Oklahoma-based K-pop singer Alexa won the first American Song Contest to honor her state, who completed an eight-week run on Monday (May 9) and scored 10 points out of 56 to compete against each other in the U.S. states and territories.
The voting process was duplicated by the way votes are presented in the Eurovision Song Contest. First, the points of the professional jury were counted because the 56 juries were divided into 10 geographic divisions of the U.S., with each representative announcing a live broadcast in which the contestant scored 12 points, with the other points falling below 10. 1 is being quickly rewarded on screen.
After all the jury points were announced, Washington State’s Alan Stone’s song “A Little Beat of Both” topped the list with 105 points. Alexa’s song “Wonderland” was in fifth place with 60 points.
But as any Eurovision viewer knows, people’s scores are revealed later, which is often a game changer. Oklahoma got 656 points in televote and came first with a total of 710 points. Washington State failed to catch up, ranking fifth with 254 points. Colorado’s Ryker Lynch, who finished last with 25 points after the jury vote, received a large number of public votes and finished second with 503 points.
Alexa told Billboard after the show that as a Eurovision viewer, she knew she had not lost the game when she was ahead of the Washington jury. But that doesn’t mean she’s the winner. “I was a little scared after the jury vote, but knowing how the point system works, I was holding the hands of my mother and father and praying for my dreams to come true. Fortunately, they did, and I was lucky enough to win. “
And how did she feel when she found out she had won? “I felt like my brain was exploding because my mother was holding my hand and she was crying and trembling and so I cried with her. It was a very emotional experience. Sharing that moment with my team and all the ASC friends in the crowd is the world for me. “
For the third time in this grand finale, Alexa performed “Wonderland” in the American Song Contest. She sang it in episode 1 and then again in the semifinals. There was some difference in the third performance. “First of all, standing on a chair in the air is very different from what I say, but it’s great because I didn’t get to see the dancers in dress rehearsals. I saw them on stage for the first time today and they looked phenomenal and they kicked butt as usual. I’m glad to have this incredible creative team to make everything possible. It felt like a new challenge to overcome each stage and I am so grateful that we won it together. “
One thing that never changed between the three performances was Alexa falling down the stairs. Was she afraid to jump? “Oh no,” she told Billboard. “I love stunts. I like to do things that fall. I’m not afraid of heights. I talked to [the series co-host] Snoop Dogg about it and he’s obviously. “
The other co-host in the series, Kelly Clarkson, stopped talking to Billboard after the show about Alexa. “I knew her before because my niece is a big fan of K-Pop. She is already crazy about her and has a lot of fans. Honestly, that’s why the votes were counted, right? Like Alan Stone was going to take it and come to America and vote and say, ‘No.’
Speaking about the possibility of Alexa appearing on the Billboard charts, Clarkson said, “I haven’t seen anything like Alexa. This is her biggest attraction. Her performance and her feeling and the fact that she is from Oklahoma is very funny to me, because I grew up small in North Texas and no one has ever seen me hang out like this kind of artist. We think people are boxed in these [categories] and we are not. It was really interesting to see 56 states and territories expressing this. There are so many different types of vibrations everywhere and I thought it was really cool. “
