We don’t yet have the line-up Eurovision 2022. However, the roster for its US spinoff is complete. On Thursday, American Song Contest organisers published the list of 56 acts which will be competing in the inaugural event. They include veteran crooner Michael Bolton, “I Try” singer Macy Gray, “Thong Song” hitmaker Sisqó and singer-songwriter Jewel.
American Song Contest 2022: The Acts
- Alabama: Ni/Co
- Alaska: Jewel
- American Samoa: Tenelle
- Arizona: Las Marias
- Arkansas: Kelsey Lamb
- California: Sweet Taboo
- Colorado: Riker Lynch
- Connecticut: Michael Bolton
- Delaware: Nitro Nitra
- Florida: Ale Zabala
- Georgia: Stela Cole
- Guam: Jason J.
- Hawaii: Bronson Varde
- Idaho: Andrew Sheppard
- Illinois: Justin Jesso
- Indiana: UG skywalkin
- Iowa: Alisabeth Von Presley
- Kansas: Broderick Jones
- Kentucky: Jordan Smith
- Louisiana: Brittany Pfantz
- Maine: King Kyote
- Maryland: Sisqó
- Massachusetts: Jared Lee
- Michigan: Ada LeAnn
- Minnesota: Yam Haus
- Mississippi: Keyone Starr
- Missouri: Brett Seper
- Montana: Jonah Prill
- Nebraska: Jocelyn
- Nevada: The Crystal Method
- New Hampshire: MARi
- New Jersey: Brooke Alexx
- New Mexico: Khalisol
- New York: ENISA
- North Carolina: John Morgan
- North Dakota: Chloe Fredericks
- Northern Mariana Islands: Sabyu
- Ohio: Macy Gray
- Oklahoma: AleXa
- Oregon: courtship.
- Pennsylvania: Bri Steves
- Puerto Rico: Christian Pagán
- Rhode Island: Hueston
- South Carolina: Jesse LeProtti
- South Dakota: Judd Hoos
- Tennessee: Tyler Braden
- Texas: Grant Knoche
- U.S. Virgin Islands: Cruz Rock
- Utah: Savannah Keyes
- Vermont: Josh Panda
- Virginia: Almira Zaky
- Washington: Allen Stone
- Washington, D.C.: NËITHER
- West Virginia: Alexis Cunningham
- Wisconsin: Jake’O
- Wyoming: Ryan Charles
NBC has published an interactive map which provides details on all the acts.
American Song Contest 2022: Songs
Atlantic Records is acting as the exclusive music partner for the new competition. The label will release the competing songs in a series of weekly batches. The first lot of entries are due to land on Monday 21 March 21at 00:00 (midnight) ET / 21:00 PT — just a few hours before the first episode.
“Atlantic Records is thrilled to partner with NBC and all the artists competing on ‘American Song Contest,” says Atlantic Records President, West Coast Kevin Weaver. “As an innovative music label, we are always looking for new ways to discover and showcase talent, and American Song Contest is the perfect stage for America to see the best of the best from each state and territory. We are honoured to be working with NBC, all of the incredibly talented artists and the entire American Song Contest team”.
The American Song Contest will run for eight weeks. Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg will host.
What act are you most excited for? Let us know down below.
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One of the things that attracted me to ESC back in the 70’s was the variety and diversity brought to the stage by different countries singing in different languages and styles, a lot of that has vanished now but every so often you can get a glimpse of it. I can’t see the American version being of any interest, sounds like one big snorefest.
So now, why does ESC go on for hours with several shows and 200-300 million people watching it? Because they started in small scale and built the brand by demand, adding countries because of the shows popularity. Imagine if Spotify existed everywhere in the world from scratch. They didn’t. The started by exclusive invites to build a hype. Then they added some Nordic counties where they could get the right licences. Continued in Europe, the US, Latin America, south east Asia etc. All the way to the world. American song contest will have too many heats. They should have started… Read more »
You know something? I thought this contest was going to be extremely overloaded with has-beens, rejects and alumni from Idol/X-Factor/Voice/Star Search, and maybe a legend or two that we have not heard from in several decades.
