|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2022 1:23:17 GMT
'American Song Contest' premieres Monday The American Song Contest (we’re as confused as you about why it’s not called Amerivision) promises to be “the biggest live music event America has ever seen”, according to NBC, which begins airing the show on 21 March. It will substitute the US’s 50-odd states, districts and territories for Europe’s 50-odd countries and, we imagine, open up new frontiers for ways Americans can resent each other. In the old-country version, each participating nation sends an artist to perform an original song, in an event televised before hundreds of millions. Viewers in each country then weigh in as a bloc to determine a winner. But as any Eurovision fan knows, it’s not just about the music – it’s about politics and geography, with Scandinavian nations typically voting for each other and everyone voting against the UK. (After Russia invaded Ukraine last month, Eurovision initially argued that the contest was a “non-political cultural event” before bowing to public pressure and banning Russia from the 2022 contest.) While the precise rules for ASC have yet to be announced, the show is sure to foster new alliances and rivalries. Will everyone hate California because it already rules the entertainment industry? Will the supposedly nice people of the midwest band together or stab each other in the back? Could a kitschy earworm save America from civil war – or be the last straw? Will Americans just ignore politics and vote for the best song? Here’s our guide to the musical traditions and regional rivalries that we can look forward to: ALABAMA Represented by: Ni/Co (pop duo). Musical heroes: Wilson Pickett, Martha Reeves, Emmylou Harris, Nat King Cole, Hank Williams Sr, the guy who comes from Alabama with a banjo on his knee. Potential alliances: With its wide-ranging musical history, Alabama could go in many directions. Ni/Co sings pop, but the state might tie itself to Tennessee, where Nashville is the home of country music; it could also look to Michigan, in honor of Detroit and Motown. Given local politics – not to mention geography – Tennessee seems more likely. Sworn enemies: Florida, thanks to a passionate football rivalry between the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide and the University of Florida’s Gators.  ALASKA Represented by: Jewel (folk/pop). Musical heroes: Hobo Jim, the state’s official balladeer; Jewel. Known for: Alaska Native folk music; Jewel’s trademark blend of confessional ballads, catchy pop beats and sudden shifts into frog voice; Sarah Palin rapping Baby Got Back. Potential alliances: Hawaii, in a show of non-contiguous solidarity. Sworn enemies: Hawaii, in a show of non-contiguous rivalry. AMERICAN SAMOA Represented by: Tenelle (pop/reggae). Musical heroes: Tenelle, Napoleon Tuiteleleapaga. Potential alliances: Though people from American Samoa are US nationals, they can’t vote in US elections. They could team up with similarly disfranchised Americans in the other four permanently inhabited US territories. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2022 1:43:47 GMT
CALIFORNIA Represented by: Sweet Taboo (pop/hip-hop/Latin/R&B). Musical heroes: All of them, including “Weird Al” Yankovic. Known for: Every song you like. Potential alliances: New York, a fellow cultural powerhouse that believes itself to be its own country. Sworn enemies: Florida, which is California for conservatives. COLORADO Represented by: Riker Lynch (rock/pop). Musical heroes: Judy Collins, the Lumineers, John Denver, Earth, Wind and Fire. Known for: Folk, jam bands, bluegrass, jam bands that play folkie bluegrass. Potential alliances: California. People from Denver are essentially the same as people from the Bay Area: they work in tech, they think they’re laid back, and they performatively enjoy the outdoors. All dating profiles are required to include at least one photo in which the subject is dangling from a giant rock. Sworn enemies: Appalachian states. You call those mountains?  CONNECTICUT Represented by: Michael Bolton (soft rock). Musical heroes: Michael Bolton, the Carpenters, John Mayer. Known for: The dulcet tones of adult contemporary. Potential alliances and sworn enemies: Will New England be the Scandinavia of the American Song Contest? The parallels are there: both are loosely affiliated groups of jurisdictions with lots of white progressives, peppered with rightwing crazies. It remains to be seen whether these states will lift each other up or tear each other down. DELAWARE Represented by: Nitro Nitra (soul/rock). Musical heroes: The Bad to the Bone guy. Known for: Joe Biden. Potential alliances: Delaware is one of five states without sales tax, along with Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Alliances have been founded on shakier grounds. Sworn enemies: Despite being so small it’s barely visible, Delaware has a north-south divide that mirrors the country’s – with northern liberals, southern conservatives, different dialects and clashing ways of life. Delaware might vote against itself. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2022 6:19:45 GMT
