In Gold Derby’s recent poll that asked viewers to weigh in on whether AleXa deserved to win “American Song Contest,” a plurality of respondents said yes. The singer/dancer/songwriter, who was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma but now lives in Seoul, South Korea, wowed audiences with her K-pop single “Wonderland.” She came in with 34% of the poll results, followed by Washington’s Allen Stone and his song “A Bit of Both” in second place at 28%. While AleXa dominated the all-important audience vote, it was Stone who secured the most points from the national jury.
Here are the complete poll results for who viewers say deserved to win “American Song Contest” 2022:
34% — Oklahoma’s AleXa (“Wonderland”)
28% — Washington’s Allen Stone (“A Bit of Both”)
10% — Colorado’s Riker Lynch (“Feel The Love”)
8% — Kentucky’s Jordan Smith (“Sparrow”)
7% — American Samoa’s Tenelle (“Full Circle”)
4% — Tennessee’s Tyler Braden (“Seventeen”)
4% — Connecticut’s Michael Bolton (“Beautiful World”)
2% — Texas’ Grant Knoche (“Mr. Independent”)
2% — North Dakota’s Chloe Fredericks (“Can’t Make You Love Me”)
1% — Alabama’s Ni/Co (“The Difference”)
SEE ‘American Song Contest’ 2022: Meet the 56 participants for Season 1
In my recent video interview with AleXa (watch below), she told me the best word to describe her mindset when she won was “overwhelmed.” As she explained, “It was such a moment of just pure happiness and luck and gratitude, because in that moment I had my mother on my left, my father on my right, my company CEO that flew in all the way from Korea, as well as the rest of our staff. [They’ve] been through thick and thin with me for about four years now, and just to see everything come to fruition in this one moment, we were all just so taken aback with emotion.”
AleXa laughed when referencing her “ugly crying all over national television” and also talked about “American Song Contest” hosts Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg. “Are you kidding me? It’s the ‘American Idol’ legend and the D-O-G-G. I lost my damn mind,” she recalled before adding, “I’m really grateful to have been in their presence.”
SEE ‘American Song Contest’ episode 8 recap: Who won the final? [UPDATING LIVE BLOG]
“American Song Contest” started with 56 participants and followed a similar voting format to the overseas phenomenon “Eurovision Song Contest.” NBC bought the U.S. rights to the reality TV show in 2021 and ordered eight two-hour episodes, which aired between March and May of 2022.
“Wonderland’s” credited songwriters are Albin Nordqvist, Andreas Carlsson, Bekuh Boom, Ellen Berg and Moa Carlebecker. The catchy tune has several lyrics alluding to “Alice in Wonderland,” including “off with your head,” “heart,” “prince,” “palace” and “rabbit hole.” AleXa entertained fans each week with her high energy and fun dance moves, which no doubt helped her secure the top position in America’s votes.
