Asian love ballads test Eurovision’s winning song formula.

LatestUpdated Reporting from the Eurovision song contest in BangkokHere’s the latest.The Eurovision Song Contest will crown its first Asia champion in Bangkok on Saturday, in an event that will test whether a high-camp singing competition with an ardent fan base can appeal to audiences in a new market.The inaugural Eurovision Song Contest Asia includes artists and original songs from 11 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. It will be live-streamed on YouTube at 8:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. Eastern) and broadcast by television stations across the region.Eurovision has been a fixture of the European cultural calendar since it began in 1956. Past winners include Sweden’s ABBA and the Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who represented Switzerland in 1988.Asian artists have readily embraced the kitschy outfits and spectacular sets that are part of Eurovision tradition, with costumes that include traditional dress, as well as feathered capes and sequined corsets. Malaysia’s performer plans to enter the stage in a giant teardrop.But the Eurovision format has not been tested in Asia. Fans and regional partners have expressed concern in recent weeks that budget constraints, production issues and weak audience demand could imperil the spinoff. Organizers say the contest could take time to build an audience.“It would be profoundly arrogant to think that just because we have a heritage brand and a huge global audience for the European show, that we would walk in and demand it to be the same here,” said Martin Green, the European Broadcasting Union’s director of the Eurovision Song Contest. “Like any new thing, it needs to find its roots.”Two previous attempts to take the competition to Asia were abandoned by the European Broadcasting Union, which owns Eurovision, and its partners in the region. A Eurovision spinoff in the United States, NBC’s American Song Contest, ran for one season in 2022.The Asian edition kicking off on Saturday is far smaller than its European counterpart. Eurovision organizers said they were in talks with more countries to join future seasons. They include China, Japan and India, whose music industries have global reach.“Bringing the world together through music is a fundamentally good idea,” Mr. Green said. “Europe shouldn’t keep it to itself.”Here’s what we’re covering:Politics: Geopolitics have long intruded on the European edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, but they were not really a factor as the event prepared to expand into Asia. Read more ›Voting process: Each artist will receive half their scores from professional juries in each country, and the other half from public voting on the Eurovision Asia website. Viewers are allowed to vote for artists from at least three other countries — not their own.The presenters have just announced a technical issue! When Laos’s Thinla performed earlier, she had an earpiece problem and was unable to hear her own music. So that explains why she sang so out of tune. They’re now playing a recording of an earlier performance to everyone to try to ensure the event is fairZunaira SaieedReporting from Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaRizal Kamal, a senior adviser to the Arts, Live Festival and Events Association, an entertainment nonprofit based in Malaysia, said he felt that Aina Abdul was the right singer to represent the country at Eurovision.“Aina is seasoned in major competitions and she knows how to wow both the judges and the audience,” he said. “I am filled with pride.”AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTZunaira SaieedReporting from Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaAina Abdul’s inventive wardrobe and her powerful voice sets her apart from the Asian peers, said Adriana Syuhaidah, a fan in Kuala Lumpur.“She is the Lady Gaga of Malaysia,” she said.Aina Abdul’s song, “Bluest Sky,” is a soaring ballad about a troubled romance, featuring an orchestral arrangement of Malay instruments, intricate vocal riffs and English lyrics.“I usually sing in Malay, but I wanted to play it smart when I introduce myself to international audiences,” she told me ahead of the show.Eurovision is known for singers pushing the boundaries of stagecraft, with bizarre props, intricate dance routines and shocking amounts of pyrotechnics. Aina Abdul is arguably the only singer on Saturday who got the brief. She started performing inside what looked like a vast flower, then it opened so she could walk out onto the stage to belt out the climax to her ballad “Bluest Sky”Long before she became known for her powerful voice and sculptural stage costumes, Nurul Aina Abdul Ghani was singing in lounges and small live-music venues in Malaysia. She developed a love of singing at 8 years old. A decade later, she started performing professionally.Wider recognition came after she finished as runner-up in a local singing competition ‘Mentor Legend’. She also earned a top vocal honor in 2014 at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood. Her voice moves effortlessly between rich low notes and soaring high notes.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA giant bubble has risen in the middle of the stage. Inside is Aina Abdul, not Glinda the Good Witch. The last performer of the night is the Malaysian pop star Aina Abdul. She is the first hijab-wearing woman to perform on the Eurovision stage.Pratik grew up as the youngest of six siblings in a small village in the hills of western Nepal. His father was the village school’s headmaster, but at home, he sang folk songs on the madal, a Nepali percussion instrument, while a young Pratik sat on his lap.When he was ready to enter university, Pratik moved 300 miles away to Kathmandu to study music. He sustained himself in the capital by performing in bars and lounges, singing covers of pop and jazz songs. But when it came to his own songwriting, Pratik was always drawn to rock.He wrote his rock love song, “Ananta Maya,” in an hour, on the last day for submissions to Nepal’s national selection contest, inspired by his recent marriage.Pratik Himal Rai, 26, said he had no idea what Eurovision was when the producers of Nepal’s national selection contest called to tell him he was selected as a contestant.“I was surprised to know that it has been around for 70 years, and that many legendary artists have performed there,” he said.