FLORIDA Represented by: Ale Zabala (Latin pop). Musical heroes: Ray Charles, Pitbull, Tom Petty, Limp Bizkit, Ariana Grande, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Known for: A broad range of music, from pop to Latin to southern rock. Potential alliances: New York, whose residents typically fly south for the winter in a yearly migration pattern. Sworn enemies: California, which is Florida for liberals.  GEORGIA Represented by: Stela Cole (pop). Musical heroes: Outkast, Little Richard, Gucci Mane, TLC, James Brown, Otis Redding, REM. Known for: Hip-hop in Atlanta, college rock in Athens, soul on the midnight train. Potential alliances and sworn enemies: If recent history is any guide, the question for Georgia is not whom it will align with but whether its electoral infrastructure will survive at all. Will a few low-profile music officials be willing to stick their necks out when the runner-up calls, demanding they find a few thousand more votes? GUAM Represented by: Jason J (alternative/reggae). Musical heroes: Pia Mia, JD Crutch. Potential alliances: Guam could join an alliance of US territories, where residents are US nationals or citizens but can’t vote in US elections. Sworn enemies: Pia Mia, Guam’s biggest pop star, has an on-again/off-again BFFship with Kylie Jenner of California. Perhaps the contest will settle things once and for all. HAWAII Represented by: Bronson Varde (reggae/“Jawaiian”). Musical heroes: Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Jack Johnson, Nicole Scherzinger, Bruno Mars. Potential alliances: Fellow island jurisdictions from Puerto Rico to Guam. Sworn enemies: Rhode Island. How dare it call itself an island. IDAHO Represented by: Andrew Sheppard (rock). Musical heroes: Josh Ritter, Built to Spill, Paul Revere and the Raiders. Known for: Folk, rock, folk-rock. Potential alliances: Could the potato state team up with the tomato state? See New Jersey. Sworn enemies: California. Idahoans hate Californians. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2022 13:10:21 GMT
ILLINOIS Represented by: Justin Jesso (pop). Musical heroes: Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Herbie Hancock, Wilco, Jennifer Hudson, Kanye West. Known for: Blues. Potential alliances: Louisiana. Though you wouldn’t know it from listening to Justin Jesso, New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz, and Chicago, of course, has a rich jazz history of its own – it may have been the first place the term was used in print to describe music. Sworn enemies: Illinois is apparently its own worst enemy: a 2014 survey found half the population wanted out for work- and weather-related reasons.  INDIANA Represented by: UG skywalkin (hip-hop). Musical heroes: Cole Porter, Babyface, Axl Rose, the Jacksons. Potential alliances: Indiana, “the crossroads of America”, has a thing for cars. (It got its nickname thanks to a key early highway intersection; it’s also, of course, home to the Indianapolis 500 race.) Perhaps it will unite with another Great Lakes state, Michigan, where so many of those cars come from. Sworn enemies: Anyone who detests Mike Pence. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2022 17:50:33 GMT
LOUISIANA Represented by: Brittany Pfantz (rock/gospel/swamp pop). Musical heroes: Louis Armstrong, Lucinda Williams, Frank Ocean, Britney Spears, Leadbelly, Dr John, Fats Domino. Known for: Jazz. Potential alliances: See Illinois. Sworn enemies: Given its thriving music scene, Louisiana might see the similarly lauded California, New York, Tennessee and Michigan as threats to be squashed.  MASSACHUSETTS Represented by: Jared Lee (pop). Musical heroes: Aerosmith, Pixies, Donna Summer, James Taylor. Potential alliances: As home to Boston, the de facto capital of New England, Massachusetts could see plenty of interstate support. Sworn enemies: As home to Boston, city of Red Sox and Patriots fans, Massachusetts could see plenty of interstate vitriol. MICHIGAN Represented by: Ada LeAnn (acoustic pop). Musical heroes: Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, the Temptations, Madonna, Eminem, Lizzo. Known for: Motown. Potential alliances: See Indiana. Sworn enemies: Michigan has a good case to make for itself as America’s popular music capital, so it might seek to sabotage fellow contenders such as California, New York, Tennessee and Louisiana. See also: Ohio. |
|
