Nyendra will represent Bhutan at Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 with Lhayi Semo after Rhythm of Bhutan chose the 24-year-old singer-songwriter and producer in Thimphu. The result gives Bhutan the first entry for the inaugural contest, with the performance set for Bangkok on Saturday 14 November.
Five songs competed in the two-hour National Selection Show, where the points were split between a professional jury at 40%, home viewers in Bhutan at 40%, and a Rest of the World vote at 20%. That mix meant no single group could decide the result on its own, and it turned the selection into a blended vote rather than a straight popular pick.
Nyendra and Lhayi Semo
Thukten Nyendra is professionally known as Nyendra, and the title track chosen for Bhutan means The Angel. He wrote Lhayi Semo with Lungten Wangchuk, and the song moves with the same cross-genre range that has built his profile across pop, folk-pop, acoustic and R&B.
Nyendra also performs in both English and Dzongkha, which gives Bhutan a representative whose catalogue already moves between audiences at home and beyond it. For a first-time entrant in a new competition, that kind of range is more useful than a polished introduction video; it is the actual operating asset.
Rhythm of Bhutan results
The Sangay Lhaden Band finished second with Pemi Tshewang Tashi, while Baeyul301 placed third with Drenpa. Rhythm of Bhutan produced its first winner in its inaugural edition, so Bhutan’s selection process did more than name a singer; it also established a template for how the country will choose entries inside the format.
A global vote selected Nyendra as champion, but the split scoring mattered because it prevented any one constituency from overpowering the others. The 40-40-20 structure leaves the final ranking dependent on how the three voting streams align, which is a cleaner competitive model than a single bloc deciding everything at once.
Bangkok on 14 November
Saturday 14 November now becomes the date that matters for readers following Bhutan’s entry, because that is when Nyendra will perform Lhayi Semo at Eurovision Song Contest Asia in Bangkok. The National Selection Show has done its job; the remaining work now belongs to the staging, the song, and whether Bhutan can turn a debut slot into a credible first impression.
For Bhutan, this is the right kind of starting point: a 24-year-old writer-performer with an original song, a multilingual identity, and a result that came through a vote split across jury, home viewers, and the Rest of the World. That is a sturdier launch than a one-note internal pick, and it gives Eurovision Song Contest Asia a first entry that already feels like a competition rather than a formality.
