Last week Eurovision Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand got the Eurovision fandom talking by revealing that the European Broadcasting Union is still exploring the possibility of launching a new edition of Eurovision in the United States.
And while any real-life “Americavision” is still years away from happening — if it ever does — our readers dove into the topic, lighting up our comments section with what they consider the good, the bad and the ugly of the proposition.
In the aftermath of the news, we decided to film a little reaction video, which you can watch below. We’ve also pulled out some of your comments that caught our eyes. They’re listed below as well.
Eurovision America: Reaction
“Just no” — YouTube reaction to Eurovision United States
Scrolling through the comments section on YouTube, it’s clear that a huge chunk of our readers — it seems the majority, in fact — don’t approve.
YouTube viewer Min Yoongi has one of the most-liked comments on our video above, and she is not feeling the proposed contest. She writes: “Eurovision has a spirit that Americans can’t feel (only William lmao)… But seriously, it’s just my opinion but I can’t be excited about it. I’m excited about Eurovision Asia but US…? Just no.”
lillian mode agrees. She’s happy for the EBU to launch Eurovision Asia, but a version for the United States seems a step too far. “Please no America Eurovision!” she says. “Eurovision Asia is one thing (Asia is a continent so we’ll see multiple COUNTRIES perform and it would have diversity unlike Eurovision America where it will probably be like each state puts in an entry). And plus why does America have to join the Eurovision band wagon? We have enough talent shows and such we don’t need to copy what others are doing all the time!!”
“Oh god, no,” writes VOGUE ROGUE. “It just takes away the specialness of EUROvision. Eurovision brings different cultures together, artists singing in their native tongue and showcasing their own sounds or traditional music…an American version would just sound the same.”
PionEEr LoveESC says that “Jon Ola Sand shouldn’t sell Europe’s tradition!”
Writing on the wiwibloggs web site, many of our readers were annoyed that “Eurovision America” has entered Eurofan parlance. If the EBU is targeting the United States of America, they say, then the show needs to be called “Eurovision United States” and not own the word “America” — which, of course, refers to both North and South America (even if Americans use “America” as shorthand for the U.S.A. and on programs such as America’s Got Talent and American Idol).
Augusto thinks that the contest should target all of the Americas — for the sake of viewers and for the integrity of the show itself. “The format will be better suited for the ENTIRE continent instead of the U.S. alone. As for me, it would make the show just dull to watch (#sorrynotsorry). It’ll be more bearable for anyone to watch the whole continent (from Canada to Argentina, and the Caribbean countries included) because all 50 states + the D.C. would be just ugh…”
“I know the OTI Festival existed from the 70s until 2000 when it was canceled for good. Rumors have come up over the years saying that it may come back but nothing happens.”
“So if Jon Ola wants to bring ESC to the other side of the Atlantic, PLEASE let us all join the fun. If not, this will be boring as hell.”
Hada agrees. “They need to make an Eurovision America for the whole continent, not just the US. It would be super interesting (and yes, there’s more than reggaetón here, even among top 40 music). Or bring the OTI festival back, independent of the EBU.”
As part of a continent-wide contest, joe2288 wants the United States to air its own televised selection show. “Would be nice if they did a National Selection with all 50 states, DC, and US territories,” he writes, “and then whoever won that would go on to compete in Americavision where all countries within the continent would have the chance to participate.”
Writing on our Facebook page, Jared Grimes — an American — isn’t a fan either.
“I’ll pass, and a hard pass at that. I follow Eurovision to escape the music here!”
Jack W in the UK doesn’t think the show will take off stateside.
“I don’t think a US edition of Eurovision would be a big ratings hit, compared to the Oscars, Grammys, Miss America and numerous Sport programming. I think whichever network broadcasts ‘Americavision’ they need a high profile host like Ryan Seacrest, Nick Cannon, Jimmy Fallon or Cat Deeley. Can’t see all 50 states participating either, but I already see California a lot like UK… with so many worldwide established artists many people have high expectations but it’s likely to be a new unsigned name representing them and if they get a disappointing result Californians would cry “nobody likes us!” and may point out low scores from Republican states.”
It’s not all negative though.
Writing on our Facebook page, Patricia says: “Yeah, would be great. Proposal from me: Winners of America Eurovision and Asia should [go] then automatically to the original ESC.”
