Eleven countries compete for the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest Asia crown tonight at the One Bangkok Forum in Bangkok, Thailand.
The two-and-a-half-hour grand final begins at 20:30 local time (14:30 CET), bringing the 70-year-old European television format to Asia for the first time as artists from 11 countries compete. Planning for this regional expansion spanned three years, building on previous failed attempts to establish an Asia-Pacific song competition, including the canceled Our Sound contest in 2009 and a 2016 agreement with Australian broadcaster SBS that faced repeated delays before ultimately collapsing in 2021.
The European Broadcasting Union is rolling out the contest across Asia during the year marking Eurovision’s 70th anniversary, in a partnership with S2O Productions, Voxovation, and Thailand’s Channel 3. Viewers can watch Eurovision Asia on SBS in Australia, or via the Eurovision YouTube channel in Europe, starting at 14.30 CET (13.30 GMT).
Presenters Woody Milintachinda and Cindy Bishop are hosting the live broadcast, which will celebrate the different sounds, languages, and cultural identities of the participating countries. Cynthia Carmen Burbridge, better known as Cindy Bishop, is one of the most recognisable figures in Thai entertainment as a model, actress, presenter, and activist born in Bangkok and raised in Pattaya.
The opening sequence features a production titled “Bangkok Sounds and Senses” which showcases the city to a global audience by highlighting the varied rhythms, atmospheres, and cultural traits of the Thai capital. According to the running order, the historic first performance is opened by Tóc Tiên from Vietnam with the song “EM TIÊN”, while the final performance is presented by Aina Abdul from Malaysia with her song “Blue Sky”.
Bhutan participates with Nyendra singing “Lhayi Semo”, marking his first journey outside his country and his first flight. The Philippines sends Carmel Collado with “Sobra-Sobra”, Bangladesh is represented by the all-male a cappella beatbox collective Beatmosphere with “Tumi Ele”, and Thailand fields MANG x DAOU (Mang Piyatida and Daou Pittaya) performing “Aroma”.
South Korea competes with Junhee performing “DEEP DIVE”, Nepal enters Pratik Himal Rai with “Ananta Maya”, and Malaysia concludes the running order with Aina Abdul singing “Bluest Sky”.
Preparation for the debut faced financial hurdles when three weeks before the final, the contest’s budget was unexpectedly cut by $1 million, or £760,000. As a result, many technical specialists familiar with Eurovision production were not brought to Thailand, and there were several staff dismissals. Executive producer Assaf Blecher dismissed concerns about the funding adjustments, stating simply, “There are always issues with budgets,” Blecher insisted.
Meanwhile, Agoda reported interest for flights to Bangkok, while countries such as Taiwan were cited among those potentially interested in a future edition.
The final result is determined by a combined system consisting of 50% audience votes and 50% assessments by national juries from the 11 participating countries.
Each user has eight free votes to award their favourite songs once voting opens during the show, though voters cannot support their own country’s representative and must cast votes for at least three different participants. Viewer votes are aggregated into 12 blocks, 11 representing the participating countries and one representing the rest of the world.
Earlier coverage: Inaugural Eurovision Song Contest Asia to Debut in Bangkok This Saturday
