We now know 5 of our Semi Finalists for the shows in mid-April: Our 2 jury qualifiers so far – Hueston (Rhode Island – Semi Final 1) and Jordan Smith (Kentucky – Semi Final 2), and our qualifiers from the combined vote- K-pop artist AleXa (Oklahoma), Latino heart throb Christian Pagan (Puerto Rico) and industry stalwart Michael Bolton (Connecticut).
For the most part, there are no surprises on the qualifier list, but we did learn at the top of episode 2 more about how the votes were calculated, with producers unveiling the jury preference order and audiences discovering that Bolton was only rated 5th by juries (but the televote propelled him into the top 4 to qualify from semi final 1). Some were shocked by the result not to have Ryan Charles and his increasingly viral hit ‘New Boot Goofin‘ in the mix, but there is still a chance with twi songs from the whole series able to be chosen as wildcards through to the next round.
We also know after last weeks preview assessment, that what we see in the 20 second snippets may give us a fair idea of what’s awaiting us, but not everything is predictable. The live singing aspect may have hurt the chances of Jocelyn from Nebraska (who we tipped for jury), or indeed the chaos that was Macy Gray (Ohio), but then the production on Chloe Fredericks (North Dakota) with a powerhouse country-rock voice and change of outfit propelled her from bottom of the pack on preview into a personal highlight of the episode. So with that in mind, based on what we have seen on show, streaming and social media, our best guess for qualifiers from last week are: Cruz Rock (US Virgin Islands), Chloe Fredericks (North Dakota) and Enisa (New York).
For this week, 12 artists will take the stage – ensuring a fast paced show, but also promising a lot of varied and great performances:
Alabama – Ni/Co
Song: The Difference (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Ni/Co is a duo made up of Dani Brillhart and Colton Jones. They began gaining popularity in 2019 from their YouTube videos, which have accumulated more than 40 million views. The pop duo has had their music featured on various networks, including the CW, VH1, NBC, BET, TNT, Starz and Freeform. Their growing audience has granted them attention and opportunities to work with brands such as Google, Adobe, Volkswagen, Reese’s, Dell, Chips Ahoy, Fender and more. They have an insatiable passion to perform and pull inspiration from wanting to touch the lives of everyone who hears their music. Ni/Co is so excited to represent Alabama as that is where Colton discovered his love for music and where they played events together which helped them realize their love for performing together, thus creating Ni/Co.
Things To Note: This is our one and only duet for the Contest, and I was hoping producers would make it an absolute belter, but there is something quite weak about this offering. For starters, the connection feels lacking in what we see here – mostly aimed at camera rather than to each other, also the stage feels very empty, and its very dark when it should be light. Both have somewhat decent voices that harmonise well with each other (although I would say Dani is a stronger vocal and really is most of what we hear), and the song is in their ballpark of their own material so feels authentic. Ultimately on paper it promised a lot, but something just feels missing for it to be a dynamic duet.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082049674458303786?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Alaska – Jewel
Song: The Story (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Jewel went from a girl who grew up with no running water on an Alaskan homestead, to a homeless teenager in San Diego, to an award winning, Multi-Platinum Recording Artist who released one of the best-selling debuts of all time. Through her career Jewel has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, earned 26 Music Award nominations, including The Grammys, American Music Awards, MTV Awards, VH1 Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and Country Music Awards, winning 8 times. Jewel has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, Rolling Stone, performed on Saturday Night Live, at the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, for Pope John Paul II and The Clinton Inaugural Ball. She is one of the few singer songwriters to top the chart in every genre she wrote for- Folk, Pop, Club, Country, Standards, Children’s and Holiday music.
Things To Note: Beyond the fact Jewel is already a bonafide superstar, who like Michael Bolton, would feel bizarre not to qualify to the next round, it seems she has gone into this with a vision of the performance and the song, has engaged heavily on social media about her participation, all aiming to have the hope of making impact – not just promoting her new album (and she does have one coming). Looking beyond the vocal/audio issue you see on this snippet, she is the first ‘big’ name to feature on the previews for us to make some early calls on. It seems producers have given her some of the best lighting for this episode, it’s clear she is going fully live with the vocals (including the backing vocal), and lyrically, this is promising to be a beautiful piece of storytelling. This really feels like something that has the legs to make it all the way.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082060808385219886?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Colorado – Riker Lynch
Song: Feel The Love (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Riker Lynch, who was born and raised in Colorado, knows a thing or two about being a multi-faceted entertainer. He’s played for a decade in the pop band R5, toured with alt-rock duo the Driver Era and has his own trop-rock artist project, Riker and the Beachcombers. Riker opts to color outside of the lines by blurring genres from rock to reggae to pop, ensuring that everything he touches is as unique as himself. Since touring across the globe and releasing a plethora of albums and songs, he’s garnered praise from the likes of Billboard and NME and accumulated a feverish fanbase. After getting a taste of acting upon joining the cast of “Glee” for three seasons (seasons 2-4), and accumulating over a dozen of credits, Riker has completely immersed himself in every aspect of filmmaking. As a writer, director and producer, he solely created two short films — the comedy “Lyft Me Up” and the sci-fi comedy “Aliens on Halloween.” Riker is so excited to represent the good vibes that Colorado brings to the world with its beautiful nature combined with a great city.
