Spoilers ahead for Week 4 of American Song Contest.
The live qualifiers of American Song Contest are still going strong, and the latest episode brought out more of the best performers that the United States and its territories have to offer. After four more acts were advanced to the next stage of competition – including Texas native Grant Knoche – another eleven took the stage to try and wow viewers. Savannah Keyes represented Utah for American Song Contest, and it turns out that she brought some Kelly Clarkson memorabilia along with her.
Kelly Clarkson is of course one of the co-hosts of American Song Contest, alongside Snoop Dogg (who has revealed why he hates the rehearsals but loves his job), and she announced prior to Savannah Keyes’ performance that she loves “cheering on female country artists.” Keyes’ song may have been called “Sad Girl,” but she was anything but sad to hear feedback from Kelly Clarkson, as she shared with press after the live broadcast. When I asked what it meant for her to hear praise from Clarkson, Keyes shared some personal details:
Oh my gosh! Okay, so this is like a side note, but I brought all these like Kelly Clarkson memorabilia pieces that I have, because my first concert ever was actually watching her show. That was my first concert I ever went to when I was five-years-old. So for me, getting to have that like stamp of approval for all women in country music and hopefully represent that, that's all that I wanted to do on the show, was represent women in country.
5-year-old Savannah Keyes never could have known that she’d grow up to perform herself in front of Kelly Clarkson after watching the original American Idol champion as her first concert ever, so it’s no wonder that Clarkson’s “stamp of approval” means so much to her. And who knows? Maybe all of that memorabilia was good luck for her. She certainly did well enough on the night!
Savannah Keyes not the first female country singer of American Song Contest, and two other women who took the stage have also opened up about what Clarkson’s comments meant to them. Whether or not she advances beyond the qualifiers remains to be seen, but it seems safe to say that she did Utah proud with her performance of “Sad Girl.” In case you missed the debut of her single (and haven’t caught up on the show with a Peacock subscription just yet), take a look:
The lyrics may be sad for that song, but Savannah Keyes has a lot to be happy about at this point, and her odds are as good as almost any from Week 4 to advance to the next round of American Song Contest competition. Only Allen Stone of Washington from this broadcast is guaranteed to move on, as he won the jury vote. If you want to do your part to help Keyes stay in competition for another round, you can do so via NBC.com/ASCVote, the NBC app, and TikTok until voting closes at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday, April 13.
That gives viewers from across the country – and, more importantly, across time zones – plenty of time to vote. Co-hosts Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg may not have any power to judge who moves forward and who goes home, but their comments have meant a lot to the various performers, with Jocelyn revealing just a couple of weeks ago that Snoop took the time to make a special gesture to her. The show is going strong, and there are still a number of states and territories that haven’t yet been showcased on ASC, so keep tuning in to NBC on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes!
