The first eleven songs competing in the American Song Contest were released today and the Aussievision team has been busy listening and ranking them ahead of show number one.
Nine members of the team went through the songs, awarded points for their Top 7 with the breakdown of points being 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1.
The votes have been counted and the results from 11th down to 1st are:
11. UG skywalkin ft. Maxie - 'Love in My City' (Indiana)
4 points
Highs: 4 points from Kyriakos 4 points
Lows: 0 points from Emma, Mark, Mike, Fleur, Laura, Teddy, Steve and Dale
10. Christian Pagán - 'Loko' (Puerto Rico)
19 points
Highs: 6 points from Emma, 4 points from Dale and Fleur
Lows: 0 points from Kyriakos, Steve and Teddy
9. Michael Bolton - 'Beautiful World' (Connecticut)
27 points
Highs: 12 points from Mike, 6 points from Mark
Lows: 0 points from Emma, Dale and Steve
8. Alisabeth Von Presley - 'Wonder' (Iowa)
28 points
Highs: 10 points from Mark, 8 points from Steve and Emma
Lows: 0 points from Mike, Dale, Laura and Kyriakos
7. Jake’O - 'Feel Your Love' (Wisconsin)
31 points
Highs: 10 points from Steve and Emma, 8 points from Fleur
Lows: 0 points Teddy, Laura, Mark and Kyriakos
6. Yam Haus - 'Ready to Go' (Minnesota)
31 points
Highs: 10 points from Fleur, 6 points from Kyriakos
Lows: 0 points from Laura and Dale
5. Kelsey Lamb - 'Never Like This' (Arkansas)
31 points
Highs: 10 points from Mike, 8 points from Dale
Lows: 0 points from Teddy and Fleur
4. Ryan Charles - 'New Boot Goofin'' (Wyoming)
33 points
Highs: 12 points from Teddy, 10 points from Dale and Laura
Lows: 0 points from Fleur, Kyriakos, Mark, Steve and Mark
"Look, I know this isn't exactly "quality" music, but it is the one song I wanted to keep going back to listen to over and over again. It stands out in this mix, it somehow combines a country cowboy feel with rap. Some memorable lyrics and what should be a memorable performance!" ~ Dale
3. Keyone Starr - 'Fire' (Mississippi)
33 points
Highs: 8 points from Kyriakos, 6 points from Laura, Teddy, Fleur and Steve
Lows: 0 points from Emma, Mark and Mike
2. Hueston - 'Held On Too Long' (Rhode Island)
72 points
Highs: 12 points from Steve, Mark, Dale and Kyriakos
Lows: 0 points from Emma and Fleur
"What an amazing song!! I am looking forward to seeing Hueston perform this live! This song just hit me in the chest, so emotional and his voice is something!" ~ Kyriakos
"The sort of voice that makes your ache. This sparse, but soaring, composition is the singular standout from this actually very solid first round of songs. The opening lyrics are very arresting indeed. Maybe doesn't lend itself to any grand staging, but something along the lines of Duncan at Eurovision 2019 should see Hueston do very well - I hope in the live performance is opens up and lets loose with that crying vocal. This ain't the place for restraint." ~ Mark
"This is a beautiful (albeit simple) ballad that has the potential to be awe-inspiringly good if the live vocal is as strong as the recorded version." ~ Steve
1. AleXa - 'Wonderland' (Oklahoma)
78 points
Highs: 12 points from Emma, Laura and Fleur
Lows: 2 points from Steve, 6 points from Dale and Mike
"I’m really enjoying this song. Will be interesting to see how American audiences would go for K-pop. This is definitely a standout in this heat and probably for the whole competition. I doubt anything will sound like this." ~ Fleur
So, a close victory for AleXa from Oklahoma, just six points ahead of Hueston from Rhode Island.
The pair were almost a full 40 points clear of 3rd place and below, so they were clearly the team's favourites.
The positions form 3rd down to 9th place were separated by just six points (!) showing that the remaining songs are very close together in quality.
With four qualifying positions up for grabs, it should be a tightly run race!
Find out more about the American Song Contest in our show 1 preview article.