Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026

An adaptation of the Eurovision Song Contest for the Asia-Pacific region had been announced multiple times, however, such plans had failed to flourish. The earliest plan for such a contest originated in 2008 with an initial announcement by the EBU that it would be held in 2009,^[2][3] with an entire list of sixteen participating countries that were to take part,^[2] however, it never materialised.^[4] Between 2016 and 2018, there were numerous announcements with details such as funding,^[5] potential hosts,^[6] potential participants^[7] and a confirmed venue and date.^[8] However, it was eventually shelved in 2021 by Australian broadcaster SBS.^[9]

In 2025, the Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) confirmed its intention to participate in a Eurovision Asia contest, as it began organising a national final titled Druk Dra to select its entry.^[10] Additionally, Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV), which serves Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City area, had initially allocated a timeslot for a programme titled Eurovision Asia on 31 August.^[10] Eurovision director Martin Green dismissed that such a contest would take place at the time, further clarifying that Druk Dra was taken off air and deleted from online platforms at the request of the EBU's partners.^[11]

On 29 March 2026, a website was launched, stating that the contest would take place on 14 November in Bangkok, provisionally featuring nine countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.^[12] The website was temporarily taken offline a few hours later.^[13] The contest was formally announced on 31 March under the name Eurovision Song Contest Asia, to be organised by the EBU and Voxovation, with S2O Productions serving as production partners, and Thailand's Channel 3 serving as the host broadcaster. The initial announcement listed ten countries (the aforementioned plus South Korea) alongside their respective participating broadcasters.^[14][15]

On 31 March 2026, the EBU, Voxovation, and S2O Productions announced that the inaugural edition of the contest will be held on 14 November 2026 at IdeaLive in Bangkok, Thailand.^[16][17][18] Consisting of a single show, the results will be decided by a 50/50 split of professional jury voting and public voting.^[16] Each competing entry must be under three minutes and performed by no more than six people.^[16] All participating broadcasters are expected to organise national finals to select their entry. The winner will be invited to perform as a guest in the Eurovision Song Contest 2027, to be held in Bulgaria.^[19]

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As of June 2026^[update], broadcasters from 10 countries have been provisionally confirmed to participate:

Other countries

Eligibility for participation in the contest covers both public service and privately funded broadcasters in the Asian-Pacific region.^[28] The EBU has also confirmed that broadcasters taking part in the main Eurovision Song Contest will not be eligible to take part in the Asian-Pacific counterpart, meaning that those from countries in the Asian-Pacific region may not be able to take part whilst doing so in the main contest, such as SBS (Australia). These include EBU member broadcasters in countries geographically located in Asia, such as AMPTV (Armenia), İTV (Azerbaijan), CyBC (Cyprus), GPB (Georgia), IPBC (Israel), and TRT (Turkey), all of which have full rights to participate in the main contest.^[29]

Potential participants

•  Australia – On 31 March 2026, Australia was not listed among the initial countries competing in the contest. SBS later issued a statement confirming that it will not participate in the inaugural event but "will be watching with interest as it develops".^[30] SBS had previously worked with the EBU to develop an adaptation of the Eurovision Song Contest for the Asia-Pacific region.^[31] It has since been confirmed that SBS cannot take part as it participates in the original contest, however, it is still possible that another Australian broadcaster could still be invited to take part.
•  Japan – On 7 June 2026, the executive producer of the Eurovision Song Contest Asia, Assaf Blecher, announced that they were in talks with Japan regarding a potential participation in the contest.^[32]
•  Kazakhstan – On 14 April 2026, it was reported that the Kazakh broadcaster, Khabar Agency, was invited to participate in Eurovision Asia. Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan is in talks with Voxovation regarding the participation in the event of the state broadcaster Khabar Agency representing Kazakhstan, and that participation will depend on "financial considerations".^[33]
•  New Zealand – On 29 May 2026, TVNZ stated it was not currently considering participation in either Eurovision or Eurovision Asia, as it "would need to weigh up the financial impact and logistical requirements against audience interest". The Eurovision Song Contest has not been aired in New Zealand since 2016, although TVNZ has assessed rights to broadcast the contest.^[34]

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster will broadcast the contest live nationally, and the European Broadcasting Union will stream the contest internationally on their Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.^[16][19]

• Eurovision Song Contest 2026
• Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026
• Eurovision Young Musicians 2026