Pop duo including local grad performs in American Song Contest semifinals

Voting closed, waiting begins for Ni/Co
Kettering graduate Colton Jones and his partner Dani Brillhart make up the duo NI/Co. They released their first single "What's Going On" July 13.

Credit: Submitted

Credit: Submitted

Kettering graduate Colton Jones and his partner Dani Brillhart make up the duo NI/Co. They released their first single "What's Going On" July 13.

Voting has closed and the waiting has started after a pop duo including Kettering Fairmont High School grad gave a live performance Monday night in the semifinals of the “American Song Contest” on NBC.

Partners Colton Jones and Dani Brillhart are competing as Ni/Co, a name derived from the first two letters of his first name and the last two of hers.

The pair is competing with their original song “The Difference.”

The “American Song Contest” is based on the “Eurovision Song Contest,” where artists representing all 50 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia perform live original music performances to win the vote for best original song.

Voting for this round of semifinals was open until 8 a.m. on Tuesday, either through the NBC App, on TikTok, and at NBC.com/ASCVote.

Ni/Co is representing Alabama, where Jones once lived and went to school.

The pair gained popularity in 2019 through their YouTube videos, which have since accumulated more than 40 million views.

Jones graduated from Fairmont in 2012, and is the son of Mary Irby-Jones, a former editor of the Dayton Daily News and current Midwest regional editor for USA Today’s regional newspaper network, overseeing Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

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