Things To Note: Riker oozes frontman charisma and confidence on the stage, which is no surprise given his TV and film background. The song is a feel-good toe-tapper, the staging, lighting and colours match perfectly, and whilst it’s not pushing any boundaries in terms of lyrical content, there is much to be said about the value of how a song makes you feel. ‘Feel the Love’ has a summer party vibe, a fusion of pop, rock and salsa beat which is unique to the show so far (but completely true to the artist), and the kind of song you expect on a New Years fireworks playlist; it’s just 2.45 minutes of happiness. He does have some other competition in this episode of a similar nature, but I feel like this song has an edge to qualify on its own merits.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082053376443288874?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Delaware – Nitro Nitra
Song: Train (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Nitro Nitra is a soul-rock singer and has been singing since before she could walk. After moving away, Nitra experienced a spiritual awakening in 2018 that led her to come back to her roots in Delaware. She first performed as Nitro Nitra in 2021 and since then has released an EP, visual album and two singles. Nitra’s goal as a musician is to create a shared experience with her fans where they can open their minds to new levels of existence and awakenings of their own. Nitro Nitra is excited to represent Delaware, where she began her musical journey.
Things To Note: Nitro Nitra is the second of the soul-rock females we have seen in the contest (the first being Keyone Starr). ‘Train’ also brings some fire to the evening with powerhouse vocals and driving beat, but unlike Keyone, we aren’t seeing as much passion and energy brought to the show. As seen on the snippet, Nitra seems to be lacking some confidence matching the vocals of the backing track and beat, leading to a messy feel overall (but not the chaos seen last week with Macy Gray). It is quite possible between this rehearsal and live show that it could polish up, but my gut says if Keyone couldn’t make it in semi 1, Nitro with her similar style will also struggle to grab the audience for votes.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082052193507052846?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Florida – Ale Zabala
Song: Flirt (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Alexa Zabala, known professionally as Ale Zabala, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and dancer. She’s a Latin pop artist as well as a writer for other singers and started writing when she was 13. Ale went to college for music business and met her first producer with whom she began writing all of her songs. She released her first single in 2019 and is constantly in music sessions writing for other artists and working on new musical projects. Ale is ready to represent Florida, where she went to her first concert and to school to study music.
Things To Note: Just as every episode brings us a few country tunes, we can rely on at least one Latino pleaser. Ale gives us a pop track that has some broad appeal in a similar vein to the likes of Camila Cabello; a mix of Spanish and English for the ease of access for the audience, but enough to get the diaspora keen to pop a vote its way. The letdown here for me is having seen her previous efforts, it is missing some of her typical sass to chase after a very feminine style concept – which I am not sure suits a song called ‘Flirt’. I don’t want to say it’s bland because it isn’t – it’s a crowd pleaser, but it feels over-produced and heavily sanitized.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082046181764779306?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Louisiana – Brittany Pfantz
Song: Now You Do (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Brittany Pfantz’s music is perfumed with the sounds she was raised on: Louisiana swamp, rock, gospel, and down-in-your-gut soul. She parades her roots honestly, like the street bands of New Orleans, where she learned how to stay true to the music and to herself. Brittany just finished recording her debut EP with Grammy Award-winning producer Jacquire King and is currently shopping the project and playing shows around Nashville. She is representing Louisiana because even though she lives in Nashville, it will always be in her roots.
Things To Note: The hardest of the songs to judge on the snippet, but I stating some positives and negatives from what it promises, I would highlight that this style of rock is not something that is generally in Pfantz’s reportoire, but she has a deep soul voice to carry it with little issue. Watching her previous releases, I have found her material gutsy, emotive and deeply personal, and her own social media clips of the entry indicated more of the same, but I don’t feel that replicated in watching this. Whilst it doesn’t gel with me now, I would love to see the package come together and deliver a moment like I felt when watching Chloe Fredericks last week. Out of all the female voices however, Brittany has the potential to stand out the most, but the camera and energy needs to match for personal power.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082047171209760046?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
New Jersey – Brooke Alexx
Song: I Don’t Take Pictures Anymore (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Pop starlet meets girl next door in Brooke Alexx – an Asian-American New Jerseyan songwriter, singer, performer, director and editor. Brooke wields her creative powers to inspire young women just as Taylor Swift inspired her to start writing songs of vulnerability and empowerment at age 13. Her magnetic melodies, paired with her ever-relatable coming-of-age lyrics, have resonated more in 2021 than any other year through a familial-focused EP. Brooke’s confidence and contagious personality oozed into 2022 on the back of her first festival performance at Lollapalooza, a brand collaboration with IKEA and a sync license in Netflix’s film “Resort to Love.”
