OneRepublic (1) – Week Of December 21, 2013

“Lately I been, I been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be. But baby I been, I been praying hard. Said no more counting dollars. We'll be here, we'll be counting stars.” Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Katy Perry – Unconditionally (#22)
• Icona Pop – All Night (#39)
• New Politics – Harlem (#44)
• Lana Del Rey feat. Cedric Gervais – Summertime Sadness (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Imagine Dragons – Demons

The Countdown

45. Enrique Iglesias – Heart Attack (#43)

44. Capital Cities – Safe and Sound (RE-ENTRY)

43. Travie McCoy feat. Jason Mraz – Rough Water (#33)

42. The Wanted – We Own The Night (#34)

41. Serebro – Mi Mi Mi (#21)

40. A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera – Say Something (DEBUT)

39. Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding – I Need Your Love (#18)

38. Katy Perry feat. Juicy J – Dark Horse (DEBUT)

37. Rihanna – What Now (#37)

36. Bruno Mars – Young Girls (DEBUT)

35. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton – Can't Hold Us (#31)

34. Imagine Dragons – Radioactive (#33)

33. Lady Gaga – Applause (#16)

32. Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) (#20)

31. John Newman – Love Me Again (#25)

30. The Mowgli's – Say It, Just Say It (#24)

29. Robin Thicke feat. Pharrell & T.I. – Blurred Lines (#23)

28. Linkin Park feat. Steve Aoki – A Light That Never Comes (#42)

27. Midnight Red – Hell Yeah (#36)

26. Wax – Rosana (#41)

25. Panic! At The Disco feat. Lolo – Miss Jackson (#26)

24. One Direction – Story Of My Life (#28)

23. Flo Rida – How I Feel (#39)

22. Sara Bareilles – Brave (#38)

21. Lady Gaga feat. R. Kelly – Do What U Want (#27)

20. Justin Timberlake – Drink You Away (#40)

19. Paramore – Still Into You (#17)

18. Ellie Goulding – Burn (#35)

17. Katy Perry – Roar (#4)

16. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. ScHoolboy Q & Hollis – White Walls (#14)

15. Selena Gomez – Slow Down (#19)

14. Passenger – Let Her Go (#30)

13. Armin van Buuren feat. Trevor Guthrie – This Is What It Feels Like (#10)

12. Hunter Hayes – I Want Crazy (#11)

11. Olly Murs – Dance With Me Tonight (#9)

10. The Neighbourhood – Sweater Weather (#15)

  9. MKTO – Classic (#13)

  8. Zedd feat. Hayley Williams – Stay The Night (#12)

  7. Lorde – Royals (#6)

  6. Avicii feat. Aloe Blacc – Wake Me Up (#5)

  5. Fall Out Boy – Alone Together (#8)

  4. Eminem feat. Rihanna – The Monster (#7)

  3. Imagine Dragons – Demons (#1)

  2. Pitbull feat. Ke$ha – Timber (#2)

  1. OneRepublic – Counting Stars (#3) [New #1]

#1 Song 1 Year Ago: fun. – Some Nights

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding – I Need Your Love (–21)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Justin Timberlake – Drink You Away (+20)

As everyone should know, Green = It should stay. Red = It should leave. Blue = I don't care.

New Entrants

-- We're sort of welcoming back Capital Cities – Safe and Sound. But like every other re-entrant that re-enters at #43, #44, or #45, it'll leave again next week. So expect that.

-- Let's start with the worst debut. A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera – Say Something is a slow song. I don't think their voices sound good together. I don't get the point of the song. The piano doesn't sound good. It's just full of bad things.

-- People like me are probably thinking, “Another Katy Perry song? Really?” But you can't think that because Dark Horse is actually really good. Juicy J plays a good role. Katy's voice actually sounds good in this song. 

-- Bruno Mars is now placing his 5th song from Unorthodox Jukebox on the countdown. Young Girls is nothing to get excited about. It's actually kind of bad. I can't really explain why. Maybe it's Bruno's voice?

Countdown Info

-- When Spyder Harrison did his recap of #2 – #5, he said #4 was Eminem feat. Rihanna – What Now. It took me a while to figure out that was wrong.

-- Last week, I sensed two potential #1 songs. This week's #1 is the least expected. But I do like this song at #1.

-- Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark is back under #30. Keep it there. If it has another massive jump, I think I'll have a Heart Attack.*

-- The Neighbourhood – Sweater Weather has entered the Top 10. I don't know what to say.

-- Earlier this week, I was listening to regular FM radio and on 103.5 KISS FM, I heard a song that I thought FM radio stations would never play. That song was John Newman – Love Me Again.

-- The Wanted – We Own The Night isn't really catching on.

-- Serebro – Mi Mi Mi has been on the countdown longer than I thought it would be.

-- I apologize for my harsh review on Passenger – Let Her Go last week. It's actually pretty good. Last week did have all good debuts. =D 

-- Unconditionally's exit was a little unexpected. It left at #22.

-- There is a lot of CRAP on Hit-Bound right now. And that crap is starting to infect the Weekend Countdown with songs like Say Something and Young Girls. Especially the songs that entered Hit-Bound this weekend.

-- I think Eminem feat. Rihanna – The Monster could be a possible #1 song.

-- For the past 9 weeks, not a single song has held the #1 spot for more than one week.

-- My Top 45 Songs Of 2013 is expected to posted on Monday. You have till Wednesday to vote for Your Top 45 Songs Of 2013.

-- What is Lorde – Royals still doing in the Top 10? No one listens to that anymore. Everyone listens to her new song, Team.

Song Recommendations For The Weekend Countdown

-- As I said the past few weeks, I recommend Avicii feat. Dan Tyminski – Hey Brother, Maroon 5 – Lucky Strike, and Drake feat. Majid Jordan – Hold On We're Going Home

-- Avril Lavigne feat. Chad Kroeger – Let Me Go - This song makes Avril sound like a grown, married woman unlike Rock N Roll and Here's To Never Growing Up.

-- Austin Mahone – Banga! Banga! - Austin Mahone is just a great young artist who makes great music.

-- Of Monsters and Men – Dirty Paws - We need more Of Monsters and Men!

-- Avicii feat. Adam Lambert & Nile Rodgers – Lay Me Down - This is a good song by Avicii as well.

My Top 5 Picks
1. John Newman – Love Me Again
2. Midnight Red – Hell Yeah
3. Linkin Park feat. Steve Aoki – A Light That Never Comes
4. OneRepublic – Counting Stars
5. Sara Bareilles – Brave
*Get It? Enrique Iglesias!