The American Song Contest semifinals kicked off with a good night for the Evergreen State.
Washington’s Allen Stone won the jury vote and an automatic spot in the Grand Final on May 9. The singer, who performed “A Bit of Both,” is a Grammy nominee for being featured on the 2012 Macklemore and Ryan Lewis album The Heist.
Allen will be joined in the finale by four other performers from the April 25 episode, based strictly on fan voting.
Highlights from the evening included Oklahoma K-pop artist AleXa who performed an energetic version of her song “Wonderland,” former The Voice winner Jordan Smith who represented Kentucky with his song “Sparrow” and Wyoming’s Ryan Charles who performed his country rap ear worm “New Boot Goofin’.”
In addition, three artists from last week earned spots in the second semifinal round on May 2. American Samoa’s Tenelle, North Carolina’s John Morgan and California’s Sweet Taboo advanced after the combined fan and jury vote. They joined Michigan’s Ada Leann, who won the automatic jury spot last week.