Asia-Pacific

Eurovision Song Contest Comes to Asia

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By Leon Lien/John Van Trieste

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The Eurovision Song Contest has had its first Asian spinoff, hosted in Bangkok, with eleven Asian nations competing for best performance. The Philippines was the winner by a comfortable margin. Organizers hope for follow-up contests with more countries taking part in a continent with great artistic--and ratings--potential.

11 Asian nations, 11 Asian musical acts...and one winner....

....the Philippines in a comfortable first place.

After decades of discussion and speculation, Eurovision Asia has taken off—with Bangkok the first host city. The winner is the Philippines’ 19-year-old Carmelle with a woman’s power anthem. With 211 points, she led runners up Thailand and Vietnam. And flush with victory, she’s already looking towards future successes.

CARMELLE, EUROVISION ASIA 2026 WINNER:

"So next year, I have my own concert in the Philippines. You better watch. I Hope you can come to the Philippines. And of course, I will continue to make music and to make my own song. And continue my studies."

Like the European original, a mix of public voting and national juries determine performers’ scores. But organizers say the mix of new countries and cultures represented here, each with different tastes, makes the voting process here novel and exciting.

ASSAF BLECHER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

"Everybody's asking me who do you think gonna win and I don't know because it's going to be very interesting to see what the people from Bhutan would likeF or what people from Laos or from Malaysia. It's a little different."

Most of the countries taking part in the contest are from South and Southeast Asia...but organizers hope to put on even bigger shows with more countries represented in future maybe, as the head of the European Broadcasting Union says, within two to five years.

MARTIN GREEN, DIRECTOR, EBU:

"You know we came into this for the long run, we really want to see this show happen again. It's now really that we can build audiences that we get the great feedback from our broadcasters, hopefully that other countries go 'oh that's interesting we should be there', you know so the main thing for me now is is to grow it."

Already, some fans are looking forward to seeing that happen.

PHILIPPINES FAN:

"Oh, yeah, it means a lot to us. It means we're going to go back home next year because Eurovision Asia is going to be hosted in the Philippines. And I think that's a huge achievement — I think it's such a huge achievement to show off Filipino talent. Carmelle really did so good when it comes to that, so yeah."

And the excitement of the crowd seems to bode well for a contest of music and dance, modeled on one born in Europe, but bringing a new, much larger continent together.

Leon Lien and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus.