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NBC Delays ‘American Song Contest’ Over COVID Concerns; ‘AGT: Extreme’ Debuts Next Month

Michael Schneider
·2-min read

NBC has pushed “American Song Contest,” its ambitious U.S. take on the legendary Eurovision Song Contest, back a month in order to give the production more time to handle COVID concerns when it comes to having a live audience.

“American Song Contest” will now premiere on Monday, March 21 at 8 p.m. ET, and air there (in a two-hour slot, until 10 p.m.) for eight weeks, with a finale on May 9. The show was originally set to launch on Monday, Feb. 21; in its place, “America’s Got Talent: Extreme” will now premiere that day at 8 p.m. and air in that timeslot (also for two hours weekly) for four weeks.

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“America’s Got Talent: Extreme” completed its season despite an accident on set last fall, in which stuntman Jonathan Goodwin was injured while performing a daredevil stunt. Production paused in October after the incident, and was resumed in January.

“AGT: Extreme” features “outrageous, unique and jaw-dropping acts of enormous scale and magnitude,” according to NBC, as contestants compete to win a $500,000 prize. Creator and executive producer Simon Cowell serves as a judge, along with WWE star Nikki Bella and motocross and rally car driver Travis Pastrana. “America’s Got Talent” host Terry Crews also hosts “AGT: Extreme, which comes from Fremantle and Syco Entertatinment. Simon Cowell, Sam Donnelly, Jason Raff and Richard Wallace are the executive producers.

As for “American Song Contest,” the series travels across the country, finding song writers and performers in all 50 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia to compete. That scope presented a challenge during the recent omicron wave of COVID-19, forcing producers to take a breather, but they expect to have the show back in place and live by late March.

On the show, a solo artist, duo or a band will represent each location and perform a new original song. The live competition consists of three rounds as the acts compete in a series of qualifying rounds, followed by the semi finals and the ultimate finale, where a winner will be named.

“American Song Contest” is executive produced by Audrey Morrissey, Anders Lenhoff, Christer Björkman, Peter Settman, Ola Melzig, and Gregory Lipstone alongside Propagate’s Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens. Propagate and Universal Television Alternative Studio are behind the show.

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