November 19, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Halsey (6)

So this may not have been THE highest activity week, but we definitely had things going on here and there. Even if our #1 isn't the most welcome sign. We also have the American Music Awards tomorrow night. And yes, I do plan to do reviews of the performances. I might also have other stuff in store! What could that be, you may ask? Wait and find out. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Gold by Kiiara (#39)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
45. My Way by Calvin Harris (#35)
44. Bacon by Nick Jonas (#32)
43. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#43)
42. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#44)
41. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#37)
40. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#38)
39. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#41)
38. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#42)
37. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#45) (...)
36. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#34) (two weeks at #1)
35. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#33) (five weeks at #1)
34. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha (debut)
33. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#31) (one week at #1)
32. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#18)
31. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#29) (ten weeks at #1)
30. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#28) (three weeks at #1)
29. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#21)
28. Chase You Down by Runaground (#20)
27. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#19)
26. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#26)
25. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#15)
24. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (#24)
23. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#27)
22. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (#16)
21. Body Moves by DNCE (#36)
20. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#30)
19. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#23)
18. Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj (#22)
17. Good Grief by Bastille (#40)
16. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#9)
15. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer (#25)
14. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#14)
13. This Town by Niall Horan (#13)
12. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#11)
11. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#10)
10. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#8)
9. Into You by Ariana Grande (#12)
8. Kids by OneRepublic (#17)
7. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#7)
6. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#6)
5. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#3)
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#4) (one week at #1)
3. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#1) (one week at #1)
2. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#3)
Top 5 This Week One Year Ago: 5. Stitches by Shawn Mendes
4. Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon
3. Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift
2. Drag Me Down by One Direction
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Hello by Adele (second of 12 weeks at #1)
1. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#2) (sixth week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (-14)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Good Grief by Bastille (+23)

New Entrants
- We're left with but one new entrant, that new entrant being In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha. The breakdown is shrill, but Bebe Rexha has a pretty good performance here. We haven't really heard much at all from Martin Garrix since Animals in 2014, so it's nice to see more from him. We'll find out if this becomes a real hit, but I'm hoping that it can.

In The Name Of Blurbs
- So it's definitely refreshing to say goodbye to Gold by Kiiara. Described by some as a "YouTube Poop of a song" and a "mash-up of itself", it's safe to say it won't be missed.

- Before introducing Perfect Illusion, Spyder was talking about magazine covers...and how he's not on the cover of one. :P Anyway, this is I think the third week in a row that this song has held at #43. It's definitely not bound for much longer here. And while it's not Lady Gaga's most prime work to me, it's still my favorite of the "flopping diva comeback" trio, as I call it. In other words, I'll take it over Rise or Make Me any day.

- I'm not exactly thrilled about This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna jumping out of the bottom 5. But it's still on other charts so I shouldn't be surprised it didn't leave.

- Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco took a sudden drop out of the Top 20.

- I did hear Body Moves by DNCE quite a few times over the week, so it's no surprise that it took a big jump.

- Two of our debuts from two weeks ago held their positions, but thankfully That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony dropped out of the Top 20.

- Before introducing Starboy, Spyder got super sad about The Weeknd and girlfriend Bella Hadid breaking up and sarcastically hoping he was going to get to attend that wedding they would presumably have. Not really, but you get what he was sad about. :P On that note, it's about time this damn thing at least entered the Top 20.

- Usually they do Box Office Biggies - which I don't know if it's been changed to Monster Movies for good or not - plays after #9, but here they had a first round at #19, after Ride. But then they had another one after Into You, so that doesn't look to have changed.

- On that note, between Side To Side, Fresh Eyes and Good Grief, we have some nice new entrants into the Top 20. Things there are looking better than last time, that's for sure.

- Before introducing 24K Magic, Spyder talked about how Bruno Mars has announced his world tour to promote the album, which just dropped yesterday. Awwwwwww yeah! 8) Definitely planning to go to one of the two shows he'll have here in Pennsylvania!

- Once again, our Top 10 isn't in THE best shape. While there are some good ones here, we still have some of the obnoxious stuff sticking around. I won't be happy if Starving hits #1, I'll say that now.

