Week of July 24, 2021 - Olivia Rodrigo (8)

Hey, everyone! It was a very eventful week this week, and I have a total of seven brand-new songs to review this week, so let's jump into it!

Songs We're Saying Goodbye To

telepatía - Kali Uchis (#24) [#23] {7 weeks}

Heat Waves - Glass Animals (#23) [#6] {25 weeks}

Fine Apple - Nic D (#22) [#22] {3 weeks}

Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic (#21) [#7] {19 weeks}

Girl From Rio - Anitta/DaBaby (#20) [#20] {3 weeks}

pov - Ariana Grande (#18) [#4] {16 weeks}

Last Week's #1: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo (7)

#30: Demeanor - Pop Smoke/Dua Lipa (DEBUT) [0 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#29: Way Less Sad - AJR (-14) [#3] {22 weeks}

#28: NDA - Billie Eilish (DEBUT) [1 week in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#27: Say So - Masked Wolf (-) [#27] {2 weeks}

#26: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear (DEBUT) [0 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#25: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd (+5) [#25] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#24: Cloudy Day - Tones And I (+4) [#24] {5 weeks} *new peak*

#23: Renegade - Big Red Machine/Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [1 week in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#22: Iko Iko (My Bestie) - Justin Wellington/Small Jam (-6) [#16] {4 weeks}

#21: Saturday - Twenty One Pilots (DEBUT) [0 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#20: A-O-K - Tai Verdes (-6) [#14] {7 weeks}

#19: working - Tate McRae/Khalid (+7) [#19] {5 weeks} *new peak*

#18: WANNA BE - jxdn/Machine Gun Kelly (+7) [#18] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#17: Build a B**** - Bella Poarch (-5) [#12] {9 weeks}

#16: 90s Kids - Jax (-3) [#13] {10 weeks}

#15: Love Again - Dua Lipa (DEBUT) [2 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#14: Arcade - Duncan Laurence (+3) [#14] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#13: Butter - BTS (-3) [#9] {9 weeks}

#12: Shy Away - Twenty One Pilots (-1) [#7] {15 weeks}

#11: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X (-6) [#2] {16 weeks}

#10: la di die - Nessa Barrett/jxdn (+9) [#10] {6 weeks} *new peak*

#9: Lil Bit - Nelly/Florida Georgia Line (-) [#6] {9 weeks}

#8: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber (+21) [#8] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#7: deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo (-) [1 week at #1] {15 weeks}

#6: Our Song - Anne-Marie/Niall Horan (-) [#3] {8 weeks}

#5: You - Regard/Troye Sivan/Tate McRae (-1) [#4] {14 weeks}

#4: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA (-1) [#2] {15 weeks}

#3: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran (+5) [#3] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#2: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers (-) [#2] {9 weeks}

#1: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo (-) [8th week at #1] {9 weeks}

Last Year's #1: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles [5/7 weeks at #1]

Countdown Extra: Sweet Dream - Alessia Cara

We'll kick off our big list of debuts with a new posthumous release from Pop Smoke, this time featuring Dua Lipa, Demeanor. This song has a bit of a darker vibe than Pop Smoke's previous song on Hits 1, What You Know Bout Love, and I kind of like it. Pop Smoke sounds great here, moreso in the verses than in the chorus, but his voice in the chorus works with the production, and for whatever reason, Dua Lipa fits in here really well. The production is a bit of a mix between a darker sound and an 80's vibe, which I find very interesting, and it does a good job of bringing both artists' sounds together in one song. I actually quite like this song, and I hope it becomes a hit.

Aw. I was hoping that Billie Eilish's new song, NDA would perform similarly to Lost Cause and completely flop, but I got my hopes up, as it debuts at #28 this week. Honestly, I'd say that this is the worst single from Happier Than Ever that we've gotten so far. Your Power was pretty substanceless, but at least it had a good melody. This song just sounds like a poorly executed version of all the good girls go to hell. It goes back to the creepy vibe that was super prominent in her previous album, except Billie sounds bad throughout the entire song. When she's whisper-singing, she doesn't sound good, and then other times, she's drenched in autotune. On top of all that, the song's also really boring. Literally the only remotely interesting thing about this is the fact that it flows into Therefore I Am. If you like this, that's fine, but it really shouldn't be a radio song.

