Kelly Clarkson (3) - Week of April 14, 2012

Some pretty good things happening this week, but unfortunately, we need to start off on kind of a sour note.  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.

• Olly Murs – Dance with Me Tonight
• Gym Class Heroes Ft. Adam Levine – Stereo Hearts

The Countdown:

1. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (#4) [Third Week at #1]

2. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#1)

3. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#2)

4. Train- Drive By (#8)

5. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#3)

6. Katy Perry- Part of Me (#6)

7. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#7)

8. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#11)

9. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (#9)

10. M83- Midnight City (#20)

11. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#5)

12. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#42) [Biggest Jump]

13. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#17)

14. Skrillex feat. Sirah- Bangarang (#10)

15. Justin Bieber- Boyfriend (#13)

16. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#26)

17. Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull- Dance Again (#29)

18. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#12)

19. Calvin Harris- Feel So Close (#25)

20. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#14)

21. B.o.B- So Good (#15)

22. The Cab- La La (#22)

23. September- Party in My Head (#23)

24. Grouplove- Tongue Tied (#18)

25. Lucas Prata feat. Lenny B- First Night of My Life (#21)

26. Hot Chelle Rae- Honestly (#32)

27. K'naan feat. Nelly Furtado- Is Anybody Out There? (#40)

28. Taylor Swift- Eyes Open (#28)

29. Chris Rene- Young Homie (#27)

30. Adele- Rumour Has It (RE-ENTRY)

31. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#33)

32. Andy Grammer- Fine By Me (#36)

33. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#31)

34. The All-American Rejects- Beekeeper's Daughter (#24)

35. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#37)

36. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#16) [Biggest Drop]

37. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (#45)

38. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#30)

39. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#39)

40. Jessie J- Domino (#34)

41. Pitbull feat. Chris Brown- International Love (#41)

42. Adele- Someone Like You (#40)

43. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#43)

44. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#44)

45. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (RE-ENTRY)

Biggest DDDDRRROOOOPPPP!!!!!!...of the week: Gavin DeGraw – Not Over You (-20)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Outasight – Tonight Is the Night (+30)

For some reason the countdown voters saw fit to have Dance with Me Tonight (temporarily?) tie Kid Cudi – Erase Me for most hysterically short tenure in countdown history.  Godspeed, Olly Murs.  Hope to see you again soon.  That song deserved better.

No new music this week.  Just resurrections.  Coldplay Ft. Rihanna – Princess of China returned for a farewell tour.  After surfacing on Hit-Bound the week of March 3^rd, Adele – Rumour Has It made the jump to the countdown this week, which makes the song’s career trajectory: Hit-Bound -> Countdown -> DTHNOB -> Hit-Bound(x2) -> Countdown(x2).  No other song has ever taken that 4^th step of re-entering Hit-Bound after getting booted from the countdown.  This would be more exciting if the song wasn’t terrible. 

Even if entrant/exit news wasn’t the best, there were a few pretty solid developments within the countdown itself.  Train – Drive By unexpectedly and pleasantly made the jump to the Top 5, while Gotye – Somebody I Used to Know and M83 – Midnight City both jumped 10 spots, with the latter getting boosted into the Top 10.  For the first time in forever, all 10 songs in the Top 10 are good, which is pretty awesome considering where we were at the beginning of February when almost the entire countdown sucked.  Sure, Flo Rida Ft. Sia – Wild Ones has been beaten to death by the Hits-1 DJs and Adele – Set Fire to the Rain has run its course, and I no longer particularly care to listen to either, but at their cores, they’re good songs.  The other 8 range from decent (Kelly Clarkson – Stronger on the low end) to awesome (Midnight City on the high), and I would rather listen to any of those 8 than change the station to see what else is on.  For now.

In the “stayin’ alive” department, Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free first dropped into the bottom-5 of the countdown from its mid-20’s “heyday” the week of January 14^th.  Exactly 3 months later, it’s hanging around at #37.  Fight on boys, fight on.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Gotye – Somebody I Used to Know

2) M83 – Midnight City

3) Taylor Swift – Eyes Open

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

5) Train – Drive By