Spoilers ahead for the series premiere of NBC’s American Song Contest.
American Song Contest finally made its high-profile premiere on March 21, and the first episode of the NBC series featured eleven standout performances from all over the United States and its territories. One of the most memorable came from Alex Christine, a.k.a. AleXa. She represents Oklahoma for the show, and was the only performer to bring K-pop to the premiere. The crowd clearly loved her energetic performance, and it prompted a confession from host Snoop Dogg that K-pop is his “guilty pleasure.” AleXa revealed how it felt to hear that from the music legend right after she finished her song.
AleXa was the second artist to take the stage in the series premiere of ASC, with a live performance of her song “Wonderland.” In true K-pop video style, there were impressive costumes and dance moves as she sang, and backup dancers to add an even more epic scale. Although her finishing move was dropping backwards off of a flight of stairs and out of sight, she could still hear when Snoop Dogg said:
I can’t even lie. K-pop is my guilty pleasure. She did that, that was amazing!
With eleven artists to fit into two hours, American Song Contest moved on to the next performer, and viewers didn’t get to see how AleXa felt to hear Snoop Dogg not only praise what she did with “Wonderland,” but share how much he likes the genre as a whole. The K-pop artist spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets after the premiere, and revealed her reaction when I asked for her thoughts on Snoop Dogg’s comments:
The thing is, at the end of my stage, as you saw, I fall backwards, and I’m laying in this giant foam pit, hyperventilating because I can’t breathe, and I hear Snoop going like, ‘Yeah, K-pop is my guilty pleasure.’ And I’m like, ‘Snoop Dogg acknowledged the genre that I do! So thank you, Snoop Dogg!’ Oh, it was embarrassing.
Who could blame AleXa for having a strong reaction to the praise on American Song Contest? Snoop Dogg is an icon in the music world on top of co-hosting ASC with Kelly Clarkson (who has plenty of music competition experience courtesy first of American Idol and now with The Voice), and K-pop isn’t a genre that has become quite as mainstream in the United States as in some other countries.
Of course, if AleXa is advanced to the next stage of ASC, K-pop could get closer than ever to the mainstream in the U.S. with a showcase on the American response to Europe’s Eurovision Song Contest. The only artist to be ultimately advanced from the premiere was Hueston, who was chosen by the jury to move forward without going through the audience voting process. AleXa’s American Song Contest fate lies in the hands of the voters. In case you missed her performance of “Wonderland” in the series premiere, take a look!
If you want to vote for AleXa (or any of the eleven performers) for the series premiere of American Song Contest, you can do so via the NBC App, NBC.com/ASCVote, and TikTok. Voting is open until 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday, March 23, and the limit is ten votes per artist per method. Don’t waste any time if you want to see your favorites get another chance in NBC’s newest music competition show!
New episodes of American Song Contest air on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC in the 2022 TV schedule. A new batch of performers will take the stage next week, with Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg hosting. The two previously worked together on The Voice, when Snoop came on board as the Season 20 Mega Mentor, resulting in some great one-liners and some questionable dance moves from judge Blake Shelton.
