How ‘American Song Contest’ Voting Will Work Via TikTok, and Who’s on the 56-Member Jury Panel (EXCLUSIVE)

“American Song Contest” has revealed its detailed online and TikTok voting procedures and the 56 members of its expert jury panel, including Isaac Slade, Matt Pinfield and Jose Tillan, ahead of the U.S. adaptation of “Eurovision’s” big two-hour debut Monday on NBC, Variety has learned exclusively.

Hosted by Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson, the all-live “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. A combination of public and jury votes will decide who will advance in the competition, with the jury being comprised of 56 people, one representing each state/territory, who are a mix of music industry executives, songwriters, and radio programmers from various genres as well as managers and members of the Recording Academy. The jury, whose names you can see listed in full below, will evaluate each artist’s performance based on artistic expression, hit potential, originality and visual impression.

The NBC competition, which premieres tonight at 8 p.m., will follow a point system in which every state and territory votes with equal power, regardless of population, with viewers able to vote for their favorite performances on nbc.com/ascvote, the NBC App and on TikTok, the official voting platform partner for “American Song Contest.” Per NBC, “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.”

“American Song Contest” will include three rounds, taking place over eight weeks. The “Qualifying Rounds” will have 11 acts in each episode (with one week featuring 12). 22 artists will perform in the two-part “Semi-Finals” with the Top 10 performing in the “Grand Final,” where a winner will be crowned.

Voting for the Qualifiers will open Mondays and will close Wednesday morning.

“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,” according to NBC. “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.”

Upping the ante is the fact that during each Semi-Final, a “redemption” song will be revealed, “adding an 11th 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.”

Additionally, NBC says T-Mobile, as the official voting partner of “American Song Contest,” 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.

“We all know the modern hits but so few of us ever get to witness them actually becoming legendary songs,” Slade, former member of The Frey who is representing Colorado on the jury, told Variety. “’American Song Contest’ will give people a front row seat to that moment when those timeless songs first catch fire, right in front of their eyes.“

“I am thrilled to be part of this diverse and talented jury and getting to represent my home state of New Jersey on the very first ‘American Song Contest,’” added KLOS radio host Matt Pinfield (New Jersey). “I look forward to seeing what talent each state and territory has to bring.”

Florida juror Jose Tillan, director/producer of the POPGarage, said: “It is such a pleasure to be part of ‘American Song Contest” alongside such a talented group of jurors. I am looking forward to this journey of discovering great talent and celebrating the power songs.”

“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.

See the full list of “American Song Contest” jury panel members below.

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