wanna Know continues to test my patience (although it does look like it's dropping quick and I'll get to that later), they're getting to the follow-up, and it isn't much better. To put it short, Cold does not sound like these guys' original sound at all. As for the song itself, the guitar sounds alright, and the verses are your basic Maroon 5 content, I guess it's not terrible in the big picture. But since 2012, many have said that Maroon 5 have started to sound less like a band and now Adam Levine is the only one who does anything anymore. And I definitely see why. And the studio version features Future of all people, and my first thought upon seeing that was "why?". Because if you were to ask me who I could see joining Maroon 5 for a song, Future is one of the LAST names I would picture myself answering that question with. But Hits 1 cut his verse out, unsurprisingly. The bottom line is, the song is nothing special. I do not see myself growing into it and it could very well become red soon.
- So, I'm sure many of you are sick of me talking about Rise by Katy Perry, but I'm just as sick of having to defend my opinion that it was a waste that alternated between very boring verses and one of the most grating choruses of the year. Heck, I even left a page and a half of a follow-up to my A Year In Review page to do that alone. And yet, I was still hoping that she would be able to give us more of the fun, tasteless tracks that were from her first two albums and not more of that. With her return track this year, I got my wish. Enter Chained To The Rhythm. In this, you can clearly hear some disco influences, and Katy Perry sounds quite good. But more importantly, when that chorus kicks in, it's something I can actually get down to and have fun with. The song really has a cool sounding 80's vibe backing it up. And there's a guest verse from Skip Marley, which Hits 1 did not cut out, and I am fine with that because while it's a short verse, it does give more to the song. There's plenty to like here, but although some have flacked the song for being political, I do not see it. And I am not going to get into that here. Point is, this is definitely a step in the right direction for Katy Perry and I hope for more of this. Definitely curious for that album when it comes.
Chained To The Blurbs
- So, two exits. One of which has been loathed by YouTubers but adored by quite a few of the fam, and the other of which I can safely say nobody here likes anymore except me and Miles. It should be easy to see which one is which.
- The entire bottom 5 consists of songs that really weren't big in areas besides here, one of which is new to this region that I'll get to in a bit, one of which I had hopes for, and one of which showed quite a bit of promise only to be squandered.
- Before introducing Say You Won’t Let Go, Spyder talked about how James Arthur had a picture of him wrapped in bandages and that scared his viewers…until he informed them that his nose needed fixing. Ouch! But then Spyder’s British sidekick (whatever you refer to his “funny voice” as) went on about what the picture’s commentary would read. Funny. Anyway, this may be the end for this song. I do still kinda like it, even if it does sound like it takes off of Ed Sheeran’s success.
- The Greatest is starting to fade on me. Sia songs are known for what they are, but this one was not what Chandelier was.
- Before introducing Let Me Love You, Spyder talked about how Justin Bieber, despite being nominated for four Grammys, skipped the show and instead got sushi. Dude, you had the most important song of the year and you skip the biggest music awards show that there is? How uncouth.
- Dang, we had not one or even two, but three drops over 20 spots. First was Chase You Down, which I'm fine with, and This Town, which came sooner than I thought it would. But the third was Love Me Now, which, if you can't tell, I'm not thrilled about. I was really hoping the very latter would become a real hit, and whether it'll be that or not is really in limbo at this point.
- Anyone else notice that that sound during the pre-choruses and bridge of Heavydirtysoul sounds like it's straight-up ripped from Pac-Man? If you've ever played Pac-Man, which I'm sure you have at least once in your life, you'll know what I'm talking about.
- Then we have That's What I Like taking a big jump into the Top 20 off of its debut last week. This one looks like it's gonna become a hit in no time.
- Good thing Don't Wanna Know dropped out of the Top 10. To think that it was #1 two weeks ago. God bless.
- Before introducing I Feel It Coming, Spyder talked about how during the performance of that song at the Grammys, Daft Punk were on stage, but it looked like they didn't do anything besides stand there and look cool. But hey, I enjoyed the performance so I'm not complaining. Nice to see this enter the Top 20, that's a definite plus. And as you can see, it's only getting more enjoyable for me, so great timing.
- Meanwhile, out of absolutely nowhere, Side To Side re-entered the Top 20 and came just short of the Top 10. But I'm not complaining, I'm totally cool with that. brb flexing.
