Culture · From the edition of Jul 19, 2026
✳ Dated TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2026 ✳
98%certain · Polymarket
ELLA LANGLEY SEIZES THE HOT 100
as 'Choosin' Texas' locks up No. 1, stranding Taylor Swift in the runner-up seat
NEW YORK, July 28 — Ella Langley's 'Choosin' Texas' owns the top of the Billboard Hot 100 this week — an outcome traders had priced at 98 per cent. Taylor Swift finishes a distant second.
The country upstart didn't just win. She buried the field. Swift, Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo split the scraps below her, barely registering on the boards.
For Langley, this is the coronation the charts had been circling all summer. For Swift, it's a rare week spent looking up. The wires called the race over before the tally closed.
Source: Polymarket · 98% probability — View market ↗