Eurovision Asia Song Contest 2018
The Eurovision Asia Song Contest 2018 will be the first EDition of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest. The contest will be the Asia-Pacific counterpart of the Eurovision Song Contest, which has been in production for more than 60 years. This year will consist of only one show, and is yet to be scheduled.
As of , ten countries have confirmed their intentions to participate in the contest.
Background
In March 2016, it was announced that a deal had been signed between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), which gave the channel the rights to create a version of the Eurovision Song Contest for countries in Asia to be able to compete in a contest similar to the European version. The rules and format for the new contest are in the development stages between SBS and their production partner Blink TV. The inaugural contest, which had yet to be given a name, was to be held in Australia in 2017.
Further information was later released in May 2016 regarding the eligibility for the contest, which could see up to sixty-eight countries compete in the contest. In the same month, broadcasters from India, China and South Korea expressed interest in the event. In July 2016 it was announced that four countries had either confirmed or expressed their interest in the inaugural contest, which has been given a preliminary name of Eurovision Asia Song Contest, including then host nation Australia, China, Japan, and South Korea. In May 2017, it was announced that three countries (Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia) had placed bids with the interest in hosting the inaugural contest which has been rescheduled to take place sometime in 2018 due to difficulties in organisation and political issues. The competition was officially confirmed on 18 August 2017 by the EBU.
Despite initial speculation, the contest will not be limited to Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) members. Blink TV, the production team behind the show, has confirmed that it wants to involve countries from across the Asia-Pacific region regardless of whether the country has a state-run channel with full membership of the ABU.
Location
Besides Singapore, other countries signaled their interest in hosting the 2018 contest: Hong Kong and Australia. Singapore has said it will spend $4 million to host the contest. The city of Sydney and New South Wales have both indicated that they will commit big funds. Hong Kong has also “made a play” towards hosting this contest.
The host broadcaster's representatives will meet with the Eurovision Asia Song Contest Reference Group at the ABU headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. During the meeting, host broadcaster officials will attend a workshop covering several topics related to hosting the Eurovision Asia Song Contest and learn from the experiences of past host broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest. They also will have the opportunity to present their first plans for the 2018 contest, including multiple proposals for host cities and venues.
Format and concept
After the idea had already been adopted in March 2016, the competition was officially confirmed on 18 August 2017. The format will closely resemble that of the Eurovision Song Contest. The only difference is that there will be only a live final, instead of including two semi-finals, with up to 20 countries taking part.
Provisional list of participating countries
The following countries/regions have expressed their provisional interest in participating in the contest:
Country |
Artist |
Song |
Language(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Other countries
Despite early assumptions that a country must have a broadcaster which is a full member of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union to take part, it has since been confirmed that the contest is open to all Asian countries, regardless of whether or not they have a public broadcaster. The organisers, Blink TV, will issue an invitation of participation in the contest to all members. Several countries have provisionally confirmed their participation in the contest, while information from the remaining members regarding their participation have not yet been disclosed.
Active ABU members
– Despite no national broadcasters announcing an interest in participating, India was featured on the Eurovision Asia website in order to showcase their music and culture.
– Despite no national broadcasters announcing an interest in participating, Indonesia was featured on the Eurovision Asia website in order to showcase their music and culture.
– While no news has been heard from official broadcasters, numerous Maldivian artists have expressed interest in participating in the contest.
- Although not being showcased exclusively, James Reid, a Filipino-Australian singer, was mentioned as a possible artist in the competition.
– Despite no national broadcasters announcing an interest in participating, Vietnam was featured on the Eurovision Asia website in order to showcase their music and culture.
Other Asian and Oceanic countries
These countries are all part of continental Asia or Oceania, but have not expressed any interest in participating in the 2018 contest:
See also
- Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018
- Eurovision Song Contest 2018
- Eurovision Young Musicians 2018