- And on that note, our Top 10 is a mixed bag. We have a new entrant in Million Reasons, which is surely welcomed, but neither of our re-entries into the region are anything for me to get thrilled about, particularly Starving. In fact, the entire Top 5 held their spots save the #5, which is pretty interesting.
- Before introducing Closer, Spyder talked about how it feels like The Chainsmokers always have drama going on and that some were upset that during the Grammys, David Bowie's posthumous award was presented by them. He said, "Don't blame them, blame the producers." Yeah, these guys can't catch a break. But they have this song that nobody thought would be that big a deal, but is now on the verge of passing Uptown Funk and Party Rock Anthem as being declared the most important song of the decade. My goodness this song.
- And of course, we have our #1, which should not come as a surprise to anybody right about now. I think it's safe to say that we have a long-term #1 on our hands.
Hit-Bound
Weak by AJR
Make Me (Cry) by Noah Cyrus featuring Labrinth
Miss You by James Hersey
L.A. Devotee by Panic! At The Disco
Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott
All Night by The Vamps featuring Matoma
Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anna-Marie (debut)
Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran
Lights Down Low by MAX featuring gnash
Don't Leave by Snakehips featuring MØ
Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara (debut)
Cake by Flo Rida featuring 99 Percent
Touch by Little Mix
Believer by Imagine Dragons
- To start, we lost both Versace On The Floor by Bruno Mars and Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix, the latter for good this time it looks like. I'm sad about both of them departing, but the latter was exchanged with Touch, which I also kinda like. It's not quite as fun, but I'm content with it being here. Sure.
- But then we come to another track that's been building up on other fronts, Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anna-Marie. It did take me a bit to come around to this song, but it's one that's easy to appreciate. I'll talk more about it if it debuts, which I'm sure it will.
- Then we have an unusual duet in the name of Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara. Who would think we'd hear from her again after that lousy mish-mash that was Gold? But we did, and I'm not really sure what I think of Linkin Park abandoning the rock to them for nothing but synth. I don't really have much of an opinion on it yet, but if I had to say, I'll admit it's closer to green than it is red, at least for the time being.
And while I'm here, let's do a YouTube15 piece, why don't we?
Paris by The Chainsmokers
Now & Later by Sage The Gemini
Work The Middle by Alex Aiono
24K Magic by Bruno Mars
Quit You by Lost Kings featuring Tinashe
Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
So Good by Zara Larsson featuring Ty Dolla $ign
I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift
You Don't Know Me by Jack Jones featuring Raye
Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
Where Would I Bet Without You by Kendall K
Black Beatles by Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane
Scared To Be Lonely by Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa
Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
Make Me Move by Culture Code featuring Karra
- Although Sage The Gemini basically comes off as your basic luxury rapper, Now & Later I find to be a lot of fun. Its candy references are silly, but there's a nice flow to it and unlike this guy's lousy first single known as Gas Pedal from 2013 or so, there's some nice energy.
- I'm not really in for Work The Middle. While the verses are okay, what is with that sound in the post-chorus parts? Sounds like the sound of car tires coming to a halt fused with a cat's bad meowing.
- Quit You, on the other hand, I do find to be enjoyable. Even if those thumping drums can get a little annoying at times, the drop is nice enough. And while the song is essentially another song about trying to get past the temptation of a break-up, Tinashe definitely has talent in her capability.
- Although I adored Never Forget You, So Good I found to be a disappointment. What is with her repeating the titular phrase in the chorus ad nauseum? And in the verses she doesn't sound as good either. This sounds like something that would've been bigger in the 2000's. Ty Dolla $ign does alright, however. But it's quite a bit closer to red than it is green.
- Apparently, Kendall K was from Lifetime's Dance Moms, something like that. But Where Would I Be Without You I kinda like, it's sweet and fun.
- And we have more Martin Garrix. While Scared To Be Lonely has different lyrical content than In The Name Of Love, the drop is very similar, but Dua Lipa sounds good here, at least for me.
Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5
19. After The Afterparty by Charli XCX
18. Play That Song by Train
1 — Bad:
17. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
16. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camilla Cabello
2 — Meh:
15. Issues by Julia Michaels
3 — Decent:
14. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
4 — Good:
None!
