Toups

GH: - Aubrey Smyth first listed as Director on May 1 She's new to daytime. I think this is her site: http://www.aubreysmyth.com/

Ratings for the week April 15-19, 2024

Taylor is the first artist to get the top 14 spots and it's her second time getting all top 10 spots. Fortnight is Taylor's 12th #1 song as writer/singer, and 6th #1 as a producer. Down Bad becomes her 10th #2 song. She now as 59 top 10 songs which is a record for female artists. This is Post Malone's 5th #1 song.

Here are my thoughts on the album. I loved it (of course). LOL I definitely liked album 1 more than album 2. Album 1 is more poppy, has singable choruses, has better melodies. I’m a pure-pop guy so album 2 was a bit slow for my taste. I don’t mind slow songs, but I need something to connect to…..I need some sort of hook or melody. I’m definitely going to listen to those songs if they come up in a shuffle, but I doubt I will intentionally play those songs. But there are three songs I really liked on album 2: So High School, thank you Aimee, The Bolter. On album 1, I pretty much love every song except for I Can Fix Him. This song just went nowhere, unlike The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived where it started out really slow and then it slowly builds up to probably the best the bridge (at the 2:25 mark) on the album. My Tier 1 songs: - Down Bad: After 1 week it’s my favourite. I already posted about it above. - But Daddy I Love Him: In this song she puts her parasocial fans on blast. LOL I love the lyrics! The chorus just makes you want to run and shout those lyrics out. It can definitely see it being an anthem for those in relationships that people don’t approve of. LOL I'll tell you something right now I'd rather burn my whole life down Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning I'll tell you something about my good name It's mine alone to disgrace I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing God save the most judgmental creeps Who say they want what's best for me Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see Thinking it can change the beat Of my heart when he touches me And counteract the chemistry And undo the destiny You ain't gotta pray for me Me and my wild boy And all this wild joy If all you want is gray for me Then it's just white noise And it's just my choice - Guilty as Sin?: Who knew a song about masturbation could be kind of romantic? What if he's written 'mine' on my upper thigh Only in my mind? One slip and falling back into the hedge maze Oh what a way to die My bedsheets are ablaze I've screamed his name Building up like waves Crashing over my grave Without ever touching his skin How can I be guilty as sin? Oh Taylor. LOL - I Can Do It With a Broken Heart: It’s about Taylor having to perform on the tour during one of the toughest times in her career – going through two breakups in a short period of time and with guys she’s known for a long time (6-7 years in a romantic relationship with Joe. Then over 10 years of friendship to on-and-off to officially dating with Matty). I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday every day I'm so obsessed with him but he avoids me like the plague (he avoids me) I cry a lot but I am so productive, it's an art You know you're good when you can even do it With a broken heart You know you're good when you can even do it With a broken heart You know you're good, I'm good 'Cause I'm miserable And nobody even knows Try and come for my job It’s a sad song set to upbeat/bubble-gum pop that’s also funny. It has Taylor’s classic spoken-word parts. - loml: The saddest song on the album. Tier 2 songs: Fortnight, The Tortured Poets Department, My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys, Fresh Out Of The Slammer, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, The Alchemy, Clara Bow, So High School, The Bolter, thank you aimee (this song is also pretty funny). Tier 3 songs: Florida!!!, The Black Dog, So Long, London, imgonnagetyouback Over both albums, there was definitely more instrument based (drums, piano, guitars) songs than on Midnights. A lot of songs could’ve been on folklore. Taylor is someone who uses songwriting as coping mechanism. She was going through so much during the biggest tour of her life and she need to get these songs out of her. So, it wasn’t a surprise she stuck with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner as her two main collaborators on such a raw and emotional album. She trusts them and is very comfortable with them. For her next album, I think she’ll have more time (once the tour ends) to experiment more a bit, and to try and find other collaborators. I’m still waiting for my pop-rock/stadium-rock album. I hope it’s next, her 12th album, because I think album 13 will be her going back to her pop-country roots.

