May 20, 2017 - Ed Sheeran (2)

Once again, another super late post that my excuse for basically boils down to laziness and not feeling all that great. And I know you guys are probably tired of me constantly going on about it, but I think you get the point I'm trying to make. But whatever. Also, the Billboard Music Awards were this past Sunday. To be honest, I don't think I'm up for making a review of that, because there wasn't really that much that I could think of to say about most of the performances. I know that doesn't sound very formal, but I just didn't care everything considered. There were ones to like but I just stopped caring further in. So yeah, I don't know what else to say. Let's just get to business. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Cake by Flo Rida featuring 99 Percent (#27)
• All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#29)
• 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#34)
• Don't Leave by Snakehips featuring MO (#39)
• Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#41)

The Countdown!

Last Week’s #1 Song: Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara

45. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#45)

44. This Town by Niall Horan (#44)

43. Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley (#43)

42. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello (#32)

41. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#38)

40. Sooner Or Later by Aaron Carter (#37)

39. American Girls by One Ok Rock (#40)

38. Still Got Time by Zayn Malik featuring PartyNextDoor (debut)

37. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#42) (three weeks at #1)

36. Good Life by Kehlani featuring G-Eazy (debut)

35. Heavydirtysoul by Twenty-one Pilots (#31)

34. Swalla by Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Nicki Minaj (debut)

33. Kissing Strangers by DNCE (debut)

32. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson (#33)

31. At My Best by Machine Gun Kelly and Hailee Steinfeld (debut)

30. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift (#24)

29. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#13) (eight weeks at #1)

28. Lights Down Low by MAX featuring gnash (#36)

27. Cold by Maroon 5 (#17)

26. Mercy by Shawn Mendes (#6)

25. Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie (#24)

24. Sign of The Times by Harry Styles (#28)

23. I'm The One by DJ Khaled with Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper (#35)

22. All Night by The Vamps featuring Matoma (#16)

21. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums (#23)

20. Attention by Charlie Puth (#20)

19. Play That Song by Train (#21)

18. Weak by AJR (#16)

17. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars (#5) (one week at #1) (...)

16. Slow Hands by Niall Horan (#30)

15. Slide by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos (#15)

14. Now Or Never by Halsey (#26)

13. The Cure by Lady Gaga (#18)

12. L.A. Devotee by Panic! At The Disco (#8)

11. There's Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes (#14)

10. Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur (#12)

9. Paris by The Chainsmokers (#9) (one week at #1)

8. Issues by Julia Michaels (#10)

7. Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara (#19)

6. It Ain't Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez (#7)

5. Believer by Imagine Dragons (#11)

4. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay (#3)

3. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran (#2) (nine weeks at #1)

2. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara (#1) (two weeks at #1)

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (first and only week at #1)

1. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran (second week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Mercy by Shawn Mendes (-20)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Slow Hands by Niall Horan (+14)

New Entrants

- So while Zayn Malik might have gotten decent success off of Pillowtalk, he hasn't been able to get much else through in his own power, save with another massive name. And yet, here he is with Still Got Time, with PartyNextDoor. Some people said they've had a hard time telling Zayn and PartyNextDoor apart while listening. The song is about these two trying to egg on the listener to stop worrying about looking for love, because they're (presumably) young and "still got time", apparently. But there's not much to the production or instrumentation, just some tropical sounding guitars and clapping. Yeah, this isn't much worth caring about. It's in blue now, but it's a little closer to red than it is green.

- So, who's sick of the Furious franchise? You are? Too bad, because they did release Fate of the Furious back in April. I didn't see it, but I know that Good Life was one of the songs from the movie. G-Eazy, while I do find him a little better than some give him credit for, his verses aren't much related to the theme of the Furious franchise, and neither is Kehlani's chorus. But it's at least a good enough feel good jam, and I know that it was on the YouTube15 not too long ago. But I have a feeling it won't last long what with Furious hype gone.