5 — Great:
13. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
12. Paris by The Chainsmokers
11. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
10. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums
9. All Time Low by Jon Bellion
8. Mercy by Shawn Mendes
7. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
6. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson
5. Water Under The Bridge by Adele
4. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift
3. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
2. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars
1. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (Favorite Song Bonus: +1)
Total score: 73/100
Countdown Bottom 5
1. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5
2. After The Afterparty by Charli XCX
3. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
4. Play That Song by Train
5. Unsteady by X Ambassadors
Countdown Top 5
1. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
2. Love Me Now by John Legend
3. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
4. Heavydirtysoul by Twenty-one Pilots
5. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars
Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran
2. Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anna-Marie
3. Don't Leave by MØ
4. Touch by Little Mix
5. Weak by AJR
YouTube15 Top 5
1. Tie: 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
1. Tie: Now & Later by Sage The Gemini (I couldn't choose the above one without picking a tie)
3. Make Me Move by Culture Code featuring Karra
4. Scared To Be Lonely by Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa
5. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
Most Missed Song: Lights by Ellie Goulding
#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: The Fighter by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: In The Night by The Weeknd
Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Youth by Troye Sivan — While the video's kinda cute and colorful, you can only hear the words "what if" and "my youth" so many times, not to mention that drop in the chorus, before it gets a little annoying.
QOTD: Touch or Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix? As I said, I like the latter more right now, but that could change in time.
Thanks for reading, everybody!
Hey, everyone! So the 59th Annual Grammys were this past weekend. I have to say, some of these performances I liked a lot better than the American Music Awards performances. Not all of them were ideal, but overall it was definitely a fun awards show to watch. And as always, there were performances. So, which ones did I like the most? Which ones bored me? Read on and find out!
Also, I am going to be rating the performances out of 5, with the usual scale, and not out of 10. When I did the American Music Awards page, Adrian noticed that I didn't give any of them a 10/10. If that's any indication... Since I started using that scale as opposed to the more broad one, I've realized that I'm not as good at rating things out of 10. Instead I find it easier to decide between shit, bad, meh, decent, good and great. If I had been using the 5-point scale in the AMAs there would've been a few 5s there. So yeah. I'm sticking with that from now on. But enough about that. Let's get on with it.
Opening act: Hello by Adele
My thoughts: Though I do love the song, in the chorus I do feel like she was a little wobbly as opposed to the studio version, even if that's to be expected. But she was definitely expressive, and I like how they kept the chanting in the bridge and the transition into the last chorus. Not to mention I found the fact that she didn't perform Water Under The Bridge instead to be a missed opportunity. So I guess this was a nice way to start things off, even if it wasn't completely ideal.
My rating: 4/5
I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
My thoughts: I did like the fake out into making us think that he'd be performing Starboy. While I do like that one, this was the new one. That aside, I liked the backdrop and setting, and he definitely took it all out with this one. Pretty solid for this one's first live performance I've gotten to watch.
My rating: 5/5
The Fighter by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood
My thoughts: Although this didn't feel like country, I can hardly care, because I have to say, I really liked this performance. While their vocals weren't the main standout (although I can see that for country performers), the instrumentation was the real seller. It's made me come to really appreciate this song, and I'm not the biggest fan of country of all. But this was good. Very fun to watch.
My rating: 5/5
Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
My thoughts: I did notice that he wasn't actually playing the guitar until during the first chorus, and it felt like the synth was playing itself. But Ed definitely sounded enthusiastic, and it didn't feel like an off performance at all, either. So, even if there wasn't much to it, this was still solid.
My rating: 4/5
7 Years + Peter Pan mash-up by Lukas Graham and Kelsea Ballerini
My thoughts: Though I like both of these songs, this mash-up feels like it makes more sense than it should. But 7 Years isn't the best song to hear performed live, and this didn't do it that much justice. Overall I just didn't find this one that exciting. Maybe it's just how wobbly Lukas was, but yeah, wasn't feeling this one. I'll admit they had some cute synergy, at least.
My rating: 3/5
Love Drought + Sandcastles by Beyonce
My thoughts: The beginning was weird. Okay, big confession time: I'll admit I actually never got around to listening to Lemonade in its entirety (hey, I'm a working man in my mid-20s and have a lot going on in my life that I do, even if some of it is unproductive). I know, I'm terrible. Anyway, I had no idea what was going on in that trippy intro leading into the song. I kinda zoned out because of the intro, but I was back up and attentive once she got to Sandcastles. And I guess I can appreciate her intention with what she was doing bringing all those people in. So yeah, this got off to a weird start but it was respectable enough.
