SPOILER ALERT: This article reveals what happened on “American Song Contest” on April 4.
“American Song Contest” returned for week three, with another batch of acts squaring off in this new televised music competition.
The acts represented the states of Texas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Alabama, Florida, Alaska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Delaware and Colorado as well as the U.S. territory of Northern Marianas.
Out of that field, only one of this week’s acts/songs/states was automatically selected (“by a national jury of music industry experts”) to move onto the semi-finals. (Three others will later advance based on fan voting).
And this week’s winner was Tennessee’s Tyler Braden, who charmed the judges with the performance of the song “Seventeen.”
Braden is the third act to be selected for automatic advancement by the jury, following week one champ Hueston of Rhode Island and week two winner Jordan Smith of Kentucky.
The broadcast kicked off with the big reveal of the other three states/contestants — from week two — who will also be moving on via public vote. Those three are Chloe Fredericks from North Dakota, Jonah Prill from Montana and Broderick Jones from Kansas.
With the advancement of Braden, there are now nine states/territories that are in for the semi-finals. That number includes the three acts from week one that advanced via jury voting: Christian Pagán from Puerto Rico, Alexa from Oklahoma and Michael Bolton (yes, THAT Michael Bolton) from Connecticut.
Here are the highlights from week three:
Brittany Pfantz — The Louisiana vocalist wowed with her strong singing voice — which seemed part Pink, part Adele — on the memorable rock-pop offering “Now You Do.”
Tyler Braden — Did they even have to vote on this one? It seems fairly obvious that any artist from Nashville should get an automatic pass to the semi-finals. And the country singer-songwriter did “Music City” proud with the coming-of-age number “Seventeen.”
Jewel — The Alaska folk-pop star seems a bit out of place amid a field that is mainly populated by comparatively unknown acts. But it was certainly no surprise that Jewel — who once appeared on the cover of Time magazine and has sold some 15 million copies of the 1995 debut “Pieces of You” — was able to shine brightly with the song “The Story.”
Jesse LeProtti — The South Carolina singer showcased a good deal of stage presence, charisma and talent with the uplifting soul-pop tune “Not Alone.”
Sabyu — The Northern Marianas artist charmed with a warmly appealing “Sunsets and Seaturtles.” Recommended for fans of Jack Johnson.
