August 20, 2016 - Justin Timberlake (9)

If there was ever a thought that the summer lull was dragging on, that was definitely smashed apart right here. Hopefully this will show that things are picking up and we can get back on the track we used to be on. But at the same time, there was some ugly that went on, and we'll get to it, but for the most part I can say I'm happy with the results of this round. With that being said, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Let It Go by James Bay (#33)
• Lost Boy by Ruth B. (#40)
• You Don't Own Me by Grace (#45)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
45. Don't Mind by Kent Jones (#38)
44. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez (#42)
43. Close by Nick Jonas and Tove Lo (#44)
42. Say by Symon (#24)
41. Wherever I Go by OneRepublic (#41)
40. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#40)
39. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#39) (one week at #1)
38. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#31)
37. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#37)
36. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#34) (two weeks at #1)
35. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (debut)
34. Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez (#32)
33. Once In A While by Timeflies (#11) (That escalated quickly!)
32. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#35) (four weeks at #1) (GET OUT!!!)
31. No by Meghan Trainor (#36) (YOU TOO!!!)
30. Figure Me Out by The Summer Set (#14)
29. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#15)
28. One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla (#17)
27. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#16) (five weeks at #1)
26. All About Us by Jordan Fisher (#28)
25. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#9)
24. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (debut)
23. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides (#21)
22. Missing You by All Time Low (#25)
21. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#23)
20. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#27)
19. I'm Not Famous by AJR (#29)
18. All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony (#30)
17. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (debut)
16. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#19)
15. The Sound by The 1975 (#18)
14. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#4)
13. Toothbrush by DNCE (#22)
12. Into You by Ariana Grande (#26)
11. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#20)
10. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#13) (#notfunny #nowords)
9. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#12)
8. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#10)
7. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#8)
6. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#5)
5. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#2)
4. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#3)
3. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#6)
2. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#7)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon (Yep, still love this one)
1. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#1) (9th week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Once In A While by Timeflies (-22)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Into You by Ariana Grande (+14) (Thank you, America!)

New Entrants
- As I said when Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk debuted on Hit-Bound two weeks ago, it's pretty rare that we see country music here on Hits 1. And here it is now. Listening to this one again, I can say that P!nk does have a voice that fits nicely for country music. That being said, I don't think the song is completely great, but I could see it growing on me.

- Then we have the return of The Chainsmokers, with Closer. Here they grabbed Halsey from the crappy New Americana from last year. And to say the least...yeah, I can't say I like this at all. I'm not finding it catchy, the piano and the drop feel too fuzzy at times, and what is with Halsey making references to old bands? And furthermore, the drop is LITERALLY stolen from Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray. No seriously, go listen to that song and tell me this isn't ripped off. The point I'm trying to get across is, this is not for me. Roses and Don't Let Me Down were both a lot more enjoyable. Sorry.

- And finally, we have the long-awaited arrival of Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay, which is still the Seeb remix, making a very impressive debut in the Top 20. And yes, I've listened to the original, and I guess that for the kind of song it is I would see why people might prefer the original. This, I feel like they wanted to try to make it livelier to give it more flair, and that worked for me at least. But yeah, both versions are beautiful songs, but I guess I just like something fast and energetic. Maybe I'll grow more on the original in time, but for now I still have the unpopular opinion. I do find it ironic that the original played in the background when Spyder Harrison preluded it, though. That aside, seeing how high this one debuted, it'll probably be here a while.

Let Me Blurb Across The Sky
- First up, our exits. Lost Boy and You Don't Own Me I'm sure many were wondering when they'd leave, but I'm sure many are happy about the former. As for Let It Go, I did like it while it was a thing, but I'm okay with it departing.

- And just like that, with New Romantics still here, the representations from Taylor Swift's 1989 album have spent a full two year tenure on this countdown. On that note, last Thursday was #2YearsOfShakeItOff. Many won't feel the same, but to me, that really feels like a long time ago.

- Whoa. We had a lot of noticeable drops, two of them being songs that have had a lot of strength on the countdown. To be honest, I could see myself growing back out of Just Like Fire by P!nk soon, but it's done good enough.

- But then the biggest DRRRRRRROP!!!, Once In A While by Timeflies, is one that's stuck around for so long despite not doing too much. So it did kinda come out of nowhere for me. Kind of a shame because I still like the song.

- My goodness, Cake By The Ocean by DNCE and No by Meghan Trainor need to leave already!!!