- And before they got to Hello by Adele, last year's #1, Mikey Piff did a rewind to the entire Top 5 from this week one year ago. Very interesting. Guess that'll give me something more to add to the section.

- Well, now that I don't have to be at the edge of my seat hoping that Closer won't break the record for weeks on top of the Hot 100 (for this decade), I don't have to put it in red yet. Guys, I promise, I am trying my hardest to not hate this song again. But it really is not that amazing of a song, and I wonder how almost everyone here is still giving it a pass after being so hard on certain other massive smashes that to me are far better (including two from last year). Eh. Maybe I'm just old. Who knows. And once again I am getting sick of having to search for pictures of the three. If I used this one already then I don't care.

- But on that note, wow, only six songs on this countdown that I would genuinely consider bad. Maybe I'm just giving things here too much credit.

Hit-Bound
You're Not There by Lukas Graham (debut)
Words by Daya
She Sets The City On Fire by Gavin DeGraw
Love On The Brain by Rihanna
Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott (debut)
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa
Water Under The Bridge by Adele (debut)
Play That Song by Train
Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
Love Me Now by John Legend
The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur
Mercy by Shawn Mendes

- So we had two dropouts, Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo and Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding. The former it was disappointing to see of, but the latter I don't really care.

- More Lukas Graham... Anyway, You're Not There is another song that tries to tell a story, but much like the other two songs they had I can see people seeing it as a conceited ego trip.

- We also have Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott. Piano ballads are really hit or miss, and with this one I'm not totally sold. That could change but I don't know.

- But then we come to the real star of the show here, a song that's been widely anticipated by many - including myself - to become a real single: Water Under The Bridge by Adele. I'll talk more about it if it debuts on the countdown (which, it being Adele, I'm sure it will), but this is a magnificent song. My new favorite song on Hit-Bound for sure. Let's see it have success!

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
19. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

1 — Bad:
18. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
17. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

2 — Meh:
16. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey

3 — Decent:
15. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
14. Kids by OneRepublic
13. This Town by Niall Horan

4 — Good:
None!

5 — Great:
12. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber
11. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
10. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
9. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
8. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
7. Into You by Ariana Grande
6. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
5. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
3. Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
2. Good Grief by Bastille
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

Overall score: 73/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
2. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
3. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
4. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
5. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd

Countdown Top 5
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
2. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
3. Good Grief by Bastille
4. Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
5. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Water Under The Bridge by Adele
2. The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
3. Love Me Now by John Legend
4. Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
5. Mercy by Shawn Mendes

Most Missed Song: Chandelier by Sia - A huge fan favorite from 2014.

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: We Don't Know by The Strumbellas

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
House Party by Sam Hunt — Already talked about this one in July, it does have appeal but I thought it was ironic that Hits 1 picked up on it after its chart run died out.
Lay It All On Me by Rudimental featuring Ed Sheeran — Although Ed Sheeran and EDM shouldn't mix this well, to me they do. Has more going on than Thinking Out Loud, but it's not quite as good as Don't.
Sorry by Justin Bieber — A lot of people from this community seem to hate this one now. I'll have more words for it in a month or two, but it's not that hard for me to see why it's been turned on.
New Americana by Halsey — This song is just a mess lyrically. Hey, Halsey, just so you know, Biggie and Nirvana are not this generation's prime sounds. And being high on legal marijuana is not something to condone to the younger.
Focus by Ariana Grande — Passed off by many as nothing more than a worse version of Problem, I don't care. This song bangs.
My House by Flo Rida — While I can surely predict that this will be in Adrian's Top 10 songs of 2016, to me it doesn't quite match up to some of his bigger songs that he's had. I'll give him credit for not bringing any guest acts or using any sampling, though.

Sorry if this post feels rushed, I've definitely been playing Pokémon Sun and Moon so you can blame it on that :P Anyway, thanks for reading, everybody!