First week numbers are in and she set a new career high! 2.61 million in units for second best all time. And 1.91 million in pure copies for third best all time. It's Taylor's third straight album (Midnights, 1989TV, TTPD) over 1 million in sales. If you told me this two years ago, I wouldn't have believed you. LOL She made her debut in June of 2006 and 18 years later, she's never been bigger. For this to happen in year 18 and mind-boggling. And who knows, she could even get bigger which is hard to imagine. Billboard article: Taylor Swift Makes Historic Debut at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Most #1s on the Billboard 200: 19, The Beatles 14, Jay-Z 14, Taylor Swift 13, Drake 11, Bruce Springsteen 11, Barbra Streisand 11, Ye (formerly Kanye West) 10, Eminem 10, Future 10, Elvis Presley Largest Streaming Week Ever: 1, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 891.37 million, May 4, 2024 2, Drake, Scorpion, 745.92 million, July 14, 2018 3, Drake, Certified Lover Boy, 743.67 million, Sept. 18, 2021 4, Taylor Swift, Midnights, 549.26 million, Nov. 5, 2022 5, Drake, For All the Dogs, 514.01 million, Oct. 21, 2023 6, Drake & 21 Savage, Her Loss, 513.56 million, Nov. 19, 2022 7, Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time, 498.28 million, March 18, 2023 8, Lil Wayne, Tha Carter V, 433.02 million, Oct. 13, 2018 9, Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys, 431.34 million, May 12, 2018 10, Juice WRLD, Legends Never Die, 422.63 million, July 25, 2020 Equivalent Album Units Earned 1, Adele, 25, 3.482 million, Dec. 12, 2015 2, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 2.61 million, May 4, 2024 3, Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), 1.653 million, Nov. 11, 2023 4, Taylor Swift, Midnights, 1.578 million, Nov. 5, 2022 5, Taylor Swift, reputation, 1.238 million, Dec. 2, 2017 6, Adele, 25, 1.193 million, Jan. 9, 2016* 7, Adele, 25, 1.162 million, Dec. 19, 2015* 8, Drake, Views, 1.039 million, May 21, 2016 9, Taylor Swift, Lover, 867,000, Sept. 7, 2019 10, Taylor Swift, Folklore, 846,000, Aug. 8, 2020 Pure Sales Week in Modern Era 1, Adele, 25, 3.378 million, Dec. 12, 2015 2, *NSYNC, No Strings Attached, 2.416 million, April 8, 2000 3, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 1.914 million, May 4, 2024 4, *NSYNC, Celebrity, 1.88 million, Aug. 11, 2001 5, Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP, 1.76 million, June 10, 2000 6, Backstreet Boys, Black & Blue, 1.591 million, Dec. 9, 2000 7, Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), 1.359 million, Nov. 11, 2023 8, Eminem, The Eminem Show, 1.322 million, June 15, 2002* 9, Britney Spears, Oops! …I Did It Again, 1.319 million, June 3, 2000 10, Taylor Swift, 1989, 1.287 million, Nov. 15, 2014 Biggest Sales Week for a Vinyl Album in Modern Era 1, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 859,000, May 4, 2024 2, Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), 693,000, Nov. 11, 2023 3, Taylor Swift, Midnights, 575,000, Nov. 5, 2022 4, Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 268,000, July 22, 2023 5, Harry Styles, Harry’s House, 182,000, June 4, 2022 6, Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version), 114,000, Nov. 27, 2021 7, Adele, 30, 108,000, Dec. 4, 2021 8, Taylor Swift, Evermore, 102,000, June 12, 2021 9, Olivia Rodrigo, Guts, 94,000, Sept. 23, 2023 10, Travis Scott, Utopia, 93,000, Aug. 26, 2023

After one week, it's my favourite. It's really catchy, especially the chorus. It's a sad song yet you can dance to it. It's also a bit weird with the "alien abduction" sounds. I hope she adds this era to the tour and this song will be on the set list. 🙏 It should be the next single, or at least one of the singles off this album.

Ratings for the week April 8-12, 2024

Nice! Glad you enjoyed it! I'll have my thoughts about it soon. I need a whole a week to process it. LOL

Chart Data: Taylor Swift's 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' becomes the fastest album in history to surpass 1 billion streams globally. [5 days] In first week sales, the album is projected to get close to Nsync's No Strings Attached album at 2.4 million for #2 overall, only behind Adele's 25 album.

1.4 million pure copies in the first day! 🤯 It already beat her previous best first week sales (1989TV got 1.359 million). It also became the best selling album of 2024 after one day.

Spotify numbers are rolling in and they're bigger than anyone expected. - ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ debuts with 313,747,178 streams on Spotify. It's the biggest debut ever on the platform with over 127M more than ‘Midnights’. I'll give my opinions on the album later.

He's back as SW as of April 15.

Ratings for the week April 1-5, 2024

Yay! January 2025 is sooner than I expected. They gotta put it behind Y&R.

Ratings for the week March 25-29, 2024

It wasn't totally one sided because of what Molly said to Joss right after Kristina left, and she (Molly) was right as well.

5 straight episodes with no BDW listed for GH, 6 if you don't count last Friday's Mulcahey credited episode (could've been a mistake he was listed because he wasn't listed a BDW this week). It sure looks like, at least for now, they went the Josh Griffith route at Y&R. We'll see what happens next week.

@AbcNbc247 But........she's totally right about Sonny. LOL I'm enjoying Kristina vs Joss. I noticed that the opening segment is very short now - about three minutes long. I guess is done to have the acts a bit longer.

It should happen after Hope sleeps with Steffy's husband. You know it's definitely going to happen now.

@Contessa Donatella We have someone here posting the episode counts. You don't need to post the twitter screencap.

Ratings for the week March 18-22, 2024

Well, we'll see in a month or two how the writing staff is assembled. Patrick has not been yet credited as a SW. Today was his first credit, as a BDW, for a specific episode.

I don't know. We always complain that daytime needs new blood instead of recycling the same old writers over and over and over. I just thought it was very fresh of GH to do something that other soaps weren't doing. Oh well. I would prefer Patrick to write scripts. Maybe we'll get that one day as well.

Wow, another newbie to daytime out. I thought GH was doing a great job in hiring people who never worked in daytime, all of them female too. I fear Emily Culliton could be next - female and new to daytime. Lucky Gold has been writing soaps since at least the early 80's and will turn 74 in September.......time to retire??....just saying, you know. LOL I really wonder now if they're cutting down the number of BDWs to 2 or 3. What has Josh Griffith started? (possibly)

GH: - Patrick Mulcahey first listed as Breakdown Writer on March 29 Very surprised he was credited as a BDW! When I saw his name credited alone, I got a bit excited (LOL) because thought he wrote the script, but then Kate Hall's name was shown next. Hopefully this means the credits will continue to credit Korte/Mulcahey whenever they write breakdowns.