Next up, we have a new one from Kane Brown, who's teaming up with blackbear on their new song, Memory. I generally don't like country music, but I'll accept Kane Brown into the pop scene, because when he has crossover hits, they're so clearly geared to be crossovers, and they have a lot of pop elements... unlike another song that I'll talk about later. Anyways, I actually kind of like this song. Kane Brown sounds alright throughout the song, even though I think he's singing a bit too low for his voice, and blackbear sounds fantastic as usual. The chorus is also really catchy, and I like the production. Yeah, I'll gladly accept this as a pop hit.

After leaving Hit-Bound last week, Renegade by Big Red Machine and Taylor Swift debuts the Countdown this week at #23. This song has been steadily growing on me since its release, so I would expect it to change into blue sooner rather than later. Taylor Swift sounds fantastic throughout the song, and I like the production here a lot. I didn't love folklore and evermore at first, but after giving each a few more listens, I've begun to appreciate them more, so I'm totally fine that she's revisited that sound for this song. I'd love to see this do well here.

After spending way too much time receiving airplay without even debuting Hit-Bound, Saturday by Twenty One Pilots debuts at #21 this week. I'm really happy that this finally here, because it's a great song. The song's super catchy and upbeat, and Tyler Joseph sounds fantastic here. I'm not totally in love with the verses yet, but I still have a really fun time listening to the song. I also want to point out that the first time I heard this song, I thought my radio had glitched during the last chorus, but then it happened again at the exact same spot later, and I realized that it was part of the song. Just thought that that was funny.

Dua Lipa gets her second debut and eleventh total song on the Weekend Countdown this week with Love Again, debuting all the way up at #15. I'm very happy that this song had such a high debut, and that's very promising for its run here. The song is extremely catchy, especially with the violins throughout the song, Dua sounds great, and the beat is really cool. I know I've said this with most of the Future Nostalgia singles, but this is probably my favourite one so far. I'd love to see this become a huge hit, and I have no doubts that it will.

Best Debut: Love Again - Dua Lipa

Biggest Drop: Way Less Sad - AJR (-14): Aw. Looks like this is its last week here. It's getting a little old, so this makes sense, but I wish it had've hit #1 here. That would've been great.

Biggest Jump: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber (+21): Woah. It doesn't surprise me that much that this jumped into the top 10 on its second week, but I'm very happy nonetheless.

Countdown Ranking

0 - Awful:

#30: NDA - Billie Eilish

#29: Build a B**** - Bella Poarch

1 - Bad:

#28: A-O-K - Tai Verdes

#27: Lil Bit - Nelly/Florida Georgia Line

2 - Mediocre:

#26: You - Regard/Troye Sivan/Tate McRae

3 - Decent:

#25: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA

#24: WANNA BE - jxdn/Machine Gun Kelly

#23: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

#22: deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo

#21: Cloudy Day - Tones And I

#20: Renegade - Big Red Machine/Taylor Swift

4 - Good:

#19: Iko Iko (My Bestie) - Justin Wellington/Small Jam

#18: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers

#17: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X

#16: Arcade - Duncan Laurence

#15: la di die - Nessa Barrett/jxdn

#14: 90s Kids - Jax

#13: working - Tate McRae/Khalid

#12: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear

5 - Great:

#11: Butter - BTS

#10: Demeanor - Pop Smoke/Dua Lipa

#9: Our Song - Anne-Marie/Niall Horan

#8: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#7: Shy Away - Twenty One Pilots

