American Song Contest: The Live Grand Final
May 9, 2022 10:19 AM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe

In the star-studded grand final, the top 10 artists perform one last time for the chance to win America's vote; the national jury and public voting occur in real time to determine the winning song; celebrity guests perform and help announce results.

Per wikipedia, the ten finalists are:

Alabama - Ni/Co - "The Difference"
American Samoa - Tenelle - "Full Circle"
Colorado - Riker Lynch - "Feel The Love"
Connecticut - Michael Bolton - "Beautiful World"
Kentucky - Jordan Smith - "Sparrow"
North Dakota - Chloe Fredericks - "Can't Make You Love Me"
Oklahoma - AleXa - "Wonderland"
Tennessee - Tyler Braden - "Seventeen"
Texas - Grant Knoche - "Mr. Independent"
Washington - Allen Stone - "A Bit of Both"


Stephen Thompson and Glen Weldon of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour on the contenders and on why American Song Contest is no Eurovision, despite sharing producers.
posted by the primroses were over (6 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I'm going to try to watch this live, although I basically agree with the review I linked that this has been more American Idol than Eurovision.

I'm rooting for either AleXa of Oklahoma or Chloe Fredericks of North Dakota, but would be ok with Alabama, American Samoa, Kentucky or Connecticut winning. I expect the winner to be Washington (bleh).

I hope they revamp this and try again next season; I still think a US Eurovision could be fun, but I think this version needs work.

Mainly I question their professional jury. Maybe get local news crews to be the "jury" next year instead, which could also drum up more interest if the local NBC stations were doing bits on contestants in advance.

Looking forward to seeing what celebrities they've roped in to the Grand Final though.

And, then, real Eurovision, huzzah!
posted by the primroses were over at 10:26 AM on May 9, 2022


They would probably say they're valuing authenticity, which here gets defined down - right? - to mean beardy (ph) white dude with a guitar, playing himself at center stage, disavowing anything fruity back there like dancers or lights or pyro - no, thank you, ma'am - and just mewling out this really basic ballad about the one time he had an emotion, you know?
Boom. That's this season in a nutshell. Maybe one of the four goddamn finalists that National Treasure Glen Weldon just described won't end up winning, but then I will be amazed.
posted by Etrigan at 1:40 PM on May 9, 2022 [1 favorite]


I am glad they are keeping a version of the points system from Eurovision for the Grand Final voting; I hope we get to see the math!
posted by the primroses were over at 5:18 PM on May 9, 2022


I would like to thank the kpop fans for saving us from the jury's inexplicable enthusiasm for bad songs.

Also I am excited to hear that Johnny Weir is hosting the Peacock Eurovision coverage.
posted by the primroses were over at 7:04 PM on May 9, 2022 [2 favorites]


I honestly didn't think they'd give the fan votes enough weight to overrule the jury by that much.

The look on Michael Bolton's face as he realized that he was definitely going to lose... mwah
posted by Etrigan at 7:54 PM on May 9, 2022


It's official: No second season in 2023, but maybe in 2024.
posted by Etrigan at 1:46 PM on March 16, 2023 [1 favorite]


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