Eurovision Asia could be coming… to Australia.
Fans have been hoping for an Asian spin-off to the ever so popular Eurovision Song Contest for a while, and last year there was confirmation that the event would finally take place.
And now, a new report from 9 News, says that Eurovision Asia is set to be held in Australia’s Gold Coast, after finding documents published by the Gold Coast City Council.
Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, which is held in May, the report says that this version would be held from 30 November to 7 December, culminating with a three hour grand final. The report also says that there will be 16 competing countries from across the Asia Pacific region. Countries that are rumoured to be taking part include China, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore and the UAE.
Council documents also suggest that the competition will follow a similar format to the European version with 50% of the vote coming from a jury and the other 50% coming from voters calling in.
Tom Tate, the Gold Coast mayor said: “Eurovision Asia is huge. [It reaches] over 200 million people.”
A spokesperson for SBS, who holds the licence rights said: “Eurovision Asia is still in development. We continue to have a number of discussions on bringing the event to life, however nothing is confirmed at this stage.
“We are thrilled to have recently announced Australia’s first Eurovision selection show to choose the song and artist that will represent Australia in May, Eurovision – Australia Decides to be held on the Gold Coast in February.”
Michael Ebeid, the outgoing director of SBS, also downplayed the rumours last month telling TV Tonight that not getting to broadcast the competition was one his biggest “disappointments.”
Ebeid said: “It’s just proven too geo-politically difficult. We are still talking to a few of the countries but we have put all our energy into [another project].
“It’s more in our control and continent, whereas trying to get ten Asian countries to agree has proven really difficult.”
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