American Song Contest 2022 - My Top 56 (with comments)
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2022
- Since I live in the US, I knew that I HAD to watch ASC; technically, since it ended a few days before Eurovision 2022, this was the first ESC-esque event that I ever experienced from start to finish. That said, since European viewers will most likely not know about this show, I figured I'd talk about it.
Basically, American Song Contest was a Eurovision-esque competition between all 50 states, Washington D.C., and 5 US territories, for a total of 56 entries. The first thing to keep in mind is that ASC was created to fill the spring timeslot for The Voice, which aired 2 seasons a year until 2022. Due to that (and just how American TV works in general), the show was spread across a period of 8 weeks with 1 episode per week (similar to any other American competition show); the show had 5 qualifier episodes, 2 semifinals, and a Grand Final. Read the show's Wikipedia page if you want to know exactly how the format worked, or I'll be here forever trying to explain it :P
As for my thoughts, I'll talk about the positives first. Visually, the show looked great; loved the palettes of all of the graphics and the license plate motif was really neat. The video packages did a great job of showing each artist's personality, and they were also surprisingly informative and taught me a lot about each state (I don't travel much so I don't know that much about most of them). Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg were great hosts (even if not all of their jokes landed); Snoop in particular did a good job of saying exactly what parts of each song he liked.
Additionally, the overall song quality was surprisingly good; I was VERY skeptical when I read that the producers would be picking every entry themselves instead of each state sending a representative, but they did a great job of getting a diverse selection of people and genres and I still listen to several of the songs. Most of the performances looked great (even in the worst entries), and I liked that they made considerable changes to the performances across the different rounds.
And now, the bad stuff...firstly, it needs to be said that the biggest difference between ASC and Eurovision is that while Eurovision is about uniting people and showcasing each country's culture through music, ASC was moreso about trying to find the next big radio hit. That's not necessarily BAD, but the show wasn't advertised that way (the show's advertising was quite bad in general; anyone that wasn't involved in Eurovision communities or didn't actively watch NBC likely didn't even know it existed). The "radio hit" thing was also very obvious if you looked at who the show's jury members were; nearly HALF of them worked for iHeartRadio, which is a huge radio conglomerate here in the US.
Speaking of the jury, they were...bad. Almost all of the most unique entries were tanked by them in the qualifiers with no chance to recover (especially Arizona, Indiana, and literally every territory except Puerto Rico and American Samoa). 4 of the 5 qualifiers' jury winners were, as the fanbase called them, "white male ballads". The televoters were better, but also not great (they caused A LOT of upsets in the semifinals and sent home several good entries that actually did get jury support). Many of the other songs were extremely radio-friendly, to the point where some have said that the contest is less like Eurovision and more like Melodifestivalen (I've never watched that so do with that information what you will lol).
The other big problem with the show was that it was very obviously thrown together with little thought put into it; it was so disorganized that Kelly threw shade at the producers several times and was visibly frustrated during a few of the segments. The show changed their vote revealing method almost every week, and they also changed the voting process in between rounds; this was especially a problem in the semifinals, where the jury had absolutely no power aside from putting through an automatic qualifier in each semifinal. The show also straight up did not explain the format until pretty much the last episode, so a lot of that information confused people unless they read it online.
Overall, American Song Contest has a lot of potential, but it needs more polish and reworking. Unfortunately, the show got absolutely terrible ratings and was outperformed even by other singing shows that got cancelled after one season, such as Rising Star; with that in mind, although it hasn't been confirmed yet, it's safe to say that ASC will not be returning anytime soon. Not sure what they'll fill that time slot with, but I doubt it'll be ASC. I hope that they can at least bring it back in a few years, after they've given the show a bit more thought.
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![Eesti Laul 2024: After Show - My Top 20 (with comments) [Estonian ESC Selection]](/img/n.gif)
Check out the description if you want my overall thoughts on how ASC went.