November 12, 2016 - Shawn Mendes (1)

So first off, I'm sorry this countdown post is out a little later than usual, I overslept this morning and missed the first third of the countdown or so. Sometimes I wonder why I've been making myself wake up at 6 AM just to listen to some music and talk about it to people who are far younger than me... Not to mention Donald Trump has officially become president of the United States (well, he will be sworn in come January, if I'm not mistaken). And yet, that has nothing to do with my not feeling great, though I do think people's reactions are getting disproportionate. And let me state right now: I would like to keep my political views out of this blog, so please don't bring it up here. Got it? Yes? Good. But on a much happier note, Pokémon Sun and Moon are releasing this coming Friday, and so is Bruno Mars' new album 24K Magic, both of which are gonna be awesome. Can't wait for that, at least! So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Just Like Fire by P!nk (#38)
• Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#45)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
45. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#27)
44. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#42)
43. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#43)
42. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#44)
41. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#40)
40. Good Grief by Bastille (debut)
39. Gold by Kiiara (#22)
38. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#36)
37. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#41) (two weeks at #1)
36. Body Moves by DNCE (debut)
35. My Way by Calvin Harris (#37)
34. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#33)
33. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#30) (five weeks at #1)
32. Bacon by Nick Jonas (#23)
31. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#32) (one week at #1)
30. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#29)
29. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#28) (ten weeks at #1)
28. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#25) (three weeks at #1)
27. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#24)
26. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#33)
25. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer (#26)
24. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida (#39)
23. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#9)
22. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#20)
21. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#21)
20. Chase You Down by Runaground (#31)
19. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#17)
18. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#6)
17. Kids by OneRepublic (#19)
16. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (#35)
15. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#15)
14. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#8)
13. This Town by Niall Horan (#13)
12. Into You by Ariana Grande (#10)
11. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#14) (GET IN THE TOP 10!!!)
10. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#18)
9. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#16)
8. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#11)
7. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#12) (Are you serious...)
6. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#4)
5. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#3)
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#2)
3. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#4)
2. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#2) (five weeks at #1)
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Hello by Adele (first of 12 weeks at #1)
1. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#7) (first week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (-18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (+19)

New Entrants
- Remember Bastille? Those guys with that well-known hit Pompeii from 2014? Well they're back, with Good Grief. It's a song about an ex that the lead singer lets on that he doesn't like, but if she were to leave, he'd miss her. He'd miss her. He'd miss her more. At first I found this really unmemorable and could barely remember any lines from it aside from the chorus, but I've come to like it a lot more. While I don't see it blowing up like Pompeii did and it's definitely not as good, I hope to see success from it.

- Then there's DNCE, with Body Moves. Not too much to say about this one aside from it being more disco-esque and fun for right now. It's not quite as sleazy as Cake By The Ocean or as uninteresting as Toothbrush, but we'll see how long it sticks with me.

I Blurb You, I Blurb You, I Blurb You More
- So, for starters, our two exits. Even though both of them were unavailable for vote on the site, I was not expecting either of them to leave right away seeing as I heard both of them while out this past week. Heck, I even heard Just Like Fire yesterday. That one I know was a huge fan favorite among this community, but eventually it did get old to me. We'll see if it has a chance at my top songs of the year, though. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony, on the other hand, got its completely deserved boot out of here. While I know that two certain people I won't name are grieving its departure, I was well past sick of these five saying I should quit my job. Good day.

- Very cathartic to see Gold by Kiiara take a big drop. Hopefully it won't be much longer for the countdown.

- Bacon by Nick Jonas is sandwiched in between two former #1s. Haha, wow, that was not an intentional pun.

- Something tells me that Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk will be leaving us soon. That makes me a sad panda.

- Before introducing Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake, Spyder Harrison had Justin's version of True Colors, which is also featured in the Trolls movie, playing in the background and mentioned how Justin said that he cried when he heard it himself watching the movie. Spyder also mentioned how when he's crying when leaving a theater, he tends to pretend that he's tired. Something like that.

- Ride by Twenty-one Pilots has dropped out of the Top 20. It has definitely been in that region for a long time, so it was to be expected eventually. But during Hit-Bound, it was the second Most Wutchuwanted stop of three, so it may rebound next week.

- How the heck did Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj drop?!?! I heard it so much over the past week.

- I wonder if this will be it for Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul for real this time.