My rating: 3/5
In between that performance and this next, one, there was a karaoke-esque performance of Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, along with a bunch of guests. I'm not going to grade it as it was kind of a joke performance it felt like, but I will say that the song hasn't aged perfectly. That aside...
That's What I Like by Bruno Mars
My thoughts: Even with my personal bias, this guy really does know how to get it on. While I still do like the title track from his new album more, they definitely had moves and I may have liked this performance more than that one in November. And how about that backdrop? His backup squad also sold me on this one too. I also liked that brief slowdown in the middle of the last chorus, then they stepped off stage to make it a bit longer. Solid all-around. Also, I heard on Hits 1 In Hollywood the other day that this guy would have the most talked about performance of the night. And while I wouldn't agree, this was solid.
My rating: 5/5
Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley
My thoughts: While I'm liking the song, I don't really get what the "house" theme has to do with it, I mean first the lyric video and then this? That being said, it felt pretty trippy, between the fence being barricaded with a scene of water and then fire. I'm still not really sure what Skip Marley does for the song, and I'll have words for that most likely on Saturday, but I did like when the fences came apart, and Katy herself was good, but not quite ideal. But now I have a feeling people are gonna get upset about "political" matters here...
My rating: 4/5
Born Under A Bad Sign by William Bell and Gary Clark Jr.
My thoughts: Another performance I kinda zoned out for. While I do like jazz, I guess I just wasn't big for this one overall. And I guess that's kinda my fault for not really paying attention, but yeah. I guess they were alright but I wasn't interested.
My rating: 2/5
Once by Maren Morris and Alicia Keys
My thoughts: I don't think Alicia Keys sounds very good live, and while Maren was solid this was kind of a push for them and it wasn't that exciting. So yeah, I wasn't a fan of this one. The setting was cool though.
My rating: 1/5
Fastlove (George Michael cover) by Adele
My thoughts: So, the first time she did this she had to stop early into the first chorus for messing up. But second time she got it on track, even though I felt like she wasn't in the best key to perform. And I didn't feel like the tribute was quite the right kind of nature. But it was a nice tribute, at least. It did pick up later in with the violins. So yeah, I guess it was alright enough.
My rating: 3/5
Moth Into Flame by Metallica featuring Lady Gaga
My thoughts: I have to say, this kind of collaboration makes more sense to me than it should. But did anyone else notice that James Hetfield's mic was turned off during the first verse? At first I thought he was just whispering, but no. Anyway, the guitar was good at least, especially the solo. And Lady Gaga got quite weird, not that that's a bad thing. But with Metallica as old as they are, I can only wonder how well they'll be able to perform as time goes on. But gosh darn if they weren't trying.
My rating: 3/5 (had to dock a point for the beginning where James' mic was off)
All Around You by Sturgill Simpson
My thoughts: I've heard good things about Sturgill Simpson, but this song doesn't feel like what should be performed at an awards show. I guess I just didn't really pay attention. He sounded alright I guess, but again, not awards show material.
My rating: 2/5
Tribute to The Bee Gees (Stayin Alive, Tragedy, How Deep Is Your Love, and Night Fever) by Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, Andre Day, and Little Big Town
My thoughts: I'll say, if you were to ask me to choose a band who I think would be suited for a tribute to The Bee Gees, Little Big Town would NOT be one of them. That being said, I definitely think Demi Lovato was very expressive vocally during her part of the tribute, and Tori Kelly had a nice range to use for her part. And I love Night Fever, but I wasn't quite on board with Andre Day's take on that. Although it was cool when they all came out right at the end for Stayin Alive once more, also. While I wouldn't say I enjoyed it quite as much as a certain other tribute I'll get to shortly, this was good.
My rating: 4/5
Medley (Award Tour, Movin Backwards, and We The People.....) by A Tribe Called Quest and Anderson .Paak
My thoughts: The first part of this one just didn't pull me in much at all. I don't know if it was Anderson, the lack of much really going on for me to like, but yeah. I also hated how it suddenly got political once again later in. Anyone else getting sick of political tirades? You are too? Good. So yeah, I wasn't a fan here. Sorry.
