“Selfish” Charlie Puth Does Songland Winner Dirty
NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
Charlie Puth was on last night’s episode of Songland, crowning Zach Sorgen’s song, “Bad Habit,” as the winner. But there was a twist that wasn’t even mentioned on the show. Though Charlie performed a version of the song live, he never released a studio version.
So why didn’t he? And why are fans so upset about it? Read our recap of last night’s episode first. Then, let’s get into the controversy and break down what it’s all about.
Charlie Puth’s Decision Not To Release Songland Winner’s Song?
When Charlie Puth declared Zach Sorgen as the winner, the songwriter and fans watching at home were all excited! “Bad Habit” had evolved from its original song to a JAM! All the producers and Charlie say they love the update to the melodies and how “fun” it is. It makes you want to dance along!
But when fans went to find Charlie’s version of the song, it was nowhere to be found. Charlie took to Twitter, explaining that he wanted the original songwriter, Zach Sorgen, to be able to release his own version.
All Contestants Release Their Songs, What Did The Winner Win? Fans Are Outrage
Here’s the issue with Charlie doing this: the whole point of Songland is that you get to write a song for a big name artist. So taking that away from the songwriter…kind of eliminates the purpose of the show? And the artists that DON’T win get to record their own version of their songs already. So really, Zach “won” but didn’t get anything for winning except a live performance of his song by Charlie Puth. Seems disappointing to me.
Fans instantly picked up on this too and questioned Charlie’s decision.
Many fans pointed out that this actually hurts Zach Sorgen because his song will get significantly less exposure. Definitely true! Winners like Able Heart have their song show up every time someone searches for the Jonas Brothers. But Zach won’t have that same weighty song credit. He has just another original song for his own personal channels.
Others were disappointed they weren’t getting a version of “Bad Habit” sung by Charlie Puth either, especially after his amazing live performance of it on Songland!
“Pill for This” Success
The other problem with this decision is that Charlie Puth left “Bad Habit” to compete with another songwriter’s original song, Sam Derosa’s “Pill for This.” Fans loved that one as well and it’s actually doing much better on the charts than the “winning” song. Right now, “Pill for This” is in the top 20 on the iTunes charts while “Bad Habit” isn’t even in the top 100.
OUCH!
All that to be said, I don’t know if Charlie Puth particularly did Zach any favors by not recording his song.
But if you still want to listen to Zach Sorgen’s version of “Bad Habit” from Songland, it is available on Spotify and everywhere you download and stream music.
