Last week’s premiere episode of American Song Contest debuted to much curiosity (and varying reviews). It was a showcase for everything from pop, country, rap, “nuvo-retro”, and K-pop. But now we get to explore even more music from across the states and territories with heat two.

Heat two of American Song Contest will serve as a chance for 11 more acts to sing for their for a spot in the next round.

NBC has shared snippets of their rehearsals. While we wait to see the live performances, let’s get to know the latest batch of contestants a bit better.

American Song Contest: Heat Two Acts

Flag of Kansas.svg Kansas — Broderick Jones — “Tell Me”

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and now living in Olathe, Kansas, Broderick Jones is a singer-songwriter known for his smooth vocals and captivating stage performances. His music mixes rap with notes of hip-hop and R&B.

Broderick has piled up over 35 million streams alone with no backing, helping him put a spotlight on his hometown and move closer towards his dream of becoming the biggest artist ever from Kansas. Broderick is thrilled to represent his state and show America that if he can make it from there, anything is possible.

You can follow Broderick here:

Flag of Kentucky.svg Kentucky — Jordan Smith — “Sparrow”

Born and raised in his home state of Kentucky, Jordan Smith is best known to U.S. audiences for winning season 9 of NBC’s The Voice in 2015. He holds the record as the highest-selling artist in The Voice history, dethroning Adele’s “Hello” at No. 1 on the iTunes charts three times during his run on the show and becoming the first artist ever to replace himself at No. 1 on the Christian Billboard chart.

Jordan has since released four albums and toured extensively around the world, sharing the stage with artists such as Patti LaBelle, Jordin Sparks and Lionel Richie. He also co-wrote the song “Ashes,” performed by Celine Dion for the movie Deadpool 2.

You can follow Jordan here:

Flag of Maine.svg Maine — King Kyote — “Get Out Alive”

 

Born in York, and now living in Portland, King Kyote is a recording artist who has toured extensively in the northeast as well as around the country. His music is said to have a mood of “a night of whiskey drinking in a cabin among the Maine pines”, and finds its inspiration in the roots of rock, singer-songwriter and folk.

He has played at iconic venues and local festivals throughout Maine, as well as shows with many local popular acts such as Ghosts of Paul Revere, Rustic Overtones and The Mallet Brothers Band.

You can follow King Koyote here:

Flag of Montana.svg Montana — Jonah Prill — “Fire It Up”

Born and bred in Billings, Montana, Jonah quickly gained a loyal following on TikTok (that now numbers over 814,000) when he started posting videos that chronicled his cowboy lifestyle and his hopeful journey to stardom.

From rocking school assemblies in third grade, singing in choirs through Europe by high school and joining every band in college, it wasn’t long before Jonah knew he wanted to release his own music and become a household name. His ability to infuse his country music heritage and down-home upbringing into the lyrics and melodies of his music has led some to call him one of the genre’s most intriguing new artists.

The grandson of country artist Dean Evans (who released a record in 1961 before deciding to leave his own singing career behind to become a cowboy), Jonah hopes to lead a new generation into a new chapter of country music.

You can follow Jonah here:

Flag of Nebraska.svg Nebraska — Jocelyn — “Never Alone”

A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Jocelyn writes music with a positive message she hopes will both motivate and inspire. She has toured with Darius Rucker, Hootie and the Blowfish and Barenaked Ladies.

Jocelyn also has a heart for advocacy, having partnered with Boys Town National Hotline, a Nebraska nonprofit that is dedicated to providing a safe home for children of all races and religions, and Hope Squad on the Kindness Tour, bringing her positive music and message along with suicide prevention resources to schools across the country.

She was featured on Celebrity Undercover Boss with Rucker and Showtime at the Apollo with Steve Harvey.

You can follow Jocelyn here:

Flag of New York.svg New York — ENISA — “Green Light”

Born and bred in Brooklyn, ENISA is a first-generation American born to ethnic Albanian parents from Montenegro. Following her graduation from Brooklyn’s esteemed Edward R. Murrow High School, she attended Brooklyn College and continued to develop her unique musical vision.

A series of distinctive cover songs exploded across social media, earning her millions of views and critical acclaim from the likes of Complex, XXL, ThisSongIsSick and more. ENISA continued to hone her diverse musical approach, infusing contemporary soul pop with Middle Eastern flair inspired by her own Muslim heritage.