I must say Björkman played his cards right; but now he must yield a better hand than all of those old shows if he wants to do this again. A bad beat in the end, and there will be no 2nd edition.
Bolton, Jewel, Sisqó, Gray and the Crystal Method, I know. But again, I expect that they could be wasted by the up-and-coming contenders…
…But one name rings a bell that I haven’t seen in over a decade: Allen Stone. There used to be a video show on VH1 called ‘SubSoul’, and his videos were on it. His videos are still at YouTube. He could be one of the big surprises from the not-so-well-known camp.
Indie artists with barely any publicity, I could see competing in this contest…
…Has-beens (5 of whom are very obvious here, with one going as far back as 1982), I’m not so sure, because we’ve seen how a few has-beens fared at Eurovision (Humperdinck, for one).
I think the has-beens will get wasted rather quickly, and a few of the unknowns and not-so-well-knowns will shine.
I’m rooting for the territories!
great, another American Idol only this time it’s for slightly famous people
I am so confused. My home state is represented by an artist who quite literally gets 500 views on her music videos. If you did an ounce of research you would realize a lot of these artists get a couple thousand views on their music. I wouldn’t call that “slightly famous.” Also, I don’t know why it’s a problem if an artist is established in the States. Especially, when a lot of Eurovision artists are either in the same boat as many of the artists in this competition or are already established and popular artists in their countries. I mean… Read more »
I agree with you so much, but I actually don’t know anyone there
Even though you know it I still cannot express my hate 🙁
I was sceptical of ASC, but this lineup is serving.
I am very excited to experience how this new show will go. I am glad to see some well known names in here, and I am happy to discover new artists from the USA. For instance, I’ve been listening to Jewel for over 2 decades now, and she’s genuinely great. For those who like country-pop, she delivers quality. Michael Bolton, Macy Gray, and Sisqo are all big names with good track record behind them. The one thing I’m hoping is that the songs will be diverse in genre, and strong in composition. Good luck, USA! 🙂
As an American, I am very happy to see some familiar faces: Apart from Jewel (Alaska) Sisqo (MY HOMESTATE MARYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!), Ohio’s very own Macy Gray, and Michael Bolton (Connecticut), I am also interested in the following contestants: Las Marias (Arizona) have a solid base in Northern Mexico and Southwest of the US by singing Ranchero Music (Mexico’s equivalent to our country music). Hope they can get a song similar to Jenny Rivera’s. Ryker Lynch (Colorado) He’s an actor turned musician mostly known for being in Glee and in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He came in 2nd Place with Dancing… Read more »
i went through some of the artists’ spotifys and the ones that sound interesting to me are ENISA (NY), alexis cunningham (WV), courtship. (OR), aleXa (OK), and brooke alexx (NJ)
as an american i’m glad the hate for the american song contest is finally dying down because i really think our country will appreciate this contest a lot!
From what I’ve seen, even the newer artists have built a social media presence, but for some reason or another just haven’t become nationally known yet. They cast this contest pretty smartly, I think. I just hope the quality of the songs is as promising as the artists taking part. As for the bigger name artists, I think those have been cast pretty smartly as well. Most of them (maybe with the exception of Jewel, who is coming off of her Masked Singer win) are known here as more or less nostalgia acts, so it’s nice to see them getting… Read more »
I really hope this flops and I think it will. The only good thing about it is that it prevents America from competing at Eurovision. Also apart from Jewel and Michael Bolton the singers are all a bunch of nobodies.
Every artist was a nobody before they were discovered….
My good friend AleXa is representing Oklahoma! She’s actually a K-Pop idol so this is going to be exciting to see if she does something similar to her K-Pop songs or something inspired her love for rock instead.
How are they choosing the artist for each state? Is it the record label who is doing it on its own or people in each state?
Casting calls were made over the summer so I guess many songwriters, labels, and artists put themselves forward. I believe it was made clear that the participants don’t have to necessarily be someone who was born in the state or territory but has a connection there in one way or another.