#6: Saturday - Twenty One Pilots

#5: Say So - Masked Wolf

#4: Way Less Sad - AJR

#3: Love Again - Dua Lipa

#2: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

#1: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

Overall Score: 109/150 = 73%

5 Oldest Songs

#5: 90s Kids - Jax {10 weeks}
#4: You - Regard/Troye Sivan/Tate McRae {14 weeks}
#3: Shy Away - Twenty One Pilots, deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo & Kiss Me More - Doja Cat {15 weeks}
#2: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X {16 weeks}
#1: Way Less Sad - AJR {22 weeks}

#1 Recommendation for Hits 1: Wrecked - Imagine Dragons

My Favourite Song Last Year: Come & Go - Juice WRLD/Marshmello

My Least Favourite Song Last Year: Moral of the Story - Ashe/Niall Horan

Most Missed Countdown Song: Hey Mama - David Guetta/Afrojack/Bebe Rexha/Nicki Minaj

Hit-Bound

seaside_demo - SEB [2]

Beggin' - Måneskin [2]

Fine Apple - Nic D [1; 2nd time]

Psycho - Dixie/Rubi Rose [1]

Sweet Dream - Alessia Cara [2]

Thot S*** - Megan Thee Stallion [2]

Fancy Like - Walker Hayes [1]

Permission to Dance - BTS [2]

New Normal - Khalid [1]

t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l - WILLOW/Travis Barker [5]

JUST LIKE YOU - NF [5]

Lost - Maroon 5 [4]

I Like That - Bazzi [1]

People Watching - Conan Gray [2]

Heartbreak Anniversary - Giveon [16]

Fine Apple left the Countdown and re-entered Hit-Bound this week. It's not a good song, so I hope it doesn't re-enter.

Dixie D'Amelio returns this week with a new song Psycho, featuring someone named Rubi Rose. This is actually quite a good song. Dixie sounds great throughout the whole song, and the production is really cool. The chorus is honestly pretty catchy, and Rubi Rose's verse is pretty good. I also just want to point out how the production kind of reminds me of Familiar by Liam Payne. Maybe that's just me, I don't know. Anyways, I quite like this song. My only issue with it is that I wish the production evolved a bit more, but other than that, it's a very solid song.

For whatever reason, this country song, Fancy Like by Walker Hayes has decided to cross over into pop radio... why? This song is extremely country, and not good at all. Walker Hayes' drawl is very prominent here, and I really don't like it. The chorus is very annoying, and the production isn't good at all, with the guitar being very obnoxious. Yeah, this song isn't good at all, and I have no clue why Hits 1 picked it up.

Khalid brings us a new song this week, New Normal. This song is very R&B-ish. Normally, I wouldn't love that, because I'm not very into R&B, but I really love Khalid's voice, and he sounds fantastic throughout the entire thing. The whole song's pretty chill, but I really enjoy it. Overall, this is a pretty great little song, and I'd love to see it become a hit.

Bazzi returns this week, which is interesting, because he hasn't brought us a song here since Paradise back in 2019 (bet you're pretty proud of me for remembering that one, aren't you?). This one's called I Like That. This song's solid. It's nothing too interesting, but Bazzi sounds good, and the production's pretty good. Not much else to comment on, though.

This week, we say goodbye to Motley Crew, Jalebi Baby, Lean On Me and Dinero. I know that Motley Crew debuts next week, so I won't comment on that yet. Jalebi Baby already debuted, so I don't really care that it's gone. But I'm quite sad that Lean On Me and Dinero never debuted. They were both very good, and they should've debuted.

