Many Eurovision fans are eagerly awaiting some concrete news as to whether Eurovision Asia would take place for the first time in December 2019 as previously rumoured. Today, Australian broadcaster SBS has confirmed that there is “no further update” to give regarding Eurovision Asia’s progress. “No further update at this stage” Speaking to fellow Eurovision website Wiwibloggs, SBS released the following statement: “Eurovision Asia is still in development. There is no further update at this stage”.SBS, August 2019 In a similar stage to last year? This time last year, ESCXTRA received a very similar statement from the EBU which suggests that perhaps the development of the contest is not too much further forward. Speaking in July 2018, the EBU told ESCXTRA: “Work on bringing the Eurovision Song Contest to Asia is still ongoing and EBU are working closely with the organisers to help them bring it to fruition. It’s still early in the development process but once the team are at the point they are able to talk about timings we will be sure to make an announcement.”EBU, July 2018 “Too geo-politically difficult” Additionally, in October 2018, departing SBS managing director Michael Ebeid also spoke about the Eurovision Asia Song …

After a 7 year absense in the Eurovision Song Contest,  Turkish broadcaster TRT are set to participate in next year’s debut edition of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest. TRT chief appointed as EBU executive board member Earlier this week, the EBU announced that a new Executive Board, which would lead the organisation for the next two years, had been assembled.  One of the nine appointed members taking a seat is TRT’s general manager Ibrahim Eren. Eren was named as TRT’s new general manager last year, with many fans hoping his new position would bring changes to the broadcaster’s long term vision of the contest.  Unfortunately,  hopes were dashed when the general named 2014 winner Conchita as a key reason for the country’s snub, along with disregard of the current voting system. “We don’t consider rejoining the contest. We have reasons like the voting system. As a public broadcaster, we also cannot broadcast live at 9 p.m. –when children are still awake– someone like the bearded Austrian who wore a skirt, do not believe in genders and says that he is both a man and a woman”Ibrahim Eren, speaking at the Ibn Khaldun University inAugust Turkey to participate in first EBU event …

Following the announcement that Eurovision Asia will take place in December 2019, more details have been revealed by the Gold Coast City Council. Council meeting to accept proposals During a council meeting held in September, proposals for Eurovision Asia Song Contest and the upcoming Australia Decides national final were submitted. Both were presented to the Gold Coast City Council by Blink TV – the production partner of SBS. After which it was confirmed that Blink TV and SBS could develop the Eurovision Asia Song Contest concept. As well as secure a long term investment for the format until 2031. Gold Coast City Council accepts terms for Eurovision Asia format. Eurovision Asia Song Contest 2019 Further to this, more details have been revealed about the new sister show to the Eurovision Song Contest. Including potential venue locations for the contest and fan events in the city, as well as the expected timetable of events. It is expected to be an eight day event, beginning on the 30th November. With the Grand Final of the inaugural Eurovision Asia Song Contest taking place on 7th December 2019. The draft schedule is as such: Saturday 30th November – Delegation arrivals.Sunday 1st December – Red …

Is the Eurovision Asia Song Contest happening after all? For a while, it seemed the idea had failed to come to life, but it now seems we’re back on track. According to the city of Gold Coast in Australia, they will host the inaugural Eurovision Asia! Back on track for 2019 The news first surfaced when Australian journalist Brendon Wolf posted on Twitter, claiming the Eurovision Asia Song Contest would be coming to Gold Coast. After disbelief from Eurovision fans, he uploaded a screenshot from the city of Gold Coast. There, the city wrote: An opportunity exists for the city of Gold Coast to become the ‘home of Eurovision’ through hosting two events in 2019 – the national selection series – Australia Decides in February, followed by the Eurovision Asia Song Contest in December.City of Gold Coast 9 News Gold Coast, the channel Wolf works for, soon reported the news themselves. They interviewed the Mayor of Gold Coast, who said he expected over 200 million viewers for the very first contest. The report mentioned that Eurovision Asia will be an eight day event, with the final set for 7 December 2019. Sixteen participants The first edition of the Eurovision Asia …

SBS managing director Michael Ebeid has spoken about the Eurovision Asia Song Contest. The outgoing director told TV Tonight that it has proven “just too geo-politically difficult” to stage such a contest in the near future. Difficulties before the first edition With Ebeid’s comments on the Asian version of Eurovision, one needs to doubt whether the contest will come to life soon. In July of this year, EBU confirmed to ESCXTRA.com that the organisation was still in its early stages. In August 2017, the EBU went live with their prestigious Eurovision Asia project. Despite many countries showing an early interest, it has proven difficult to actually organise an event. In an interview with TV Tonight, Michael Ebeid has said that it has been his biggest disappointment of his time at Australian broadcaster SBS. It seems the broadcaster could not reach an agreement with at least ten broadcasters for a potential first edition. He added that talks were still ongoing with a couple of countries, but that it currently did not have top priority. Other ideas to come to life? Ebeid did however add that they are trying to find a new idea to launch soon. In the interview, he said: …

