Jordan Smith knows a thing or two about winning reality TV shows. He was the champion of “The Voice” Season 9 back in 2015, and now he’s won the jury vote on Week 2 of “American Song Contest.” Representing his home state of Kentucky, Jordan took the stage during the second episode of NBC’s ratings hit and performed his new single “Sparrow.” After all 11 qualifying acts performed their original songs on Monday night, the jury of 56 industry professionals ranked all of them from best to worst. Jordan won the jury vote, so he received a free pass to the semi-finals.
The fate of the other 10 participants now rests in the hands of the at-home voters, whose results will be tabulated alongside the jury rankings — it’s a complicated process — to determine which three will join Jordan in the semi-finals. They are:
courtship. (Oregon) singing “Million Dollar Smoothies”
Jonah Prill (Montana) singing “Fire It Up”
ENISA (New York) singing “Green Light”
Jocelyn (Nebraska) singing “Never Alone”
Cruz Rock (U.S. Virgin Islands) singing “Celebrando”
Chloe Fredericks (North Dakota) singing “Can’t Make You Love Me”
Broderick Jones ft. Calio (Kansas) singing “Tell Me”
Almira Zaky (Virginia) singing “Over You”
King Kyote (Maine) singing “Get Out Alive”
Macy Gray ft. The California Jet Club and Maino (Ohio) singing “Every Night”
SEE How to vote for ‘American Song Contest’
During his “American Song Contest” live blog, our recapper Matthew Stewart had this to say about Jordan Smith’s performance: “Nearly seven years after winning ‘The Voice,’ Jordan Smith returns to NBC in the hopes of bringing home a victory to the state of Kentucky. His song, ‘Sparrow,’ is a faith-inspired anthem with heartfelt lyrics that convey a message of hope for the downtrodden. During his performance, Smith consistently exhibited a clear sense of confidence that proved he is in it to win it once again.”
In Week 1 Qualifiers, the first group of 11 acts performed for the votes of the jury and viewers. Hueston from Rhode Island won the jury vote thanks to his emotional ballad “Held On Too Long.” The other 10 contestants found out this week which three of them advanced to the semi-finals based on a combination of the viewers’ and jurists’ votes. It was good news for Oklahoma’s AleXa (“Wonderland”), Puerto Rico’s Christian Pagán (“Loko”) and Connecticut’s Michael Bolton (“Beautiful World”).
SEE ‘American Song Contest’ 2022: Meet the 56 participants for Season 1