Have your thoughts on Eurovision America changed since Jon Ola’s interview? Do you agree with the largely negative response from our readers? What positive comments do you guys have about the potential Eurovision extension? Let us know in the comments box below!
I believe that American Eurovision is not only a great idea, but one that is being generalized too much. For one, the United States, while it is driven by trends, still contains cultural differences in different parts of the country. This allows for a difference in song types just like the original ESC. But lets assume that the United States is purely trend-driven. So is Europe. And while there are some songs that are purist to their culture, there are mostly those that are not. I believe that the format that ESC follows is something that America can follow, and… Read more »
Why should Australia be allowed to join but not the US, Australia is farther than the US….
I actually really like this idea. Just me?
Just leave Eurovision as its own thing. Give ‘Americavision’ a completely different name and production team. I think there’s something really Hunger Games about the 50 states competing for reputation (and, knowing the Americans, huge amounts of money). Guessing New York and California would dominate (like Sweden) and the country music states (like Tennessee) would dominate in America’s version of ethnopop, like Montenegro did 2014-2015. North Dakota would probably be like Czechia.
And Colorado would be like Hungary.
I’m in the States as well and although it’d be kind of interesting having each state compete (let’s go PA!!!), I don’t think it will work. Here the music culture is currently too trend-driven and not true enough to itself. Just look at the Billboard Hot 100, which is overrun with trap, pop, and country music. The young people here would never support anything original or memorable to win the contest, let alone to win any state finals. Basically you’ll get 20 generic country songs, 15 generic pop songs, 14 bad trap/hip hop/rap songs, and then that 1 song that… Read more »
In 1997, it was an International Festival in Romania, Cerbul de aur (Golden Stag), and USA was represented by Christina Aguilera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPMtj7Tbxr8
First they should allow the American audience access to Eurovision.
Sign to stop Geo blocking.
https://www.change.org/p/the-ebu-let-americans-watch-eurovision
Let Americans watch eurovision!
Ok, read all the comments here and on YouTube.
I can only say Jon Ola Sand now must have regretted not keeping his mouth shut in this LOL
But at least now he knows what people feel about it!
Again, it might work. Don’t think everything will sound the same. People forget that USA consists of several states who each have a different culture and sound. Hawaii with it’s ukulele based Pacific Islanders sound, Louisiana with jazz, Cajun and Creole sound, Kentucky with bluegrass, Tennesee with country, Florida with Cuban music, Georgia with rap, Seattle with grunge, different hip-hop from each of the costs and different country music depending on whether it’s North or South. If we throw in the territories it will make it even more exciting. Hello Guam and Virgin Islands. So it won’t sound the same.… Read more »
Good points here, Denis. If the show were pitched as state vs. state, there would be an interest in focusing on whatever unique attributes each state has as part of its history. E.g.; Michigan and its Motown roots; Kentucky and bluegrass. The prize, as in Eurovision, is not the point. Bragging rights, sure. But it’s a showcase for culture, or commerce, or history, or tourism, or ego, or whatever. Participants come at it from lots of angles, and that’s part of the weirdness and fun. A USA show could never be the same as Eurovision, because the USA is screwy… Read more »
Well the more, the merrier. I would totally support USA version as much as I support the Asia-Oceania version for 2018. I guess it’s the exact same thing like with film remakes of beloved classics – People somehow think that the new version will in a way negate or change the existing original. It will not. I will just add a new flair aside. Don’t like it – don’t watch it. It has right to a shot. If it doesn’t work – it doesn’t work. But if ”Aina Mun Pitaa” and ”Flying the Flag” deserved a shot on the ESC… Read more »
I used to live in the United States and I don’t think people understand how different each state is, even within terms of musicality. While yes, many southern and midwestern states are dominated by country music, there’s still differences in taste throughout the whole country. Kentucky (Appalachia) has bluegrass, the Pacific Northwest is known for grunge and indie music, Hawaii has their traditional ukulele-based music, Louisiana has jazz, the East Coast, West Coast, South, and Midwest each have their own hip hop genres. Each sate has their own musical traditions. People are looking at it as just one country with… Read more »
I left a youtube comment on this, but as an American myself, I can’t see the contest working. American countries are just so much bigger in size than European countries, and I think that is a pretty big factor here.
To be honest I’m still skeptical if Eurovision Asia is going to really work.
