March 25, 2017 - Ed Sheeran (7)

So, although I'm still not in the best of moods, I figured I may as well get this out now. Anyway, Kid Kelly hosted again because Spyder Harrison was sick once again, which is unfortunate. As for the countdown itself, I'd say this week was a mixed bag. Although we lost a big favorite of mine, we traded it for another high quality track in its stead. And we had some decent activity once again, some for better, some for worse. So let's get to it, shall we? So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Love Me Now by John Legend (#45)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
45. Words by Daya (#44)
44. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#43)
43. I Got You by Bebe Rexha (#42)
42. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#41)
41. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#26)
40. Make Me (Cry) by Noah Cyrus featuring Labrinth (#31)
39. Miss You by James Hersey (#24)
38. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#39)
37. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#37)
36. This Town by Niall Horan (#38)
35. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#40)
34. L.A. Devotee by Panic! At The Disco (#36)
33. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#33)
32. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#25)
31. Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie (debut)
30. Heavydirtysoul by Twenty-one Pilots (#32)
29. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#29)
28. Love On The Brain by Rihanna (#35)
27. Believer by Imagine Dragons (#30)
26. Weak by AJR (#22)
25. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#23)
24. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#20)
23. Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur (#11)
22. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#27)
21. Issues by Julia Michaels (#19)
20. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#21)
19. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson (#18)
18. Water Under The Bridge by Adele (#9)
17. It Ain't Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez (#14)
16. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (#8)
15. Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley (#10)
14. Play That Song by Train (#13)
13. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara (#16)
12. Cold by Maroon 5 (#3)
11. Paris by The Chainsmokers (#12)
10. Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara (#34)
9. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars (#5)
8. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums (#17)
7. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift (#4)
6. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran (#15)
5. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#27) (I'm so fucking done...)
4. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#2) (eight weeks at #1)
3. Mercy by Shawn Mendes (#6)
2. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello (#7)
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: One Call Away by Charlie Puth (second and final week at #1)
1. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran (#1) (seventh week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber and Miss You by James Hersey (-15)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara (+24)

New Entrants
- Our lone debut comes in a song that's been gaining in other areas for a while now, in the form of Rockabye. Before this, did any of you expect anything new from Clean Bandit to catch on here in America after Rather Be from 2014? Probably not. Well, there was Tears with Louisa Johnson, which was on the YouTube15 a while back, and some of you may remember that. But enough about that. The song is about the single mothers that have to go through struggles to raise their children. And that's definitely noteworthy, as not everybody out there has both parents for them. For one, we have plenty of girls under the age of 21 or even 18 who get pregnant and usually find themselves alone to raise the child they bring into the world. And not just teenagers. Rape or other unconventional sexual encounters are a thing, too, and that leads to such and the other can leave her. Or the fathers eventually leave or disappear with small notice along the road, which is never desirable. So overall, I consider this a beautiful song, and it's fun, too. That being said, it's not without its downsides. For one, I will say that Anne-Marie's vocals can be a little hard to listen to. It doesn't totally ruin the song, but it is noticeable. Second, I'm not the biggest fan of the video, including that pole dancer and the second verse where some old people lip sync Sean Paul's lines. Also, am I crazy, or do I notice Camila Cabello somewhere in that video? Lastly, the full version of the song feels like it drags on a little long. The version that plays here on Hits 1 does shorten it some, though. But it's safe to say it's already become a hit, as Pulse Music Board predicts that it's already set for the Year-End Hot 100. That doesn't mean I won't support it, though, so I hope it does well here.

Rockablurb, Baby, Rockablurb
- So, we lost Love Me Now, which is not happy news. I was really hoping that people would catch onto something new from John Legend after All Of Me was massive in 2014. But it didn't. It's too bad that this song flopped, and it looks like it's gonna barely miss the Year-End Hot 100, which I'm sad about. The song definitely deserved better than this.

- Good thing Let Me Love You tumbled back down after two unnecessary jumps in a row. Can it just go soon?

- I also noticed that Miss You rolled down alongside it after it jumped last week. I'm not too sad about that, but I do wish Hits 1 would try to give lesser name artists some credit.

- Although I am hoping it can stick with us a little longer, it would be rather funny if 24K Magic left next week and clocked in at exactly 24 weeks here.

- So, Kid Kelly kind of had an epic fail. After Starboy, he recapped the third set of five, revealing Scars To Your Beautiful and Rockabye before the former even played. Then he "introduced" Heavydirtysoul (talking about the contest that they had recently), but Scars To Your Beautiful played then. After Rockabye, what he said there was copy/pasted, in he recapped the third set of five again, and introduced Heavydirtysoul for real. April Fools Day isn't for another week, bro.

- Treat You Better just needs to go. I honestly don't know how it's still here.

- Both of our debuts from last week had flimsy small jumps. I like them both, so I'm not thrilled that they didn't do a lot.

- Before introducing Death Of A Bachelor, Kid Kelly mentioned how Brendon Urie said that he cried watching Moana. Twice. No surprise there. That's what animated Disney movies make you do. Also, I didn't mention this last week, but Panic! At The Disco have been on the countdown for over a year since the end of February (when Victorious re-entered in February 2016). Who would've thought.

- Before introducing Say You Won't Let Go, Kid Kelly mentioned how James Arthur had to cancel some shows because of him being sick. That's sad news. And to me, so is the song dropping out of the Top 20.

- This is the second time that Heavy has had the biggest jump of the week from #34. As I said, I honestly won't care if this song sticks around, as much as it is branded a sellout by many Linkin Park fans.

- Wow. Are you shitting me. Starving took an insanely jarring jump from #27 all the way back into the Top 5. Are you serious. And here I was thinking I would have Make Me (Cry) in orange its entire tenure. But this has less of a right to be here at this point, let alone this massive jump. Now you're in orange again. Hopefully it drops back down next week.

- Castle On The Hill, on the other hand, is completely welcomed into the Top 10. Anything that harks back to the days of old rock like U2 is a plus for me.

- However... Bad Things has jumped up to the dangerous #2 spot. Very scary. Not helping is how much the song is dying out elsewhere. I was definitely on the edge of my seat hoping it would not hit #1. Please, keep Shape Of You at #1 if necessary. Just not this thing.

- Although I said I would lose it if Closer broke the Hot 100 Top 10 record, which it did, I honestly just don't care anymore. As I said, it may just be blue for the rest of its tenure. That being said, Shape Of You I'd be much less opposed to having the kind of run that Closer did. Neither song will ever to me be anything near what Uptown Funk was, but at least I liked it from the beginning.

Hit-Bound
Everyday by Ariana Grande featuring Future
American Girls by One Ok Rock
All Night by The Vamps featuring Matoma
Swalla by Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Nicki Minaj
Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
Talk Too Much by Coin
Touch by Little Mix
Slide by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos
Don't Leave by Snakehips featuring MØ
Good Time, Good Life by Erin Bowman (debut)
Green Light by Lorde
Lights Down Low by MAX featuring gnash
Good News by Ocean Park Standoff
Cake by Flo Rida featuring 99 Percent

- Good Time, Good Life is a song that I've heard on Venus many times. It's cheesy, especially this girl's rapping in the verses, but I do like it right now.

- Seeing as I haven't talked about the return of Lorde yet to this point, I figure I'd better do so now. Green Light I wasn't sure what to think of at first, but that is some lively instrumentation in the chorus. As for the verses, it's about Lorde telling off her ex and calling him out, and how she's waiting for the sign to move on. Although I do feel like I should find it hypocritical of Lorde to make a kind of song like this after how her initial premise was blasting the abundance of luxury rap that she first threw out there when she was new. But seeing the lack of momentum the song has had, I'm worried that it might not do anything. Hopefully I'm wrong.

- Before introducing Something Just Like This, Mikey Piff talked about how Chris Martin had a Willy Wonka themed birthday party, but Piff said that he'd rather hang out at Dave and Buster's instead. Well, that is something I do enjoy myself. That being said, this one is gaining, so please debut soon!!!

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
19. Play That Song by Train
18. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello

1 — Bad:
17. Cold by Maroon 5

2 — Meh:
None!

3 — Decent:
16. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
15. Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara
14. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga

4 — Good:
13. Mercy by Shawn Mendes
12. Paris by The Chainsmokers
11. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums

5 — Great:
10. Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley
9. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
8. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift
7. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
6. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara
5. Water Under The Bridge by Adele
4. It Ain't Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez
3. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson
2. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars
1. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
2. Make Me (Cry) by Noah Cyrus featuring Labrinth
3. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5
4. Play That Song by Train
5. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

Countdown Top 5
1. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
2. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran
3. Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie
4. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
5. Believer by Imagine Dragons

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
2. Don't Leave by Snakehips featuring MØ
3. Slide by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos
4. Green Light by Lorde
5. Touch by Little Mix

Most Missed Song: Night Changes by One Direction - March 25 is a day that is a big one to be remembered for Directioners, for better or for worse.

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: 7 Years by Lukas Graham

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Me, Myself and I by G-Eazy featuring Bebe Rexha — It's too bad that people brand G-Eazy as a generic white rapper, since this is surely relatable. But that is a nice beat.
History by One Direction — While this was seen as hoping to convince us that they wouldn't be done for good in the wake of Zayn's departure... They were actually right. Go figure.
Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign — I still refuse to believe that Parker clung to this song for any reason other than out of spite for me and Miles.

QOTD: How much longer do you think Shape Of You might remain at #1 on the Hot 100? I'm predicting potentially 12 weeks total, it does have a big threshold on #1 but it might start bleeding airplay soon.

Thanks for reading, everybody!