Also, it's worth noting that NBC decided to take down all of their official ASC videos for no reason, and the only uploads of them left look like...uh, this.
(Many of the reuploaded performances were also desynced, which I had to fix manually...fun times)
For all its worth, the song selection is the strongest part of the show. I really hope for a season 2, cause the issues in this season are fixable and let's be real, a show like this is such a change from the usual music-centered stuff in the US
I agree, but I just don't see it happening (at least not in 2023). I think the show's ratings were far too low to justify NBC bringing the show back (although some have thrown around the idea of it becoming Peacock-exclusive, which might not be a terrible idea).
i miss american song contest so bad 😭😭 some of my faves were north dakota, mississippi, texas and of course my state new york😁
New Yorkers rise up
I'm from Georgia! I'm proud of our entry this year, I gave her 10 votes, I was being biased and unbiased at the same time.
yeeeeessssss what a Top 10!!! Jason J and Crystal Method in the 10-5 and all of Brooke Alexx, Sabyu and Allen Stone in the top five!! I agree with this list to an astronomical degree, honestly, my own Top 56 has been published for a while and it's remarkable how much overlap we have
I actually watched your video when you first posted it on the subreddit, and I even remember telling you that I would send you mine when I finished it, but I kept forgetting lol. Glad you found the video anyway. Definitely lots of overlap between our lists, and especially your own personal rankings. I will forgive you for the Chloe Fredericks and Alisabeth Von Presley slander
@@JH3Eurovision ahhh yep definitely remember that, and needless to say, you needed Chloe Fredericks and Wonder to make sure people knew this wasn’t just my list but again… we will slowly convince the world on Jason J bit by bit
@@TaleOfTheToaster lol for sure. That said, since iirc your video was made before the show ended, what was your take on the final results?
@@JH3Eurovision we definitely called it with AleXa, Riker getting second is just funny tbh, Allen expectedly robbed by the public- it all went rather as we thought it would!
@@TaleOfTheToaster Yeah, I really thought Oklahoma and Washington would be #1 and #2 (and I believe they would've been if they actually used a 50/50 jury/televote system, but in the Final it was more like 85/15 in favor of the televote)
Hey so this video is actually my first experience with ASC!
You said you thought Texas would be my favorite and it is definitely a vibe, but from what I saw in this, Georgia and Oklahoma are also good, and also that girl who sings about not taking pictures anymore I already forgot what she represented-
Also the guy from Maine looks like Sam Ryder
Figured you'd like Oklahoma too. I Don't Take Pictures Anymore is from New Jersey and yeah, that one's a big grower.
For Texas, you'd probably need to see the whole performance because like 5 million things happen in it (a lot more than just what's in the clip I showed here). There's a video of the entire Grand Final that has it.
As for Georgia, the funny thing about that one is that the studio version is actually very explicit to the point where it's basically a completely different song. The best way to put it is that the live version is passive-aggressive, whereas the studio version is just...aggressive
Many of these songs would fit right in at eurovision. Even possibly win or at least top 5 at eurovision. i really wanted this to slay but CBS should not have been given the rights. EBU should've done everything. had 3 semis 18 states each simple. I still think my top are
1) Olkahoma: ik ik. it just really stood out to me. It would've likely dominated eurovision
2) North Marinana Islands poor guy deserved so much better. He would've flopped at eurovision but he would've been remembered
3) Arkansas: I loved the staging, the vocals were good.
4)Kansas honestly was sad he didn't make it to the finals
5) Vermont i used to live in Vermont, i know it's the best song but i really enjoyed it hit me somewhere i guess
6) New Jersey yeah underrated for sure. I feel like it could be a eurovision song for sure. from Belgium
7) Saoma yeah i loved her so much. So glad she was able to slay.
8) Georgia now she can sing for the better Georgia
9) Arizona they deserved so much better
10) Wyoming Moldova would be proud
11th) Alabama. reminds me of burning day light in a way. I thought they were very good.
