The American Song Contest is an American music reality competition television series based on the Eurovision Song Contest. The sole season of the series was hosted by Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson; it consisted of eight episodes airing between March 21 and May 9, 2022 on NBC. It saw acts representing all 50 U.S. states, five territories, as well as Washington, D.C. compete for the title of Best Original Song. Over the course of the season, 56 competing entries were divided into five qualifying rounds leading to two 11-participant semi-finals, and culminating with a 10-participant final round, which aired as the season finale. Participants advanced from a qualifying round to a semifinal, and then to a final based on votes received by public voting or jury voting, or a combination thereof. The contest was won by the state of Oklahoma, which was represented by the song "Wonderland", performed by AleXa.
NBC acquired the rights to broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in the United States starting in 2021 and shortly after announced the American Song Contest with a 2022 premiere date. Promotion for the series was organized by NBC and included a commercial during the 2022 Super Bowl and a sweepstakes for listeners on iHeartRadio stations. Reception for the series was largely mixed, with many critics noting that it did not live up to its Eurovision inspiration; it was ultimately not renewed for a 2023 season.
Results[]
Qualifying rounds[]
States/territories in moccasin are combined jury and public vote qualifiers, states/territories in lime are jury qualifiers and state/territories in cyan are redemption picks. All rankings are based on jury results, with the exception of Qualifiers 3, wherein the rankings are based on combined jury and public vote results.
| Rank | State/territory | Artist(s) | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifiers 1 (March 21, 2022) | |||
| 1 | Rhode Island | Hueston | "Held On Too Long" |
| 2 | Oklahoma | AleXa | "Wonderland" |
| 3 | Arkansas | Kelsey Lamb | "Never Like This" |
| 4 | Puerto Rico | Christian Pagán | "Loko" |
| 5 | Connecticut | Michael Bolton | "Beautiful World" |
| 6 | Mississippi | Keyone Starr | "Fire" |
| 7 | Minnesota | Yam Haus | "Ready to Go" |
| 8 | Iowa | Alisabeth Von Presley | "Wonder" |
| 9 | Wisconsin | Jake’O | "Feel Your Love" |
| 10 | Wyoming | Ryan Charles | "New Boot Goofin" |
| 11 | Indiana | UG skywalkin feat. Maxie | "Love in My City" |
| Qualifiers 2 (March 28, 2022) | |||
| 1 | Kentucky | Jordan Smith | "Sparrow" |
| 2 | Kansas | Broderick Jones feat. Calio | "Tell Me" |
| 3 | Montana | Jonah Prill | "Fire It Up" |
| 4 | Maine | King Kyote | "Get Out Alive" |
| 5 | North Dakota | Chloe Fredericks | "Can't Make You Love Me" |
| 6 | Ohio | Macy Gray feat. The California Jet Club and Maino | "Every Night" |
| 7 | Nebraska | Jocelyn | "Never Alone" |
| 8 | Virginia | Almira Zaky | "Over You" |
| 9 | New York | Enisa | "Green Light" |
| 10 | U.S. Virgin Islands | Cruz Rock | "Celebrando" |
| 11 | Oregon | courtship. | "Million Dollar Smoothies" |
| Qualifiers 3 (April 4, 2022) | |||
| 1 | Tennessee | Tyler Braden | "Seventeen" |