The producers decide everything – the states don’t actually have any say.
Trying to arrange selections at the state level, given how many NBC affiliates there are out there would have been way too cumbersome anyway.
Jewel’s 03/04 album was one of my favourites when I was a lot younger. I probably listened to “Yes U Can” about five hundred times a day.
How exciting its a shame though that its so close to the actual Eurovision as it will probably prevent a lot of European journalists from fully covering it. Hopefully next year it will change. I’m definitely all for this 🙂
When I had heard for the 1st time that the American Song Contest project would go through, I immediately thought that maybe the winner of the ASC, would perform at the ESC. This year’s ESC final will consist of 25 countries, because the current winner Italy is a Big 5 country. So I was thinking that maybe they would want to fill this “gap” and as so let the USA participate in an Australia 2015 style, as a guest. However, the ASC final is on the 9th of May, so whoever wins, probably wouldn’t have enough time for rehearsals for… Read more »
I think a free trip to Italy and front-row seat in the final should be part of the ASC winner’s package although given COVID concerns, I’m not sure it’s doable at the moment.
Why?
I wish the American contest well, but I want the two contests to be separate things.
Perhaps, I worded it badly as I didn’t mean to say that as an actual thing but something of a suggestion as part of a winner’s package, like the equivalent of a winning country in Eurovision gaining hosting rights upon their victory.
I’m just scared of giving the EBU even the slightest excuse to invite America into the contest… we saw how fast things changed for Australia between 2014 and 2015.
As far as I know, Peacock (NBC’s streaming platform) will be live-streaming all three shows again this year. Last year’s shows were streamed (and are still available on-demand) on the free version of Peacock. From what I remember, the Premium version is only about $6 a month (which gives you more access to its library of programming and almost no ads). I haven’t heard if Peacock will be streaming this year’s shows on the free version yet. I imagine since they’ve been using Eurovision footage in the program promos for the ASC, they’ll probably be taking several opportunities to promote… Read more »
Nevada’s ‘The Crystal Method’ will be VERY interesting. We’ll probably have our first song without any lyrics, which will be cool.
Also, New York participating with an Albanian singer is amazing. Mirud (FiK) previously said he was contacted to represent NY, so I guess they had a vision of an Albanian artist representing them. They chose the more talented artist.
Plenty of Spanish language singers here. Thank god we have some diversity.
We do have a large Albanian-Kosovar community over here!
ENISA I’ve always wanted to see in ESC for Albania, cool to see her here
Or represent Montenegro, where her family is from. Albania and Kosovo have so many talented singers natively that it wouldn’t be fair for one of them to lose their “Albania” slot at ESC.
‘I try’ is one of my go to songs when I need to brighten up so excited to see macy gray here!
Rooting for Jewel! She slayed when she competed as the Queen of Hearts in The Masked Singer.
And what about other american countries? USA Song Contest, not “American”.
Most of the Americas will have a similar show of their own headed by Spain’s RTVE.
only the hispano hablante countries I imagine…
Yes, which almost all the countries of North and South America minus Canada, USA and Brazil….. What’s your point?
The US could, in theory take part in it as it has one of the largest number of Spanish speakers outside Spain.
I’m just sad because I’m Brazilian my guy, and it’d be so fun to cheer for my country in a competition like this. Also, there’s the Guyanas and Suriname in SA too! this is non confrontational btw
Not even remotely. Ever heard of the Caribbean islands that don’t speak Spanish, or Belize, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname?
Plenty of English creole, French creole, Dutch, French, and other languages spoken in the Americas besides just Brazil, Canada and USA.
How do we watch in the UK?
Amazed at the number of genres represented. Something for everyone, even a cowboy rapper from Wyoming.
Jewel!!!!!!!
I still have Intuition on my playlist though the album was a flop. Anyway, so happy to see the country diva is back.
