American Song Contest

[Brekkie]

The list of artists has been announced, headlined by Macy Gray, Michael Bolton and Sisqo.

https://eurovision.tv/story/american-song-contest-acts

[PatrickM]

The American Song Contest starts next week. Any indication if Sky will carry it yet given it’s an NBC production. I’m hoping Peacock carry it at least. Quite a lot of silence around the UK and Irish carriage.

[TIGHazard]

The American Song Contest starts next week. Any indication if Sky will carry it yet given it’s an NBC production. I’m hoping Peacock carry it at least. Quite a lot of silence around the UK and Irish carriage.

I think EBU broadcasters have first dibs. Potentially for BBC Three?

[Brekkie]

Do we know any more about how the format will work - how many in each heat, how many go through, the scoring method etc?

[Medianext.MX]

The American Song Contest starts next week. Any indication if Sky will carry it yet given it’s an NBC production. I’m hoping Peacock carry it at least. Quite a lot of silence around the UK and Irish carriage.

I think EBU broadcasters have first dibs. Potentially for BBC Three?

Yep. So far picked up by ERT, RÚV, NRK, RTS, RTP, RTV SLO, RTVE, SVT and Yle. ARD and ORF have reportedly rejected the show, leading to Red Bull's ServusTV to buy it for both Germany and Austria. Most of them are airing it live-to-tape on day-and-date, but ServusTV will present the shows in a one-week delay. In Canada, indie Hamilton superstation CHCH is airing it on simulcast; under simsub rules, NBC's signal will be blacked out Canada-wide (except for OTA viewers in cities close to the border, able to receive American OTA signals). No word on BBC Three yet.

Do we know any more about how the format will work - how many in each heat, how many go through, the scoring method etc?

Here's a look at the qualifying format:
https://eurovoix-world.com/2022/03/18/??-how-the-american-song-contest-qualification-shows-will-work/

First look already published by NBC:

https://twitter.com/nbc/status/1504946443160748032

[Brekkie]

Not enforcing the Rule of 6 then. It's going to end up a Countryfest isn't it?


So the jury (one member per state) select an act to go through and viewers vote (collectively or by state?) for 3 more. After 5 shows two jury wildcards are added so there are 22 acts in the semi-final. Guessing the process will be repeated to determine the finalists.

[DreamersTV]

Basically, this isn't really an adaptation of Eurovision for the American market. It is much more like Melodifestivalen (the Swedish 6 week national selection for their Eurovision entry), I say this as the people who came up and adapted the idea of it to Eurovision are the Melodifestivalen executive supervisors and producers. Mellofest uses the same premise of qualifying heats as ASC. So don't really expect a full on Eurovision experience out of this.

[Brekkie]

Will be interesting to see how it goes. It's difficult to know now what the level is for something not to be considered a flop - like here numbers have plummetted in the broadcast market over the last couple of years especially, but I think arguably even more so. NBC's highest rated show the other night had the sort of figures we're more used to seeing on C4/C5 here.

EDIT: It was the Weakest Link.

[DreamersTV]

Will be interesting to see how it goes. It's difficult to know now what the level is for something not to be considered a flop - like here numbers have plummetted in the broadcast market over the last couple of years especially, but I think arguably even more so. NBC's highest rated show the other night had the sort of figures we're more used to seeing on C4/C5 here.

Safe to say, I don't think American Song Contest will be happening again next year.

[LiamFitz28]

Any news on which UK channel will be airing this? And when?

[valley]

Any news on which UK channel will be airing this? And when?

It’s not been announced.

[Brekkie]

If the BBC have it wouldn't be surprised if they hold it back until after Eurovision, though scheduling foreign shows to suit your own schedule isn't the way things are done nowadays.

Worth noting generally speaking other than the early series of American Idol the US versions of popular formats haven't done that well here.

[Brekkie]

A few more details on the similarities and differences:

https://eurovoix-world.com/2022/03/20/am...urovision/

Seems you still can't vote for your own state, though it may be reliant on you honestly entering your zip code.

[Mouseboy33]

I certainly think this show is more Melodifestivalen from Sweden than Eurovision. I think that would be a fairer comparison than trying to compare it otherwise. Its definitely waayy flashier and brighter and features the cheesy Eurovision-style dancers, fire and explosions. They included the "state cheering" booths with the artists waiting to perform. Similar to how Eurovision has the country cheering booths. They also have cheering groups live from each state. Snoop and Kelly are so far quite capable hosts. Snoop has hosted several shows and Kelly has her own successful talk show. Kelly mentioned that the show is based on Eurovision. She said "Now its our turn. Its state vs state." I do think the Postcards are a bit too long. But I imagine they will get shorter as the competition progresses. Of course its not shot in an arena but instead a very large studio, but it doenst seem to be a let down. But its going head-to head with American Idol on ABC. I notice the name of show is already shorted to ASC. T-Mobile is a sponsor and during one of the ads about the show the used "ASC".


So it will be interesting to see if NBC stands behind this show. I think they needed a another music competition to fit with THE VOICE. But it looks like the producers are not trying to create rivals to EuroVision. It seems they are trying to create a tv format that can be sold in territories around the world. If NBC can make a go of this, I can imagine we probably will see a Canadian Song Contest and Mexican Song Contest, Brazilian Song Contest. Seems like NBC was the first network to work out the logistics of putting on a smaller scale competition. Im curious what will be retained from the Eurovision Finale night, Somethings are famous..... will they go live to each state for the results or will that be scrapped in favor of a simplified tabulation process. Im thinking if they are trying easy package and sell this format to other broadcasters most things will be scaled down.

Im sure the ad load is normal, but NBC is packing it with ads it seems. Likely because the stage needs to be set for each performer. I for one wont be watch any other subsequent rounds live. Only DVR versions. Probably will only watch the finale live. Though Its fun to follow along on twitter and see the funny tweets and memes.

[Alexh2021]

A couple of interesting screen grabs from yesterday's show.

Firstly, the end credits included the Eurovision & EBU logo which would be expected as a "franchise" of the ESC format, but what I though was weird was a credit to the ESC Executive supervisor. Does this indicate a certain involvement by the Eurovision team or is this purely out of respect?



Some detail about how the jury voting works:



Also, the America Song Contest Inc company behind the contest's logo is incredibly similar to Melfest which does support the suggestions that ASC is more akin to Melfest than Eurovision. More or less the same colours in a different shape.