I am not clearly negative or clearly positive. But a contest including only the U.S. won’t be interesting. All songs will be more or less the same. It’s not different countries and different music cultures. This project would most likely work having the whole continent participating. It would be far more interesting!
So, I’d like “Eurovision America” if all countries in the continent were involved. But America is a whole different market, especially the U.S. Nobody is sure this competition would be successful.
As for Eurovision America, I don’t think the format would work there. There would be no diversity and we would have to go through 30+ country songs every year.
Once again with the “no diversity” comments. America (as in the continent) is TREMENDOUSLY diverse. Even among countries that all speak Spanish there’s a difference in musical taste, culture, language use, food, everything. America is more than the three reggaetón songs you hear on the radio.
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Possible nightmare scenarios: – The American TV networks would only allow each singer to perform their songs for less than a minute and a half (like American Idol). – The shows would be polluted with excessive advertising and commercials (like the Maltese selection). – Singers’ vocals would be automatically pitch corrected live (like every act on the New Years specials, and many acts on TV nowadays). – Way too much focus on the personalities of the contestants as opposed to their talents (like every single American reality show). Possible benefits: – Discovery of fantastic American musical acts that I, as… Read more »
You’re right about ads. I was shooketh when I went to America and saw there were commercial every 7-8 minutes on TV. How do y’all live through that?!
More opportunities to go to the kitchen and bring more food on the couch. This is what commercials are for.
You’re comparing states that are right next to each other though. Sweden doesn’t differ much from Norway, while Serbia doesn’t differ much from Montenegro. New Hampshire has greatly different tastes from Texas, as does Texas from Hawaii.
Are you kidding me? Norway can send a Sami song while Sweden goes pop, for instance. Plus they have different languages–within the States, it isn’t the case.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again, a U.S.-only version of this contest will invite the same tensions that preceded and followed the disaster in November.
This contest MUST be an all-encompassing Song Contest of the Americas, or it will be a farce.
As someone from South America, I can tell you immediately that the USA would win most of the times simply because it’s the USA. People here are notorious for hating their own stuff, but goodness gracious do they idolize the US!
I always figured the chances are better for Mexico, Brazil and the Caribbean islands.
I really doubt it. As a Latin American, I don’t see why people would vote for the US just because it’s the US. Hardly think Venezuela would vote for them. I see more voting based on languages, rather than countries.
It’s a matter of self-hatred. You almost never find traditional music from different countries on the radio anymore. And sadly, a lot of people still listen to English pop music just because it’s from the USA, in a lame effort to be cool. I’ve seen it happen in my own country (all in the name of money. That was part of my university thesis)
I mean, just look at how many people love Justin Bieber, and not only does he not sing in Spanish, but he’s just a c***.
Bieber is from Canada.
So each continent gets a contest of their own but not Europe? cough Australia cough. I can’t believe I’m still so butthurt on their participation and every year I hope that EBU announces that they won’t participate anymore. I mean, isn’t that already very unfair since they will launch Eurovision Asia?
I think as soon as the first Eurovision Asia has actually taken part, Australia won’t participate anymore in Eurovision. So I guess from 2019 on, they might only participate in Eurovision Asia. I guess they’re just waiting to see if Eurovision Asia really works out, there have been SO many attempts to set up an Asian song contest and it always failed, so I can understand that the Australian broadcaster is skeptical and thus participate in the Eurovision Song Contest one more time.
There should be an American (as in the CONTINENT) version of the contest, and preferably one that isn’t organized by the EBU. We had the OTI song contest, which was more or less that. Let’s bring it back but better.
I’m all for a Pan American version of the contest- but let’s be honest, except for the Olympics, the USA doesn’t care about international competitions- so this would just be a fifty state affair. The result?
New York, California, Tennessee and Atlanta just dominating the contest, even more than Sweden and Azerbaijan in ESC. Would singers be recruited to sing for their home state? So Taylor Swift for Pennsylvania? Also, what if Wyoming were to win- where would they host. This is ridiculous. Focus on ESC and Eurovision Asia.
”except for the Olympics, the USA doesn’t care about international competitions”
So true! If ESC will be successful in USA, they will not keep it, instead they will create another version, in order to not be linket to Europe. They want money in their pockets, not in Europeans pockets. They will just change a little the format in order to get rid of EBU.
