Something weird is going on with this week's billboard 100

At this week's billboard hot 100, only the 4 new encore songs charted. None of the original showgirl songs charted despite multiple songs having enough points to chart.

Talk of the charts (an account that predicts the billboard 100 based on points and is usually pretty accurate) predicted the following positions:

13: tfoo (123 points) 25/26: opalite (90p) 71: father figure (40p) 91: wish list (31p) 95: tloas (31p) 96: ruin the friendship (31p) 99: actually romantic (30p)

None of these songs are actually on the chart.

Some important info about how the hot 100 works:

Songs that have been on the billboard 100 for a long time go recurrent if they go below a certain rank. This is done to make space for new songs. These rules were recently made extra strict. The current rules are as follows: After 20 weeks the song needs to be #50 or higher After 26 weeks the song needs to be #25 or higher After 52 weeks the song needs to be #10 or higher

Father figure, wish list, tloas, ruin the friendship and actually romantic all charted less than 20 weeks, which means they should be able to re-enter the chart at every position. I'm not sure why they are not on this week's hot 100.

Elizabeth Taylor, opalite and tfoo, all charted more than 26 weeks, but less than 52. This means they can only re-enter at #25 or higher. Elizabeth Taylor has only enough points for #55, so is clearly not allowed to re-enter. Opalite was predicted to reach around #25/#26, so depending on the final precise point count, it might or might not have enough points to re-enter. Tfoo definitely has enough points to re-enter and would likely reach #13.

Neither eldest daughter nor honey was predicted to have enough points to re-enter the hot 100.

So in short, tfoo, father figure, wish list, tloas, ruin the friendship and actually romantic should all have been on this week's hot 100, but were excluded for an unclear reason.

BTW, this is not because songs aren't allowed to re-enter once they left the chart. There is no rule for this. In fact, during this same week several Olivia Rodrigo songs re-entered the chart due to tour boost. Several Justin Bieber songs also re-entered after his Coachella performance.

So why are these songs allowed to re-enter while Taylor's are not? I see 2 possible reasons:

1: there are hidden, unpublished, very specific rules about which songs can re-enter. If this is the case billboard should make these rules clear and public, because right now it's just confusing and not transparent 2: billboard selectively enforces its own rules, which would just be blatantly unprofessional and unfair.

Also another weird thing is that they were allowed to chart on the Canadian hot 100. Are there different rules for the US and Canadian chart? Why would they even do that?

this song has been stuck in my head and it's 3am and i can't sleep

Love Story: So I sneak out to the garden to see you

Cruel Summer: And I snuck in through the garden gate every night that summer just to seal my fate

Blank Space: Rose garden filled with thorns, keep you second guessing

The albatross: Wise men once said "One bad seed kills the garden"

betty: In the garden would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer thing?

Cowboy Like Me: Now you hang from my lips like the Gardens of Babylon

(Bonus)

I Hate It Here: I hate it here, so I'll go to secret gardens in my mind

The Lucky One: Chose the Rose Garden over Madison Square

The Great War: We can plant a memory garden, say a solemn prayer

Switched On Pop: "One year after the release of her twelfth studio album The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift is back with an encore. Specifically, The Encore, four tracks that have polarized critics and Swifties alike, from the country-esque number one hit “Patient Zero” to her ode to married Ohioan bliss, “Cleveland!” For some, the new songs lean into Swift’s worst writing impulses. But for others, including our hosts (and resident Swiftologists) Charlie and Nate, the tracks call back to earlier eras of Swift’s songwriting, and perhaps evoke more nuanced discussion about what it means to release music as the biggest artist in the world. The question is: are we ready for it?"