Track releases like her collaboration with Scridge and Ghenda – the viral smash “Karma (Remix)” – and such solo singles as “Burn This Bridge” and “Wait for Love” showcased a spectacular knack for raw soul and endless attitude, earning her close to 16 million views and more than 3 million global streams.

You can follow ENISA here:

Flag of North Dakota.svg North Dakota — Chloe Fredericks — “I’ve Been Known to Stay”

Growing up on her family’s ranch in North Dakota, Chloe wrote her first song when she was five. She grew up listening to some of country music’s great artists, including Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Emmylou Harris. However, these days her emotional lyrics and smoky vocals earn her comparisons to powerhouse contemporary pop singer-songwriters such as Adele and Amy Winehouse.

You can follow Chloe here:

Flag of Ohio.svg Ohio — Macy Gray — “Every Night”

Born in Canton, Ohio, the daughter of a math teacher and a steel factory worker, Macy grew up in a house next to the local farm – a place still near and dear to her heart where she received the encouragement to become the star she is today.

Now based in Los Angeles, Macy Gray broke into the music scene in 1999 with the release of her debut triple-platinum album, On How Life Is. Since that debut, she has become a powerhouse of R&B and soul, amassing a devoted global fan base and selling more than 25 million total albums globally. A five-time Grammy Award nominee, Macy won Best Pop Vocal Performance in 2000 for her iconic song “I Try” and has received two BRIT Awards.

Macy’s latest album, The Reset, will be released later this year.

You can follow Macy here:

Flag of Oregon.svg Oregon — courtship. — “Million $ Smoothies”

courtship. is comprised of Micah Gordon, 24, and Eli Hirsch, 22. It’s Eli who originally hails from Oregon.

The pair met whilst playing as backing musicians in LA and decided to jam with each other. They wrote their first song, “Stop For Nothing”, which was released to critical acclaim in August 2016, and the duo have continued on ever since then. They now have tens of millions of Spotify streams to their name.

You can follow courtship. here:

U.S. Virgin Islands — Cruz Rock — “Celebrando”

Born in Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and now living in Miami, Florida, Cruz Rock (born Frankie Garcia) is a Latin Caribbean singer, songwriter and producer whose heritage traces back to Trinidad and Tobago as well as Puerto Rico and Vieques.

Born to a Trinidadian mother and a Puerto Rican father, he’s very influenced by these cultures, so his music fuses Caribbean, American and Latin styles.

You can follow Cruz here:

Flag of Virginia.svg Virginia — Almira Zaky — “Over You”

Born in Herndon, Virginia, where she still lives, Almira Zaky is a singer-songwriter of Indonesian descent. Almira’s journey as a vocalist began at a young age when she would perform for thousands all around the Washington, D.C., area at several venues including World Bank, the Embassy of Indonesia, University of District of Columbia, University of Maryland, and events such as the annual Cherry Blossom Festival and the Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival.

Almira is inspired by artists such as Kehlani, Jhene Aiko, Jojo and Ariana Grande, and attributes her rhythmic R&B/pop influence to ’90s-’00s music. Almira, who is Muslim and proud of her Indonesian heritage, is very honoured to represent her home state of Virginia, as it is the home to so many hip-hop/R&B musical legends, including Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Chad Hugo and Missy Elliott.

Her vocal talent and relatability has impressed audiences all over the world, and has inspired others to become the boss of their own life with her message of self-empowerment.

You can follow Almira here:

Who catches your eye most from heat two of American Song Contest? Who do you think has the edge to grab a spot in the semi-finals? Let your voice be heard in the comments below!

28 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Devito
1 year ago

I find ASC to be a cheap parody of the Eurovision Song Contest. And there are plenty of reasons why. The major ones being: Voting system. Whoever thought voting via Tiktok was a genial idea – needs to be fired. Even more so, from what I understood, you can vote for up to 10 times per each METHOD meaning in total you can give 30 votes, right? And ESC gives you like 10 minutes to vote instead of 2 hours. I have questions as to how they divert votes as well: do they separate somehow if Alaskan is voting from… Read more »

Pollaski
Pollaski
1 year ago
Reply to  Devito

I laugh at “cheap parody” considering NBC probably has a bigger production budget for the ASC than the actual ESC. Actually you get two days, which is to accomodate West Coast, DVR and Peacock Viewers. And its set up that you can’t vote for your own state. I’m sure there’s ways around it if you want to try hard enough, but I strongly doubt there’s many people who are going to put in that level of effort to vote for someone from New York just because they’re from New York. And the first qualifier showed that’s not really an issue-… Read more »

3art
3art
1 year ago
Reply to  Devito

Yeah agree and would add another copy project : eurovoice hosted by Pamela Anderson

Ukraine stan
Ukraine stan
1 year ago

Enisa has the biggest Eurovision vibes of the songs here. Makes me think of Ram Pam Pam.

