Earlier this year, Christer Björkman revealed that plans are underway to host the first American Song Contest in 2022. In an interview with The Euro Trip podcast earlier this week, Björkman revealed further details about the contest, including potential host cities. He claimed that most of the plans are already being finalised for the contest to debut next year.
During an interview last week with Rob Lilley on The Euro Trip, Björkman said:
It’s moving closer and closer as we speak. We have agreed on a lot of things, almost everything, and the last little details will be put into writing by Monday [yesterday].
Considering plans for an ‘Asiavision’ Song Contest are still yet to materialise having been teased for years, some fans are sceptical about the American counterpart. However, when asked if the show would definitely happen, Björkman responded:
It will happen, I’m very very sure now. We have a pandemic, there are things that can happen that we can’t foresee but if things develop the way they are right now, it should be on air next year.
Regarding the format, he claims the structure will be influenced by both Sweden’s Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest itself:
It will be a mix of Melodifestivalen and Eurovision because the qualification period is probably something like five weeks to cover all the states and that will be very similar to what we do here in Sweden. Then it goes into a Eurovision mode which is two semi-finals and a final. And those will be upscaled looks-wise.
While the host city has not yet been announced, he gave a glimpse on some of the contenders:
It’s under discussion, but it could be [Las] Vegas, that’s been talked about a lot. It could be Tampa or Orlando.
American Song Contest – what we know so far
Initial plans for an American Song Contest were first revealed in 2019, when a contract was signed to take the vision of the contest to the United States. More details were revealed in a press conference at Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv.
Around ten broadcasters, including major US networks, had already expressed interest in the contest by August 2019, with Christer Björkman later revealing that the contest would span several weeks and travel through multiple cities. The format will be similar to the Eurovision Song Contest with only original songs allowed, and there is expected to be a mix of new stars and established artists competing.
New details emerged last summer with Variety saying that the show hopes “to siphon off some of the magic of the beloved six-decade-old show”. Earlier this year, Christer Björkman revealed in a livestream that plans are underway to host the first American Song Contest in 2022.
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