- All three of our debuts from last week progressed. One took a moderate jump, one thankfully took a pretty nice jump, and the other unfortunately had the biggest jump of the week into the Top 20.

- Before introducing Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ, Spyder talked about how Justin Bieber was recently in a bar in Toronto and played on a piano doing stuff like his own music, Beethoven and Beatles songs. Very interesting. He's not on their level but that does sound cool at least.

- Before introducing Dangerous Woman, Spyder mentioned Ariana Grande and boyfriend Mac Miller were possibly soon for a wedding, even though they've only been dating like two months. I also heard him hastily pick up a piece of paper. Then before introducing Into You, he said that they were considering having kids. Wow, are we about to have another former tween star go crazy? I wonder what kind of impressions her children would get seeing this album if that were to actually happen.

- Oh my god, enough with Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya jumping in and out of the Top 10!!! I know I rant about this like every week but it's taking up a spot in there that could be occupied by far better songs.


- On that note, our Top 10 is a mixed bag. We have two songs that are extremely annoying - including our #1, which I'll get to in a bit, two that while not quite on that level are still pretty undesirable, one that is about to become very annoying, four great songs and one that's not quite as good but still pretty fun. There are certain other songs that would make for good replacements (hint: one spot right below the Top 10).

- Which brings us to our top spot. While I am glad that Closer isn't there, I'm not wild about our new #1. I had a feeling it would hit #1 back in the fall...but now it's really old. But I heard it introduced as a Most Wutchuwanted earlier this week, so I was concerned about the possibility of it. It doesn't help that the song just left the top 10 on the Hot 100 recently. But he did have a previous #1 on the countdown, so I guess it is a song that does make sense as a #1.

Hit-Bound
In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo
Play That Song by Train
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts (debut)
Love Me Now by John Legend
Mercy by Shawn Mendes
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa (debut)
She Sets The City On Fire by Gavin DeGraw
Love On The Brain by Rihanna
The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur (debut)
Words by Daya (debut)

- We have quite a few debuts this time around. For starters, we've got Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts, which is pretty fun, but a little screwy at times. I'll talk more about it if it debuts.

- Blow Your Mind (Mwah) by Dua Lipa feels a little cheesy, and her voice can get annoying at times, but I kinda like it.

- I talked a little bit about Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur last I reviewed the YouTube15, and I find it quite reminiscent of Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran.

- Daya has yet another song here, with Words. That drop is kind of annoying, but the lyrics are okay I guess. It's definitely better than the lousy Hide Away and Sit Still, Look Pretty, but I can't see it turning green anytime soon.

- And on that note, Red Dress by Magic! has FINALLY left Hit-Bound. So we're looking pretty good right about now.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
19. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
18. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

1 — Bad:
17. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
16. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

2 — Meh:
15. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
14. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul

3 — Decent:
13. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk
12. Kids by OneRepublic

4 — Good:
11. This Town by Niall Horan
10. Chase You Down by Runaground
9. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco
8. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber

5 — Great:
7. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
6. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
5. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
4. Into You by Ariana Grande
3. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
2. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

Overall score: 63/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
2. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
3. Gold by Kiiara
4. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
5. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

Countdown Top 5
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
2. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
3. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
4. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
5. Good Grief by Bastille

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
2. The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
3. Love Like We Used To by Captain Cuts
4. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
5. Love Me Now by John Legend

Most Missed Song: Treasure by Bruno Mars

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Hotline Bling by Drake — Memes. Memes. Memes and more memes. That basically sums up this song for you. Too bad the rest of the song isn't that exciting. And it flopped here.

Thanks for reading, everybody!