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTI’m at an apartment in Kathmandu, Nepal, where relatives of the Nepali singer Pratik Himal Rai have gathered to watch his performance.ImageCredit...Binod Ghimire for The New York TimesPratik Himal Rai of Nepal makes an appeal for support for his country as he leaves the stage. Devastating floods killed more than 1,000 people there in August. Lee JiyounReporting from Daegu, South KoreaJunhee shouted “Long live the Republic of Korea!” after he finished singing.Every Eurovision in Europe features at least one rock act. Most of those perform very badly (Italy’s Maneskin was a rare exception when that band won the 2021 event.) Will Pratik Himal Rai’s Bon Jovi impression do better for Nepal today?AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTIt got hotter in the theater when South Korean idol Junhee took the stage. For international audiences, South Korea’s Kpop will be the most familiar Asian sound in this competition.“Yes, everyone knows K-pop, but this will be the first time Kpop will be on the Eurovision stage,” Junhee told me.ImageCredit...Lauren DeCicca for The New York TimesJunhee wrote the song “Deep Dive,” an EDM track about falling in love with a siren, in December, months before Eurovision Asia was announced. He decided to hold the song for South Korea’s national selection contest, which he won in September.“I promised my fans that I would become a bigger international star who can perform in stadiums,” he said. “This is me keeping that promise.”Park Junhee, 32, was born in Suncheon, a city near the southern coast of South Korea. Kpop fans know him as the frontman of the boy band A.C.E, which disbanded in 2025. He made his solo debut last year with his first single, “Supernova.”“In a group, there’s no pressure on you as a vocalist and a performer,” he said in an interview before the Eurovision Asia final. “Now, I have to do it all on my own, from writing the song to performing.”ImageCredit...Lauren DeCicca for The New York TimesJunhee has taken his top off.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTJunhee’s song was co-written by AleXa, a K-pop singer from Oaklahoma who won the 2022 “American Song Contest.” That event lasted one show. Eurovision organizers will be hoping the new Asian event lasts a lot longerDuets rarely do well at the main Eurovision and one hasn’t won since 2011 when Ell and Nikki, an Azerbaijanian duo, triumphed with “Running Scared” (“I’m running / I’m scared of breathing / ’Cause I adore you”). Hopefully such romantic duets do better among an Asian audience.Mang and Daou are managing to sing while performing the intricate hand movements of traditional Thai dance. Last night, they had trouble with removing the top layer of Mang’s costume during rehearsal. Tonight, it came off without a hitch.ImageCredit...Lauren DeCicca for The New York TimesThailand’s entry, Mang and Daou, is the only duet in tonight’s show.Piyatida Lekklang, whose stage name is Mang, debuted as a member of the co-ed group Bamm in 2021 and started her solo career three years later. Pittaya Saechua, who goes by Da-Ou, is an actor who has performed with the boy band LAZ1.Their hit song “Aroma” tells the story of someone aching for a departed loved one, hoping to meet them again – even if only in a dream – to share an embrace and say a final goodbye. The song’s title can also be translated from the Thai as “Night Scent” or “Aroma of the Night.”ImageCredit...Anthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAsian love ballads test Eurovision’s winning song formula.ImageMalaysia’s contestant, Aina Abdul, performing during the preview show in Bangkok on Friday.Credit...Chanakarn Laosarakham/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWhen they sat down to plan the final show of the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest in Asia, the organizers faced a challenge: How could they introduce variety when most of the entries were slow-paced love songs?Nine of the competition’s 11 participating countries picked performers singing about love in a wide range of styles, from ballads to a cappella hip-hop. Their choices suggest that the bombastic music often associated with victors of the European edition might not be a winning formula for Asian viewers.“Europeans tend to prefer songs with a crescendo, a hook and a grand ending, but also a strong social message,” said Dean Vuletic, a historian of contemporary Europe at the University of Luxembourg who is an authority on Eurovision.“The audience doesn’t want to see an innocuous pop song,” he said.Electro-pop and dance songs have featured heavily on the list of Eurovision winners over the past decade. In May, Bulgaria’s Dara won with “Bangaranga,” a dance-pop song inspired by her diagnosis with attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Nemo, from Switzerland, won in 2024 with an EDM opera about their nonbinary identity, while in 2018, Israel’s Netta won with “Toy,” a pop anthem about female independence.Some countries hold a nationwide contest to select an artist and a song to represent them in Eurovision, while others leave the choice to Eurovision’s local broadcasting partner. Audiences in the Philippines voted for Carmelle in a televised competition, for example, while Vietnam Television chose Toc Tien.The two are considered front-runners in the Asian edition, with their high-energy folk-pop songs about female empowerment.Malaysia’s Aina Abdul, another early favorite, will showcase her powerful vocals in “Bluest Sky,” a ballad with an orchestral arrangement that is about a troubled relationship. The track is reminiscent of “Wasted Love,” an opera-techno song that won Austria the European title in 2025.Pratik Himal Rai of Nepal, who got married this summer, said love was easy to sing about because it can be understood across borders and languages.“It is love that holds the world together,” he said in an interview.He will sing “Ananta Maya” in Nepali. Other Eurovision Asia artists blend English lyrics with their national languages.In Europe, every winning song after 2022 has been in English. That year’s champion, Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra, sang in their own language on “Stefania,” a hip-hop track that interspersed a Ukrainian lullaby with rap verses and traditional woodwind instruments.Winning songs tend to blend a country’s national instruments and musical motifs with internationally trendy pop, Mr. Vuletic said.A traditional Bhutanese flute can be heard in “Lhayi Semo,” Nyendra’s love ballad. Monetrey’s “I Let You Go” uses a Cambodian bamboo xylophone and a tro, a string instrument played with a bow. A kulintang, a percussion instrument made of eight brass gongs, keeps the fast beat in Carmelle’s “Sobra-Sobra.”AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT