September 3, 2016 - Justin Timberlake (10)

How's it going, everyone? Here on Labor Day weekend, I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be... No, no, actually I'm in San Francisco for vacation and an event that we were invited to. And yet, I still managed to find time to do the countdown. Good thing I managed to get ahold of Sirius XM's website, because we certainly had some activity here. Sure, we're back to the same #1, but at least we're starting to get rid of old stuff, although we need to hope for more voters to pull through so it can continue. With that being said, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• All About Us by Jordan Fisher (#28)
• Wherever I Go by OneRepublic (#41)
• Don't Mind by Kent Jones (#44)
• Close by Nick Jonas and Tove Lo (#45)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
45. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez (#43) (LEAVE OR I'M GONNA LOSE IT!!!)
44. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#39)
43. One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla (#21)
42. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#36) (two weeks at #1)
41. Once In a While by Timeflies (#16) (You've gotta be kidding me...)
40. Rise by Katy Perry (debut)
39. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#42) (four weeks at #1)
38. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#40)
37. No by Meghan Trainor (#38)
36. Spirits by The Strumbellas (debut)
35. Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez (#33)
34. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#7) (Oooooooh...)
33. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#32)
32. Figure Me Out by The Summer Set (#37)
31. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai (debut)
30. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#29)
29. All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony (#26)
28. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#34) (one week at #1)
27. I Took A Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#31) (two weeks at #1)
26. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#30) (five weeks at #1)
25. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (debut)
24. Toothbrush by DNCE (#27)
23. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#12)
22. Missing You by All Time Low (#24)
21. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#23)
20. Say by Symon (#35) (What the heck?!)
19. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#22)
18. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#15)
17. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides (#18)
16. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#19)
15. I'm Not Famous by AJR (#25)
14. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#20)
13. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#17)
12. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#13)
11. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#14)
10. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#11)
9. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#10)
8. Into You by Ariana Grande (#8)
7. The Sound by The 1975 (#9)
6. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#6)
5. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#3)
4. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#2)
3. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#1) (one week at #1)
2. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#5)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon
1. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#4) (10th week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Unsteady by X Ambassadors (-27)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Say by Symon (+15)

New Entrants
- So, to start our round of new arrivals, we come to the song that I have not been looking forward to the entrance of: the comeback single from one Katy Perry, with Rise. We have been waiting for her to make her return since her last album, Prism, for some time now, and...that's it? Feels like she's already made this song twice before, with not only Firework from 2010, but Roar in 2013. I am sick of her making these stupid self-esteem anthems and miss the stupid tastelessness that her older songs like Teenage Dream and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) had. Now, let me state that I see the appeal of these kinds of songs, and I am not just blindly hating on it just for being in that breed. That, and my distaste for this song has nothing to do with the fact that I didn't care about the Olympics. I can't stand it because it's horribly overproduced - the melody in the verses is almost nonexistent, and after that she is DRENCHED in auto-tune and it's a big turnoff. And the brittle trap snares in the chorus certainly aren't helping anything. This has only been getting worse every time I hear it. So yeah, this is a horribly disappointing return for Katy Perry, and right now I don't see it getting better. Sorry. :/

- Then we come to Spirits by The Strumbellas. I like this one, it's always nice to see some indie rock get some traction. The instrumentation is lively and feels orchestrated at times, I like that the verses try to tell a little story, and I just can't help but like it a lot for being an upbeat folk tune. As I've said several times, I find it very reminiscent of The Lumineers' big 2012/13 hit, Ho Hey, which I also like. It'd be great to see some success from this one.

- Following that, we have Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai. As I said when this first made Hit-Bound, after the first verse, the beat feels much reminiscent of Justin Timberlake's 2007 hit, My Love. That twinkly stuff in the intro feels weird to hear, but it's certainly not bad. The lyrics are basically trying to show emotional depth, like a handful of Justin Bieber's songs from his last album. It's good for now, but I don't see myself caring for it in the bigger picture.

- Finally, we come to our biggest debut of the week, Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ. I'm still not sure what I think of this yet - the lyrics are yet another set of Bieber's emotional depth attempts, and the guitar in the verses are alright, but that drop after the chorus feels scrunched, and MØ has too little screen time. Still, not a bad song, but it's not as good as Lean On from last year, and it might be a little while before I can put it in green.

Spirits In My Head And They Won't Blurb
- Dang, All About Us by Jordan Fisher left from a relatively high spot. I was starting to grow back out of Wherever I Go by OneRepublic, but we'll see if that one has any chance at making my Top 45 songs of the year come December. I know that Adrian is definitely happy about Don't Mind by Kent Jones leaving, and I'm glad to see Close by Nick Jonas and Tove Lo bidding farewell.

