Meet Ni/Co, the duo representing Alabama on “American Song Contest”
Trae Patton/NBC
Vocal duo Ni/Co officially head to the semi-finals on American song contest, representing the state of Alabama with their song “The Difference”. The duo partners are a real couple as well, and they’ve been wowing fans on YouTube for a few years now.
‘American Song Contest’ Duo Ni/Co is a couple
Ni/Co is composed of Dani Brillhart and Colton Jones. Dani grew up in Atlanta and Colton lived in several states, including Ohio, where he attended high school. The singers met while attending Belmont University in Nashville.
They shared in an interview that Colton asked Dani to sing “Endless Love” with him for a class. Although she turned down the offer, the pair later reconnected at a party, where they bonded “writing pop music in a mostly country music town”.
However, according to their NBC bio, Alabama is “where the duo discovered their love for music and each other.” They ended up performing in the Southeast before taking things to Los Angeles. Colton has previous talent show experience, as he appeared on NBC Season 2 Singing with his a cappella group Eleventh Hour.
In a recent interview with ESC United, the pair revealed they have been dating for seven and a half years now. Dani and Colton even ended their live performance of “The Difference” by sharing a kiss.
The couple made a name for themselves on YouTube
In 2019, Ni/Co launched a YouTube channel. They explained in an interview that the channel was the “result of boredom and a ‘what do we do now’ type feeling.” They said they didn’t expect to gain the kind of following they have. Currently, the channel has more than 250,000 subscribers.
The duo upload covers of popular songs every week, including Camila Cabello and Ed Sheeran’s recent duet “Bam Bam.” They even performed a duet version of Adele’s “Easy on Me.” They also posted vlogs showing them shopping in Los Angeles and visiting Disneyland.
Ni/Co also records original music. They have several singles available for streaming, including “This Way” and the recent “My Wants, My Needs”, which is a new version of Christina Aguilera‘s song “What a Girl Wants”. The duo’s music has even been featured on networks such as The CW and Freeform.
Ni/Co wrote “The Difference” during the pandemic
Ni/Co told ESC United that they originally wrote their American song contest submission “The Difference” during the pandemic, before they were invited to the show. However, they opted for “thinness and massaging it into the best version possible.”
“Something you write in your bedroom on a piano is sometimes a totally different vision than on a giant stage with thousands of people watching,” they explained. The couple call it their “baby song.”
Be sure to listen to the American song contest Semi-finals to find out if Ni/Co goes even further in the competition.
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