My rating: 0/5
Tribute to Prince (Jungle Love, The Bird and Let's Go Crazy) by The Time featuring Bruno Mars
My thoughts: It's hard to do justice to Prince, but these guys managed to do it. And then, when he came in, it just exploded for me. He even had Prince's purple jacket, too, and showed that he can perform a killer guitar solo when he needs to. "Let's go crazy", indeed. I really have to say this was my favorite performance of the night.
My rating: 5/5
ABC (Jackson 5 cover) by Pentatonix
My thoughts: Not much to this performance, as it was kind of an interlude before the next part. But it was fun to watch, at least. I like how these guys can express without instrumentals.
My rating: 3/5
How Great + All We Got by Chance The Rapper featuring Kirk Franklin and Tamela Mann
My thoughts: I'm so sick of political stuff in awards shows. Now, it's not that I have anything against religious or political matters, and I won't deny that Chance The Rapper does have talent at the least, but even with that gospel choir, this was just really boring. It did get slightly better come No Problem, however.
My rating: 1/5
God Only Knows (cover) by John Legend and Cynthia Erivo (Tribute to those out in 2016)
My thoughts: While there wasn't much to this one, it was what it was. And after the disaster of a year that was 2016, I think this was a very respectable tribute to those that departed within that year. Again, not really much to it except that it was nice. I'm just not sure why they chose this song for it, though.
My rating: 4/5
And here were the awards that were presented during the show. These are obviously not all of them, but most of the ones worth caring about are listed here. That being said, here they were.
Best New Artist: Chance The Rapper
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots
Best Rock Song: Blackstar by David Bowie
Best Country Solo Performance: My Church by Maren Morris
Best Urban Contemporary Album: Lemonade by Beyonce
Best Rap Album: Coloring Book by Chance The Rapper
Song Of The Year: Hello by Adele
Record Of The Year: Hello by Adele
Album Of The Year: 25 by Adele
I have to say, I'm not surprised at how Adele took song, record and album of the year. 25 was just massive in every way. But it was pretty nice watching her say that Beyonce should have won the very last one and not her. But it's really something. But remember last year when people were mad that 1989 won in the face of To Pimp A Butterfly? Hopefully it won't be that all over again (I mean let's be real here people, I'm not doubting Kendrick but 1989 was much bigger). But I digress.
My Bottom 5 Performances:
1. Medley by A Tribe Called Quest and Anderson .Paak
2. How Great + All We Got by Chance The Rapper featuring Kirk Franklin and Tamela Mann
3. Once by Maren Morris and Alicia Keys
*4. All Around You by Sturgill Simpson
*5. Born Under A Bad Sign by William Bell and Gary Clark Jr.
* These were not necessarily bad, they were just the next lowest ranked for me.
My Top 5 Performances:
1. Tribute to Prince by The Time featuring Bruno Mars
2. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
3. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars
4. The Fighter by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood
5. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
Between Fifty Shades Darker and this, we're gonna be in for one crazy Hot 100 this coming week. But yeah, that's all there is for me to say about this. Thanks for reading!
Well, for Grammys weekend, this could've ended better. We said goodbye to two songs, one of which had been persistent overall, and the other of which was one of the best songs of last year. It's also at the point where I've put three songs in orange. I can't stand any of them. But yeah, this wasn't the best overall. At least our #1 is good, so I'll take it, sure. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.
- Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#37)
- Into You by Ariana Grande (#41)
The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5
45. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#44) (three weeks at #1)
44. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#36) (one week at #1)
43. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (#42)
42. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#45)
41. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha (#40)
40. Kids by OneRepublic (#43)
39. Love On The Brain by Rihanna (#35)
38. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#34)
37. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#25)
36. You're Not There by Lukas Graham (#30)
35. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars (debut)
34. Issues by Julia Michaels (#32)
33. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#33)
32. Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur (#28)
31. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#14)
30. Guys My Age by Hey Violet (#39)
29. I Got You by Bebe Rexha (debut)
28. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#24)
27. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#25)
26. Heavydirtysoul by Twenty-one Pilots (#27)
25. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#20)
24. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#13)
23. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#31)
22. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#19)
21. Words by Daya (#29)
20. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#23)
19. After The Afterparty by Charli XCX (#21)
18. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson (#26)
17. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (#38)
16. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#11) (two weeks at #1)
15. Chase You Down by Runaground (#18)
14. This Town by Niall Horan (#16)
13. Paris by The Chainsmokers (#22)
12. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#6) (four weeks at #1)
11. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camilla Cabello (#10)
10. Play That Song by Train (#17)
9. Love Me Now by John Legend (#12)
8. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#1) (three weeks at #1)
7. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift (#8)
6. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#7)
5. Water Under The Bridge by Adele (#9)
4. Mercy by Shawn Mendes (#4)
3. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums (#5)
2. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#2) (eight weeks at #1)
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Hello by Adele (12th and final week at #1) - This week it tied the record for most weeks at #1, with Shake It Off by Taylor Swift and Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon.
1. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran (#3) (first week at #1)
Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (-17)
Biggest Jump Of The Week: Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (+21)
New Entrants
- Having listened to Bruno Mars' 24K Magic album, I wondered what his next proper single from it would be after the title track got some traction and Versace On The Floor unfortunately didn't really get anywhere. And now we have That's What I Like. Although the lyrics basically equate out to your standard club banger, it's still pretty fun, as the man does have class and charisma. That being said, this wouldn't be my first choice for a track to release as a real single, but we'll see if the rest of America disagrees.
- Then we have more from Bebe Rexha, as In The Name Of Love continues to hang on for dear life, she brings out I Got You. While I know what the song is about, and she does have good vocal capability, I can't say that I'm thrilled by her constant warbling of the titular line in the chorus, and the "oh na na na"s alongside them. The production isn't doing a lot of favors, either. I'd say it's a little closer to red than it is green, but that could change.
I Got Blurbs
- So we had two exits. The first being Ride by Twenty-one Pilots, which I guess I never hated in the big picture, even though I was on the verge of getting tired of it more than once, and I know that Adrian is bidding good riddance for it (as are a few others, I'm sure). Then there's Into You by Ariana Grande, which I bet Graham is throwing a be-gone party over, but Jack and I will be doing the exact opposite. Farewell, Into You. You were regarded by many as one of the best songs of the year, and for good reason. A sheer display of how Ariana Grande is one of the few acts in today's scene who can just about always display raw power, indeed. You will be missed.
- Before introducing Send My Love (To Your New Lover), Spyder talked about how pleased Harry Styles of One Direction was to have Adele at his birthday party earlier in the month.
- The guest DJ who introduced In The Name Of Love gave a shout-out to, in addition to a couple of his friends, his dog, "Eleanor Rigby". Spyder discovered that the guy was a Beatles fan.
- Speaking of Graham... Funny story, just yesterday I was in an amusement store in a mall that's a bit of a drive from my home (a place that has arcade-style games, bowling, and even karaoke), and I heard them playing Lose Yourself by Eminem, which is widely regarded as one of the best songs of all time, if memory serves. But immediately after that? Roses by The Chainsmokers featuring ROZES. Then, two or three songs later, they played OMG by Usher featuring will.i.am, probably Usher's most infamous hit. And straight after THAT, they played Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran, one of the most infamous songs in this countdown community thanks to how long it stuck around in 2015. I thought, "Wow, whoever picks the music here must really hate Graham." I wonder who DJ's places like that.
- Before introducing Love On The Brain, Spyder talked about how Rihanna gave birth to her first child...and I'm like, he's clearly joking here, that'd come out of literally nowhere. But he was talking about not our Rihanna, but a rhinoceros of the same name. Weird. As for the song, I didn't think it'd drop into the bottom 10 on its second week. It's safe to say the song has become a proper hit at this point, though.
- As for the rest of our debuts from last week, one of them had a floppy jump, and another dropped as well. Three others took sizable jumps, one of which I don't really care about, one I'm not wild about, and one I'm cool with being in the Top 20 for the time being.
- What up with the drops from You're Not There? That's kind of unfortunate.
- Let Me Love You is officially annoying. Get out. Now.
- Before introducing Scars To Your Beautiful, Spyder talked about Alessia Cara's time on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. Fun.
- Remember how Spyder used to introduce My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up) by Fall Out Boy and Radioactive by Imagine Dragons as "The song that won't go away" many years back? He just did so for Unsteady, which unfortunately re-entered the Top 20. We had to have 24K Magic kicked out for this? Come on...