12) Rhode Island. He got the blackbird finland 2017 treatment. To emotional. Knowing that he was salt though brings the stock down a lot
13) Iowa i think she is needs more love. Totall bop
14) Delaware that would've done well at eurovison.
15) Michigan. Her vocals were really good, i liked the song a lot, she has a future for sure
16) Washington. Just not my style of music but I'll admit it's strong
17) Kentucky i thought it was a nice sweet Ballod and his vocals of course were amazing
18) Maine the song was good but it was a hard round. He deserved to go thru
19) Nebraska i still listen to it. She's a busker so there that big stage for her
20) West Virginia really good song, loved the vibe
21)North Dakota powerful song
22) Guam. very laid back and soothing to lsiten too
23) Idaho not my style of music but he did pretty good
24) New Year underwhelming i think but i think she should sing for Alabania she might have better luck
25) Maryland. It grows on you i think
26) Indiana at first i didn't like it but it's kinda catchy now. Plus it had a good happy vibe
27) Pennsylvania. I thought she deserved to advance cool staging, nice song.
28) Virginia not really my style of music but i did enjoy her staging and performance
29) Alaska i still love it to this day. Her vocals could've been better though but feels like a melofest song
30) Colorado super overrated but i still like it
31) Lousiana it's a dark pop song perfect for Belgium or Georgia
32)
33) Missouri. I feel it's very underrated and forgotten. She seemed like a nice girl :( hope she has a career
34) Mississippi i really don't hate it but it just failed to stick out enough for me
35) Puetro Rico. Coco did it better
36) Nevada not for me but loved the staging
37) California. to busy on the staging but the song wasn't bad. Hurricane are fans i think
38) Massachusetts. lowkey sad about it being i live here.Not bad though
39) Tennesse. I don't think the song was really bad but it's jury bait.
40) Hawaii i actually like the staging but the song could've been better
41) New Hamphire. i think i like the song but it's very generic
42) Oregon: It felt like a joke. they and Citi Zēni should team up
43) Wisconsin. Too cool for Naruto (and Wisconsin)
44) Florida: yeah obnoxious but catchy. She should go sing for Isreal or Romania next year
45) DC. The song was cool, and creative i though. Neither went on a life stream with a eurovision youtube so he;'s cool for that
46) Us Virgin Islands. I don't hate it but i think it's least favourite out of the territories entrys. sorry. cool guy though
47)New Mexico. It was very fun staging the song not so much
48) South Carolina. It's Grown on me. the singer seems like a really kind person and i love that
49) North Carolina kinda bland, but at the same time not bad
50) South Dakota. i'm not sure how to processes it. i don't hate it but feels like canon fodder i guess. Like that one song in MGP by the older singer :(
51) Monata. He did well because he's really hot. Just my least favourite country song of the contest
52) Minnesota. They have a nice vibe, think they could slay for Denmark or Slovenia. not my fav
53) Illonois. seeing as it was the only one i actually forgot about.
54) Texas. I'm not a fan, it's just not my style. I can see the appeal i think he deserved 4th, and it would be a mellofest song just not for me
55) Connecticut: just terrible. Love Bolton though
56) Ohio. Sorry Ohio. Love Macy as well though
The EBU couldn't have broadcasted this since they're...well, in Europe :V
NBC (not CBS) did drop the ball, though.
This had some strong and diverse songs and vocalists but Eurovision had a greater depth and more exciting field. You would haven’t have had In Corpore Sano in the American Contest, and there weren’t many rock songs in America either, whilst midwestern songs like Trentelul, Snap and Hope were more interesting than their Us counterparts. Also, Georgia and Maryland were amongst my fave in the American but their counterparts from Ireland and Israel respectively, whilst better, were easily overshadowed by their rivals.
