USA – Hosted by former Czech Eurovision Head of Delegation, Jan Bors hosted in HUMANS OF EUROVISION Ola Melzig who revealed information about the AMERICAN SONG CONTEST format, as he is one of the producers working on the show.
The show which will premiere either in autumn of 2021 or spring 2022 has many features ready and many obstacles to bypass. Overall someone can say that the qualifying rounds will simulate MELODIFESTIVALEN while semi-finals and the final will be similar to EUROVISION style.
There will be five qualifying rounds in which ten states will compete. In each qualifying round (2 hours each) four songs will qualify and six will be eliminated.
There will be two semi-finals with ten songs each. Five songs from each semi-final will proceed to the final.
There are discussions about the qualifying rounds as one of the broadcasters asked for longer format with ten qualifying rounds, five songs each and two qualifiers from each show.
Each state must have three songs to select from before the AMERICAN SONG CONTEST kicks off its live shows. The selection for the states could be done in several ways e.g. local affiliates of a broadcaster, social media, music sharing platform, app etc. that all depends on the chosen broadcaster.
There is focus on the rules that the songs must be original while the one-off 2021 rule regarding pre-recorded backing vocals will be permanent in the American version of the contest.
Ola Melzig says
We will be working with all of the record labels in the US to find their performers and songs. We want to be the platform to help launch artists. We want to be the platform for if Cher records a new album, she takes to the stage. If Britney Spears decides to start singing heavy metal. We will never have Justin Timberlake on stage as a contestant, or most likely not… We are focusing on established artists that are not known to the masses.
The aim of scratching all songs from the beginning, according to Ola Melzig is to train all 50 states how to select their songs without the direct involvement of the production team.
EBU is directly involved in the process of the show and all format changes have complied with them. The aim is for the show to be available in Europe and obviously to connect it with EUROVISION by inviting the winner as an interval act in the Grand Final.
So far ten networks have declared interest for the show and in the upcoming weeks, there will be a final decision and announcement.
