Spoilers ahead for the second night of American Song Contest semi-finals.
American Song Contest is now just one episode away from declaring the top singer out of the 56 states and territories of the U.S., but the co-hosts were getting competitive in the second night of semi-finals as well as the eleven performers still in the running. The singers representing Kelly Clarkson's and Snoop Dogg's home states of Texas and California both returned to the stage, and the hosts went back and forth about which state is superior.
It was all in good fun, but it definitely shone a different kind of spotlight on Texas' Grant Knoche and California's Sweet Taboo than the other competitors on the night. They even performed one right after the other, with Knoche up first followed by the three women of Sweet Taboo. Following their performances, the artists opened up to CinemaBlend and other outlets about Kelly Clarkson and Snoop getting competitive.
Grant Knoche
Grant Knoche upped the ante with his second performance of "Mr. Independent," following his successful first in the qualifiers. He previously shared that he had "mixed emotions" about going first on the night while representing Kelly Clarkson's home state after the qualifiers, but he was all enthusiasm for the co-host following the semi-finals. When I mentioned Snoop and Clarkson getting competitive and asked for his thoughts on representing Texas in this round, Knoche responded:
Oh, it was awesome. It was really cool. It was funny backstage, it was like 'Texas!' 'California!' 'Texas!' 'California!' It was awesome. She's so nice. She's awesome. So I'm so proud to be representing Texas alongside her.
Even if they didn't have Texas in common, Grant Knoche's "Mr. Independent" automatically had plenty of Kelly Clarkson fans thinking of her "Miss Independent," so it really fits that he's representing her state. The episode even showed the mashup of the two songs that Knoche posted on TikTok. All things considered, it seems safe to say that he represented Texas well.
Sweet Taboo
The three women of Sweet Taboo went even bigger for their second performance of "Keys to the Kingdom." Their initial performance happened on the very last night of qualifiers, and at that point they shared that what makes their group "very special" is how they "represent a lot of women" and come together on stage. They certainly showed off how well they come together in the semi-finals, and rapper ICP Bre spoke for the group about what it meant to represent Snoop Dogg's state on American Song Contest:
It was definitely a blessing, you know, that actually really meant something to us. He did say that he was proud of us for representing California. So I feel like we went out there and we did what we had to do. But he also told us that we have to keep our sisterhood alive. And just always make sure that we remain true to each other and ourselves and just keep the whole group thing going because it's getting us really far.
The sisterhood was clearly still very much alive before, during, and even after their semi-finals performance, and hopefully it will keep taking them far no matter what happens in the next stage of American Song Contest competition. Californians (including Snoop Dogg, who has shared that he hates the ASC rehearsals) have a lot to be proud of with Sweet Taboo.
So, will Texas and California's representatives advance to next week's grand final? After the live second night of semi-finals (which you can rewatch the day after with a Peacock subscription), only Tennessee's Tyler Braden is guaranteed a spot in the final episode thanks to the jury vote, and the voting window closes on Tuesday, May 3 at 8 a.m. ET, so be sure to get your votes in via NBC.com/ASCVote, the NBC App, and/or TikTok ASAP.
Five competitors from the first night of semi-finals are already moving on, including AleXa as she continues showing off how K-pop artists can indeed come from Oklahoma. Tune in to NBC on Monday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET to see the live grand finale of the American take on Eurovision, and check out our 2022 TV schedule for some viewing options on the way in the not-too-distant future.
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