- And now we have my favorite debut of the week. Jason Derulo has made some stuff that can be seen as weird in the good way (cough Get Ugly cough), in the bad way (cough Trumpets cough), and in the ugly way (cough Wiggle cough). Right here we've got Swalla, which I'll say falls in the very former category. While Jason's falsetto can be a bit hard to listen to, and Ty Dolla $ign doesn't have the best presence here, I think Nicki Minaj has the best verse here overall, as she does make some funny lines and takes a jab at certain opposing female rappers in the game. The production's quite cool as well, feels like a DJ Mustard song actually done right. Overall, there's not that much to say, except that I am enjoying this right about now. Whether it'll become a real hit or not, though, we'll have to wait and see.

- And then, DNCE is back. After Cake By The Ocean flooded 2016 and their two follow-ups had moderate success here, their newest single, Kissing Strangers, has arrived on the countdown. I had it in red for a little while (well, orange before Body Like A Back Road debuted Hit-Bound), so I guess I should talk about why. To put it light, the sentiment "Kissing strangers, till I find someone I love/trust", is not exactly the most appealing sentiment to me. And also the "ayyyyyyyyyy!"s in the verses and the "na na na na na na na na"s in the chorus, which...why are those even there. I was fooled by Cake By The Ocean and Toothbrush for a little while, but I'm not being fooled this time. But I guess it sounds kind of cool musically, so that's why I have it straddled between red and blue. That might change, but yeah. Not really a lot else to say here. Next.

- Finally we come to my least favorite debut of the week. With Starving continuing to test the patience of just about everyone here, and Bad Things continuing to grate on us (or at least me and Miles), hearing a duet between both their respective acts was not what I would welcome. And yet, they're here, with At My Best. Now, I do understand the idea between this song, that Hailee Steinfeld wants her lover to put up with her when she's depressed and miserable, or he'll miss out on the highest point of her time. But Machine Gun Kelly is not the best capable of delivering this kind of story in the best way, and that chorus being drenched in autotune does NOT help. While I will say it's better than Bad Things, this is not a song that leaves me feeling enthusiastic or empowered, in fact it only gets worse with every listen. And his new album, bloom, has been received pretty terribly by a majority of reviewers. So yeah, as I said, this is my least favorite debut of the week. Fun fact, however: both this and Swalla also debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week in late March (the week that Drake's More Life flooded the charts). But that aside, hopefully it doesn't last long.

'Cause You Know What I'm Blurbing

- As always, we begin with our exits. Cake I didn't care for even if it was amusingly bad. Side To Side and All Time Low will both be missed by me (and the latter by Adrian too). Don't Leave had the weakest tenure overall that I've seen in a long time, not even making its way out of the bottom third of the countdown. I do think it deserved better than that. But the saddest one, for me, would definitely be 24K Magic. While Adrian, Graham and WAMB10 (and maybe Jack) are all rejoicing over that, I will be doing the opposite. Goodbye, 24K Magic. You won't be forgotten, at least by me.

- Speaking of Machine Gun Kelly, dropping down into the bottom 5, we have Bad Things, which is certainly needed. Now to see to it that it leaves us already.

- Of our four debuts last week, two of them were floppy to get off, and the other two had double digit jumps, including Slow Hands having the biggest jump. Knowing how much Hits 1 tends to adore 1D associated stuff, this will be Top 10 in due time, I'm sure.

- Before introducing Heavydirtysoul, Spyder talked about how the guys were at a karaoke bar recently and played their own song, Stressed Out. The clip he played had the audience singing the epic "wake up, you need to make money" line. Haha. That aside, it's really too bad that this song didn't take off as well as I feel it deserved to.

- Before introducing I Don't Wanna Live Forever, Spyder talked about how Taylor Swift sent a fan a card and flowers due to not being able to attend her graduation party. Isn't that something. But how the heck did she manage to reach out to Taylor and invite her there in the first place? Fanmail?

- Mercy taking a big drop out of the Top 10 was certainly appreciated. I don't know how I'll feel about the song in the final picture, though.

- Yet again, Attention is continuing to do nothing except hold at #20. I wonder how much longer it's gonna cling to that spot.

- My goodness, Play That Song needs to stop re-entering the Top 20 and leave!!! Seriously, this will be in orange after Don't Wanna Know and Starving leave!!!

- That's What I Like took a significant drop out of the Top 5 and 10. I don't know if that'll last or not, though, but with the song since peaking in other areas it won't be much of a surprise if it's coming to its end.