| 2 | Colorado | Riker Lynch | "Feel the Love" |
| 3 | Alabama | Ni/Co | "The Difference" |
| 4 | Texas | Grant Knoche | "Mr. Independent" |
| 5 | Alaska | Jewel | "The Story" |
| 6 | Florida | Ale Zabala | "Flirt" |
| 7 | New Jersey | Brooke Alexx | "I Don't Take Pictures Anymore" |
| 8 | Delaware | Nitro Nitra | "Train" |
| 9 | Louisiana | Brittany Pfantz | "Now You Do" |
| 10 | Northern Mariana Islands | Sabyu | "Sunsets and Seaturtles" |
| 11 | South Dakota | Judd Hoos | "Bad Girl" |
| 12 | South Carolina | Jesse LeProtti | "Not Alone" |
| Qualifiers 4 (April 11, 2022) | |||
| 1 | Washington | Allen Stone | "A Bit of Both" |
| 2 | Massachusetts | Jared Lee | "Shameless" |
| 3 | Nevada | The Crystal Method feat. Koda and VAAAL | "Watch Me Now" |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | Bri Steves | "Plenty Love" |
| 5 | West Virginia | Alexis Cunningham | "Working on a Miracle" |
| 6 | Georgia | Stela Cole | "DIY" |
| 7 | Utah | Savannah Keyes | "Sad Girl" |
| 8 | New Hampshire | MARi | "Fly" |
| 9 | Hawaii | Bronson Varde | "4 You" |
| 10 | Arizona | Las Marías | "De La Finikera" |
| 11 | Washington, D.C. | NËITHER | "I Like It" |
| Qualifiers 5 (April 18, 2022) | |||
| 1 | Michigan | Ada LeAnn | "Natalie" |
| 2 | California | Sweet Taboo | "Keys to the Kingdom" |
| 3 | North Carolina | John Morgan | "Right in the Middle" |
| 4 | American Samoa | Tenelle | "Full Circle" |
| 5 | Illinois | Justin Jesso | "Lifeline" |
| 6 | Idaho | Andrew Sheppard | "Steady Machine" |
| 7 | New Mexico | Khalisol | "Drop" |
| 8 | Vermont | Josh Panda | "Rollercoaster" |
| 9 | Maryland | Sisqó | "It's Up" |
| 10 | Missouri | Brett Seper | "Can't Stay Away" |
| 11 | Guam | Jason J. | "Midnight" |
Semi-finals[]
States/territories in moccasin are public vote qualifiers and states/territories in lime are jury qualifiers. All rankings are based on jury results.
| Rank | State/territory | Artist(s) | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| First semi-final (April 25, 2022) | |||
| 1 | Washington | Allen Stone | "A Bit of Both" |
| 2 | Kentucky | Jordan Smith | "Sparrow" |
| 3 | Rhode Island | Hueston | "Held On Too Long" |
| 4 | Michigan | Ada LeAnn | "Natalie" |
| 5 | Oklahoma | AleXa | "Wonderland" |
| 6 | Alabama | Ni/Co | "The Difference" |
| 7 | Montana | Jonah Prill | "Fire It Up" |
| 8 | Massachusetts | Jared Lee | "Shameless" |
| 9 | New Hampshire | MARi | "Fly" |
| 10 | Wyoming | Ryan Charles | "New Boot Goofin" |
| 11 | Colorado | Riker Lynch | "Feel the Love" |
| Second semi-final (May 2, 2022) | |||
| 1 | Tennessee | Tyler Braden | "Seventeen" |
| 2 | Kansas | Broderick Jones | "Tell Me" |
| 3 | California | Sweet Taboo | "Keys to the Kingdom" |
| 4 | North Carolina | John Morgan | "Right in the Middle" |
| 5 | Connecticut | Michael Bolton | "Beautiful World" |
| 6 | North Dakota | Chloe Fredericks | "Can't Make You Love Me" |
| 7 | Puerto Rico | Christian Pagán | "Loko" |
| 8 | Texas | Grant Knoche | "Mr. Independent" |
| 9 | Georgia | Stela Cole | "DIY" |
| 10 | American Samoa | Tenelle | "Full Circle" |
| 11 | New York | Enisa | "Green Light" |
Grand final (May 9, 2022)[]
State/territory in gold is the winning entry.