- Two of our new debuts also debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on the same week.

- I'm sorry, I still can't hate Mama Said by Lukas Graham, no matter how much I'm supposed to.

- After that scary jump for Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya to #2 not long ago, it's nice to see it fall back down to #14. Thanks, Hits 1!

- Happy birthday to Demi Lovato! Body Say is still cool, even if it's not what its predecessor was.

- With Into You by Ariana Grande having the biggest jump... Yeah, I'm definitely pleased about that. B)

- But then there's that big, ugly elephant that just entered the Top 10. Yeah, you know the one. Me Too by Meghan Trainor, of course. I...have no words. I'm gonna try to keep the negativity out of this one. To put it quick, seeing as it left the kworb radio chart, hopefully this will be fixed relatively quickly.

- I also only just noticed how much cowbell Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer has. Hey 5sauce, maybe you should join Blue Oyster Cult and Christopher Walken?

- I'm surprised Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes dropped. As I said before, it could definitely hit #1, if Hits 1's obsession for Can't Stop the Feeling simmers out.

- Ride by Twenty-one Pilots has had a guest DJ twice in its time in the Top 10. The one here said it was her favorite. Yay for another one who appreciates TOP's reflections on life!

- Lots of drops? Songs debuting higher than usual? Could the countdown actually be gaining traction? Is the summer lull getting broken apart?! Maybe things will actually start to get good again!

- Also, unrelated to all of this, but where I work had their company picnic on Thursday. They didn't play a lot of 2016 hits that I caught onto, but they played several 2015 hits, which I was happy about.

Hit-Bound
Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai
Kids by OneRepublic (debut)
Starving by Hailee Steinfeld featuring Grey and Zedd
Superstitious by MKTO
Brand New by Ben Rector
Back 2 U by Steve Aoki and Boehm featuring Walk The Moon
Wild by Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara
The Little Things by Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey
Red Dress by MAGIC!
Rise by Katy Perry
Cruel by Snakehips featuring Zayn Malik (debut)
Spirits by The Strumbellas
Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
This Girl by Kungs & Cooking On 3 Burners (debut)

- For our first debut, we have Kids by OneRepublic. Between this and Wherever I Go, it's clear that they are trying a different sound than their previous album. I didn't like that track at first and I did grow into it, so we'll see what happens with this one.

- We also have Cruel by Snakehips featuring Zayn Malik. This one's kinda weird, but I won't say it's bad, although I don't have much of an opinion to give right away.

- Then there's This Girl by Kungs & Cooking On 3 Burners, a pretty solid track. Spectrum Pulse covered this song on World Hits (and would later cover it again on its own), and it's quite reminiscent of the songs that Robin Schulz has released such as Waves, Prayer in C and Sugar. I've heard it a few times on Venus, and it's my new favorite song on Hit-Bound, so I hope it debuts.

- Now that the Olympics are no more, Rise by Katy Perry may not be much longer for us. And that's good, because that song is only getting worse with every listen. While I'd say that The Little Things is worse objectively, Rise is just a disappointment.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 - Garbage:
20. Me Too by Meghan Trainor

1 - Bad:
19. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

2 - Meh:
18. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
17. Toothbrush by DNCE

3 - Decent:
16. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
15. I'm Not Famous by AJR
14. Unsteady by X Ambassadors

4 - Good:
13. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez

5 - Great:
12. All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony
11. Body Say by Demi Lovato

10. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
9. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer
8. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
7. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
6. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
5. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
4. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
3. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
1. Tie: Into You by Ariana Grande
1. Tie: The Sound by The 1975

Overall score: 78/100 - Solid

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

Countdown Top 5
1. Tie: Into You by Ariana Grande
1. Tie: The Sound by The 1975
3. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
4. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
5. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. This Girl by Kungs & Cooking On 3 Burners
2. Back 2 U by Steve Aoki and Boehm featuring Walk The Moon
3. Superstitious by MKTO
4. Spirits by The Strumbellas
5. Brand New by Ben Rector

Most Missed Song: Come With Me Now by KONGOS

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: Bacon by Nick Jonas - I heard that this one is going to be performed during the VMAs next week.

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Mine by Phoebe Ryan — I like nice and calming songs like this, even if there isn't exactly anything particularly stand-out about it. But this lady is a little over half a year older than me and I definitely don't think she looks 25! (She'll be 26 in a month, even.)

Thanks for reading, everybody!