Atlanta is a city not a state, and yes Wyoming is small, but it isn’t a microstate or anything. They have arenas. Cheyenne Frontier Days Arena is a 19,000-seat arena in the capital of Wyoming. Also, from what I’ve read, each state would have an online state final to decide their representative. So I’m assuming that most competitors would be unknowns, so there should be no difficulty finding participants, as in every state you go to you’ll see struggling musicians.
No one is going to watch it. Why bother.
My advice is:
Don’t expand too quickly.
Exactly, I’m really confused by this. They tried to set up an Asian song contest for so many times and it always failed, now they’re trying to do everything at once. Why stop at Eurovision Asia or Eurovision USA? WHAT ABOUT EUROVISION MILKY WAY OR EUROVISION UNIVERSE? XD
They did say that the idea is still under development so we won’t see it happening anytime soon,. If it took years for Asia spin-off to finally become a reality, the same amount of time will be done for this one as well.
Well… first of all, if there will be an AmericaVision or PanAmericaVision, it’s up to them to decide whether it’s a good idea or not, not to Europeans.
Secondly, as I wrote on the previous post, “PanAmericaVision” is too dreamy. The Americas aren’t as united as Europe, and neighbour/cultural voting will dominate the whole contest. However, an “AmericaVision” might be a good idea, but it needs its own flavour, like when Hollywood remakes a foreign movie, or in this case, a TV show.
Few things would make me happier tbh. With the risk of sounding terribly naive, it could be the Eurovision of my dreams: Better focus on creating an appealing TV experience, with artists and producers acknowledging the visual aspects throughout the creative process; a close collaboration with record companies; more pop, hip-hop and country; singing almost exclusively in English; no more senseless restrictions on pre-recorded vocals or people on stage; a completely revamped voting system. Just to name a few changes I’d like to see. I’m often impressed by the off-the-cuff assessments I hear from Americans who watch Eurovision for the… Read more »
Not surprised they are trying to create a Eurovision Asia and a Eurovision America. It’s about generating money I suppose, and the ESC has reached its limit of expanding inside the area of Europe. It’s big business, and that makes me uncomfortable. That being said, if they absolutely have to expand, that’s one of the better ways to do it. I’d rather have that than a Worldvision with 12-14 heats or whatever it adds up to. But the contest ought to be a non-profit thing – which would also be good for its musical and artistic credibility. Art and capitalism… Read more »
Anyway, I think an American version would flop. There isn’t really a need of something like Eurovision there, so I believe the EBU are shooting themselves in the foot here.
I’m not completely opposed to the idea… I mean, it’s better than the US participating in actual ESC (which of course NO ONE wants). But I agree that it should be expanded to all of North and South America. Given the political climate here right now I think that exposure to other cultures would be a good thing; after all, isn’t that what Eurovision is about in the first place?
But of course for it to succeed in the US we would have to send someone very famous and…well…as a hardcore ESC fan I cringe at that notion.
Nah. That would be overkill. In fact, I don’t think a Americans could deal well with something inspired by Eurovision. :/
I’m not enthused by the idea, for all of the reasons mentioned in the article. Whatever about licensing the rights, the E.B.U. should absolutely not be the ones to “set up” the show. They have enough to be doing, attending to the original & best.
The one person posting about how it would be copying if America were to do an ESC-esque show needs to realize that our country has been copying the Europeans in all of our talent shows for years. The Voice, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, etc., were all made from the minds of Europeans. The U.S. hasn’t had a single musical show that is wholly 100% American since maybe Star Search way WAY back (and even that may be the idea of a non-American). So, let us try Amerivision a time or two. When it flops, because it will end up… Read more »
Soul Train? American Bandstand?
‘Star Search’ (1983-1995, 2003-2004) wasn’t the only talent show of its kind in the U.S. In 1990, CBS televised a weekly program called ‘Big Break’, hosted by Natalie Cole. It lasted only one season. R. Kelly and his group won that competition.
Don’t see it happening but I don’t think it’s a bad idea. Don’t think it would be a hit over there though..
I mean, US is much more than California. Kentucky and Montana is different from California or New York, or Louisiana. Or Hawaii. They have different cultures. Not everything is pop. If they include the territories it could be interesting indeed. Hello Guam..
No. Just no.