November 5, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Halsey (5)

So I recently saw the new movie Doctor Strange. It was pretty cool, although most Marvel films tend to be, because they tend to have the right balance of action and humor. I won't say much about it for you who haven't seen it, but it was definitely worth my time to see. It was mentioned during Monster Movies, and I would surely recommend checking it out. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai (#38)
• I'm Not Famous by AJR (#42)
• Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#44)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
45. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#45)
44. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#35)
43. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#36)
42. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#41)
41. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#40) (two weeks at #1)
40. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#43)
39. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis (debut)
38. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#39)
37. My Way by Calvin Harris (#32)
36. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#31)
35. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony (debut)
34. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#37) (two weeks at #1)
33. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (debut)
32. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#33) (one week at #1)
31. Chase You Down by RUNAGROUND (#34)
30. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#29) (five weeks at #1)
29. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#30)
28. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#20) (ten weeks at #1)
27. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#26)
26. Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer (#27)
25. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#24) (three weeks at #1)
24. I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (#23)
23. Bacon by Nick Jonas (#22)
22. Gold by Kiiara (#15)
21. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#17)
20. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#28)
19. Kids by OneRepublic (#25)
18. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara (#16)
17. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#21)
16. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar (#18)
15. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#19)
14. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#13)
13. This Town by Niall Horan (#14)
12. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#7)
11. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#12)
10. Into You by Ariana Grande (#9)
9. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#10)
8. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#3)
7. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#8)
6. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#6)
5. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#5)
4. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#4)
3. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#11)
2. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#2)
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Stitches by Shawn Mendes (third and final week at #1)
1. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#1) (fifth week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (-9)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj and Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (+8)

New Entrants
- Man, we've been getting a handful of bluesy stuff in newer times, haven't we? Case in point: Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida. Three Miami boys - much like Spyder Harrison himself, which he mentioned before introducing the song, combining for a party jam with some fun production. I also heard this song in the 2017 World Baseball Classic commercial that I would see a fair few times during the World Series the past few weeks. That said, it's definitely a welcome return for LunchMoney Lewis, after Bills from 2015 sadly failed to take off. His hook is the main highlight here, along with the saxophone. Although I will say, that saxophone trill that appears in the chorus, once described as a "dying horse noise", can get bothersome, and it shows up more than 12 times in total. But aside from that, this is a fun one for sure. Definitely more enjoyable than Messin' Around from earlier this year. However, Hits 1 hasn't been kind to Pitbull since Timber, so I'm not expecting this to do all that great. But Flo Rida did have My House, which was huge this year, so we'll see if I'm wrong.

- Ugh, more Fifth Harmony... Let's just make this quick: That's My Girl is just trash. Now I'm not opposed to self-empowerment anthems, not at all. But much like Rise by Katy Perry from earlier this year, this just sounds terrible! Not only are those fart-sounding trumpets in the verses super annoying, but when they sing the "that's my girl" line in the chorus, it's drenched in autotune and is not pleasant at all. Honestly, I know I'll get flack for this, but at least Work From Home felt like a finished song. This is just noise. Thankfully it hasn't charted on the Hot 100 and isn't all too high on iTunes yet, so maybe it'll flop. But we'll see. Don't be surprised if this becomes orange soon.

- Finally we have Jon Bellion, who before this I mainly only remembered for Beautiful Now with Zedd last year, which I didn't particularly care for. Here he is on his solo work, with All Time Low. Maybe I'm just not seeing the appeal, but I'm not totally feeling this at the time. It's about how the guy is at, well, an all time low following the departure of his beloved. There's also the word "low" being spammed in the chorus, which could definitely be written better. And what is up with those tough-sounding "huah!"s that pop up behind it? Right now I don't really care for this one. That may change in time.

Blurb Me The Green Light, 'Cause I'm Ready To Go
- So, none of our exits were any I'm seriously sad about. Never Be Like You I had since dulled on some, and the other two, while hated by many here, I did think were pretty decent everything considered, but I knew they wouldn't last.

- I honestly don't know how Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande is still here. Can it just leave soon now that it's not doing anything? As you can see, I have softened on it a bit since, but not much.

- Before introducing My Way by Calvin Harris, Spyder talked about the video for the song, which he claimed was taking jabs at Taylor Swift. Was that really her in the video? Because that looked like someone else. If it was her, then it sounds like he's up for continuing that beef. I would hope not, especially after he thanked her and Rihanna for This Is What You Came For.

- Before introducing Girls Talk Boys, Spyder talked about how he, for the 13th year in a row, didn't allow any trick-or-treaters at his house for Halloween. But he did have a bag of mini Snickers bars just in case, and he ended up eating it for himself. That was what I heard... But isn't he a dad? Why wouldn't he share it with his daughters? 0/10 worst dad ever. Haha, not really, but I thought that was funny enough to mention.

