Eurovision Song Contest Expands To Asia With New Asia Edition
The Eurovision Song Contest is expanding to Asia for the first time, with a grand final set for Bangkok on 14th November 2026 and ten countries already confirmed to compete.
South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Vietnam are the initial participants, with organisers saying more countries are expected to join in the coming months. The competition is being organised by the European Broadcasting Union alongside Los Angeles-based Voxovation and Thailand's S2O Productions.
Martin Green, Eurovision's director at the EBU, said the contest's 70th anniversary made the timing feel right. "As we mark the 70th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest, it feels especially meaningful to open this next chapter with Asia, a region rich in culture, creativity and talent," he said.
Each participating country will hold its own national selection before the Bangkok final. The full ruleset for the Asia edition has yet to be announced, though the contest's website states that "every vote will count" and promises "a celebration of original pop music."
In the European competition, broadcasters in each country choose an artist to perform an original song of no longer than three minutes, live on stage, with winners decided by professional juries and public votes though voters cannot vote for their own country.
Organisers are eyeing an audience of more than 600 million viewers, more than triple the 166 million who watched the most recent European final.
The region's appetite for music, fuelled by K-pop, Thailand's homegrown T-Wind scene, rising incomes and a social media-obsessed young population, has made an Asian edition an attractive prospect for years. The idea has been floating around since at least 2008, but previous attempts never got off the ground. Eurovision's one previous expansion attempt, the American Song Contest in 2022 hosted by Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson, drew poor ratings and was not renewed.
Social media has already erupted with enthusiasm, with fans rallying behind their home countries. Some have also noted the absence of major Asian markets. China and Japan are not among the initial 10 participants, and India, home to Bollywood, has not confirmed its involvement either. Their absence could leave some of the region's biggest music audiences unrepresented.
As with the European contest, geopolitics could prove unavoidable. Thailand and Cambodia have an ongoing border dispute, and several competing nations have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Eurovision itself has been involved in controversy in recent years. Russia has been banned from competing since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and now runs a rival contest called Intervision, which is holding its 2026 edition in Riyadh in September. And this year, several countries including Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands are boycotting this year's European final in Vienna over Israel's participation.