| Rank | State/territory | Artist(s) | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | AleXa | "Wonderland" | 710 |
| 2 | Colorado | Riker Lynch | "Feel the Love" | 503 |
| 3 | Kentucky | Jordan Smith | "Sparrow" | 407 |
| 4 | Texas | Grant Knoche | "Mr. Independent" | 366 |
| 5 | Washington | Allen Stone | "A Little Bit of Both" | 359 |
| 6 | American Samoa | Tenelle | "Full Circle" | 342 |
| 7 | Connecticut | Michael Bolton | "Beautiful World" | 338 |
| 8 | Alabama | Ni/Co | "The Difference" | 285 |
| 9 | North Dakota | Chloe Fredericks | "Can't Make You Love Me" | 267 |
| 10 | Tennessee | Tyler Braden | "Seventeen" | 251 |
National jury and spokespersons[]
| Region | State/territory | Juror | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower South | Alabama | Amber Parker | Ale Zabala (Florida) |
| Florida | Jose Tillan | ||
| Georgia | Jennifer Goicoechea | ||
| Louisiana | Uptown Angela | ||
| Mississippi | Joe King the Big Daddy | ||
| Tennessee | Brian Phillips | ||
| Mid Atlantic | Delaware | Christa Cooper | Nitro Nitra (Delaware) |
| Maryland | Caron Veazey | ||
| New Jersey | Matt Pinfield | ||
| New York | Tom Poleman | ||
| Pennsylvania | Ty Stiklorius | ||
| Washington, D.C. | Dustin Matthews | ||
| Midwest | Illinois | Mike Knobloch | Yam Haus (Minnesota) |
| Indiana | Nancy Yearing | ||
| Michigan | Shahida Mausi | ||
| Minnesota | Barry Lather | ||
| Ohio | Khirye Tyler | ||
| Wisconsin | Shanna "Quinn" Cudeck | ||
| Mountains | Colorado | Isaac Slade | Ryan Charles (Wyoming) |
| Idaho | Shari Short | ||
| Montana | Stephanie Davis | ||
| North Dakota | Allison Bostow | ||
| South Dakota | Jered Johnson | ||
| Wyoming | Ian Munsick | ||
| New England | Connecticut | Jaime Levine | Jared Lee (Massachusetts) |
| Maine | Lauren Wayne | ||
| Massachusetts | Jamie Cerreta | ||
| New Hampshire | Charlie Singer | ||
| Rhode Island | Kristin Lessard | ||
| Vermont | Lee Chesnut | ||
| Pacific West | Alaska | Quinn Christopherson | Bronson Varde (Hawaii) |
| California | Dan McCarroll | ||
| Hawaii | Eric Daniels | ||
| Oregon | Mark Hamilton | ||
| Washington | Zann Fredlund | ||
| Plains | Arkansas | Kevin Mercer | Alisabeth Von Presley (Iowa) |
| Iowa | Taylor J. | ||
| Kansas | Michelle Buckles | ||
| Missouri | Tommy Austin | ||
| Nebraska | Hoss Michaels | ||
| Oklahoma | Ester Dean | ||
| Southwest | Arizona | Double-L | Savannah Keyes (Utah) |
| Nevada | Jim Vellutato | ||
| New Mexico | Tony Manero | ||
| Texas | Natural | ||
| Utah | Jeff McCartney | ||
| Territories | American Samoa | Joseph Fa'avae | Jason J. (Guam) |
| Guam | Heidi Chargualaf Quenga | ||
| Northern Mariana Islands | Galvin Deleon Guerrero | ||
| Puerto Rico | Carlos Perez | ||
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Ajanie Williams | ||
| Upper South | Kentucky | Ashley Wilson | Almira Zaky (Virginia) |
| North Carolina | Paul Schadt | ||
| South Carolina | Miss Monique | ||
| Virginia | Justin Derrico | ||
| West Virginia | Judy Eaton |
International broadcast[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) |
|---|---|
| United States | NBC, Peacock |
| Australia | SBS Viceland, SBS On Demand |
| Austria Germany |
ServusTV |
| Canada | CHCH-DT |
| Denmark | DR1, DR TV |
| Estonia | TV3 |
| Finland | Yle TV2, Yle Areena |
| Greece | ERT2 |
| Iceland | RÚV, RUV.is |
| Lithuania | TV6 |
| Montenegro | TVCG 2 |
| Norway | NRK1, NRK3, NRK TV |
| Portugal | RTP1 |
| Serbia | RTS |
| Slovenia | TV SLO 2 |
| Spain | RTVE Play |
| Sweden | SVT Play, SVT1 |