- The Cure continues to inch its way up. As you can see, it's now tied for my favorite song on the countdown. It'd be pretty nice to see this make Top 10, but with how much Lady Gaga hype has died down, I doubt it somehow. Very sad.

- Before introducing Heavy, Spyder talked about how Linkin Park had been making funny videos related to their food. Ah, we all have that problem when it comes to eating, at least us older people. Anyway, this song makes yet another out of absolutely nowhere big jump. The album just dropped though, so I'll give it that much.

- Before introducing It Ain't Me, Spyder talked about rumors that Selena Gomez was pregnant with The Weeknd's baby. And then he said that his script read that she was pregnant with The Weeknd himself?!?! Then he went on about how if that actually happened, would she name it The Weeknd Jr.?!?! Haha. How comedic. Anyway, I feel like this song could peak any day now.

- Although our Top 5 consists of mostly the same stuff, we have a completely welcome entrant from Believer. I would find it pretty interesting if this hit #1. But it's not something to highly anticipate.

- And on that note, Castle on The Hill retakes #1. I am okay with this, though I am hoping that Something Just Like This will take that top spot at some point.

Hit-Bound

Crying In The Club by Camila Cabello (debut)

Good Time, Good Life by Erin Bowman

Break My Heart by Hey Violet

Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo (debut)

Stay Together by Noah Cyrus

Good News by Ocean Park Standoff

Bad Liar by Selena Gomez (debut)

Young and Menace by Fall Out Boy

Most Girls by Hailee Steinfeld

Wicked by Mansionz featuring G-Eazy

Malibu by Miley Cyrus (debut)

Overwhelming by Jon Bellion

Swish Swish by Katy Perry featuring Nicki Minaj (debut)

Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt

I will say, things on Hit-Bound got pretty interesting. I'll save my words for Strip That Down and Malibu for when they debut, but Crying In The Club is essentially Sia lite (and it shows because she worked on the song), and Bad Liar is insanely cheesy. But the big one is Swish Swish, which actually sounds like a real and proper song from Katy Perry that shows real tastelessness. And while I liked Chained To The Rhythm a lot more than many others, this is better for sure. More words come the inevitable debut.

Top 20 Breakdown:

0 — Shit:
20. Play That Song by Train

1 — Bad:
None!

2 — Meh:
19. Now Or Lever by Halsey

3 — Decent:
18. Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara
17. Weak by AJR
16. Issues by Julia Michaels

4 — Good:
15. Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur

5 — Great:
14. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran
13. Paris by The Chainsmokers
12. Attention by Charlie Puth
11. L.A. Devotee by Panic! At The Disco
10. Slow Hands by Niall Horan
9. There's Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes
8. It Ain't Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez
7. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara
6. Believer by Imagine Dragons
5. Slide by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos
4. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran
3. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars

6 ― Favorite Song Bonus:
1. Tie: The Cure by Lady Gaga
1. Tie: Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay

Countdown Bottom 5

1. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

2. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd

3. Play That Song by Train

4. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello

5. Cold by Maroon 5

Countdown Top 5

1. Tie: Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay

1. Tie: The Cure by Lady Gaga

3. Swalla by Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Nicki Minaj

4. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars

5. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran

Hit-Bound Top 5

1. Swish Swish by Katy Perry featuring Nicki Minaj

2. Overwhelming by Jon Bellion

3. Good News by Ocean Park Standoff

4. Break My Heart by Hey Violet

5. Good Time, Good Life by Erin Bowman

Most Missed Song: I don't know... Once again I'm not very good at thinking up this stuff x_x

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:

If It Ain't Love by Jason Derulo — Jason Derulo, basically.

Figure Me Out by The Summer Set — A nice song, but I do see why Adrian never had this in green. I did like The Night Is Young and Lightning In A Bottle more, admittedly.

Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya — While Daya actually sounds alright here, that drop can get sleazy at times. Points for the drum breakdown, though.

QOTD: To you, were there any major highlights of the Billboard Music Awards? As I said, I didn't really care for the performances, but it was interesting to see Closer take multiple awards, and Drake even breaking Adele's record, as well as the speeches he gave.

Thanks for reading, everybody!