Tomorrow night (Monday through Tuesday) the first Eurovision Song Contest of the United States will be launched: the American version of Europe's oldest song contest.
In the U.S. format, 56 states will compete: the 50 states of the United States, Washington, D.C., which is defined as an independent federal district, and five territories that are U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.
The competition will be spread over eight weeks in the format of a reality show, and each country sends a representative with an original song.
A jury consisting of a representative from each country will score points for the songs, and the audience at home will also have compromises to influence.
In the qualifying round the participants are divided into houses, of which 22 countries will advance to two semi-finals.
The finals will be held in May with the ten finalist countries.
"The American Singing Competition" will air on NBC and the hosts are rapper Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson.
Participants include several familiar names, including Macy Gray who was chosen to represent Ohio, folk singer Joel who represented Alaska, hip-hop artist Cisco (who broke with the hit Thong Song in the late nineties) who represented Maryland, and veteran ballad singer Michael Bolton who represented Connecticut.
The European Broadcasting Union has been trying for years to launch a Eurovision song contest on the western side of the Atlantic.
The goal is to bring the popularity of Eurovision to audiences who have never heard of it.
At a press conference held a few days before the Tel Aviv Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, the European Broadcasting Union announced its intention to launch an American version of the competition.
"As part of the union's overall strategy to expand the brand, it's time for the Eurovision Song Contest to move to the US and reach even more viewers," said then-competition commissioner Ion Ola Sand.
In an online panel promoting the "American Singing Competition," Kelly Clarkson said: "When I was 20 and traveling to Europe I first discovered what Eurovision was. I did not know that some of the great artists I know started there. I believe the American version airs on perfect timing. "To lift our spirits. Everything that happens in the world is very burdensome for us, and this competition came to America in time."
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