‘American Song Contest’: How to Watch and Vote for Your Favorite Artists
It’s finally time for America to choose the next great songwriter(s). American Song Contest premieres live on NBC tonight, March 21, kicking off an epic Eurovision-inspired competition between the 56 United States and territories. However, only one state can emerge victorious in the end, and it’s up to viewers to decide which one. Here’s how to vote for your favorite artists on American Song Contest.
How to watch ‘American Song Contest’ live and via streaming
Fans can tune into American Song Contest live on NBC every week at 8 p.m. ET. Additionally, fans can stream the live show via the NBC-owned Peacock app. For those who can’t catch the live performances, American Song Contest will be available for streaming on Hulu the next day.
American Song Contest will run for eight weeks, showcasing several qualifying rounds and finals. One artist or group from each state will compete with their original songs. Meanwhile, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson serve as the contest’s hosts. Here’s the state-by-state artist list:
- Alabama: Ni/Co
- Alaska: Jewel
- American Samoa: Tenelle
- Arizona: Las Marias
- Arkansas: Kelsey Lamb
- California: Sweet Taboo
- Colorado: Riker Lynch
- Connecticut: Michael Bolton
- Delaware: Nitro Nitra
- Florida: Ale Zabala
- Georgia: Stela Cole
- Guam: Jason J
- Hawaii: Bronson Kane’Opio Varde
- Idaho: Andrew Sheppard
- Illinois: Justin Jesso
- Indiana: UG skywalkin
- Iowa: Alisabeth Von Presley
- Kansas: Broderick Jones
- Kentucky: Jordan Smith
- Louisiana: Brittany Pfantz
- Maine: King Kyote
- Maryland: Sisqo
- Massachusetts: Jared Lee
- Michigan: Ada LeAnn
- Minnesota: Yam Haus
- Mississippi: Keyone Starr
- Missouri: Brett Seper
- Montana: Jonah Prill
- New Jersey: Brooke Alexx
- Nebraska: Jocelyn Anderson
- Nevada: The Crystal Method
- New Hampshire: MARi
- New Mexico: Khalisol
- North Carolina: John Morgan
- North Dakota: Chloe Fredericks
- New York: Enisa
- Northern Mariana Islands: Sabyu
- Ohio: Macy Gray
- Oklahoma: AleXa
- Oregon: courtship
- Pennsylvania: Bri Steves
- Puerto Rico: Christian Pagan
- Rhode Island: Hueston
- South Carolina: Jesse LeProtti
- South Dakota: Judd Hoos
- Tennessee: Tyler Braden
- Texas: Grant Knoche
- U.S. Virgin Islands: Cruz Rock
- Utah: Savannah Keyes
- Vermont: Josh Panda
- Virginia: Almira Zaky
- Washington: Allen Stone
- Washington, D.C.: Neither
- West Virginia: Alexis Cunningham
- Wisconsin: Jake’O
- Wyoming: Ryan Charles
How to vote for artists on ‘American Song Contest’
There are three ways to vote for artists on American Song Contest, including the brand new TikTok voting method. With this method, TikTok users can search in the social media app for American Song Contest to access the voting page. Note that a TikTok account is required to access voting in the app.
Alternatively, fans can head to NBC’s website or app to cast votes using an NBC login. Only 10 votes will be allowed per person every Monday, and fans must be at least 13 years old to vote. The voting windows will open at 8 p.m. ET on Monday nights and close on Wednesday mornings at 7 a.m. ET.
According to NBC, American Song Contest will feature five weeks of Qualifying Rounds where 11 or 12 artists perform each week. Then, 22 artists will move forward to two weeks of Semi-Finals, followed by the Top 10 in the Grand Final on May 9.
The competition has a jury panel of 56 people who will also vote
In addition to weekly fan votes, artist eliminations will be determined by a jury of 56 music professionals — one for each state/territory. According to Variety, these jury members include “a mix of music industry executives, songwriters, and radio programmers from various genres as well as managers and members of the Recording Academy.”
Each week, the jury will send one artist to the Semi-Finals, with the remaining three artists determined by fan and jury votes. Then, in the Semi-Finals, the jury will send two artists to the Grand Final, while fans and the jury will select the other eight acts. The jury will vote for artists based on their songs’ “artistic expression, hit potential, originality and visual impression,” according to Variety.
American Song Contest airs live every Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, starting on March 21.
