Yes You Are wins 50 States of Song 2019 with "Blacklight"

After half a year of state song selections, song sharing, judging, and weighing personal tastes, a black light in the dark turned gold.

“Blacklight," an ambient song blending electronic pop and acoustic rock genres, claimed victory for Missouri with 124 points in the Final Round. Yes You Are, the band behind the song, featured soaring vocals from lead vocalist Kianna Alarid and quickly became a contest favorite. The music video features Alarid running through meadows in a red dress (Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights,” anyone?) trying to avoid the impending gloom of the masked creatures following her.

Although Alarid hails from Omaha, Nebraska, and co-founder slash lead drummer Jared White comes from Shawnee, Kansas, the band really came together in Kansas City (the Missouri side) after Alarid left Tilly and the Wall in 2014. Their debut single "HGX" was released in 2016 off their EP, “A Dream,” and the band quickly found success when the song was featured in Super Bowl LVI. Since then, they’ve been releasing the occasional single to the masses, building a library of professional-grade music without the interference of record producers. “Blacklight” was released as a single on October 19, 2018.

"Blacklight" is a decidedly bouncy pop anthem, overlaying a ‘black pop’ sound that the band is characteristic of their overall sound, even though they do play around with a multitude of genres. The combination of vocal power and modern electro beats propelled the song to victory.

Unlike 2018, the winner only beat 2nd place by a mere 4 points. Cobi, a musician from the far north of Minnesota, sang “Church of the Lonely” and finished with 120 points. People fell in love with Cobi’s emotive voice and stark similarity to Irish singer Hozier. The winner was not known until the final jury vote was read, in which Minnesota needed 12 points to tie with Missouri but ultimately received 8. This made the voting sequence one of the closest in 50 States of Song history. This was also Minnesota’s second top 5 finish in a row, having finished 4th with “Water Me” by now-famous singer Lizzo in 2018.

In third place was New York’s Ariana + The Rose with the song “Lonely Star”. The song is the first state song selection winner to place in the Top 3, and New York’s second Top 3 finish. It scored 93 points and stole the position from Illinois in the final vote.

A professional jury of 14 people and over 50 public voters determined the final result. Although the jury’s winner won the contest, the public’s winner did not even place in the Top 5. Utah’s Foreign Figures won the public half of the vote with “The Fever," having scored 57 points. It only got an additional 18 points from jurors, and the song finished in 8th place.

The song was chosen to represent Missouri by Yes You Are fan and music enthusiast Derek Rye. The rest of the results (which include the entries of all 50 states and this year's participating territory, Guam) are available at the Song Contests Wikia.

After the contest, the 50 States of Song team took a well-deserved break and is rumored to already be planning its fifth edition. Will the 50SS Crew be heading to Kansas City? What type of music will be featured in the fifth edition? Stay tuned.

Congratulations to Missouri, this year’s winner!