- Before introducing New Romantics, while Spyder was giving the shout-outs, he gave one to the fans of the Chicago Cubs, who, congratulations to them for winning the World Series after over a century of not making it. I didn't see the end of the last game, as I was really tired come the ninth inning and just wanted to go to bed, but apparently it was pretty crazy between a rain delay and entering extra innings. But initially it looked like the Indians were going to win for sure with a 3-1 lead but the Cubs won spectacularly. And on that note, the guest DJ who was introducing I Hate U, I Love U gave a shout-out to the Cleveland Indians, who had lost in an epic World Series. Then he said, "WHAT?! Why didn't anybody tell me?!" That was pretty funny.

- Once again, Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk continues to do absolutely nothing here. Shame.

- Not only has Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake finally left the Top 20, but this is the lowest it has been since it debuted six months ago...which was at the very same position no less. We'll see if it leaves soon, but with the Trolls movie just releasing this past weekend, it might gain.

- And speaking of I Hate U, I Love U, it seems that Hits 1 has decided to switch to the original version and not the Deepend Remix. Now almost everyone's gonna want the same to happen with Hymn For The Weekend...

- We have one new entry into the Top 20 and one returning there - Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, which is completely welcomed, and Kids by OneRepublic, which to me is still just kinda there. That one I may just end up having in the Decent tier for its entire tenure, I don't know.

- Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk has really been jumping all over the countdown.

- Could Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco potentially make Top 10?

- If 24K Magic by Bruno Mars flops here, I'm gonna blame that on Hits 1 not being kind towards most rap. (Granted, the song isn't technically considered rap, but the two verses are.) Again, let's hope that doesn't happen.

- Thank goodness Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya dropped back out of the Top 10. Can it continue to drop more? Aside from that, our Top 10 didn't really change all that much, except for...

- It shouldn't be any surprise that Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber jumped into the Top 5. That drop out of the Top 10 from last week didn't last long.

- So Closer is at #1 again, because of course it is. And with Heathens only having one week at the top, I'm sure most will say, "Well, that's how we felt about Can't Stop the Feeling blocking Just Like Fire and Ride earlier in the year, so shut up". Whatever. It doesn't help that I'm getting sick of having to find good pictures of the three, so I used a still from the video.

Hit-Bound
Be As You Are by Mike Posner
Love On The Brain by Rihanna
She Sets The City On Fire by Gavin DeGraw
In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha (debut)
Body Moves by DNCE
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
Good Grief by Bastille
Red Dress by Magic!
Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (debut)
Love Me Now by John Legend
The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
Mercy by Shawn Mendes
Play That Song by Train (debut)
Kiss the Sky by Jason Derulo

- I already talked about In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha the two times that I covered the YouTube15, a song with, while a shrill breakdown, has a good performance from Bebe Rexha, and it definitely takes my new favorite song on Hit-Bound.

- Then we've got more Lady Gaga. Million Reasons is certainly more stripped back and slow than Perfect Illusion, and it's kind of a sad one. But I'll take it.

- Then we have Play That Song by Train, which, while better than some of their singles from this decade like the absolutely rotten Hey, Soul Sister, still feels pretty whitebread and corny.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
19. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

1 — Bad:
18. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
17. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5

2 — Meh:
16. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
15. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul

3 — Decent:
14. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk
13. Kids by OneRepublic
12. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots

4 — Good:
11. This Town by Niall Horan
10. Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco
9. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber

5 — Great:
8. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
7. The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
6. Into You by Ariana Grande
5. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
4. Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
3. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
2. Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

Overall score: 64/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
2. Gold by Kiiara
3. That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony
4. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
5. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

Countdown Top 5
1. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars
2. Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
3. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha
2. The Night Is Young by The Summer Set
3. Body Moves by DNCE
4. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
5. Mercy by Shawn Mendes

Most Missed Song: Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: Versace On The Floor by Bruno Mars

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Something Better by Audien featuring Lady Antebellum — How did I not remember this song until this summer when Adrian's 600k pageview special was brought up?! He was right, it is just absolutely amazing. Everything about this just blends way better for me than it should. It's really a shame that it didn't take off elsewhere.