Is it me or there is too much pop and too much divas? I mean it is obvious it was going to be like this as it is what’s on the radio but I hoped for more diverse field. I see there’s going to be some urban and maybe some latino vibes from Florida and Arizona (?). Also I can tell by the artists that there is some rock too but rather focused on male-songwriter with a country, folk twist. To be honest, I’m missing a lot more indie, alternative music and… bands!! I’ve spotted, if I’m not wrong, just… Read more »
The good thing is that many of these artists are influenced by a lot of overlapping genres. 🙂
Given Year 1 of anything always has teething pains, if this is the year 1 lineup, and the show goes well, I expect good things going forward.
This actually looks very promising!
I have a feeling the show’s format and production will look more like an American Idol/X Factor/Voice rather than the ESC. Nonetheless, it is still exciting.
I think this will be more like the better national finals than the singer competition shows. You won’t have the building a story as the weeks go on, like the singer shows. You have one shot to impress and get to the finals.
I wonder how the mechanics will work. Obviously, the show can’t air live across all timezones covering the country and its territories as places like Guam where it’d be morning/noon there. Likewise for voting. Would people be allowed to vote hours ahead of the show or will it be a combination of live in-show voting in the mainland and online voting at any given time in all American states and territories?
This is exactly what I was hoping to find out (I’m from Guam).
For years, me & my mom have been watching the Eurovision live streams (and national selections too) usually at 5AM in our timezone. Being Americans in the Pacific, we would plan for the night like Superbowl fanatics stereotypically do but, always miss out on being able to vote. Now that our country is finally getting a similar show (thank you so much Sweden!), I’m hoping that we’ll be able to take part in the televote!
Not American but aren’t shows like Idol and X-Factor live? Or Superbowl? How does that work?
So basically, in the US mainland, shows airing on any of the major broadcast networks air first in two timezones, the East Coast and Central areas. The third one, the Pacific timezone, which covers practically all of the West Coast states would air them later about three hours later on delay. There’s another timezone sandwiched between Pacific and Western called “Mountain”, covering several states in the Rocky Mountain region and that’s a whole other thing in itself, as well as those in Hawaii/Alaska, and the Pacific and Caribbean territories. For live broadcasts, it depends on the profile of the show… Read more »
American Idol did have real-time voting last season, and I think it’s been in place since its first season on ABC. The way they conduct it, though, is not quite like Eurovision, though, as Idol opens up their voting at the beginning of the episode, which puts the people who perform at the end at a disadvantage in the voting. At least Eurovision televoting puts running order at an equal weight by waiting for all the acts to perform and then opens a short voting window.
The EBU tried it the other way in 2010, I don’t think anyone liked it.
Sisqo man!!! I hope his song smashes like the thong song ?
That wasn’t even his biggest solo hit in the U.S. The follow-up, “Incomplete”, turned out to be bigger here.
Let’s hope we’re getting more languages than English and Spanish, I was rooting for Hawai’i but looks like we’ll get a bilingual contest (Unless AleXa does something fun), still, seems promising
It’s gonna be pretty exciting, let’s see what this delivers!!
I may need to check the famous ones’ discography to jolt my memory but kudos to the production for securing those names! Looking forward to the pleasant surprises from the up-and-coming acts as well.
macy grey featured on an australian compilation cd from 2005 good times <3
I’m rooting for Oklahoma lmao! I definitely didn’t expect to see a kpop idol representing them, but I’m excited!
I’m super excited for her too. I’ve been following her since her debute.
Will Michael Bolton go the distance? We’ll see.
I understood that reference.
Ah, Hercules. One of my favorite Disney movies.
I never expected that, but so far Björkman and NBC have done a great job.
Sisqó is iconic! I bought his album when I was teenager, and I still have it! It’s collector.
Macy Gray exactly the same! Such great memories, so happy to see them bringing new songs! Maryland and Ohio let’s go!
i’m actually shocked by how promising this lineup is and by how most artists have ties with the state they’re representing. i was expecting a bunch of hasbeen bands and country singers, but this has turned out out into a competition that’s worth checking out !