The Eurovision brand is going properly international. Eurovision Asia, the European Broadcasting Union’s first attempt to run its famous song contest format across a whole continent outside Europe, has got under way, with ten countries beginning the national heats that will decide who represents them at a grand final in Bangkok.
The participating nations span much of the region: Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Each will choose its act through a national final of its own, mirroring the selection process that has long fed the European contest, before sending a winner on to the continental final. Bhutan is first out of the gate, holding its qualifier on 11 August, with the last of the currently scheduled heats, in Bangladesh, set for 30 September. Further dates are still to be confirmed by the EBU.
Bangkok will host the grand final on 14 November, giving the Thai capital the kind of showcase that Eurovision host cities in Europe have used to considerable effect. The format promises the same mix of national pride, staging spectacle and public voting that has made the original such an enduring fixture, adapted to a region with its own deep and varied pop traditions.
There is reason for a little caution, though. This is not the EBU’s first move beyond Europe. Four years ago it licensed the concept to the United States as the American Song Contest, a much-hyped launch that nonetheless ran for only a single season before quietly disappearing. Translating a format so tied to European history and rivalry into a new setting has proved harder than it looks, and Eurovision Asia will have to build its own sense of occasion rather than borrow it.
The ingredients, however, are promising. Asia is home to some of the most powerful pop industries on the planet, from South Korea’s globe-conquering K-pop machine to Thailand’s thriving domestic scene, and a contest that brings them onto one stage has obvious appeal. If the national finals generate the kind of hometown fervour that powers the European version, the Bangkok final could arrive with real momentum behind it.
For now, the story is just beginning. Ten countries, ten national selections and a final in November: the first edition of Eurovision Asia has a lot to prove, but it also has a template that has worked for seven decades to build on.