American Song Contest

[VirginiaVision]

I really really really hope we'll get to hear some Native American languages, or really anything non-English at this contest. My faith in my fellow Americans isn't that strong, but I can dream

 

[tomos2019]

I hope that too but the UK is participating in Eurovision to an audience that speaks a range of languages, and has never done anything in Celtic languages etc so I don't hold out much hope.

 

[AlekS]

Update: 'American Song Contest' launch moved to March 21, 2022 🇺🇸

The 'American Song Contest' will now premiere on Monday 21 March, 2022, during a two-hour primetime extravaganza on NBC in the States. The Grand Final will air on Monday 9 May - one day before the Eurovision Song Contest First Semi-Final.

eurovision.tv

 

[shameless]

50 States in one show? Monday evening? Really? Looks like they're not even tryin...

 

[AlekS]

^ 1 week earlier there's Super Bowl (CBS will get all the viewership).
NBC will broadcast the Winter Olympics until February 20.
On February 26-27 NBC will broadcast the National Track and Field Athletics Championships.

Celebrity Big Brother (on CBS) 2nd last episode is on February 21, so ASC won't achieve any big ratings anyway.


ps. Speaking of Mondays. 2022 Grammy is scheduled for January 31.

 

[RevNet]

50 States in one show? Monday evening? Really? Looks like they're not even tryin...

I doubt they'll cram all 56 entries (don't forget DC and the territories) into one two-hour show. From the article:

The live Contest consists of three rounds as the acts compete in a series of Qualifying Rounds, followed by Semi-Finals and the ultimate Grand Final where one state or territory will emerge victorious.

Looks like it'll be spread out over a six-week period to me, which sounds just about right for a new show. That'll be one two-hour episode every Monday (given the premiere date) for each of the three qualifying rounds, then the two semi-final rounds, then the finale.

There is also another sporting event that will take away potential viewers at least during the latter half of the six weeks and that is the NCAA Division I college basketball tournament, more commonly known as March Madness. This tournament usually kicks off in the middle of March (hence, March Madness) and it's usually spread out over various TV channels, with the later games and the Final Four games broadcast on CBS. People here love filling out brackets for the tournament (there are cash prizes for filling out the perfect bracket) and they also love watching the games for upsets (when a smaller/little-known school wins against a Top 25 team like Duke or Kentucky). When Obama was president, he would usually fill out a bracket for the media. That's how big a deal the tournament has become.

I love the premiere date of ASC, though, because it'll be right after my birthday!

 

[Fluke]

Any info on when the first entries will be revealed?

 

[njdevils94]

It's supposed to be 3 qualifying shows, 2 semifinals, and a final. The fact that it's happening right after the olympics means it will get some so good promo in the lead up. Also the time slot and dates it's being placed in seems very much like counter programming to Surivivor on CBS in my opinion.

 

[AlekS]

Btw, does Feb 21 stand for the first qualifying show or the final? Is it gonna be one show per week?
I see only one show in their schedule for that week

 

[RevNet]

Btw, does Feb 21 stand for the first qualifying show or the final? Is it gonna be one show per week?
I see only one show in their schedule for that week

I'm pretty confident in saying that Feb. 21st is the premiere date. Therefore, it'll be the first qualifying round.

I don't think NBC would broadcast much else besides Olympic coverage during the Olympics, even if it's just the Winter Olympics. NBCUniversal (owner of NBC, Bravo, E!, Syfy, USA, etc.) even co-owns the American feed of the Olympic Channel along with our Olympic committee.

As far as the one-episode per week deal, I think that the showrunners are aiming to make the ASC more like The Voice (currently airing) or The Sing-Off (no longer airing), both of which are NBC productions.

 

[Fierro]

I'm really hoping this will succeed. I know many people are skeptical about this, but if they implement it in an interesting way, I'll be a follower.

 

[Fluke]

What are even the rules for submitting and revealing entries? I'm surprised there's hardly any artists announcing they're willing to participate so far. Are there any who have even announced their interest?

 

[RevNet]

Here are a couple of things from just browsing the ol' ASC subreddit (/r/AmericanSongContest):

NBC released a teaser for the contest during The Voice finale, which you can watch below.

http://instagr.am/p/CXfPrCQBLqG/
Another thing is that there is a rumor that New York might be represented by MIRUD with a song in Albanian. New York State, and New York City, in particular, has the largest Albanian population in the US. MIRUD is currently competing on FiK 60, though, so I don't know how that will work out. I tried to get the tweet about this, but it's been deleted.

 

[AlekS]

^

Albania: Interview with Mirud talking about FiK 60, Eurovision and the American Song Contest

Today we speak to a Balkan pop icon. He is an artist who loves to blend modern pop with traditional folk music, earlier this year he released his debut Albanian language album 'Tradhti'. He has competed in 'Festivali i Këngës' in 2018, 2020 and is preparing to compete again this year with ‘Për...

www.aussievision.net

I actually applied for that last year. I sent a song and I got a callback for representing New York. So I have finished all the auditions and everything I needed to do for the American Song Contest. They absolutely love the song and I couldn't believe it. I was on a flight to Miami and I got a call from them and they were like “We love you, everything just sounds so good. You're so creative, and we'd love to have you” so I can't wait for that.

The question is... will they have a NF, or they've chosen him internally?

 

[RevNet]

^

Albania: Interview with Mirud talking about FiK 60, Eurovision and the American Song Contest

Today we speak to a Balkan pop icon. He is an artist who loves to blend modern pop with traditional folk music, earlier this year he released his debut Albanian language album 'Tradhti'. He has competed in 'Festivali i Këngës' in 2018, 2020 and is preparing to compete again this year with ‘Për...

www.aussievision.net

The question is... will they have a NF, or they've chosen him internally?

I want to preface this by saying that we'll see more news come in concerning the ASC as soon as the New Year comes. Today is the start of the two-week holiday break, so I wouldn't expect any ASC news between now and New Year's. I think we're lucky that we even got a teaser. I will also say that Songland, another NBC reality competition show, was canceled in September, probably to make way for the ASC.

Now, to answer your question, given that:

1. We're still in a global pandemic.
2. This will be the inaugural contest for the USA, NBC, showrunners/producers, et al.
3. That there hasn't been any news besides the possible representative ("rep") rumor for NY.
4. The average American TV viewer has a really short attention span.

I'm going to give my best college-educated guess and say that all of the ASC reps will be internally selected. It's the easiest method for all involved, and the possible rep (like Mirud for NY), whoever that is for any given state, might have a song all ready to go or, at the very least, in mind.

If the ASC becomes a regular thing for NBC, then maybe you'll see a few states use a state contest to select their rep for the ASC. It would not surprise me to see New York, Texas, California, Florida, and Georgia be the first states to eventually switch to the state contest method. For now, though, we can probably expect for the folks at NBC to have a cautious, fenced-in approach when it comes to the ASC.

 

[tomos2019]

So will we not know the songs until nearer the show, do you think?

 

[RevNet]

So will we not know the songs until nearer the show, do you think?

Short answer: Yes, I'm afraid so.

Long answer: Yes, I'm afraid so. This is not even considering the upcoming Winter Olympics (which NBC also broadcasts) although they don't get nearly as much attention as the Summer Olympics, at least here in good ol' Alabama, where I'm from. I'll say once again that if the ASC becomes a regular thing for NBC, you might see a time where ASC songs are released (some legit, others via leaks, not unlike what goes on with the ESC, I feel) earlier in the Eurovision-esque calendar that we've all come to adhere by. I'll include a paragraph from a Variety article from last year with a quote from the executive producer for the ASC:

Ben Silverman serves as executive producer and it’s not the first show he’s imported from Europe. With “The Office,” “Big Brother” and “The Weakest Link” among his credits, the self-professed Anglophile cites the Eurovision concept as the hardest to bring to American audiences. “I’ve spent 20 years trying to pursue this,” says Silverman. “When I was chairman of NBC, when I was an agent at William Morris and when I started at Reveille. I just love the format.”

I think this says that he knows that the ASC will be a hard sell for Americans, but also speaks to his passion for bringing this contest to fruition.

Article source: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/eurovision-song-contest-american-song-contest-1234726887/

 

[RevNet]

Well, the only bit of news to report now is that YLE, the Finnish broadcaster, will be broadcasting the ASC. The original post on the Eurovision Reddit got removed, but there is this:

https://areena.yle.fi/1-61123051

 

[A-lister]

Well, the only bit of news to report now is that YLE, the Finnish broadcaster, will be broadcasting the ASC. The original post on the Eurovision Reddit got removed, but there is this:

https://areena.yle.fi/1-61123051

Blashpemy YLE!

 

[RevNet]

We have good news and we have bad news!

Bad News: The ASC has been delayed until March 21st over COVID (Omicron) concerns. In its place will be America's Got Talent: Extreme.

Good News: The ASC will now last eight weeks (instead of the original plan of six) with the finale on May 9th, which is one day before the first semifinal round of this year's Eurovision.

More info here: https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/american-song-contest-americas-got-talent-extreme-nbc-1235157771/

There are a couple of thoughts I have about this.

One thought is that this news might be a better thing for all involved, as there are 56 brand new, original songs to deal with here. Cramming all of them into the first three weeks might have been too much for the viewers to handle. Extending the season to eight weeks will at least give folks a chance to absorb the songs, so to speak.

The only thing that sucks is now the show won't have the post-Olympics boost to help things along as far as viewership goes. This is not even considering the previously-mentioned March Madness et al. What might help things along now is that the week it'll now premiere is usually the start of Spring Break, where most of the schools around the USA let out for a whole week or two. It won't be as big a boost as what a post-Olympics boost might bring in, but it's something.

This news also gives NBC and the ASC producers/showrunners a little more time to plan around COVID et al., as the article linked above mentions. It also says to me that they want this to work, even through everything thrown their way.

Lastly, I'm going to end this post with the video below that one guy has posted with some thoughts on the ASC. I wasn't originally planning to post it, but with the news above, I figured why not now: