Week three of the American Song Contest kicked off tonight with twelve new states, singers, and songs competing for the coveted spots in the semi-finals. Who qualified from last week’s epsiode via the public vote? Who topped tonight’s jury vote for an auto-qualifier spot? Find out that and more below!
Missed the first two episodes of ASC because you’re outside of the US? Luckily the ASC YouTube channel has been uploading the shows for you!
The Qualifiers
At the beginning the show, the jury ranking was revealed and showed us that Kentucky, Kansas, Montana, and Maine comprised the top four of the jury vote last week. Given his first place in the jury, Kentucky automatically advanced to the semis.
Following a suspenseful few moments, hosts Kelly and Snoop Dogg revealed that North Dakota, Kansas, and Montana had each won over the public and would join Kentucky in the next round.
This means that the semi-finals so far will be comprised of:
- Rhode Island
- Oklahoma
- Connecticut
- Puerto Rico
- Kentucky
- North Dakota
- Kansas
- Montana
Hope still remains for tonight’s eliminated acts, as there are still two wildcards that can be handed out at the end of the qualifier episodes. But keep in mind, all 32 non-qualifying acts will be eligible so its anyone’s game!
Tonight’s Episode: Week Three
Tonight’s episode saw twelve acts take to the stage to compete head to head to be the song of the summer. From the lone star state of Texas to the scenic territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, viewers were treated to a diversity of music, genre, and stagings.
The running order was decided prior to the episode and was as follows:
- Texas- Grant Knoche “Mr. Independent”
- Louisiana – Brittany Pfantz “Now You Know”
- Tennessee – Tyler Braden “Seventeen”
- New Jersey – Brooke Alexx “I Don’t Take Pictures Anymore”
- Alabama – Ni/Co “The Difference”
- Florida – Ale Zabala “Flirt”
- Alaska – Jewel “The Story”
- South Carolina – Jesse LeProtti “Not Alone”
- South Dakota – Judd Hoos “Bad Girl”
- Delaware- Nitro Nitra “Train”
- Northern Mariana Islands – Sabyu “Sunsets and Sea Turtles”
- Colorado – Riker Lynch “Feel the Love”
Prior to this week’s episode we were able to sit down with four of this weeks artist for an interview which are all posted here. You can also read more about the different states, territories, and artists from this week’s episode from William’s in-depth pre-episode 101 article here.
Voting and Jury Qualifier
As we’ve expressed in our master article for the American Song Contest, four qualifiers will be selected from each episode. One qualifier will be decided by a 56 part jury of music professionals (one person from every state and territory), and the remaining three qualifiers will be decided by the American public. The televote will be open until early Wednesday morning at 7 AM Eastern Daylight Time, and will be conducted across the NBC website, NBC official app, and the TikTok app. If you’re eligible to vote, get your votes in fast!
While the voting window for the televote extends into Wednesday, the automatic jury qualifier was voted upon during the untelevised dress rehearsal and was announced during the broadcast. The act that will be automatically advancing is Tyler Braden of Tennessee, guaranteeing him a spot in one of the two semi-finals on April 25th or May 2nd.
Ale Zabala of Florida, Ni/Co of Alabama, and Grant Knoche of Texas represent the second through fourth placements in the jury vote. So far four of the six public qualifiers finished in the top 4 with the jury, so chances are high that these artists could advance next week!
The following acts are relying on your votes to get them to the semi-finals:
- Texas- Grant Knoche
- Louisiana – Brittany Pfantz
- New Jersey – Brooke Alexx
- Alabama – Ni/Co
- Florida – Ale Zabala
- Alaska – Jewel
- South Carolina – Jesse LeProtti
- South Dakota – Judd Hoos
- Delaware- Nitro Nitra
- Northern Mariana Islands – Sabyu
- Colorado – Riker Lynch
Once the lines close on Wednesday morning, the final three qualifiers will be announced at the start of next week’s episode.
What to expect for next week
Since twelve acts competed in this weeks episode, we know that eleven more acts will take to the stage on April 11ths episode. We don’t know which states and territories will participate just yet, but we will know more about the line-up once the rehearsal teasers are released Saturday afternoon. As always, the new crop of songs will be released prior to next week’s show at midnight Eastern Daylight Time on the 11th.
What did #YOU think of the third episode of the American Song Contest? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!
