In Bangkok, Asian love ballads test Eurovision’s winning song formula with a new audience

A new regional contest

The Eurovision Song Contest began in 1956 and has become a fixture of Europe’s cultural calendar. Its past winners include Sweden’s ABBA and Celine Dion, who represented Switzerland in 1988.

The Bangkok final marks the format’s first Asian contest. Earlier plans to bring Eurovision to Asia were abandoned by the European Broadcasting Union and regional partners, while NBC’s American Song Contest lasted one season in 2022.

In recent weeks, concerns have centered on budgets, production problems and whether enough viewers will tune in. Organizers say building an audience may take time.

Songs cross styles and languages

The lineup features songs with markedly different sounds and themes. Thailand’s “Aroma” tells of longing for a departed loved one and hoping for one last embrace, while its title can also mean “Night Scent” or “Aroma of the Night.” Bangladesh’s six-member group Beatmosphere performs “Tumi Ele,” a Bengali-language a cappella hip-hop song about the rush of new love. The group uses its voices to imitate instruments including the dotora and tabla, and its performance had audience members dancing. The article also describes Carmelle as the only performer whose lyrics focus on self-belief, a theme that has featured in past European winners’ songs.

How the voting works

Professional juries in each country will provide half of each artist’s score, with public votes accounting for the other half. Viewers can vote for artists from at least three other countries, but not their own.

The evening also included an onstage appearance by Dara, the latest Eurovision winner from Bulgaria. She briefly sang from Loreen’s 2012 winning song “Believe”; the article says the performance drew silence on YouTube.

Organizers have framed the expansion as a chance to bring people together through music. Mr. Green said, “Europe shouldn’t keep it to itself.”