Ed Sheeran (1) – Week Of April 15, 2017

Man does it feel good to actually have a countdown post out on time. Now I just gotta catch up on my Hit 45 Chart. As far as the Weekend Countdown goes, this week was an interesting week. Only three songs held their spots from last week, so there were a ton of moves and definitely some big ones. We thankfully got rid of one bad song very quickly, said goodbye to the best song of last year, and said hello to one of the best songs of this year. And on top of all that, Ed Sheeran replaces himself at #1. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Ariana Grande/Future – Everyday (#30)
• Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful (#32)
• Coldplay – Hymn For The Weekend (#42)
• Bebe Rexha – I Got You (#43)

Last Week's #1 Song: Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You

The Countdown

45. Rihanna – Love On The Brain (#45)
44. Panic! At The Disco – Death Of A Bachelor (#44)
43. Ariana Grande/Nicki Minaj – Side To Side (#41)
42. Niall Horan – This Town (#38)
41. The Weeknd/Daft Punk – Starboy (#39)
40. Halsey – Now Or Never (DEBUT)
39. James Hersey – Miss You (#27)
38. Twenty One Pilots – Heathens (#31) [2 Weeks At #1]
37. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#40)
36. Snakehips/MØ – Don't Leave (#37)
35. Harry Styles – Sign Of The Times (DEBUT)
34. Calvin Harris/Frank Ocean/Migos – Slide (DEBUT)
33. Maroon 5 – Don't Wanna Know (#36) [3 Weeks At #1]
32. Zayn/Taylor Swift – I Don't Wanna Live Forever (#21)
31. The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (DEBUT)
30. Adele – Water Under The Bridge (#28)
29. Bruno Mars – 24K Magic (#35)
28. Shawn Mendes – Treat You Better (#29) [2 Weeks At #1]
27. Panic! At This Disco – L.A. Devotee (#33)
26. Steve Aoki/Louis Tomlinson – Just Hold On (#25)
25. Lady Gaga – Million Reasons (#19)
24. AJR – Weak (#23)
23. Katy Perry/Skip Marley – Chained To The Rhythm (#20)
22. The Vamps/Matoma – All Night (#34)
21. Jon Bellion – All Time Low (#22)
20. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey/Zedd – Starving (#12) [4 Weeks At #1]
19. Train – Play That Song (#15)
18. Julia Michaels – Issues (#17)
17. Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap (#3)
16. Machine Gun Kelly/Camila Cabello – Bad Things (#24)
15. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#11)
14. The Chainsmokers/Halsey – Closer (#6) [8 Weeks At #1]
13. Maroon 5 – Cold (#9)
12. Clean Bandit/Sean Paul/Anne-Marie – Rockabye (#10)
11. Twenty One Pilots – Heavydirtysoul (#18)
10. The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming (#16)
  9. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#1) [9 Weeks At #1]
  8. Bruno Mars – That's What I Like (#2)
  7. Shawn Mendes – Mercy (#7)
  6. The Chainsmokers – Paris (#14)
  5. Linkin Park/Kiiara – Heavy (#26)
  4. Kygo/Selena Gomez – It Ain't Me (#8)
  3. James Arthur – Say You Won't Let Go (#5)
  2. Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay (#4)
  1. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#13) [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: DNCE – Cake By The Ocean

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap (–14)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Linkin Park/Kiiara – Heavy (+21)

New Entrants
~ First up, we have Halsey debuting this week with Now Or Never. I can't really say I'm loving this song. I believe that she's capable of better. If I'm being honest, this song is pretty boring and too appealing. Halsey's vocal performance is also not so amazing. It's certainly not bad, but it isn't something that grabbed my attention right from the start. My opinion could very well change. But as of right now, I'm not head-over-heels in love with this song.

~ Next we have the fourth member of One Direction branching out with a solo single. Harry Styles debuts with Sign Of The Times. I'm going to be straight up and say I did not like this song at first listen. It's not exactly what I expected out of him. But after the second and third listen, I've come to realize it's actually a good song. Styles' vocals are on point all throughout this song and while the production is slow, I'd still consider it good and an attention-grabber. Is this an amazing song? No. It could very well switch to blue any time soon. But as of right now, I like this song. It's different than what One Direction used to do.