Best Hit-Bound Debut: New Normal - Khalid

Hit-Bound Ranking

0 - Awful:

#15: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

1 - Bad:

#14: Fine Apple - Nic D

#13: t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l - WILLOW/Travis Barker

2 - Mediocre:

#12: Heartbreak Anniversary - Giveon

3 - Decent:

#11: Thot S*** - Megan Thee Stallion

#10: I Like That - Bazzi

#9: People Watching - Conan Gray

#8: seaside_demo - SEB

#7: Beggin' - Måneskin

4 - Good:

#6: Permission to Dance - BTS

#5: Sweet Dream - Alessia Cara

#4: Psycho - Dixie/Rubi Rose

5 - Great:

#3: New Normal - Khalid

#2: Lost - Maroon 5

#1: JUST LIKE YOU - NF

Overall Score: 46/75 = 61%

But on Blurb-aday, Blurb-aday, Blurb-aday

Our other five exits this week are telepatía, Heat Waves, Leave The Door Open, Girl From Rio and pov. Heat Waves, Leave The Door Open and pov all had good runs here and were getting pretty old, so I'm fine with them leaving. telepatía was never that good, so I don't care that it's gone, and Girl From Rio was good and deserved more of a shot here.

Iko Iko had a big drop after its big jump last week, which I'm alright with, because it's not my favourite song.

A-O-K took a big hit, which is great. I hope this song doesn't stick around for too long.

Both working and WANNA BE jumped to seven spots to #19 and #18 respectively this week. I'm really happy that working jumped, because it really deserves it, and I don't really care about WANNA BE.

Build a B**** left the top 15 this week, which is good, especially because Arcade replaced it.

Looks like MONTERO's on its way out, which I'm okay with, because it's been here for a while now. I wish it could've hit #1 though.

la di die got a huge jump into the top 10, which is good. I'd love to see it stick around here.

Bad Habits jumped all the way up to #3 this week, which is great.

How Hits 1 Songs Are Doing on the Hot 100

#1: Permission to Dance - BTS

#2: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

#3: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

#4: Levitating - Dua Lipa/DaBaby

#5: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA

#6: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#7: Butter - BTS

#8: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X

#9: Save Your Tears (Remix) - The Weeknd/Ariana Grande

#10: deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo

#11: Peaches - Justin Bieber/Daniel Caesar/Giveon

#12: Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic

#13: Motley Crew - Post Malone

#14: RAPSTAR - Polo G

#15: Astronaut In The Ocean - Masked Wolf

#17: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

#18: Heartbreak Anniversary - Giveon

#19: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

#20: WITHOUT YOU - The Kid LAROI

#21: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

#25: Thot S*** - Megan Thee Stallion

#26: Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5/Megan Thee Stallion

#28: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers

#29: Lil Bit - Nelly/Florida Georgia Line

#32: Best Friend - Saweetie/Doja Cat

#33: Late At Night - Roddy Ricch

#35: Heat Waves - Glass Animals

#36: telepatía - Kali Uchis

#39: NDA - Billie Eilish

#41: Beggin' - Måneskin

#42: drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo

#43: Mood - 24kGoldn/iann dior

#44: my ex's best friend - Machine Gun Kelly/blackbear

#48: pov - Ariana Grande

#49: Calling My Phone - Lil Tjay/6LACK

#50: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear

#58: Arcade - Duncan Laurence

#60: Way Less Sad - AJR

#61: You - Regard/Troye Sivan/Tate McRae

#63: Need To Know - Doja Cat

#83: A-O-K - Tai Verdes

#84: Build a B**** - Bella Poarch

#86: Follow You - Imagine Dragons

#88: working - Tate McRae/Khalid

#93: t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l - WILLOW/Travis Barker

Top 10 on the Hunger Games Countdown

#10: Dinero - Trinidad Cardona

#9: positions - Ariana Grande

#8: In The Morning - Jennifer Lopez

#7: telepatía - Kali Uchis

#6: Permission to Dance - BTS

#5: Way Less Sad - AJR

#4: Say So - Masked Wolf

#3: F***BOY - Dixie

#2: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA

#1: THINK ABOUT ME - jxdn

Top 10 If the Countdown Made Sense

#10: Lil Bit - Nelly/Florida Georgia Line

#9: Arcade - Duncan Laurence

#8: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers

#7: You - Regard/Troye Sivan/Tate McRae

#6: Butter - BTS

#5: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#4: deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo

#3: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA

#2: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X

#1: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

Kwaheri, everybody! See you all in the next one.