Ke$ha (2) - Week of January 12, 2013

There’s nothing quite like that first fresh batch of new music for the new year, eh?  We’ve got a lot to cover this time around.  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.

• Rolling Stones - Gloom and Doom
• fun. Ft. Janelle Monae - We Are Young
• Alex Clare - Too Close (DTHNOBx3)
• Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
• Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love
• Adele - Skyfall
• Neon Trees - Everybody Talks

The Countdown:

1. Ke$ha - Die Young (#1) [Second Week at #1]

2. Maroon 5 - Daylight (#2)

3. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble (#3)

4. fun. - Some Nights (#4)

5. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#7)

6. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#6)

7. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child (#5)

8. Kelly Clarkson - Catch My Breath (#21)

9. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (#9)

10. The Script Ft. will.i.am - Hall of Fame (#10)

11. Olly Murs - Troublemaker (#27)

12. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (#15)

13. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#16)

14. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#12)

15. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#20)

16. Pink - Try (#19)

17. will.i.am Ft Britney Spears - Scream and Shout (#25)

18. One Direction - Little Things (#24)

19. Josh Baze - She's Gold (#22)

20. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (#26)

21. Carly Rae Jepsen - This Kiss (#14)

22. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#8)

23. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#31)

24. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#17)

25. Rihanna - Diamonds (#13)

26. Phil Phillips - Home (#28)

27. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#11)

28. Neon Trees Ft. Kaskade - Lessons In Love (DEBUT)

29. Calvin Harris Ft. Florence Welch - Sweet Nothing (DEBUT)

30. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#35)

31. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#29)

32. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#44)

33. Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop (DEBUT)

34. Ke$ha - C'mon (DEBUT)

35. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#41)

36. Justin Bieber Ft. Nicki Minaj - Beauty and a Beat (DEBUT)

37. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#30)

38. Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire (DEBUT)

39. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#33)

40. Flo Rida - I Cry (#18)

41. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (#32)

42. The Ready Set - Give Me Your Hand (DEBUT)

43. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#39)

44. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#42)

45. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#40)

Biggest DDDRRRRROOOOPPPP!!!!....of the week: Flo Rida – I Cry (-22)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Olly Murs – Troublemaker (+16)

Let’s kick this activity-fest off with this week’s big class of new entrants.  The Neon Trees are back with a little bit of a different sound with the help of Kaskade.  Their song, Lessons In Love, is (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) their best song since Animal.  Inevitably, after each I say that, I wind up very very sick of the song in question after just a few months.  We’ll see if Kaskade changes things.  You’ll have to excuse Calvin Harris if he’s a little nervous, as this is the first time he’s contributed to a countdown song that doesn’t suck, and he tried really, really hard on it.  The song, Sweet Nothing, isn’t great, but it’s a major leap up from We Found Love and Feel So Close.  He brought Florence Welch along for the ride (trading in The Machine for a DJ, I guess), whose voice carries the song.  CAUTION: Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop is highly addicting.  Despite that warning, experts recommend maximum exposure for full enjoyment of the hook and the saxophone.  I wear your granddad’s clothes.  I look in-creh-dah-bulllll.

The greatest cause for excitement this week among the new entrants is Ke$ha – C’mon.  New “fewer AutoTune” Ke$ha is killing it so far on her new album.  With Die Young currently in its countdown prime and C’mon an excellent bet to hit #1 at some point in the future, Ke$ha is the early frontrunner for 2013 countdown MVP.  I may just have “shiny new toy” syndrome at this point regarding C’Mon, but I think it’s her best since Tik Tok, and there’s a chance that I like it even more than Tik Tok when all is said and done.  Stay tuned if you sincerely care about this developing story.

Justin Bieber’s last entry in the countdown history books did not go over well.  Boyfriend earned the #2 slot on the Bottom 5 Songs of 2012.  Seeking to improve upon that, he teamed up with Nicki Minaj to produce Beauty and a Beat, a song that to me defines “dead cat bounce”.  He couldn’t get much worse than Boyfriend, but Beauty and a Beat does not come close to Justin Bieber’s best work.  At the very least he’s gone back to trying to sing with the voice he has, rather than whatever he was trying to do when he produced Boyfriend.  It’s time for Katniss Everdeen fans to perk up here, because Alicia Keys debuted this week with Girl on Fire.  In spite of Alicia Keys’s considerable vocal talent, this song doesn’t do a lot for me.  Not that there was much initial luster to talk about in the first place, but whatever novelty Girl on Fire had is wearing off fast, and it’s hot on its way towards becoming a station-changer.  Back in 2010, I was pretty enamored with Love Like Woe during its HitBound/countdown tenure, but unfortunately, The Ready Set hasn’t come close to repeating that since, and Give Me Your Hand is far from an exception.  I initially found the song annoying, but got exposed to the long-time HitBound veteran enough over time for it to grow on me and become tolerable.  Tolerable.  That’s not a good ceiling when we’re talking about song quality.

Blurbletons

- One of the nighttime hosts (I want to say it was Kid Kelly) pointed out regarding the song I Cry that it was wrong of Flo Rida to not give credit to Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks for the song.  Okay, I found that a little funny.  Plus, now Alvin and Ke$ha have something in common.

- You guys got Kelly Clarkson – Catch My Breath in the Top 10 now too?  Awwww…you shouldn’t have!  That was so nice of everyone!

- What did I tell you last week?  That I wouldn’t be shocked if 7 songs got the boot from the countdown this week?  Well here I am.  Not shocked.

- As crazy the turnover was this week, all signs are pointing to turnover at least this heavy this upcoming weekend.  I listened to Hits-1 a lot this week, and they played several songs that I’ve never heard before on the station, even on HitBound.  Plus, they ramped up their spins of a couple songs that were previously on HitBound.  I wouldn’t be shocked if another 7+ songs were kicked off next week.  And unlike this week, the crop of new entrants aren’t going to be quite so friendly to the ears.....

- I have no idea how Ed Sheeran – The A Team is still on the countdown.  Hits-1 literally only plays that song when it takes its turn on the weekend countdown.

- I’m ready for fun. – Some Nights to go away.  It’s a very good song, but I really don’t want to wind up loathing it.

- I don’t have any way of knowing this, because I don’t watch any entertainment TV stations or listen to radio outside of SiriusXM.  Does anyone have any idea who Josh Baze is?  Like, is he famous outside of Hits-1?

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Ke$ha – C’mon
2) Kelly Clarkson - Catch My Breath

3) Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks

4) Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop

5) The Script Ft. will.i.am – Hall of Fame