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American Song Contest Jury Advances Tennessee's Tyler Braden to the Semi-Finals
His performance of ballad "Seventeen" helped the 27-year-old Nashville Artist secure a spot in the next round.
During American Song Contest's third Qualifying round, Tennessee's Tyler Braden joined the growing list of Artists headed to the Semi-Finals. Like Rhode Island's Hueston and Kentucky's Jordan Smith, Braden was chosen by a Jury of industry experts to instantly advance in the competition during the live show on Monday April 4.
"I’m honored to have been chosen as the Jury’s pick to automatically move to the next round of the contest!" Braden wrote in an Instagram post. "Y’all!! EVERYONE in this round was so damn talented and it was anyones game so I couldn’t feel more blessed and appreciative!!"
A quick recap on how the show works: American Song Contest follows 56 Artists each representing either a U.S. state, territory, or Washington D.C. Each Artist has submitted their own track they hope viewers will vote for as Best Original Song. Over the course of five weeks, this will be determined through Qualifying Rounds and votes both by fans and the Jury (composed of 56 industry experts). In every round, the Jury gets to select one Artist to automatically advance to the next stage of the competition. Hueston, Smith, and Braden are the Jury-chosen Artists to date.
Braden—who's currently based in Nashville—performed his angsty ballad, "Seventeen." The former fireman's music already has more than 85.5 million streams across platforms, and he released his first EP, What Do They Know, in 2021.
"As a songwriter, my roots are country music," he said. "I'm so proud to represent Tennessee because there's so much country music history and talent here. It just makes it that much harder to standout, and I want to go out there and make everyone proud."
In addition to the 27-year-old, 11 other Artists competed, including Grammy-nominated Jewel. At the top of next week's April 11 episode, the combined votes of the Jury and fans will be revealed, advancing three Artists from Week 3 to the Semi-Finals. Ultimately, a total of 20 Artists will qualify for the Semi-Finals. Ten will then move on to the Grand Final, which airs May 9.
In the meantime, stream "Seventeen" and every other Contestants' tracks to find your favorite—and vote for Artists to advance to the next round.
American Song Contest airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Catch up on NBC.com.
