NBC REVEALS 56 MUSIC EXPERTS PARTICIPATING IN JURY FOR NEW MUSIC COMPETITION SERIES ‘AMERICAN SONG CONTEST’

All-Live Series Set to Premiere Tonight Monday, March 21

Audience Voting Will be Available on NBC.com, the NBC App and TikTok

NBC’s “American Song Contest” reveals the format, voting procedures and the 56-member jury of music experts for its new live music competition series premiering Monday, March 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Hosted by Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson, “American Song Contest” will feature 56 artists representing the 50 states, five U.S. territories and our nation’s capital, all competing for best hit song.

The highly decorated 56-person jury, one representing each state/territory, is comprised of music industry executives, songwriters, radio programmers from various genres as well as A-list managers and members of the Recording Academy. The jury will evaluate each artist’s performance based on artistic expression, hit potential, originality, and visual impression.

“American Song Contest” will follow a point system in which every state and territory votes with equal power, regardless of population. A combination of public and jury votes will decide who will advance in the competition.

Fans at home can vote for their favorite performances on nbc.com/ascvote, the NBC App and on TikTok.  Voting for the Qualifiers will open Mondays and will close Wednesday morning.

TikTok will be the official voting platform partner for American Song Contest.

This is the first time TikTok has partnered with a live competition series for the duration of its run, allowing viewers to vote for their favorite artists in real time via an in-app voting hub, create original TikTok content using music from the series, and directly engage with contestants.

T-Mobile is the official voting partner of “American Song Contest” and will be providing one of the Top 10 finalists the opportunity to have their song featured in an upcoming T-Mobile commercial following the Grand Final.

The competition will be comprised of three rounds, taking place over eight weeks. The Qualifying Rounds will have 11 acts in each episode (with one week featuring 12).  Twenty-two artists will perform in the two-part Semi-Finals with the Top 10 performing in the Grand Final, where a winner will be crowned.

In the five-week Qualifiers (March 21, 28, April 4, 11, 18) at the end of each night, the jury will advance one artist immediately to the Semi-Finals. The remaining three spots will be determined through a combination of jury and fan votes. The artists advancing to the Semi-Finals will be announced the following week.

In the Semi-Finals (April 25 & May 2), 10 artists will perform each week, with a slightly elevated performance of their original song.

To make the stakes even higher, in each Semi-Final a “redemption” song will be revealed, adding an 11^th artist back into the competition to perform that week for the chance to advance to the Grand Final.

At the end of each Semi-Final, the jury awards their highest-rated artist with an immediate spot in the Grand Final. America’s votes will then help to decide along with the jury which four additional artists will advance.

In the Grand Final (May 9), the top 10 artists take the stage one last time to win America’s and the jury’s vote for best hit song.
 

Meet the Jury:

Alabama	Amber Parker	Program Director, WTXT Tuscaloosa, iHeartMedia
Alaska	Quinn Christopherson	Artist
American Samoa	Joseph Fa’avae	Founder, Island Block Network
Arizona	Double-L	Music Director / On-Air Personality, KNIX Phoenix, iHeartMedia
Arkansas	Kevin Mercer	Program Director, KHKN Little Rock, iHeartMedia
California	Dan McCarroll	Former President of Capital Records and WB Records
Colorado	Isaac Slade	Former Member of The Fray
Connecticut	Jaime Levine	CEO, Seven Mantels, Artist Manager
Delaware	Christa Cooper	On-Air Personality / Assistant Program Director, WDSD Wilmington, iHeartMedia
Florida	Jose Tillan	Director/Producer – The POPGarage
Georgia	Jennifer Goicoechea	SVP A&R Sony Music, EPIC
Guam	Heidi Chargualaf Quenga	Executive Director, CHamorro Cultural Advisor
Hawaii	Eric Daniels	Keyboardist/Arranger, “The Voice”
Idaho	Shari Short	Singer/Songwriter/Producer
Illinois	Mike Knobloch	President, Music and Publishing, NBCUniversal
Indiana	Nancy Yearing	Talent Development
Iowa	Taylor J.	Program Director / On-Air Personality KKDM Des Moines, iHeartMedia
Kansas	Michelle Buckles	Program Director, KZCH Wichita, iHeartMedia
Kentucky	Ashley Wilson	Director of Country Programming, Kentucky/Indiana, iHeartMedia
Louisiana	Uptown Angela	Executive Vice President of Programming, Format Lead Custom R&B/Gospel, iHeartMedia
Maine	Lauren Wayne	General Manger / Talent Buyer, State Theater
Maryland	Caron Veazey	Founder & CEO, Something In Common
Mass	Jamie Cerreta	EVP Hipgnosis Songs Group
Michigan	Shahida Mausi	CEO The Right Productions, Inc./Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre
Minnesota	Barry Lather	Creative Director / Choreographer / Producer
Mississippi	Joe King the Big Daddy	Program Director, WZLD Hattiesburg, iHeartMedia
Missouri	Tommy Austin	SVP Programming, iHeartMedia
Montana	Stephanie Davis	Singer-Songwriter
Nebraska	Hoss Michaels	Program Director, KXKT Omaha, iHeartMedia
Nevada	Jim Vellutato	CEO, Arrival Music
New Hampshire	Charlie Singer	Music Television Producer / Executive Producer
New Jersey	Matt Pinfield	Nationally Syndicated Radio Host / A&R Consultant
New Mexico	Tony Manero	SVP Programming Southwest, iHeartMedia
New York	Tom Poleman	Chief Programming Officer & President, iHeartMedia
North Carolina	Paul Schadt	On-Air Personality, WKKT Charlotte, iHeartMedia
North Dakota	Allison Bostow	Program Director / On-Air Personality, KIZZ Minot, iHeartMedia
Northern Mariana Islands	Galvin Deleon Guerrero	President Northern Marianas College / Radio DJ
Ohio	Khirye Tyler	Songwriter / Producer / Musical Director
Oklahoma	Ester Dean	“The Song Machine”
Oregon	Mark Hamilton	Program Director / On-Air Personality, Portland Audacy
Pennsylvania	Ty Stiklorius	Founder & CEO of Friends at Work
Puerto Rico	Carlos Perez	Creative Director
Rhode Island	Kristin Lessard	On-Air Personality, WSNE Providence, iHeartMedia
South Carolina	Miss Monique	On-Air Personality / Program Director, WXBT Columbia, iHeartMedia
South Dakota	Jered Johnson	President / CEO, Pepper Entertainment
Tennessee	Brian Phillips	Executive VP, Content and Audience, Cumulus Media
Texas	Natural	Music Producer
U.S. Virgin Islands	Ajanie Williams	Music Producer & Author
Utah	Jeff McCartney	SVP Programming, Salt Lake City, iHeartMedia
Vermont	Lee Chesnut	A&R Consultant
Virginia	Justin Derrico	Musician
Washington	Zann Fredlund	On-Air Personality / Music Director & Assistant Program Director, KBKS Seattle, iHeartMedia
Washington, D.C.	Dustin Matthews	Director of Rock Programing, Washington, DC, iHeartMedia
West Virginia	Judy Eaton	Program Director, WTCR Huntington, iHeartMedia
Wisconsin	Shanna “Quinn” Cudeck	Program Director / On-Air Personality, WMIL Milwaukee, iHeartMedia
Wyoming	Ian Munsick	Warner Music Recording Artist

 

ABOUT “AMERICAN SONG CONTEST”
America’s biggest televised live entertainment event has arrived! Based on the worldwide phenomenon “Eurovision Song Contest,” organized for 65 years by the European Broadcasting Union and watched by 200 million viewers annually, this amazing musical spectacular combines the competitive spirit of rooting for your favorite sports team with the joy of watching a live performance of an original song.

“American Song Contest” will feature live new music performances – representing all 50 states, five U.S. territories and our nation’s capital – competing to win the country’s vote for the best hit song.  The live competition consists of three rounds as the artists compete in a series of Qualifying Rounds, followed by the Semi-Finals and the ultimate Grand Final where one state or territory will emerge victorious.

“American Song Contest” is executive produced by Audrey Morrissey with Propagate’s Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, American Song Contest, Inc.’s Anders Lenhoff, Christer Björkman, Peter Settman and Ola Melzig; alongside Gregory Lipstone, Amanda Zucker and Kyra Thompson. Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson also serve as executive producers.

The series is produced by Propagate in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group, and American Song Contest, Inc.