I guess my hopes were too high (Week of 2/7/2026)

 

Hello everyone, welcome to another post. I thought we were going to get a new #1, but it looks like that will have to wait until next week. Let's just get into it, here are our exits:

Sabrina Carpenter- Tears (#11 last week)

Conan Gray- Vodka Cranberry (#14 last week)

Charlie Puth- Changes (#18 last week)

Sophia James- So Unfair (#17 last week)

Countdown:

30. Noah Kahan- The Great Divide (Debut)

29. Justin Bieber- Yukon (=)

28. Katseye- Internet Girl (+2)

27. Nick Jonas- Gut Punch (Debut)

26. Kehlani- Folded (-1)

25. Zara Larsson- Midnight Sun (Debut)

24. Olivia Dean- So Easy (To Fall In Love (-1)

23. Tame Impala- Dracula (+3)

22. Tyla- Chanel (+5)

21. Freya Skye- Silent Treatment (+3)

20. Laufey- Lover Girl (=)

19. Harry Styles- Aperture (+3)

18. Sienna Spiro- Die On This Hill (+3)

17. Tate McRae- Tit For Tat (+2)

16. Ed Sheeran/ Arijit Singh- Sapphire (+12)

15. Meghan Trainor- Still Don't Care (-2) 

14. Sombr- Back To Friends (-7)

13. Sabrina Carpenter- When Did You Get Hot (Debut)

12. Alex Warren/ Jelly Roll- Bloodline (+4)

11. Madison Beer- Bittersweet (+4)

10. Kevin Jonas- Changing (+2)

9. Kpop Demon Hunters- Golden (-1)

8. David Guetta/ Teddy Swims/ Tones And I- Gone Gone Gone (-3)

7. Olivia Dean- Man I Need (-1)

6. Benson Boone- Mr Electric Blue (+3)

5. Raye- Where Is My Husband (-1)

4. Sombr- 12 To 12 (+6)

3. Taylor Swift- Opalite (=)

2. Bruno Mars- I Just Might (=)

1. Taylor Swift- The Fate Of Ophelia (=)

Countdown Extra: Ella Langley- Choosin Texas

Last Year's #1: Rosé/ Bruno Mars- APT
#1 Two Years Ago: Dua Lipa- Houdini

My Favorite Song Last Year: The Weeknd- Cry For Me

My Favorite Song Two Years Ago: People R Ugly- Brain Dead

Recommendations For Hits 1: Freya Skye- Why'd You have To Call and Haley Gosserand- Stereotype

Up first, we have Noah Kahan back after a couple years with The Gret Divide. This has grown on me since I talked about it last week when it was on HB. The beat to this is quite good and Noah Kahan sounds quite good here per usual. Also, I believe Hits 1 is playing the shorter version of this, so that's a relief.

Apparently, Nick Jonas's last solo appearance on the countdown came before he starred in Jumanji Welcome To The Jungle in late 2017. Well, that gap is closed as he now has Gut Punch on here. This song is rather solid. It's a little slow at the beginning but picks up at the first hook. And in terms of the lyrics, this seems to be about worrying about getting older, from what I deduced. So I'll take this one.

Zara Larsson is also back on the countdown, this new song is called Midnight Sun. This is also quite good. It has a pretty fun beat, just like you'd expect from a Zara Larsson song, and she sounds quite good here. Hopefully, this isn't a one weeker like her last two songs were...

OMG! Sabrina Carpenter made a good song for once! It's a miracle! So although Such A Funny Way dropped out of HB last week, Sabrina Carpenter still replaces herself with When Did You Get Hot. This has to be her best song since On My Way with Alan Walker and Farruko in 2019. It reminds me a lot of Boyfriend by Dove Cameron in a lot of ways, specifically the key it's in and the beat it has, plus, this is one of her better vocal performances. I'd be fine with this being #1, but only 4 weeks max.

Hitbound:

PinkPantheress/ Zara Larsson- Stateside

Sombr- Homewrecker (Debut)

Jordi- Over Love

Myles Smith/ Niall Horan- Drive Safe (Debut)

Holly Humberstone- To Love Somebody (Debut)

Joji- Hotel California (Debut)

Ice Spice- Big Guy

Zayn- Die For Me (Debut)

Louis Tomlinson- Imposter

Stella Lefty- Thinking Bout You

Sienna Spiro- You Stole The Show

Paul Russell- High Maintenance

Maisie Peters- My Regards (Debut)

Madison Beer- Bad Enough

NMIXX- Blue Valentine

Senses- Tiptoeing

First up, we have a new song from Sombr called Homewrecker. This is among the better songs I've heard from him, though it still sounds like some of his other songs. I also still like his voice here. So yeah, good song.

Up next, a collab I had a bit of expectations for, it's Myles Smith and Niall Horan on Drive Save. And this lived up to those expectations. The beat here is rather solid and both of them sound quite good. Plus, this seems to be about the uncertainties of life and overcoming them. Really good song here.

I've heard of Holly Humberstone before, but she's just now making her Hits 1 debut with To Love Somebody, and I also heard this on Daniel's HOF show. And I quite like this one. It has a solid beat to it and Holly Humberstone sounds pretty good here. And apparently, she wrote this for a friend of hers who was going through a breakup, this according to Mikey Piff. Solid first Hits 1 appearance 

For the first time in a few years, Joji is back on Hitbound, this is called Hotel California. This is surprisingly good. Joji's voice is very interesting here (and in a good way, might I add), and the beat here is fun, it honestly reminds me of that of Creepin by Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, and 21 Savage. So I was not expecting to like this, but I do, and I'm okay with that.

So we have two songs from One Direction alums to talk about this week, I talked about Niall Horan's song with Myles Smith earlier, and now Zayn has a new song on here called Die For Me. I also quite like this one. I said that When Did You Get Hot by Sabrina Carpenter reminded me of Boyfriend by Dove Cameron earlier in the post, and this also does, plus, Zayn sounds pretty good here, and it seems to be about asking for loyalty when needed. I'll take this.

Our last debut this week is from Maisie Peters, this is called My Regards. This one is also pretty good. It has a pretty good beat and Maisie Peters sounds pretty good. Solid song from her.

We lost Choosin Texas, A Couple Minutes, Beat Yourself Up, Times Of My Life, and Wish I Didn't. The first two are in the abyss, and hopefully it's Choosin Texas that debuts and not A Couple Minutes. Bet Yourself up was just good, Times Of My Life faded on me, and Wish I Didn't should've debuted.

Blurbs:

Our exits were Tears, Vodka Cranberry, Changes, and So Unfair. Tears lasted a bit long and was replaced by a much better Sabrina Carpenter song. Vodka Cranberry also lasted relatively long and will be missed. As for the other two, I sort of predicted in my last post that these would be gone, and I was right, RIP to both, I might add.

Looks like Chanel is finally starting to gain momentum.

I did not ask Aperture or Die On This Hill to enter the top 20.

Though I'll gladly take Sapphire jumping all the way to #16.

Back To Friends is definitely on its way out, following two relatively huge drops.

I'm still not sure if Bloodline knows what to do or not.

12 To 12 is now in the top 5. Good to see.

And... when I thought The Fate Of Ophelia would get dethroned by I Just Might, it held on yet again. This is getting a bit ridiculous at this point. We are in desperate need of a new #1 right now, I just hope we get one in the coming weeks.

I guess that does it for me in this post, see you guys in the next one.