Things To Note: Of all the artists leading to this episode, the one that has proven most engaging on the social media has been Brooke Alexx – which meant coming into this week it was promising a lot for what was to come. She most certainly is authentic in the song and performance here, but the snippet is a curious one, seemingly from a bridge that lacks much power. In comparison, the song samples she has teased are from first verse and chorus which is very rousing and I think should connect with a lot of young women out there (myself included, although I am far from young). That same sample though could also be the weakness of the song; I am not sure any men will understand or emphasize with the story told here which cuts out a good portion of the voting viewers, and the other half could be potentially lost if this rehearsal is more indicative of the rest of the song. I hope to stand corrected.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082047493386538282?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Northern Mariana – Sabyu
Song: Sunset & Seaturtles (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Matthew Sablan, known musically as Sabyu, is a Pacific Islander singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, artist mentor and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his eclectic music style combining island roots and Stateside influences alike, blending reggae, rock, soul, hip-hop, funk, jazz and world music. Sabyu mentors young artists with a Seattle-based non-profit, Totem Star, guiding aspiring youth along their own music journeys. He makes music to bring all walks of life together in the name of love, spirit and humanity, and wants to let everyone know that even if you come from a small island, you can make big waves around the world.
Things To Note: This is a very low-key performance from Sabyu, matching his promise of sunsets and seaturtles very well. As a performer, he is just charming and calming, rather than the headline act, and the song is soundtrack for a sun-drenched ocean cruise, or an afternoon by the pool, not a contest. Hand on heart, I feel almost guilty in saying I struggle to see how and where votes will come from for this, but I think the better win is the US-wide exposure for North Mariana and its music.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082054739336203562?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
South Carolina – Jesse LeProtti
Song: Not Alone (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Jesse Christopher Blocker III, known professionally as Jesse LeProtti, is known for his wide vocal range, crisp live performances and diverse music catalog that includes pop, R&B, soul, electronic and many more styles. Jesse strives to bring back “real music,” making listeners feel a sense of deja vu while keeping it 100% authentic to himself. Being from South Carolina has played a huge role in who he is today – musically and mentally. Two of his biggest musical influences, James Brown and Darius Rucker, are from South Carolina. He is proud to represent his home state as the people of South Carolina have the “go getter” and “never give up” mentality which has led him to where he is today.
Things To Note: As learned from last week and the rehearsal of Chloe Fredericks with the poor choice red suit on red background, I can’t comment do much on style choices except to say that wearing a white jacket covered in writing and seemingly autographs is a little distracting. This is also the song where those who have been watching the past episodes and complaining about the heavy pre-recorded vocals will be forced to turn keyboard warrior again. The cast of dancers, the colourful lighting and the party atmosphere is great to look at, but the song is letdown but its seemingly repetitive nature and a lack of actual main vocal singing from Jesse. It’s a shame because this feels like a potentially great summer dance/electronic anthem. It is a song contest after all, but I’m not sure all of America understands that yet.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082048224386731306?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
South Dakota – Judd Hoos
Song: Bad Girl (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Judd Hoos is a rock band from the Black Hills of South Dakota. The band’s line up consists of Andy Young, Shane Funk, Keithan Funk, Tyler Bills, and Chase Huseby. In the past 12 months, Judd Hoos has released a new EP, “Not Alone,” organized the Nashville Comes to the Black Hills songwriting camp and hosted the first-ever Judd Hoos Charity Jam. They appeared on multiple tour stops with Nashville rockers the Wild Feathers, played close to 100 Midwest clubs, theaters, festivals and fairs and even shared the stage with rock icon Billy Idol. In addition to recording new music, they have renewed a tour sponsorship deal with Remedy Brewing Company for the second straight year and collaborated on their own IPA, Hoos Joos.
