The American Song Contest Grand Finale airs LIVE on Monday May 9 at 8 pm ET/PT. The 10 finalists will perform their songs one last time. A combination of Jury and America’s votes will determine the winner.
However, fans can begin voting for their favorites on SUNDAY May 8 beginning at 5 pm ET/PT. By now, fans have probably chosen their favorites, right? A third round featuring finalists singing the songs yet again probably won’t make a difference for many folks.
Grand Finale Voting Begins Sunday May 8 at 5 pm ET/PT
According to an NBC press release, “Voting for the Grand Final opens Sunday, May 8 at 5 p.m. ET. It closes during the May 9 live broadcast after the final Artist performs. As a fan, you’ll have three ways to vote: The NBC website at asc.vote.nbc.com, the NBC App on your Android or Apple device, or via TikTok.”
In case you missed it: In each of the 5 weeks of Qualifiers, the Jury chose one song to move on to the two week semi-final round. A mix of jury and viewer votes chose three additional songs each week for a total of 20 songs heading to the semi-finals. Producers chose two “redemption” songs to round out the list of 22 semi-finalists.
For the two week semi-finals, the voting changed slightly. The Jury chose a winner each week to move on to the finale (Coincidently, Allen Stone from Washington and Tyler Braden of Tennessee were the jury picks in their respective Qualifying weeks as well!). However, four more finale contestants were chosen each week SOLELY BY VIEWER VOTES. That’s why Colorado’s Riker Lynch, who came in DEAD LAST in the jury rankings moved on to the finale anyway. Instead, in week one, America rejected jury favorites, Hueston from Rhode Island and Ada LeAnn from Michigan. Both were Jury picks from their respective Qualifiers week.
Semi-final week two ended with jury picks 2-4 shut out by America’s Vote. Broderick Jones from Kansas sat at the top of the leaderboard all night, until Tyler Braden nabbed his spot at the end of the show. And then, America did not vote Broderick into the finals.
However, because the winner will be determined by a mix of jury and viewer votes. The song that prevails will likely be a song that ranks at least in the Jury’s Top 5.
Do already established artists have an edge?
It’s also worth noting that although established artists Jewel, Macy Gray, and Sisqo didn’t advance to the semi-finals, all the known quantities who competed in the semi-finals also advanced to the finale. Do The Voice 9 winner Jordan Smith, Riker Lynch from DWTS and Glee, 80s and 90’s superstar Michael Bolton and Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Allen Stone have an advantage over the rest of the contestants?
The Jury will probably rank Riker poorly again, so I thinks he’s probably out. But Jordan, Michael and Allen all have a real shot. But the dark horse in the finals is AleXa the K-Pop singer from Oklahoma. Lip syncing questions notwithstanding, K pop fans are pretty good at the voting!
Semi-finalists sang “slightly elevated” versions of their song. The third time around, they’ll go even bigger, probably! iHeartRadio will place the winning song in rotation. How much will their radio stations actually spin the winner? TBD. But if a hit song came out of this show, it would (almost) make up for the show’s disappointing ratings.
American Song Contest Reveals Top 10 Finalists (Photos)
Do join Ashley on Monday at 8 pm right here as she live blogs performances and results. Additionally, hosts Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson are set to perform.
American Song Contest Top 10 Finalists
AleXa – Wonderland – Oklahoma – VIDEO
Allen Stone – A Bit of Both – Washington – VIDEO
Chloe Fredericks – Can’t Make You Love Me – North Dakota – VIDEO
Grant Noche – Mr. Independent – Texas – VIDEO
Jordan Smith – Sparrow – Kentucky – VIDEO
Michael Bolton – Beautiful World – Connecticut – VIDEO
Ni/Co – The Difference – Alabama – VIDEO
Riker Lynch – Feel the Love – Colorado – VIDEO
Tenelle – Full Circle – American Samoa – VIDEO
Tyler Braden – Seventeen – Tennessee – VIDEO