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
1 year ago

I knew CT and PR were moving on.

James
James
1 year ago

VA represent!

James
James
1 year ago
Reply to  James

And to be exact, Fairfax County represent!

Pancake
Pancake
1 year ago

I’ll be honest here, I think this is the stronger Qualifier Round compared to the first one. There are a lot of potential favorites here. Any way, my top 10 (I’m not rating Ohio since I didn’t listen to it yet):

1st Kansas
2nd New York (Potential Televote Winner)
3rd Oregon
4th Virginia
5th US Virgin Islands
6th North Dakota (Potential Jury Winner)
7th Nebraska
8th Maine
9th Kentucky
10th Montana
xx Ohio

PS. Can we have Enisa for Albania next year?

Last edited 1 year ago by Pancake
Yankee
Yankee
1 year ago

Sparrow is a good song

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
1 year ago

Tbf, I automatically vibe a lot more with the clips that have live vocals.

Last edited 1 year ago by Frisian esc
Anonymous
Anonymous
1 year ago

ENISA was born to Albanian Montenegrin parents, not Albanian parents.
The eastern region of Montenegro along the border is natively ethnic Albanian.

Héctor
Héctor
1 year ago

I would’ve never imagined an American show would look so cheap and cheesy. It’s hard to find a performance that isn’t just bland. This looks like something the BBC or the RTE would stage.

Also rather weak heat in overall terms. Maine’s King Kiyote is the clear standout here.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
1 year ago
Reply to  Héctor

There are a handful of interesting acts though!

Anonymous
Anonymous
1 year ago
Reply to  Héctor

Compared to a lot of shows, it actually has pretty good production and the stage is impressive. I agree though that the show could be better. The online promotion has been weak, both from the network and the contestants. Most comments are from Eurovision fans, and very few are Americans tuning into the format for the first time. The contestants should have been given a quota to make a certain amount of social media posts promoting their participation and it should have begun 2 or 3 weeks before their appearance, not just 1 week in advance. They needed a different… Read more »

James
James
1 year ago
Reply to  Héctor

BBC Proms though looked really fancy.

Nicolas
Nicolas
1 year ago

Is this some kind of hybrid contest where clearly some singers don’t sing live ?

James
James
1 year ago
Reply to  Nicolas

They are probably singing live but it’s either that the backing track are overwhelming the heck out of them or they actually do sing like that. 🙂

Last edited 1 year ago by James
Essie
Essie
1 year ago

This lineup looks interesting. Nice diversity of music styles and backgrounds.

Lambert
Lambert
1 year ago

Great lineup. Macy Gray, legendary since her 1999 debut album. But also looking forward to Jocelyn.

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago

During the snippet phase I probably would’ve laughed at myself if I had said this, but Celebrando is my favorite of this heat. It is surprisingly good in my opinion.

Dawid
Dawid
1 year ago

Macy Gray? :0

Fast Food Music Lover
Fast Food Music Lover
1 year ago

Are they always gonna keep the rehearsals of their biggest stars under wraps? Last week it was Michael Bolton. This week it’s Macy Gray. Like, come on.

Fast Food Music Lover
Fast Food Music Lover
1 year ago
Reply to  Josh Kennon

That’s a great info. Thanks for sharing!

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
1 year ago

Yay, my home state Oregon is in this heat tonight. Good luck

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

Just out of curiosity: Do you perhaps live in Portland, Oregon?

Last edited 1 year ago by GojoSatoru
BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
1 year ago
Reply to  GojoSatoru

I live somewhat close to Portland. I actually live in a suburb called Lake Oswego. Are you from Oregon too?

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

No, I am from The Netherlands. I just like Portland a lot, idk why.