I also think Iowa was an underrated bop, Northern Marinas was a sweet and cool song, and Wyoming was great fun
maryland was actually my winner of this. overall asc genuinely felt like melfest, just doubled in song count.
nevada is an amazing song as well
Respectable choices
I think the reason NBC removed a lot its ASC content is because they’re trying to force people to watch the show on Peacock. I had friends that don’t have Peacock and weren’t voting, but were still at least watching the performances on CZcams. I even made playlists for some that I shared on my social media for folks who lived outside the US so can’t have Peacock and they used a VPN to watch the CZcams videos if necessary (looking at NBC geoblocking ASC content to nations that also broadcast Eurovision....this might have been contractual as the EBU geoblocks US folks from watching the live performances on the Eurovision CZcams channel because of the broadcast agreement with NBC; the IOC does it too with its Olympics CZcams channel with some of its content for the same reason). I think it’s a stupid move because the internet is definitely a huge tool that can reach mass audiences all over the world and thus grow a fandom. Kpop companies certainly have learned to navigate using the internet and CZcams to expand their audience. But I know that media companies, especially in the US, have become obsessed with growing their streaming services. I think you’re correct that they could make ASC a Peacock exclusive. I got Peacock because with the addition of Eurovision in 2021 they finally had enough content I was interested in that I was willing to pay for it rather than just watch the freebie stuff. Though I refuse to pay for the ad-free tier because I have a friend that does and there are exceptions to the ad-free and so some shows you have to watch the ads even if paying for the ads-free tier. So I stick with the $4.99 tier and watch the ads. Whereas I pay to have ad-free Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Paramount+ precisely because there’s no exceptions. I’m willing to pay more to not get any ads. But that can’t come with exceptions. If there’s exceptions I’ll just pay for the lower tier and watch the ads or cancel the subscription altogether. I remember whenever Netflix threatened to remove my account because I let my niece use it where she lives. I barely use Netflix and when I contacted them and told them the only reason I have Netflix was because my sister can’t afford to get streaming services and my niece wanted it to watch some animes. That if it wasn’t okay for my niece to use my account then I’d just cancel it because I am paying a lot for it and she’s the one whose using it, but obviously doesn’t live with me. They explained that that use was okay and that they didn’t know and apologized for contacting me the way they did. Whenever I see some spokespersons go on tv and talk about going after subscribers who “share” their accounts I just think “you literally tried that with me and I literally told you I’d cancel it rather than pay for double the service. I already don’t have cable/satellite tv because they wanted to jerk me around about rate changes and I threatened to sue them if they didn’t let me cancel as my lawyers had read over the contract I signed and it didn’t permit rate increases. I was being nice by asking to just cancel.”
I’ve definitely been listening to these songs a lot since after the contest and I’d say my rankings probably changed since the show just by having more time listening to them. I agree that the rules weren’t explained properly and the show has lots of potential. I hope it comes back, even if its just on Peacock. I would also like for them to release the jury and televote scores for the songs. I’m very curious which songs would’ve made it if it was just the televotes and which songs just missed qualifying for the next round (and by how much). But so far we only have all the scores from the finals. I get the feeling some songs were closer to qualifying than others and some were only helped because of the jury’s score or vice-versa, were hurt because of the jury’s scores (referencing the qualifying rounds). I’m still confused as to the process for determining the redemption songs in the semifinals, so if they do that again I hope it’s explained better. My biggest pet peeve is the lack of pre-release of the songs. The songs released at midnight Eastern time on the day of the show and only the songs that would be performing that evening. It gave very little time for anyone to actually hear the songs before the show. I literally would’ve stay awake just to see their release and listen to them. I’m lucky to be off work on Mondays! But with Eurovision the songs are known weeks before any live tv shows and there’s lots of promotions for the contest using that year’s songs and artists. So I think NBC should do that with ASC. I mean, NBC literally has talk shows throughout the day each week that they could have been using to promote the show by having the artists go on to perform and give brief interviews on. There’s only 56 and those shows are on five times a week. They literally do that with the Olympics and other shows so it’s still weird that wasn’t done with ASC prior to its premiere, let alone while it was on. One of the hosts literally has a talk show and it was very barely used to promote ASC. And all those judges from iHeartRadio and yet ASC wasn’t hyped up on any of their stations or their app. Like why even partner with them if they’re also not going to super promote the show?!
