Kelly Clarkson (2) - Week of March 10, 2012

Demi Lovato was this week’s guest host on the countdown, and per usual on Spyder Harrison’s weekends off, we’ve got our usual dose of low turnover and low volatility.  To wit, the biggest jump of the week was a tie between this week’s #34 and #35 songs.  Before we get on to this week’s Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week:

• Kelly Clarkson – Mr. Know It All (DTHNOBx2)
• Cobra Starship – You Make Me Feel (Former #1, Most Tenured Song)

The Countdown: (Source: Wikipedia)

1. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (#1) [Second Week at #1]

2. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#6)

3. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#3)

4. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#2)

5. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#11)

6. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#8)

7. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#9)

8. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#10)

9. Train- Drive By (#16)

10. Katy Perry- Part of Me (#7)

11. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#5)

12. Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine- Stereo Hearts (#4)

13. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#12)

14. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#17)

15. The All-American Rejects- Beekeeper's Daughter (#20)

16. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#15)

17. Adele- Someone Like You (#14)

18. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#21)

19. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#24)

20. Lucas Prata feat. Lenny B- First Night of My Life (#23)

21. Skrillex feat. Sirah- Bangarang (#13)

22. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#27)

23. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#18)

24. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (#19)

25. M83- Midnight City (#30)

26. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#32)

27. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#33)

28. K'naan feat. Nelly Furtado- Is Anybody Out There? (#25)

29. The Cab- La La (#26)

30. Jessie J- Domino (#22)

31. Grouplove- Tongue Tied (#28)

32. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (#36)

33. Selena Gomez & the Scene- Love You Like a Love Song (#35)

34. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (#44)

35. Foster the People- Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) (#45)

36. Calvin Harris- Feel So Close (DEBUT)

37. Bruno Mars- It Will Rain (#37)

38. LMFAO- Sorry for Party Rocking (#42)

39. Toby Keith- Red Solo Cup (#43)

40. Katy Perry- The One That Got Away (#39)

41. Mac Miller- Knock Knock (#38)

42. Big Time Rush feat. Mann- Music Sounds Better With U (#29)

43. Nicki Minaj- Starships (DEBUT)

44. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera- Moves Like Jagger (#41)

45. Pitbull feat. Chris Brown- International Love (#34)

Biggest DDDDDRRRRROOOOPPPPP!!!!!!!......of the Week: Big Time Rush Ft. Mann – Music Sounds Better With U (-13)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Tie between Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free and Foster the People – Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls) (+10)

Two new entrants this week.  The first is Calvin Harris – Feel So Close.  I honestly don’t think Calvin Harris had much of a chance in my eyes after collaborating with Rihanna on the mindlessly repetitive and indisputably awful We Found Love.  But I honestly don’t think first impressions would have mattered much here.  It’s a better song than We Found Love on pretty much every level, but mostly that just means it falls into the class of repetitively bland, rather than repetitively annoying.  The other new entrant, Nicki Minaj – Starships had so much potential.  Most of the song is pretty excellent, but it gets spoiled a bit by the weird and out-of-place techno-trance interlude between the verses.  The end product is still something that’s pretty good, but man, what it could have been.

I think I might have to bite the bullet on Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown – International Love.  I thought it had a great shot at a #1 bid, but dropping all the way to #45 this past weekend and being infrequently played during the week on Hits-1 is pretty much a death sentence.  The upside is that we resumed the de-terriblizing of the top 10 this week, with Gym Class Heroes Ft. Adam Levine – Stereo Hearts (clarification: not terrible, just old) and Hot Chelle Rae – I Like It Like That (clarification: terrible) dropping out.  David Guetta Ft. Nicki Minaj – Turn Me On jumped to #2, possibly set to fulfill that #1 potential that I saw in it long ago when it debuted on the countdown.  Gavin DeGraw – Not Over You made a big jump into the Top 5, while almost out of nowhere and after toiling in the 20’s for quite some time, Train – Drive By made its move as well.

Young, Wild & Free has been one of the bottom eight songs on the countdown since January 14^th, so maybe this week signaled a possible return to relevance.  I’m not holding my breath given its infrequent play on the station, but I honestly thought there was little chance it would still be here this week, so I’ll take it.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) M83 – Midnight City

2) Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free

3) Gotye – Somebody That I Used to Know

4) Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown – International Love

5) Childish Gambino - Heartbeat