The second group of 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 two.
Eight 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.
Unfortunately Macy Gray's song 'Every Night' did not become available on Spotify until Monday evening Australian time so we have excluded this song from the vote as it was not available for jury members to listen to at the time of voting.
The votes have been counted and the results from 10th down to 1st are:
10. Almira Zaky - 'Over You' (Virginia)
13 points
High: 6 points from Kyriakos
Low: 0 points from Mark, Dale, Hugo and Teddy
9. Cruz Rock - 'Celebrando' (US Virgin Islands)
20 points
High: 8 points from Mark
Lows: 0 points from Fleur, Hugo, Laura and Kyriakos
8. courtship - 'Million Dollar Smoothies' (Oregon)
25 points
High: 12 points from Teddy, 8 points from Laura
Low: 0 points from Emma, Fleur, Dale and Kyriakos
"This is the sort of thing that ends up on rotation on my normal Spotify playlists. I think the lyrics are quirky and fun, and it gets a good beat going. Not world-beating, but in this group of songs, this is the one I enjoyed the most." ~ Teddy
7. Jonah Prill - 'Fire It Up' (Montana)
30 points
High: 12 points from Dale, 8 points from Teddy
Low: 0 points from Emma and Fleur
"Although I think there are more "quality" songs in this bunch, this is the kind of easy country radio song that I enjoy and would be the one I would go back to listen to on repeat. Simple enough, production is spot on and has enough stickability with that chorus." ~ Dale
6. Broderick Jones - 'Tell Me' (Kansas)
36 points
Highs: 12 points from Hugo, 8 points from Fleur
Low: 0 points from Mark
"Simply the best song from this week in my opinion. Great studio cut, great production, understated but still catchy. I like the little instrumental chorus bit as well. Often those types of breaks are hard to stage, so it will be interesting to see what they do with that, but this is my favourite from the studio cuts." ~ Hugo
5. Jocelyn - 'Never Alone' (Nebraska)
37 points
Highs: 12 points from Laura, 10 points from Emma and Teddy
Low: 0 points from Mark, Dale and Kyriakos
"'Never Alone' made a strong first impression for me from the very first listen. With top-notch production, lyrics that an audience can connect to (even if some of the metaphors are a little over-the-top), and the delicate emotion in Jocelyn's vocal delivery, I can see this being a real contender if the live performance is strong." ~ Laura
=2. Enisa - 'Green Light' (New York)
41 points
High: 10 points from Hugo and Laura, 8 points from Kyriakos
Low: 0 points from Teddy
=2. Chloe Fredericks - 'Can't Make You Love Me' (North Dakota)
41 points
Highs: 10 points from Dale, 8 points from Emma and Hugo
Low: 0 points from Teddy
=2. King Kyote - 'Get Out Alive' (Maine)
41 points
Highs: 12 points from Fleur, 10 points from Mark and Kyriakos, 8 points from Dale
Low: 0 points from Emma, Hugo and Laura
"Gets my douze points because it's the only song that I would go out of my way to listen to. It most aligns my music taste. It's rather soft rock/slightly country but his vocals sell this most to me. It really suits the structure of this song." ~ Fleur
"King Kyote has a cracking song but very hard to judge since it is a five minute version, the 2:45 version for the contest may have a bit more impact so could definitely climb for me." ~ Dale
1. Jordan Smith - 'Sparrow' (Kentucky)
60 points
Highs: 12 points from Emma, Mark and Kyriakos, 10 points from Fleur
Low: 0 points from Laura
"This is a quality modern ballad that led me to check the songwriting credits. Not surprisingly this was written by Jordan in conjunction with top Swedish/American songwriting duo Andreas Carlsson & Desmond Child. The two have worked with some of music's biggest names including Backstreet Boys, Westlife & N-SYNC and this could easily have been released by any of them. The formula isn't particularly original but Jordan's vocals are sublime and the arrangement is just modern enough to avoid this falling in to the boring ballad category. A really enjoyable listen that will hopefully elevate even more with the staging levels we saw in last week's heat." ~ Emma
"Kentucky is responsible for its fair share of pain in the world (a big gay hello to Mitch McConnell and Kim Davis) so it's nice to see something this soaring and warm from the southern state. Jordan Smith is a singer's singer - his voice is a magnificent bell of an instrument. As winner of 'The Voice', we know he can muster public support. The song itself has got a Christian or Gospel feel, but doesn't proselytize - the imagery is universal. I expect it to speak to the masses. A frontrunner for the whole Contest." ~ Mark
"This is one that I expect the jury to put through. I like it, but there is slightly too much going on here for me. Very much a competition song. No doubt that Jordan has a great voice." ~ Fleur
"This song just instantly connected with me!! It's very familiar sounding, but I just love the simplicity in the lyrics and the uplifting feel of it. Also I love the key change." ~ Kyriakos
So Jordan Smith from Kentucky is our clear winner, finishing on 60 points, 19 points ahead of our tied second placegetters King Kyote from Maine, Chloe Fredericks from North Dakota and Enisa from New York. However, with Jocelyn from Nebraska and Broderick from Kansas also within five points of these three, it appears that the field this week is extremely open and much will come down to the staging and live performance on the night.
And of course we have global superstar and Grammy Award nominee Macy Gray to throw in to the mix as well which will make for an extremely tight race to earn one of the four qualifying positions!
Find out more about the American Song Contest in our show 2 preview article.