- I'm also not happy with After The Afterparty entering the Top 20. But the guest DJ who introduced it gave a shout-out to, in addition to his son, "all his lady friends". He had 14 in total, according to his conversation with Spyder, who commented on how Valentine's Day was right near. That's pretty high maintenance! And if he's a dad, then who's his son's mother alongside him?
- I had a feeling that Million Reasons was going to jump in the wake of the Super Bowl. But I don't know if it'll last or not, although I'll gladly take it.
- Play That Song in the Top 10 is a big fat no. Stop it. Now.
- But as consolation, right above it is Love Me Now. I don't know how much higher it'll go, or if it'll do well enough to be seen as a real hit, but it's nice to see it at this level.
- Before introducing Closer, Spyder talked about how The Chainsmokers responded to their being called "the Nickelback of EDM" (if you don't know, Nickelback is arguably the most infamous rock band out there) and shared a clip of them singing How You Remind Me to the tune of Paris.
- It was of course expected for Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran to take #1. Within just five weeks, it made the top spot. So it's more than likely to hold that spot next week.
Hit-Bound
All Night by The Vamps featuring Matoma
Believer by Imagine Dragons
Lights Down Low by MAX featuring gnash
Don't Leave by Snakehips featuring MØ
Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix
Versace On The Floor by Bruno Mars
L.A. Devotee by Panic! At The Disco
Cake by Flo Rida featuring 99 Percent
Weak by AJR
Make Me (Cry) by Noah Cyrus featuring Labrinth
Miss You by James Hersey
Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott (Happy now, everyone?)
Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley (debut)
Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran (re-entry)
- So, let's just get to it. Katy Perry is back for the big one this time, after the insanely boring and also grating Rise, with a new one by the name of Chained To The Rhythm. I have to say, I like this. It does fit the mold of the old fun Katy Perry that I've enjoyed, particularly with that nice 80's feel to it. It also features a guest verse from Bob Marley's grandson Skip Marley, which is kinda cool. I'll talk more about it next week.
- Then we have Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran re-entering Hit-Bound, just as I predicted. But with how much it's sinking elsewhere, I predict it won't re-enter the countdown for a little while.
Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Tie: After The Afterparty by Charli XCX
20. Tie: Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5
18. Play That Song by Train
17. Unsteady by X Ambassadors
1 — Bad:
16. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
15. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camilla Cabello
2 — Meh:
14. Chase You Down by Runaground
3 — Decent:
13. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
12. This Town by Niall Horan
4 — Good:
None!
5 — Great:
11. Mercy by Shawn Mendes
10. All Time Low by Jon Bellion
9. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
8. Paris by The Chainsmokers
7. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
6. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums
5. Water Under The Bridge by Adele
4. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
3. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson
2. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift
1. Love Me Now by John Legend
Overall score: 65/100
Countdown Bottom 5
1. Tie: After The Afterparty by Charli XCX
1. Tie: Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5
1. Tie: I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien
4. Play That Song by Train
5. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
Countdown Top 5
1. Love Me Now by John Legend
2. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
3. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift
4. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson
5. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran
2. Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix
3. Don't Leave by Snakehips featuring MØ
4. Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley
5. Believer by Imagine Dragons
Most Missed Song: Black Magic by Little Mix
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Magnets by Disclosure featuring Lorde
Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Love Yourself by Justin Bieber — Probably the most infamous Year-End #1 of the decade, but something does feel funny about the context of the song. I mean, dude didn't even wanna write the darn thing lest we think he still cared!
Jet Black Heart by 5 Seconds of Summer — One of the more enjoyed songs by this countdown community, and they do have good rock to them but it's not perfectly ideal for me. Still not bad though.
Dessert by Dawin — One of my guilty pleasures of 2016. I know, I tend to have a lot of those.
QOTD: Who are you thinking will win Album Of The Year at the Grammys? What about Song and/or Record Of The Year? For album, I'm thinking Lemonade will take it, because for as much talent as Adele has, 25 wasn't as heavily favored as that one. But I also hope for Hello to take one of those two, and if not then probably Stressed Out for record. As much as I would love for I Took a Pill In Ibiza to win song of the year, it probably won't. I'll definitely make a post on the Grammys afterwards.
Thanks for reading, everybody!
