Panic! At The Disco (5) - Week of 10/6/18

Hi everyone. I thought this countdown was no very good this week. Our biggest jump and drop both sucked, but at least we got some solid debuts. Here are the exits:

• Clean Bandit/Demi Lovato - Solo (#43)
• Dua Lipa - IDGAF (#35)
• Train/Cam/Travie McCoy - Call Me Sir (#36)

45. DJ Khaled/Justin Bieber/Quavo/Chance The Rapper - No Brainer (#45) [=]

44. Foster The People - Sit Next To Me (#44) [=]

43. Marshmello/Anne-Marie - FRIENDS (#41) [-2]

42. Niall Horan - On The Loose (#42) [=]

41. Ariana Grande - no tears left to cry (#39) [-2]

40. Brown & Gray - Top Down (#38) [-2]

39. Taylor Swift - Delicate (#17) [-22] {3 Weeks At #1} [...]

38. Silk City/Dua Lipa - Electricity (DEBUT)

37. The Vamps - Just My Type (#40) [+3]

36. Kim Petras - Heart To Break (#33) [-3]

35. Shawn Mendes/Zedd - Lost In Japan (Remix) (DEBUT)

34. Bryce Vine - Drew Barrymore (#37) [+3]

33. AJR - Burn The House Down (#34) [+1]

32. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling (DEBUT)

31. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#29) [-2]

30. Calvin Harris/Dua Lipa - One Kiss (#26) [-4]

29. Dan + Shay - Tequila (#19) [-10]

28. Sabrina Carpenter - Almost Love (#28) [=]

27. Shawn Mendes - In My Blood (#32) [+5] {2 Weeks At #1}

26. NOTD/Bea Miller - I Wanna Know (#30) [+4]

25. Maroon 5/Cardi B - Girls Like You (#9) [-16]

24. Anne-Marie - 2002 (#31) [+7]

23. Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes (#21) [-2] {1 Week At #1}

22. Post Malone - Better Now (#18) [-4]

21. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey - The Middle (#8) [-13] {9 Weeks At #1} [!!!]

20. Bazzi/Camila Cabello - Beautiful (#22) [+2]

19. lovelytheband - broken (#27) [+8]

18. LSD - Thunderclouds (#24) [+6]

17. Weezer - Africa (#25) [+8]

16. Ariana Grande - God is a woman (#14) [-2]

15. George Ezra - Shotgun (#23) [+8]

14. Bebe Rexha - I'm A Mess (#12) [-2]

13. Panic! At The Disco - Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#16) [+3] {4 Weeks At #1}

12. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren - Side Effects (#10) [-2]

11. Imagine Dragons - Natural (#11) [=]

10. Zedd/Elley Duhé - Happy Now (#20) [+10]

9. Fall Out Boy - The Last of The Real Ones (#5) [-4] {2 Weeks At #1}

8. NF - Lie (#15) [+7]

7. Backstreet Boys - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#3) [-4]

6. Khalid/Normani - Love Lies (#4) [-2]

5. Marshmello/Bastille - Happier (#13) [+8]

4. Charlie Puth - The Way I Am (#7) [+3]

3. Selena Gomez - Back To You (#3) [+3]

2. 5 Seconds of Summer - Youngblood (#2) [=] {2 Weeks At #1}

1. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (#1) [=] {5th Week At #1}

Biggest DROP!!!!.... of the Week: Taylor Swift - Delicate (-22)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Zedd/Elley Duhé - Happy Now (+10)

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Liam Payne/Quavo - Strip That Down (2)

New Entrants

~So..... yeah the Lost In Japan Remix grew on me. I think my problem with it as first was that the original is so much better. However, I can now see this is also a good song. Though Zedd does use the ticking clock because apparently that's all he knows how to do, the beat drop here is very good. I like Shawn Mendes's vocals here, despite all the layers on them. This is an improvement for both artists, as it is a step up from In My Blood and Nervous for Shawn, and it's better than The Middle and Happy Now. But then again, I seriously doubt this will last with me in the long run. I guess we'll just wait and see.

~Next up we have Diplo brining us his second song on the countdown, this with Mark Ronson as Silk City. Dua Lipa is also featured here, and I think her vocals are very good. I really enjoy her voice, and I'm hoping she can become a bigger pop star next year. But easily the best part of this song is the production. I don't think anyone ever expected to hear from Mark Ronson again, but I honestly mind him having some more hits because he really shows his talent here. The beat is just fantastic, and I really like the layered-vocals in the post-chorus. I also love the bridge here. Hits 1 aren't exactly Dua Lipa fans yet, so I'm not sure how this will do here. I'm hoping for the best.

~Lastly, with the highest debut of the week, we have The Chainsmokers returning with country singer Kelsea Ballerini in This Feeling. First of all, this is not as good as Side Effects. However, it is quite enjoyable and another step back in the right direction for The Chainsmokers. While the beat drop isn't ideal (kinda reminds me of the drop from I Like Me Better) the rest of the song is very good. Both artists sound good, though Taggart much less than Ballerini. And the production outside of the drop is great. I'm hoping this can do even better than Side Effects did.