I knew AleXa, Yam Haus, and Ryker Lynch going into the show. I consider that an advantage. I certainly saw the Kpop fanbases rallying behind AleXa and saw the R5 and Lynch fans doing the same. So while people outside these groups thought their songs were overrated, they had the fanbase tuning in to watch and vote. I can say that some of them did vote for other artists and songs and watched the show each week just like many Eurovision fans did. Some Eurovision, Kpop, etc fans that I know personally have also become fans of other artists because of ASC (I include myself in that group). I agree that I think most of the territories got done badly by the jury. I can’t say about the televote since we don’t know the results of the televote except in the final. I agree that Jordan’s voice was the best, but the song was weak for him. I do sometimes wonder if he had song a different song if that would have moved him from 3rd place or not (considering 1st and 2nd place winners had huge fanbases following the contest and voting).
One thing I really liked was that in some of the online groups I’m a part of the artists and their families participated in discussions about the show. That’s so much fun to see them not just as contestants, but viewers and fans, too! I think that’s part of why I’ve continued to be a fan of their music. I didn’t have TikTok before ASC. I only got it to vote and have followed the artists that have a TikTok. I mostly use Apple Music to listen to music, but do occasionally use Spotify, too, and of course follow many of the artists on CZcams, too. I’ve also tried keeping track of the ones on tour in case they come to a city near me. AleXa will be in OKC in October. My mom, sister, niece, and I went to a fan meetup with her last month in OKC. Not that the artists have to come to Oklahoma for me to see them. Just need to be a reasonable drive away. I mean I’ve drive to Kansas City and Dallas for concerts and that’s probably the farthest I’m willing to drive just because it is a long drive (5-6 hours) from where I live and can be expensive (Kansas’s interstates are tollways).
This is a very interesting comment, especially the part about streaming services. I don't really use streaming services myself so I never considered that NBC could be trying to force people to use Peacock, but it does make sense. That said, I don't know why NBC would pull something like that for ASC (a show that, to put it bluntly, not many people actually care about), and not any of their other shows like AGT or The Voice; probably because the latter two shows already have massive CZcams channels and they want to make ASC into something different.
I also definitely agree that the voting data should be released, but I knew that wasn't gonna happen since NBC's other competition shows also don't do that (even though some of their European counterparts like Britain's Got Talent do).
With Alexa out the way, same top 3, albeit different order. Also from the US btw. I’m just mad we sent freaking Jewel and the song was just no.
Nice, glad that there are other Sunsets & Seaturtles enjoyers
I felt so weird about ASC initially - protective of it (defending it from gatekeepers who said we can't try our own version of it EVER), but worried it wouldn't be nearly as good. It was not ESC level but pretty awesome for its first venture! I have to ask...what did Hueston tweet once eliminated??
He basically said to forget he was ever on the show because "it's rigged lol". Not sure if he was fully serious or not, but either way that just comes off as very salty. That said, I believe he released a song with UG skywalkin (Indiana's rep) after the show, so that's cool. I'm sure he's a good guy (I know he and Allen Stone became great friends, if you look at their Instagram posts), I was just not a fan of his statements after the show lol
That said, I should also mention that Las Marías (Arizona's reps) were also quite upset by their elimination online, but that was more because they said they felt tossed aside by the show because their original staging plans were scrapped at the last second (which is why their actual performance looks very empty, although I personally thought it worked well with the song). Either way, I think it's justified to angrily post about something like that (especially considering how much they were tanked by the jury) over passive-aggressively mumbling about how the show is rigged lol
OMG yes Iowa was robbed
Ew why did they actually make this into a thing