Thanks for reading, everybody!

Throwback Thursday: August 23, 2014 Countdown

Hey, everyone! I figured I'd do something different. With a certain user having reviewed a past Weekend Countdown, I thought I may as well try to do the same, what with me being so late into this community. On one of my posts from when the summer was kicking off, I reviewed a countdown that was from a year ago. I considered doing the same thing next week, but thought it would be redundant to look at most of the same songs, most of which one, my opinions probably wouldn't change on that quickly, and two, most of you probably only still care about, at most, a quarter of them. But I do like revisiting the music from days of the past, which is why I include the "Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago" section to include the songs that first made their entrance then. I would still sometimes hear bits and pieces of different countdowns back in 2014 and 2015 (except while I was living in college). So I was never a complete stranger to it.

So since it's Throwback Thursday, I thought, why not see what I've missed? I pulled out a random number generator, put in from 1 to 52, and I got...34. So that means I'm reviewing the 34th week of 2014, which was August 23.

2014 was a year that, for most music critics on YouTube as well as music bloggers, was seen as a pretty bad year all-around, while 2015 had things getting a lot better. But in countdown land, it was the opposite - as the summer in 2014 came to its end, they declared that the countdown was in the Golden Ages, where things were going quite good for them. 2015, on the other hand, while it looked to be promising with certain songs, they were quickly getting overplayed. People were fearing that the worst was yet to come, and the spring was the calm before the storm - in the summer, they declared that they were in the dark ages of the countdown. Why? Because in addition to big songs from earlier refusing to leave (Thinking Out Loud, Uptown Funk, Want To Want Me, Centuries, the Taylor Swift rampage), Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon became the bane of everyone as it would hog the #1 spot more times than one. Now, I'm not gonna say that otherwise excellent songs were the cause of the dark ages because of overplay, but it's safe to say that they were desperate for change and it didn't happen quickly enough. I mean, I wish I could say the same about Closer hogging #1 on everything right now, yet most here are giving that song a pass in comparison. Then again, this community tends to be younger than most YouTubers (more on that later), and the latter aren't endlessly subjected to the radio, so it does kind of make sense why the opinions may differ.

But enough about that. Time for the throwback. And as always, color code: shit, least favorite song, bad, meh, decent, good, great, favorite song. That's how I'll do this. And yes, I did listen to every single song here, most of them I knew from well before; so I didn't have to re-listen to many of them, but a few I did. So, enough about that. Let's talk about it!

Exits:
Pompeii by Bastille (#40)

45. Summer by Calvin Harris
44. Sleeping With A Friend by Neon Trees
43. Wasted by Tiësto featuring Matthew Koma
42. Be Okay by Oh Honey
41. Rude by MAGIC!
40. Counting Stars by OneRepublic
39. Shake It Off by Taylor Swift (debut)
38. Alone Together by Fall Out Boy
37. Sing by Ed Sheeran
36. All Of Me by John Legend featuring Tiësto
35. Jungle by X Ambassadors featuring Jamie N Commons
34. Am I Wrong by Nico and Vinz
33. She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer
32. All I Wanna Do by T. Mills
31. Me And My Broken Heart by Rixton
30. Chandelier by Sia
29. Not A Bad Thing by Justin Timberlake
28. Latch by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
27. We Are Done by The Madden Brothers
26. Love Robbery by Kalin and Myles
25. Cool Kids by Echosmith
24. Bailando by Enrique Iglesias featuring Sean Paul
23. Amnesia by 5 Seconds of Summer
22. Undressed by Kim Cesarion
21. I Wanna Get Better by Bleachers
20. Rather Be by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
19. Don't by Ed Sheeran
18. Fireball by Pitbull featuring John Ryan
17. Lightning In A Bottle by The Summer Set
16. Break Free by Ariana Grande featuring Zedd
15. A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay
14. This Is How We Do by Katy Perry
13. On Top Of The World by Imagine Dragons
12. Boom Clap by Charli XCX
11. Really Don't Care by Demi Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd
10. Girls Chase Boys by Ingrid Michaelson
9. I Will Never Let You Down by Rita Ora
8. Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy
7. All About That Bass by Meghan Meghans
6. Come With Me Now by Kongos
5. Stay With Me by Sam Smith
4. Problem by Ariana Grande featuring The Ghost of Iggy Azalea
3. Love Runs Out by OneRepublic
2. Fancy by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
1. Maps by Maroon 5 (second of four weeks at #1)

