Eurovision Finally Coming to Asia: 11 Nations Vie in Bangkok
Eurovision Asia holds its first grand final in Bangkok on Saturday, with 11 countries competing under the 70-year-old contest's format. A late budget cut, staff resignations and an unfamiliar voting system have shadowed the debut, and India, China, Japan and Indonesia are absent.
Eurovision is finally coming to Asia: the first Eurovision Asia grand final takes place in Bangkok on Saturday, starting at 20:30 ICT (13:30 GMT). The European Broadcasting Union is using the contest's 70th birthday year to test the format on Asian audiences.
The idea has been discussed for two decades and never materialized, despite many false starts.
Who is taking part
Eleven countries are competing: host Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, South Korea, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
India, China, Japan and Indonesia are absent. Negotiations are under way to bring them into next year's contest, assuming there is one.
Budget cut and rehearsal complaints
The event has had organizational problems. A sudden million-dollar (£760,000) budget cut, announced three weeks before the final, meant many technicians experienced in staging Eurovision were not brought to Thailand. There have also been several staff resignations.
Fans around the world have noticed, criticizing the audio and lighting in rehearsal videos.
How the voting works
As in Europe, the winner is decided by a 50/50 mix of public votes and national juries from each of the 11 countries, plus a 12th "rest of the world" category. Anyone can vote. Registered voters get eight votes, cannot back their own country and must spread votes among at least three others.
Votes are converted into points. The song most popular in Bhutan or Mongolia, for example, gets 12 points from that country, while the song ranked last gets zero, the famous "nul points".
Coordinated neighbor voting, long reported in Europe, looks less likely here. Political differences, such as those between Thailand and Cambodia after their border war last year, could still sway audiences.
Filipinos, with their passion for singing, are expected to take part enthusiastically. About 11 million live overseas, but most are in countries not in the contest, so their votes will go only into the "rest of the world" pool.
A format built around songs, not singers
Sarun 'Note' Kungbunpot, a Thai singer and Eurovision enthusiast who has won several regional competitions, says the transfer has not been straightforward. "It's still very new in Asia. I'm not sure many people have heard about it yet," he says.
He argues that contests in Thailand, the Philippines and Korea are won on a singer's popularity, as fans look for their idols. "But Eurovision is all about the song, not the singer. I think this needs to be communicated clearly," he says.
Eurovision began in 1956 as a project to encourage cultural exchange in a Europe trying to forge a common future after two world wars. It has no such resonance in Asia, and arrives there in a digital age when traditional TV formats are struggling to cut through.