Almost one year ago, the EBU revealed the exciting news that the Eurovision Song Contest was coming to Asia! Yes, on August 18th, 2017, the Eurovision Asia Song Contest was born. In January, the Ministry of Information and Communications in Kazakhstan suggested that the first contest was due to take place in October 2018. However, with October now just three months away, we’ve contacted the EBU for an update on the Eurovision Asia Song Contest. Official statement from Eurovision Asia Earlier this week, ESCXTRA.com contacted the EBU for an update on the Eurovision Asia Song Contest. The EBU passed our message on to the Eurovision Asia organising team who provided us with a statement. We thank them for their swift reply to our query. The official statement is as follows: Work on bringing the Eurovision Song Contest to Asia is still ongoing and EBU are working closely with the organisers to help them bring it to fruition. It’s still early in the development process but once the team are at the point they are able to talk about timings we will be sure to make an announcement. “Early in the development process” Indeed, the statement tells us that the first edition of …

It’s been a busy news day in Kazakhstan. Firstly, the Kazakh Ministry of Information and Communications revealed that national broadcaster, Khabar Agency, is in negotiations with the organisers of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest to take part in the first edition of the competition. Now, the Ministry has also revealed that the contest is scheduled to take place in October 2018! Five months since the official launch The official launch of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest took place in August 2017. However, no dates were mentioned in regards to when to expect the first edition to be staged. According to Eurovoix, Paul Clarke, the Executive Producer of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest, stated in May 2017 that organisers hoped the first edition would take place in 2018. With the official launch then taking place later that summer, plans for a 2018 Eurovision Asia Song Contest seemed to be in full gear. Nevertheless, details in the following months have been scarce, presumably as organisers focus their attention on securing a healthy number of interested broadcasters. October: an ideal choice? For committed Eurovision fans, an October date for Eurovision Asia could be seen as ideal. In this instance, the majority of national …

It has been revealed that Kazakhstan is pursuing participation in the first Eurovision Asia Song Contest scheduled to take place later this year. EBU associate member Khabar Agency is currently in negotiations with Eurovision Asia organisers. The Ministry of Information and Communications in Kazakhstan has confirmed this to local media. A growing fanbase Being one of Kazakhstan’s largest television broadcasters, Khabar Agency joined the EBU as an associate member in January 2016. Nevertheless, the Eurovision Song Contest has been broadcast in Kazakhstan for several years now. EBU blocks rumours of Kazakh Eurovision participation Indeed, Kazakh broadcasters including Khabar Agency have shown interest in participating in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, following a comment by Channel 31 in December that they had intentions of participating in future Eurovision Song Contests, the EBU clarified that this would not be possible with the following statement to esctoday.com: Channel 31 Kazakhstan has indeed expressed interest in becoming a Member of the EBU and hence participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, since Channel 31 is outside the European Broadcasting Area and is also not a member of the Council of Europe, it is not eligible to become an active Member of the EBU. Changing focus to …

The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) of Papua New Guinea has declared their interest in participating in the inaugural Eurovision Asia Song Contest, scheduled to take place sometime next year. This news comes courtesy of Eurovoix who revealed the news earlier today. A 35-year-history Papua New Guinea officially became an independent nation in 1975. The country’s mainland is located on the island of New Guinea that is shared with Western New Guinea, an area that is part of Indonesia. Prior to independence, the country was administered by Australia. As a result, Papua New Guinea became part of the Commonwealth of Nations in their own right following their independence. It was Australian state broadcaster ABC that set up Papua New Guinea’s NBC radio network in 1973, two years before independence. Papua New Guinea’s state broadcaster later launched its television network in 2008. Ten participants so far? So far, ten nations have expressed interest in participating in the 2018 Eurovision Asia Song Contest. Founder of the contest Australia Possible steering group members China Japan South Korea Expressed interest in hosting Hong Kong Singapore Expressed interest in participation New Zealand Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Vanuatu Would you like to see Papua New Guinea take …

The Maldives is a tiny island nation located in the Indian Ocean. It is Asia’s smallest nation, both by size and land area. As a result, it seems that popular recording artists in the Maldives are seeing the upcoming first Eurovision Asia Song Contest as the ultimate platform for their music. Indeed, our friends at Eurovoix World have confirmed that they understand this to be the case. Artists await further news At the moment, popular artists across the Maldives are awaiting further information about the brand new Eurovision Asia Song Contest. They will depend on one of the country’s broadcasters to sign up to participate in the competition. Television Maldives (TVM) is the official state broadcaster of the Maldives. Their headquarters are located in the capital city of Malé. The Maldives has a history in international song festivals Indeed, TVM currently participates in the ABU TV Song Festival. This is a music festival that has been compared to the Eurovision Song Contest due to its format involving performances from a variety of countries. A private Maldivian broadcaster, VTV, has also participated in the same festival. Therefore, it’s certainly within the realms of possibility that one of these broadcasters could bring Maldives to …