Eurovision Asia Song Contest

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Eurovision Asia Song Contest
Eurovision Asia Song Contest logo.png

Eurovision Asia Song Contest is a proposed international song competition modeled after the Eurovision Song Contest, in which countries of the Asia-Pacific region would compete. The first contest, planned for 2019, was in the hands of the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), which developed it with Blink TV and the European Broadcasting Union. SBS shelved the project in 2021, and no further updates were made until 2025, when a Bhutanese national selection titled Druk Dra prompted Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, to issue a statement clarifying that no plans have been confirmed to date for an adaptation in Asia.

Contents

Early development

In March 2016, the European Broadcasting Union began development on an adaptation of the Eurovision Song Contest for the Asia-Pacific region with SBS. [1] SBS was working on the project with its production partner Blink TV. [2] The first contest was scheduled to be held in Australia in 2017. [2] The official name of the competition was Eurovision Asia Song Contest (or simply Eurovision Asia) in August 2017. [3] The planned inaugural edition has been postponed multiple times, mainly owing to the political climate in Asia. [4] [5] [6]

By May 2017, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore had shown interest in hosting the first edition of Eurovision Asia. [4] The Singaporean goverment put forward $4 million to host the contest, while the city of Sydney and the state of New South Wales said they would invest heavily in hosting. [7] The city council of Gold Coast claimed in November 2018 that the first contest would take place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 30 November to 7 December 2019. [8] By August of that year, the contest was still in development. [6] In 2021, it was confirmed that SBS had shelved the project. [9]

SBS's plans from May 2016 were for every country in Asia to be eligible to compete, meaning there would be a maximum of 68 participants. [10] Membership in the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union would not be a requirement for participation. [11] By March 2019, ten countries had confirmed their intention to participate: Australia, Vanuatu, Japan, Kazakhstan, China, South Korea, New Zealand, Maldives, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. [12] Australia confirmed its participation, while China, Japan and South Korea were named as potential participants. [12]

2025 updates

In May 2025, the Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) confirmed its intention to participate in Eurovision Asia, stating that the inaugural contest would be held in Bangkok, Thailand, with 18 countries participating. [13] In August, the location was instead stated by BBS as Mumbai, India, as it began organising a national selection titled Druk Dra that same month to select the Bhutanese representative. [14] Additionally, Vietnamese broadcaster Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) had allocated a timeslot for a programme titled "Eurovision Asia" on 31 August 2025, [14] before changing it to "Eurovision"; it later emerged that the timeslot was for a Vietnamese dub of the 2017 French documentary Eurovisions.[ citation needed ] On 28 August, Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, stated that "no plans have been confirmed or announced to date" for the contest in Asia, further clarifying that Druk Dra was taken off air and deleted from online platforms. [15]

References

  1. Granger, Anthony (21 March 2016). "Asia: SBS to create Eurovision Song Contest in Asia". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 Jordan, Paul (21 March 2016). "Eurovision Song Contest concept to be developed in Asia!". Eurovision.tv . Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  3. Jordan, Paul (18 August 2017). "The Greatest Song Contest in the World is coming to Asia!". Eurovision.tv . Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  4. 1 2 Granger, Anthony (19 May 2017). "Three cities interested in hosting Eurovision Asia". Eurovoix World. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  5. Cobb, Ryan (13 July 2018). "Eurovision Asia on hold? Organizers and EBU "still early in the development process"". ESCXtra. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  6. 1 2 Gallagher, Robyn (14 August 2019). "SBS: The Eurovision Asia Song Contest is "still in development, no update at this stage"" . Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  7. Spence, Ewan (6 May 2017). "Eurovision Insight Podcast: Insight Asks Australian Head Of Delegation Paul Clarke". ESC Insight. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  8. Wolf, Brendon (1 November 2018). "Gold Coast to host inaugural Eurovision Asia". 9News . Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  9. Carter, Ford (25 May 2021). "SBS drops plans for Eurovision Asia". aussievision. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  10. Granger, Anthony (7 May 2016). "Asiavision 12 countries the aim for the first contest". Eurovoix World. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  11. Adams, William Lee (28 August 2017). "Eurovision Asia: Full membership in the ABU is NOT required to participate in the song contest". Wiwibloggs . Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  12. 1 2 Granger, Anthony (4 March 2019). "Eurovision Asia Song Contest Still in The Works". Eurovoix World. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  13. "Announcement". BBS . 21 May 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  14. 1 2 Tsinivits, Kyriakos (25 August 2025). "Is Eurovision Asia actually going to happen?". Aussievision. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  15. "EBU shuts down Eurovision Asia speculation". The Eurotrip Podcast. 28 August 2025. Archived from the original on 28 August 2025. Retrieved 28 August 2025.