Best Debut of the Week: The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling (#32)

Hit-Bound

• Calvin Harris/Sam Smith - Promises
• Shawn Mendes - Nervous (RE-ENTRY)
• Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone - Jackie Chan
• Halsey - Without Me (DEBUT)
• Walk The Moon - Kamikaze
• Pitbull/Theron Theron - Free Free Free
• Ariana Grande - breathin'
• The Struts/Kesha - Body Talks
• Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William - Goodbye
• Lady Gaga - I'll Never Love Again (DEBUT)
• benny blanco/Halsey/Khalid - Eastside
• Alex Aiono - Big Mistake
• Twenty One Pilots - My Blood
• Loud Luxury/brano - Body

~Nervous returns because "omg Shawn Mendes!!!!!!!!"

~Halsey debuts this week with a song that is apparently her relationship with G-Eazy. While I didn't like Him & I, that was so much better than this. Halsey sounds terrible here. This is probably her worst vocals performance to date. The rest of the song is just slow, boring, and all around bad. Knowing Hits 1, this will debut soon and be way too successful. Just wonderful....

~Lady Gaga brings us a song off of the soundtrack for "A Star Is Born" titled I'll Never Love Again. I'll review the soundtrack as a whole during my next Billboard post, but to keep it brief on just this song I think it is beautiful and Lady Gaga sounds great. More on this if it debuts.

~If Eastside could get on the countdown soon that would nice.

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. benny blanco/Halsey/Khalid - Eastside

2. Loud Luxury/brando - Body

3. Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone - Jackie Chan

4. Lady Gaga - I'll Never Love Again

5. Ariana Grande - breathin'

Blurbed In Japan

~Let's start things off with our exits. Solo only lasted two weeks, but I don't really mind it leaving as it was pretty mediocre. IDGAF was great but had a solid run. And lastly, the one that makes me the happiest, Call Me Sir has departed the countdown! This song was absolutely terrible, and there's a good chance it could be my #1 worst song of the year. We'll see what happens when that times.

~Four songs took some big drops of over 10 spots. Tequila is mediocre so I don't care about it falling. I am very sad to see Delicate drop 22 spots down to 39. This song is still one of my favorites here, so if it hung on for a couple more weeks that would greatly appreciated. I'm also sad to see Girls Like You drop out of the top 10. Apparently, Hits 1 decided that having the biggest song in the country in their top 10 would be against their core principles as a radio station. Lastly, The Middle is finally out of the top 20. This is the first time since 2/3/18 that this song is not in the top 20. What a crazy run. Though it may be falling now, it is almost locked to be Hits 1's #1 song of the year and to last a year on the countdown. Not sure how deserved that is, but whatever.

~I Wanna Know should not still be jumping. This is not okay in any meaning of the word.

~In terms of last week's debuts, only 2002 had a decent jump. Drew Barrymore and Just My Type jumped only three spots, and both seem like they will flop here. Heart To Break dropped three spots. It was never destined to do well, even if it dropping is slightly disappointing. But easily the movement that surprised me the most was Hey Look Ma, I Made It dropping two spots on it's second week. Now, while I'm sure this downward trajectory won't last, it's nice to see that Hits 1 understands the concept of Panic! songs moving down the countdown.

~A few songs entered the top 20. Africa (ugh) and broken (yay?) are both back up there, while Beautiful, Shotgun, and Thunderclouds get up there for the first time. I am very happy about the latter three, as they are all fantastic songs.

~no tears left to cry has officially entered the bottom 5. This will likely make the year-end list here, but it hanging around longer wouldn't hurt.

~I can't exactly say I'm happy about Lie and Happy Now being in the top 10. Happy Now is just lazy and annoying, where as Lie is obnoxious. However, seeing Happier in the top 5 is very nice. This song is going to be huge, and while I don't love it, it's a good song and I'll take it over songs like Lucid Dreams. 

~Damn it. I was so sure Back To You would be our #1. But alas, SiriusXM Stans 1 had to keep High Hopes and Youngblood as our top 2. Those two have been #1 and #2 for the past month. We need some newer stuff up there.

Top 20 Review

0-Awful

20. Backstreet Boys - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

19. Weezer - Africa

1-Bad

18. NF - Lie

17. Zedd/Elley Duhé - Happy Now

2-Mediocre

16. Bebe Rexha - I'm A Mess

15. Panic! At The Disco - Say Amen (Saturday Night)

3-Decent

None!

4-Good

14. lovelytheband - broken

5-Great

13. Fall Out Boy - The Last of The Real Ones

12. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes

11. Imagine Dragons - Natural

10. Charlie Puth - The Way I Am

9. Ariana Grande - God is a woman

8. Marshmello/Bastille - Happier

7. 5 Seconds of Summer - Youngblood

6. Khalid/Normani - Love Lies

5. George Ezra - Shotgun

4. Bazzi/Camila Cabello - Beautiful

3. LSD - Thunderclouds

6-Best Song On The Countdown

TIE: 1. Selena Gomez - Back To You

TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren - Side Effects
Score: 77/100 = 77% (B+, Good)

Throwback Pick of the Week: The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell

Most Missed Countdown Song: The Chainsmokers - Paris

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Charli XCX/Troye Sivan - 1999

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Selena Gomez - Back To You
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren - Side Effects
3. Taylor Swift - Delicate
4. LSD - Thunderclouds
5. Bazzi/Camila Cabello - Beautiful

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. AJR - Burn The House Down
2. NOTD/Bea Miller - I Wanna Know
3. Marshmello/Anne-Marie - FRIENDS
4. Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes
5. Backstreet Boys - Don't Go Breaking My Heart