Blurb It Off, Blurb It Off
- Wasted by Tiësto featuring Matthew Koma is pretty darn weird, not something I'm on board with. I came close to putting it in red, but decided turquoise would be enough. And what the heck is with those girls in the music video?

- This week is well known for the beginning of one particular song: Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, which was the first song to reach that epic record of 12 weeks at #1, as well as the first song from Taylor Swift's 1989 album, and began a tenure for that album that has lasted over two years on the countdown, and with New Romantics still on the countdown at this time, continuing.

- While I enjoyed Renegades, Jungle by X Ambassadors featuring Jamie N Commons was not the most pleasant listen for me, as that one felt pretty compressed and the lead singer's voice was no help.

- All I Wanna Do by T Mills sounds like it'd fall into the mold of rap songs that tend to fare badly on Hits 1. But the music video does make the song look pretty summer-y.

- I remember liking Cool Kids by Echosmith quite a bit when it was newer, but it was one of the more hated songs by YouTubers and music bloggers. It's definitely dulled on me since that summer, but I can see the appeal on why this was successful.

- Am I the only living being here who doesn't mind Amnesia by 5 Seconds of Summer? Sure, I can see why it's frowned upon, but it just leaves me feeling sad myself more than anything.

- I'm sure I already mentioned elsewhere, but Rather Be by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne was my #1 favorite hit song of that year, and it's also a big fan favorite of many others. So, it should be no surprise that I have it in purple. Many have said that it rivals a certain other song for the best song from that Year-End Hot 100...

- That song being Don't by Ed Sheeran. Sing I also consider pretty good as well, that song has been widely compared to Justin Timberlake.

- So I gave Lightning In A Bottle by The Summer Set a listen for this, and yeah, I can see why this was more enjoyed than the two songs this band had this year.

- Two years later, I still enjoy both Fireball by Pitbull featuring John Ryan and A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. The former was always a fun jam for me, while the latter was actually an interesting turn to EDM for the band.

- Hopefully I'm not breaking too many hearts here when I say that I wasn't exactly a fan of Really Don't Care by Demi Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd. The song is too loud and feels like a pretty condescending kiss-off, not in the way that I would want to listen to one. Good thing Demi had two far better singles in 2015.

- I hear Girls Chase Boys by Ingrid Michaelson a lot at work. This does not sound like a song that I would hear on public Top 40 radio.

- If I had been doing this in 2014, Come With Me Now by Kongos I would've had in green for its entire tenure. The instrumentation and vocal performances in that song blend well into one hardcore rock banger. Spectrum Pulse had it as his #1 song from Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 for that year, and for good reason.

- As you may be able to see, I am not as big a fan of Maroon 5 as Adrian is. But yeah, Maps is not a fun listen, for both Adam Levine's vocals and the creepy premise. So yeah, sorry. Not happy with this #1. :/ But if it's anything, I consider Animals even worse.

- Also... "Y u have so few songs in green compared to (insert user here) who gives a lot of green?" Well, for one, remember, as one in his 20's, I don't just automatically love everything unlike most people who do this. Secondly, the songs in blue I don't have the same way as most others in just "decent/okay".

Bottom 5:
1. Me And My Broken Heart by Rixton
2. Maps by Maroon 5
3. She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer
4. This Is How We Do by Katy Perry
5. Really Don't Care by Demi Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd

Top 5:
1. Rather Be by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
2. Chandelier by Sia
3. Come With Me Now by Kongos
4. Don't by Ed Sheeran
5. I Wanna Get Better by Bleachers (juggled between this and Fireball, but decided this)

So...that was a throwback post for you. Thanks for reading!