- So One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla took a big drop down to the bottom 5. I don't outright hate the song and think it's super-craptastic like a lot of people do, but it's not good enough for me to care.

- And on that note, that biggest jump of the week last week for Once In A While by Timeflies was just a hope spot, because right now it's back to square one. :( Also, with both this and One Dance, they announced that they were "not the biggest drop of the week". Why would you spoil that? We'll get to that shortly, but it'd be great it can stay with us long enough to potentially pull an I'm Ready by AJR and make the final Top 45 despite not being significantly strong.

- Is it just me, or did literally everyone in the Weekend Countdown community turn on Unsteady by X Ambassadors at the exact same time last week for what I can only assume is how big it got then? Quite a few people had it in orange. I mean, I'm not gonna say I still think the song is great per se, but it honestly surprises me how much hate it got then. I was worried that this was going to be Perfect by One Direction all over again...then it has the biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! of the week for a third time - which I should also mention is the biggest biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! we've had all year so far - so, false alarm.

- Before Spyder Harrison introduced All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony, he talked about how Camilla Cabello had a tooth chipped when a fan threw a plastic bag at her. What the heck, people?! He also said before introducing Work From Home that she may leave Fifth Harmony and do her own work. Maybe then they won't be so hated.

- So Justin Bieber skipped the VMAs to perform drunk karaoke? Yeah, I think you made the right choice there, bro. The VMAs weren't that exciting, I stopped watching about 2/3 the way through after Britney Spears and G-Eazy performed Make Me, but apparently I missed an epic moment between Drake and Rihanna.

- Good thing Me Too by Meghan Trainor left the Top 20. Let's start getting it further down so it can hopefully leave soon!

- ...And out of absolutely nowhere, Say by Symon jumps right back into the Top 20. That's basically forcing me to put it in red. And that rap breakdown is just obnoxious.

- I must say, Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides is really getting better every time I hear it. Am I sure I'm not listening to a 70s or 80s soul track here? However, I will say, for a while, I thought I was hearing "I'm lovesick, and it ain't no joke" and not "and there ain't no cure". Guess not.

- So I heard that two members of The Fray were credited as writers towards Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey. That makes me hate the song a little less, but it's still not something I can stick up for.

- Can The Sound by The 1975 or Into You by Ariana Grande make the Top 5?! Let's hope! Also, this is the first time that the latter has failed to jump since it debuted.

- As I've said, I foresee Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes being our next potential #1. This is the third week in a row that it has held at #6. If it won't be that, Cheap Thrills or Ride could still make it.

- Speaking of the #1 spot, looks like lightning won't strike twice for Adele, because Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake is there again. I will say that this surprised me, seeing as I did not hear it as much over the week. But I just know that at this point it's destined for 12 weeks at #1. How coincidental will it be if it takes those last two weeks on September 24th and October 1st?!?! Then it'd literally be the spiritual successor to Shut Up and Dance.

We had four new Hit-Bound entries: Bacon by Nick Jonas, which is ridiculous but pretty funny, Gold by Kiiara, which is a freaking joke, and two other songs that I haven't gotten around to yet - Death of a Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco and Be As You Are by Mike Posner. I'm short on time and words right now but I'll get to those next week.

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

1 - Bad:
19. Say by Symon
18. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey

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

3 - Decent:
16. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
15. I'm Not Famous by AJR
14. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez

4 - Good:
13. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
12. Body Say by Demi Lovato
11. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk
10. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
9. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer

5 - Great:
8. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
7. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
6. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
4. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
3. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides
2. The Sound by The 1975
1. Into You by Ariana Grande

Total score: 73/100 - Solid

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

Countdown Top 5
1. Into You by Ariana Grande
2. The Sound by The 1975
3. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides
4. Spirits by The Strumbellas
5. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay

Most Missed Song: Magnets by Disclosure with Lorde - Actually heard this one in the hotel lobby yesterday.

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix with Bebe Rexha

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Cheyenne by Jason Derulo — One of the best things Jason Derulo has ever released...so of course it had a disappointing performance and got nowhere. It only lasted three weeks on the countdown and failed to deliver on the Hot 100. Heck, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I think it had the shortest uninterrupted tenure of last year. Seriously, we let Wiggle, one of the worst songs of all time, get big but not this epic song? I don't get you, America.

Wasn't sure if I'd find time for this here, but I did, so thanks for reading, everybody!