The Eurovision Song Contest is famous around the world with its annual event bringing together music fans for show-stopping performances and a nail-biting results show
The Inbetweeners, Little Britain, Love Island and Shameless are among the very long list of established shows the US have tried their own version of.
So it should come as no surprise that they also wanted their own Eurovision Song Contest, considering they can’t enter it. The annual event is only open to applicants from the European Broadcasting Union, and while there are some countries outside of Europe who take part, the US isn’t one of them.
A few years ago, US network NBC attempted to launch the American Song Contest. It was not renewed for another series and has had just one season, which aired in 2022.
Who hosted the show?
Two music icons hosted American Song Contest – Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson.
They presented the show, which started with head-to-head rounds before the semi-final and grand finale.
At the time, powerhouse vocalist Kelly said: “I have been a fan of and love the concept of Eurovision and am thrilled to bring the musical phenomenon to America. I’m so excited to work with Snoop and can’t wait to see every state and territory represented by artists singing their own songs.”
Sadly, it didn’t do too well with viewers, who said it did not live up to the expectations of Eurovision. It was cancelled after one season – however at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest there was a suggestion that the format could return in another way, though nothing has come out as of yet.
Who took part?
Unsurprisingly, the reality competition featured acts from all 50 US states, as well as five US territories (American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands) and a separate Washington DC entrant.
Most of the acts were unknown, as is usually the same for the Eurovision Song Contest, but there were a few famous names.
Riker Lynch represented Colorado with the song Feel The Love. He was already known for playing a member of the Dalton Academy Warblers on Glee, and competed on Dancing With The Stars in 2015.
He was already a singer too, having been a member of the pop rock band R5 with his siblings – including brother Ross Lynch – and family friend Ellington Ratliff.
One surprising name to take part was Michael Bolton, who has been in the music industry for decades.
Michael represented Connecticut in the American Song Contest. It was a far cry from his successful music career in the 1980s and 1990s.
Of course, he’d also appeared in a number of television shows and movies, including Glee, Two And A Half Men, Fresh Off The Boat and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Sisqó – yes, Thong Song Sisqó – took part for Maryland, while Macy Gray, who has sold more than 25million records worldwide during her career, sang with The California Jet Club and Maino as Ohio’s representative.
Who won?
While probably not already known to many American Song Contest viewers, the winner, AleXa, was actually a rising star in South Korea.
Singing for her home-state Oklahoma, the K-Pop star, who now goes by Kim Seri, had been known in South Korea for almost a decade already.
In 2016 she competed in an online show called Rising Legends, returning for another go in 2017.
She later took part on Produce 48, which kickstarted the careers of the likes of IVE’s Wonyoung and Le Sserafim’s Sakura, but was eliminated in the first round.
A year later, in 2019, she made her debut as a solo artist with the stage name AleXa, having previously been known as Alex Christine. She had a futuristic concept, with a strong sound for her music and powerful choreography.
And she brought the polish that K-Pop is known for to the American Song Contest with her track Wonderland. She stormed the public vote, with 654 points (in comparison second place Colorado had 478), came fifth in the Jury vote, but was ahead by more than 200 points when both votes were combined.
In the time since, the singer left her record company ZB Label and announced she would be re-debuting under the name Kim Seri, which is her Korean name.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
