As “American Song Contest” approaches its March 21 premiere date, the “Eurovision Song Contest”-inspired NBC show has announced 56 artists that will compete in representing 56 U.S. states and territories, along with a new deal with Atlantic Records to release the upcoming series’ original songs.
Some familiar names pop up on the stage-by-state list of competitors — including Jewel (representing Alaska), Macy Gray (Ohio), Michael Bolton (Connecticut), the Crystal Method (Nevada), Sisqo (Maryland) and Allen Stone (Washington) — along with dozens not so well known outside their local territories.
Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg were recently announced as co-hosts for the show. The first episode will air from 8-10 p.m. on March 21, telecast live from the NBCUniversal lot, with the finale slated for May 9.
Every Monday night, there’ll be a batch of songs released along with the airing of a new episode, as Atlantic will issue the original songs from that episode at midnight ET/9 p.m. ET, a couple of hours after the show wraps up on the east coast and midway through the west coast airing.
“Atlantic Records is thrilled to partner with NBC and all the artists competing on ‘American Song Contest,’” said Atlantic’s 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 honored to be working with NBC, all of the incredibly talented artists, and the entire American Song Contest team.”
Executive producer Audrey Morrissey said,“Launching a new series is always a massive undertaking, but mounting one that involves producing 56 original songs is a herculean task. Selecting the right label partner to dig in with us was crucial and we found the perfect partner in Atlantic Records,. We can’t wait forviewers to discover new music from our incredibly talented artists from across the country and help decide America’s next big song.”
Morrissey is one of the producers of “The Voice,” and although the competition between states is a new wrinkle — echoing the contest between nations on “Eurovision” — the winnowing down of contestants follows along certain familiar lines. Qualifying rounds will followed by semi-finals until one state is voted the winner. Duos and groups will be in the running alongside solo artists.
The series was originally slated to begin in February, but in January got pushed back a month due to what were described as concerns about having a live audience and meeting COVID protocols.
The lineup of artists who’ll compete for the prize:
- 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 Kane’Opio 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: Sisqo
- Massachusetts: Jared Lee
- Michigan: Ada LeAnn
- Minnesota: Yam Haus
- Mississippi: Keyone Starr
- Missouri: Brett Seper
- Montana: Jonah Prill
- Nebraska: Jocelyn Anderson
- 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 Pagan
- 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.: Neither
- West Virginia: Alexis Cunningham
- Wisconsin: Jake’O
- Wyoming: Ryan Charles