Things To Note: This unfortunately is the last of the bands on offer at American Song Contest, which so far haven’t had much luck (although both Yam Haus and courtship. are currently close to the top of the post-show streaming platform numbers). Judd Hoos are certainly the most mainstream in genre and sound, in the same vein as acts like the Goo Goo Dolls, Three Days Grace, Nickleback and Puddle of Mudd. Given they were originally a pub rock cover band it’s no surprise they wear these influences heavily. First to admit, it’s not my style, but there is obviously a market for this and the song is very easy to follow lyrically to stick in your head. The performance itself benefits from a straight band staging, sans dancers and fake crowd, vocally it’s slightly lacking here on the snippet, both in power and key. Alas, I’d be personally disappointed if Judd Hoos is the one band to see the semi-finals, but not having a band at all in the contest moving forward would be a worse indicator of a lack of viewer support for original and authentic music talent.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082048567661120810?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Tennessee – Tyler Braden
Song: Seventeen (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Tyler Braden was inspired to pursue a musical career from a young age by legend Hank Williams. He moved from his small town in Alabama to Nashville to pursue a career in music, teaching himself guitar and working as a firefighter in the meantime. He’s now a budding star with more than 70 million streams to his name and a growing list of major tour credits. In January, Braden made his Grand Ole Opry debut setting the tone for big things to come this year, including representing Tennessee on “American Song Contest.” Tennessee is where his music career really found its footing and he says he owes it all to the state. Tyler is prepared and excited to represent it in the best way he knows how.
Things To Note: I’m appreciating the fact that the staging captures the nostalgic feel of ‘Seventeen’, all lit in sepia and gold tones, that makes it feel like a very warm and inviting performance. The song itself feels like a comfy jumper on a cold winters night – nothing fancy, but its a lovely fit that we could reach for time and again. However, only 3 episodes in, the strong male country/blues/rock vocals are starting to feel like a blend of each other and should they all make it to the semi-finals would quickly cancel themselves out. There is nothing wrong at all with Tyler here, but comparatively, he doesn’t appear to be the strongest of the bunch in this episode let alone the field.
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082055945534115114?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Texas – Grant Knoche
Song: Mr Independent (Listen via Spotify or Apple Music)
Official Bio: Grant Knoche, 19, taught himself to write and produce in his childhood bedroom and he hasn’t looked back since. Grant’s synth-driven, deep bass and intimate pop songs have all been written and produced by him. On his way to gathering over 900,000 followers, Grant has spent most of his life on the road performing more than 160 shows across America, including on “Today,” at Radio City Music Hall, Woodstock and many other locales. Grant’s debut EP, “Color Me Blue,” has been featured on multiple top playlists and he was recently called out by Ones to Watch as “One of today’s finest rising pop stars.” Grant’s excited to represent his home state of Texas.
Things To Note: As said earlier, there is no lack of good male vocalists in the episode to choose from – and Knoche is one of the more engaging ones. He is purely in the realm of pop, which we haven’t seen a lot of male vocalists do in this contest, and his youthful energy and good looks should get some attention from the viewers at home. Despite the ‘band’ in the background, there is an air of boy band member going solo (he was part of the group Kidz Bop from Nickelodeon); good vocals, highly polished, professional and will make the most of the camera when it counts. The song itself has a great hook and beat, but production-wise, I believe Mr Independent really should be a solo on stage effort because he doesn’t need any viewer distractions and it fits more with the lyrical content. Ultimately, he’s playing a tough game though for qualification, which I see coming down to him or Riker Lynch, not both (although they don’t have the same sound).
Listen to another example of their music
https://www.tiktok.com/@americansongcontest/video/7082047935705271595?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7067292942301398534
Interesting that the Week 2 public vote didn’t appear to tally with what the Youtube view totals would suggest. I’m glad that Chloe Fredrickson, Broderick Jones and Jonah Prill made it through.
Something really strange seems to be happening with the Youtube view totals. Week 2s are by a huge margin higher than Week 1 and Week 3. And I’ve noticed that over the past several days the Week 2 Youtube view totals and maybe that for Alexa in Week 1 don’t appear to have changed. What is going on?
I actually have an answer for this anomaly (because I have spoken to one person who is responsible for it) – the figures for episode 2 are up as Almira Zaky caught the attention of Indonesians. Her mum was posting the links heavily on diaspora groups. I believe similar happened for the Albanian diaspora for Enisa, etc
There are also some anomalies on the Spotify streams – there was one point last week where it appeared two songs had exactly the same high number of streams. It was corrected, and one song dropped by approx. 20K.
Also, my feeling is that whatever the scores are from the jury is dragging down results enough that even with high televoting for some acts like Enisa and Ryan Charles, they simply won’t qualify. There are a lot of questions to be asked about the jury, including its make-up (in particular, a reported lack of age range, mostly skewing older than 40), what they are judging on, and the decision this week to unveil their rankings as each act left the stage.