Eurovision Song Contest Asia (ESCA) is set to be an international song competition modelled after the Eurovision Song Contest, in which countries of the Asia-Pacific region are set to compete. The inaugural edition, organised by Voxovation, S2O Productions, and host broadcaster Channel 3, will take place on 14 November 2026 at IdeaLive in Bangkok, Thailand.
Plans for an adaptation of the Eurovision Song Contest for the Asian continent began in earnest in 2008. The project was taken up in 2016 by Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), which developed an iteration of the format with Blink TV and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for a planned debut in 2019. SBS shelved the project in 2021, and it was subsequently handed to Voxovation, a company established to develop adaptations of the Eurovision format for other territories with license from the EBU. No further updates were made until 2025, when the Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) aired a competition titled Druk Dra, which was intended to select its entry for a Eurovision Asia contest before Voxovation asked the broadcaster to halt it. On 31 March 2026, the EBU and Voxovation officially announced the competition, with Thailand as the host country and an initial list of ten participating countries.
Development
In September 2008, the EBU announced that an Asian counterpart to the Eurovision Song Contest would be held in 2009.[1] Dubbed Our Sound – The Asia Pacific Song Contest by 4 March 2009, it was set to be held in the second half of the year,[2] and was to be coordinated by the Singaporean company Asiavision, led by German entrepreneur Andreas Gerlach. Fifteen countries and regions were slated to compete, namely Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.[1] The contest was delayed multiple times and never materialised.[3]
In March 2016, the EBU began development on an adaptation of the Eurovision Song Contest for the Asia-Pacific region with SBS.[4] SBS was working on the project with its production partner Blink TV.[5] The first contest was scheduled to be held in Australia in 2017.[5] The official name of the competition was revealed to be Eurovision Asia Song Contest (or simply Eurovision Asia) in August 2017.[6] The planned inaugural edition was postponed multiple times, mainly owing to the political climate in Asia.[7][8][9][dead link]
By May 2017, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore had shown interest in hosting the first edition of the contest.[7] The Singaporean government put forward $4 million to host the event, while the city of Sydney and the state of New South Wales said they would invest heavily in hosting.[10] 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.[11] By August 2019, the contest was still in development.[9][dead link] In May 2021, it was confirmed that SBS had shelved the project.[12]
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.[13] Membership in the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) would not be a requirement for participation.[14][dead link] By March 2019, ten countries had confirmed their intention to participate: Australia, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, South Korea and Vanuatu.[15] Australia confirmed its participation, while China, Japan and South Korea were named as potential participants.[15]
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.[16][dead link] On 24 June 2025, the EBU published its Brand Impact Report for the Eurovision Song Contest, listing an adaptation in Asia as under "ongoing development".[17] 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.[18] Additionally, Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV), which serves Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City area, had initially allocated a timeslot for a programme titled Eurovision Asia on 31 August 2025.[18] On 28 August 2025, 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 at the request of the EBU's local partners.[19] In November, Marcus Tang was added to the Voxovation website, as "Managing Director Asia".[20] On 15 December 2025, Christer Björkman, Head of Music and Founder at Voxovation, stated in the Eurovision Uncovered podcast that Eurovision Asia was ongoing "intensive preparations", with hopes of a public reveal "quite soon".[21]
On 29 March 2026, a website was launched, claiming that the contest would take place on 14 November in Bangkok, provisionally featuring nine countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.[22] The website was temporarily taken offline a few hours later.[23] The contest was formally announced on 31 March 2026 under the name Eurovision Song Contest Asia, to be organised by the EBU and Voxovation with S2O Productions serving as partners, and Thailand's Channel 3 serving as the host broadcaster. The initial announcement listed ten participants (the aforementioned countries and South Korea) alongside their respective broadcasters.[24][25]
Format
On 31 March 2026, the EBU, Voxovation, and S2O Productions announced that the inaugural edition of the contest will be held on 14 November 2026 at IdeaLive in Bangkok, Thailand.[26][27] Consisting of a single show, the results will be decided by a 50/50 split of professional jury voting and public voting.[26] Each competing entry must be under three minutes and performed by no more than six people.[26]
Provisional list of participants
As of March2026[update], 10 countries have been provisionally confirmed to participate:
Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 participants[28]
Australia–On 31 March 2026, Australia was not included in the initial line-up of participating countries for the contest. SBS later released a statement that confirmed that Australia will not be competing in the inaugural edition, but "will be watching with interest as it develops".[30] SBS was previously involved with the EBU in the developement of an adaptation of the Eurovision Song Contest for the Asia-Pacific region.[31] However, another Australian broadcaster can still be invited to take part.
Broadcasts
Each participating broadcaster will broadcast the contest live. The European Broadcasting Union will stream the contest via their Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.[26]
↑"Eurovision Song Contest Brand Impact Report 2025"(PDF). ebu.ch. EBU. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025. Ongoing development: Eurovision Song Contest Asia - Promising global expansion shows the brand awareness of the ESC and the attractiveness of the format.
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