Peter Settman Says Eurovision Asia Talks Have Not Hit a No

Eurovision Asia is still in the outreach stage, and Peter Settman says none of the broadcasters Voxovation has discussed the contest with have said no outright. The first Eurovision Asia Song Contest is set for Bangkok on November 14, while participating countries are being asked to build their own selection shows first.

Settman, Voxovation’s chief executive, said, "We are not, not talking to anyone any longer. There are ongoing conversations, but there are timing issues, as everyone needs to have a national selection show and we need to squeeze that in before the Grand Final in November. And we do come with a couple of rules, meaning as a show, it is all about “the door is open everyones invited”, the core pirnciples are bringing people together a stage, non-political, has to be signed off by anyone participating in the competition."

Bangkok on November 14

The November 14 date puts the new contest on a fixed clock. Each participating broadcaster is expected to select its entry through a national final in its own country, and the format of those selections will be revealed in the coming months.

That timetable leaves broadcasters balancing local programming against an international debut. Some countries may choose multi-week selections, which makes the build-out more complicated than a single one-night qualifier.

Rules Match Eurovision

The contest rules will match those of the Eurovision Song Contest, including a 3-minute cap on each song and no more than 6 people on stage. The winner will be decided by 50% televoting and 50% jury voting, a split that gives broadcasters a clear template before they commit.

Martin Green said the EBU has asked to keep the first edition small, then grow it gradually year by year. He said the aim is to keep the contest going "because we want this to be around in 70 years time," which is a long runway for a format that still has to win over more channels.

Values and eligibility

Settman said Russia or North Korea competing is "not likely," while Green drew a harder line on eligibility. Green said, "Eurovision travels with its values, in order to be in part of Eurovision you have to share our values, so if you don’t meet our values you won’t be in Eurovision."

Representatives from the Thai, Lao and Nepalese channels are in Austria during the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the first Asia edition still ahead in Bangkok. The practical next step is broadcaster sign-off, because every entry has to be organized through a participating channel before the November final can happen.