~ If you're like me, you may have questioned the return of Calvin Harris after the extremely mediocre This Is What You Came For from last year. Before even listening to it, what made Slide even more questionable was the featured artists: Frank Ocean and Migos. This may just be me, but I feel like Frank Ocean is on a much higher level of talent, while Migos is on a much lower level. So I found it strange that they would come together and actually work together. But I have to admit, this collab worked out very well. Calvin Harris' production is on point from start to finish, which is impressive since it felt like he was going in a mediocre direction with his two singles last year. Frank Ocean's vocals are very good and surprisingly, Migos didn't sound awful. In fact, I can't picture this song without him. Overall, I think that this song is a big win for Calvin Harris and it did help him redeem himself after last year. Hopefully this song does well.

~ Finally, we have The Chainsmokers. I'm sure most people are tired of these guys and I would be as well. However, their debut this week happens to be one of the best songs they have released to this day. That song is Something Just Like This in collaboration with Coldplay, who happen to be replacing themselves on the countdown. Chris Martin's vocals are fantastic all throughout this song. I love the chorus. I also love that drop despite it sounding very similar to the drop of Roses. It's still fun to jam out to. In my opinion, I believe that this song is fantastic. It's been listed as one of the most downloaded songs for the past few weeks now and I'm glad it finally made it on to the countdown. This is hands-down the best debut of the week.


Hit-Bound
~ Here is the Hit-Bound list:

• Mansionz/G-Eazy – Wicked
• DNCE/Nicki Minaj – Kissing Strangers (DEBUT)
• Kungs/Ephemerals – I Feel So Bad
• Erin Bowman – Good Time Good Life
• Flo Rida/99 Percent – Cake
• Ocean Park Standoff – Good News
• Jon Bellion – Overwhelming
• Coin – Talk Too Much
• Hey Violet – Break My Heart (DEBUT)
• G-Eazy/Kehlani – Good Life (DEBUT)
• One Ok Rock – American Girls
• Zayn/PartyNextDoor – Still Got Time (DEBUT)
• Aaron Carter – Sooner Or Later
• Jason Derulo/Nicki Minaj/Ty Dolla $ign – Swalla

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Kungs/Ephemerals – I Feel So Bad

2. Jon Bellion – Overwhelming

3. Aaron Carter – Sooner Or Later

4. Jason Derulo/Nicki Minaj/Ty Dolla $ign – Swalla

5. Erin Bowman – Good Time Good Life

Blurb Of The Times

~ The replacing of Ed Sheeran was not necessarily expected. But at the same time, it isn't very surprising. Castle On The Hill is now another one of the rare occasions in which a re-entry hits #1, with the last one being Panic! At The Disco – Victorious. But I'm definitely happy to see Castle On The Hill at the top spot. Shape Of You had its time there and it's nice to see something different.

~ Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay is now at #2. I consider that to be relatively strange as this is now his highest charting single.* Even Clarity, which was one of the most overplayed, yet one of the best singles of 2013, did not get this high. I believe it reached #3. That being said, I don't think this song, which is a step down from his previous singles, is worthy of the #1 spot. If it does get there, I won't really mind too much. However, I just think his previous singles were more worthy and unfortunately did not reach this height.

*As a lead artist (Starving does not count).

~ James Arthur – Say You Won't Let Go is now sitting at #3. I'm gonna be straight up and say that I did not expect this out of this song. There have been several occasions where I thought this song would leave. But now it's in the Top 3, so it's a little strange. But hey, I'll take it! It's a really nice song and I wouldn't mind seeing it at #1. I think it's worthy of that spot and it'd be nice to see something different at #1 as opposed to the same pop music we always see there.

~ At #4, we have Kygo/Selena Gomez – It Ain't Me. I did expect this to hit the Top 5, just not this soon I guess. I am still really enjoying this song, so I'm glad to see it in the Top 5. I'll be happy if this one hits #1 because it is a very good song. And like I said last week, it's nice to see Kygo with a hit as all his other songs have been extremely underrated.

