Eurovision, The Glitzy Contest Where Music Meets Politics, Is Adding An Asian Edition

Dust disconnected nan sequins and banal up connected nan pyrotechnics: The Eurovision Song Contest is coming to Asia.

The organizers of Eurovision, nan glitzy singing contest that draws Super Bowl-like viewership each twelvemonth successful Europe and beyond, said Tuesday that they would beryllium holding nan first-ever Eurovision Song Contest Asia successful Bangkok, Thailand, connected Nov. 14.

Music manufacture heavyweight South Korea is among nan 10 countries that will beryllium competing, alongside Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, nan Philippines, Vietnam and nan big state of Thailand. Organizers said much countries are expected to subordinate successful nan coming months.

The rules of nan caller title person yet to beryllium announced, but successful nan Eurovision Song Contest, a broadcaster successful each state selects an creator to execute an original song, nary longer than 3 minutes, to execute unrecorded connected stage. Performers who person seen their careers return disconnected aft performing successful Eurovision see ABBA, Celine Dion and Olivia Newton-John.

“As we people nan 70th day of nan Eurovision Song Contest, it feels particularly meaningful to unfastened this adjacent section pinch Asia, a region rich | successful culture, productivity and talent,” Martin Green, nan head of nan Eurovision Song Contest, said successful a news merchandise announcing nan caller event.

In caller years, Eurovision has been a hotspot of controversy arsenic geopolitical conflicts overshadow nan singing, pinch Russia being kicked retired of nan title aft its full-scale penetration of Ukraine and Israel facing calls to beryllium barred from nan title and a boycott complete its war successful Gaza. Armenia and Azerbaijan some competed successful nan title while they were locked successful a decades-long dispute complete nan region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

And while location powers China and Japan are not taking portion truthful far, location is imaginable for geopolitics to travel up successful nan Asian title overmuch arsenic it does successful its European counterpart. Thailand and Cambodia person a separator conflict that has seen tensions flare precocious and respective countries person competing territorial claims successful nan South China Sea.

The thought for an Asian version of Eurovision has been floating astir since astatine slightest 2008, but has ne'er managed to get disconnected nan ground. Organizers said nan arena could tie a imaginable assemblage of much than 600 cardinal people, much than triple nan 166 cardinal who tuned successful to nan astir caller Eurovision, according to viewing figures from nan European Broadcasting Union, which organizes nan contest. But starting a caller tv contented could beryllium challenging astatine a clip erstwhile much media is being consumed digitally than ever before.

Last year, Russia attempted a revival of a Soviet replacement to Eurovision, nan Intervision Song Contest. It’s not clear really galore group watched Vietnam’s Duc Phuc triumph that contest, but organizers opportunity they will clasp a 2026 version of Intervision successful Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, successful September.

Eurovision has tried to grow beyond its halfway title before. In 2022, nan American Song Contest aired connected NBC pinch each 50 states and respective U.S. territories competing, but it was not renewed for nan pursuing year. Its winner, AleXa, a K-pop vocalist from Oklahoma, went connected to compete successful nan action process to beryllium nan Swedish introduction astatine this year’s Eurovision, though she yet grounded to make nan cut.