American Song Contest: Our show 5 rankings

The fifth group of songs competing in the American Song Contest were released today and with the Easter break, the Aussievision team was a little reduced in who could do the rankings today.

However we have endured and Dale and Emma from the team have been busy listening and ranking the songs ahead of show number five.

This week they've listened to all 11 songs and each picked their Top 3.

Dale

3. Khalisol - 'Drop' (New Mexico)

"This isn't generally my genre, but Khalisol has done a great job on this. The production is top notch, it's hooky and he manages to make the three minutes fly by."

2. John Morgan - 'Right in the Middle' (North Carolina)

"This is a really lovely melodic country track. Nice production, nice delivery and right up my alley. John is one of the more experienced artists from the genre in the American Song Contest and you can tell by what he's put together here."

1. Andrew Sheppard - 'Steady Machine' (Idaho)

"This is perfect Americana heartland rock. He manages to takes sounds of that 70's into early 80's and make it fit for 2022. He also matches the fantastic storytelling and songwriting that went with it. He seems like an interesting character and from the snippet of the live it seems like he will give a great performance."

Emma

3. Andrew Sheppard - 'Steady Machine' (Idaho)

"Country is not usually my genre but I loved the fusion here between country and indie rock. It's got a real touch of familiarity about it...I'm hearing Don McLean's 'American Pie' with shades of Tom Petty and Dire Straits but I love it and I think it should be popular not only with the studio audience but also the viewers at home."

2. Sweet Taboo - 'Keys To The Kingdom' (California)

"Who doesn't love a good girl group? This is extremely radio friendly with clever lyrics that are full of double entendres. One of the writers is Richard Vission who had the hit 'I Like That' with Luciana in Australia in 2010. Lots of catchy hooks and a rap verse should ensure this one sticks in the memories of viewers long after their performance."

1. Ada LeAnn - 'Natalie' (Michigan)

"Ada's voice is sublime and 'Natalie' is arranged in such a way that allows her storytelling to shine. I found myself listening to every lyric from first listen...it would fit right in to the soundtrack of your standard teen angst movie. There's obvious Taylor Swift comparisons but it still stands up strongly as an original track and I adore it!"

Find out more about the American Song Contest in our show 5 preview article.