~ Rounding out the Top 5, we have.......Linkin Park/Kiiara – Heavy? Huh. Easily the least expected jump this week. I mean, I guess this is good. However, I don't think it's that worthy of being in the Top 5. It seems like one of those songs that's worthy of hitting #10 and not getting any higher. I can't say I'll be too pleased if this for whatever reason hits #1. But I'll certainly accept it.

~ The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming has finally entered the Top 10. I've been waiting for this for quite a while now. Hopefully it can reach the Top 5 because it is a fantastic song and easily one of the best songs of the year as of right now. Hopefully in the future, we can get more collabs between The Weeknd and Daft Punk. I Feel It Coming and Starboy have both proved that these two artists can make magic together.

~ Twenty One Pilots – Heavydirtysoul is finally getting somewhere on the countdown. It does kind of seem like this song isn't charting anywhere at the moment. However, it's still a great song and I'm sure it'll hit the Top 10 at some point in the near future.

~ The Chainsmokers/Halsey – Closer has departed from the Top 10 after I don't know how many weeks. This song's time may be coming to an end soon. Hopefully it doesn't stay this high for long though because I do want Something Just Like This to actually get somewhere and not just sit around in the bottom half of the countdown. The song is currently #5 on iTunes, so one can only hope it can have the same kind of success on this countdown.

~ Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap just cannot stay in one place. It'll be in the Top 3 one week, and then next thing you know, it's just barely still in the Top 20. It's entertaining for me to watch, but I can imagine it getting pretty annoying at some point.

~ Zayn/Taylor Swift – I Don't Wanna Live Forever is dropping much faster than expected. For once, Hits 1 is not holding on to a song and overplaying it to death. I'm glad to see that it's this one and it wasn't even a great song to begin with. Hopefully this means it'll leave relatively soon. But as long as it stays out of the Top 30, I'll be happy.

~ As far as the exits go, I was starting to get sick of Scars To Your Beautiful. Though it was a great song while it was here and is definitely Alessia Cara's best single so far. I Got You was pretty underrated and I'm not too happy about that. Everyday currently has the shortest tenure of 2017 at only two weeks. I'm very happy by this as this song was a big step down for Ariana Grande, as she hit a new height of mediocrity. Finally, we have Hymn For The Weekend. This song was crowned as my #1 song of 2016. It was very successful on this countdown peaking at #4 and lasting this long. I'm very impressed by how did on this countdown to the point where I don't really mind it leaving. However, it was a fantastic song that I have enjoyed every single week it was on the countdown. Hymn For The Weekend, thank you for being amazing last year and this year and you will certainly be missed.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Bruno Mars – That's What I Like
19. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey/Zedd – Starving

1 – Bad:
18. Julia Michaels – Issues
17. Imagine Dragons – Believer

2 – Mediocre:
NONE

3 – Decent:
NONE

4 – Good:
16. Machine Gun Kelly/Camila Cabello – Bad Things

5 – Great:
15. Fitz & The Tantrums – HandClap
14. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You
13. The Chainsmokers/Halsey – Closer
12. Shawn Mendes – Mercy
11. Linkin Park/Kiiara – Heavy
10. The Chainsmokers – Paris
9. Maroon 5 – Cold
8. Zedd/Alessia Cara – Stay
7. James Arthur – Say You Won't Let Go
6. Train – Play That Song
5. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill
4. Twenty One Pilots – Heavydirtysoul
3. Kygo/Selena Gomez – It Ain't Me
2. Clean Bandit/Sean Paul/Anne-Marie – Rockabye

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming

Total Score: 82/100 = 82% (B–)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: The All-American Rejects – Dirty Little Secret / Move Along / It Ends Tonight (pretty much every single from Move Along)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Lana Del Rey/Cedric Gervais – Summertime Sadness

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Pitbull & J Balvin/Camila Cabello – Hey Ma

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Taylor Swift – New Romantics


My Top 5 Picks
1. TIE: The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming
1. TIE: The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This
3. Clean Bandit/Sean Paul/Anne-Marie – Rockabye
4. Calvin Harris/Frank Ocean/Migos – Slide
5. Kygo/Selena Gomez – It Ain't Me