Eurovision Asia 2026: Meet Cambodia’s Monetrey
Written by Michael Montenegro
Cambodia is preparing to make its Eurovision Asia debut, with singer-songwriter Monetrey set to represent the country at the inaugural Contest in Bangkok, Thailand.
But who is the artist behind the name, and how did he earn the chance to represent his country?
Here’s everything we know about Monetrey’s journey to Eurovision Asia 2026.
About the artist: Monetrey
Monetrey Ek (មន្ត្រីយ៍ ឯក) is a Cambodian singer, songwriter and producer whose career spans several years of independent releases and collaborations with Cambodia’s urban-music scene.
According to Cambodian entertainment outlet Popular Magazine, he was born in France and moved to Cambodia at around seven years old. He is the youngest of seven siblings, with one of his older brothers also being involved in music.
His recording history reaches back to at least 2019, when he began sharing music on SoundCloud, including See the Light, Saturday Night, With You, Far and Paradise. His early recordings were predominantly in English. In 2022 he released calling your phone and First Step, followed in 2023 by overdrive, I guess this is it… and Love and Sunshine.
Over time, Monetrey has shifted from English-language music to experiment more with Cambodian language and local performers. In 2024, Monetrey collaborated with Cambodian hip-hop artists Mut Phearin and Meezy24k on Come for me, released under Plus 855 Music. He has also appeared on សំឡេងខ្មែរ (Khmer Voice), a multi-artist project associated with the La Cima music circle.
More recently, Monetrey reportedly that he had become an official artist of Soriya Entertainment. His 2026 releases include ពិសី (Pisey) and មួយលានរាត្រី (One Million Nights), a collaboration with Cambodian artist NPN. Released on 18 September, the music video passed one million YouTube views within a week.
About the song: I Let You Go
Monetrey will represent Cambodia with I Let You Go, an atmospheric ballad about separation, betrayal and the difficulty of moving on after a relationship ends.
It is one of the more restrained entries in this year’s field. The song leans on the strength of Monetrey’s delivery, and in its coverage of the national final Kiripost highlighted his clear, soulful vocals, particularly in the quieter passages where the instrumentation drops back.
I Let You Go has also drawn attention for its multilingual approach, blending Khmer, English and French.
Cambodia has to make its impression early. The official running order, confirmed on 29 October, places Monetrey second, between Vietnam’s Tóc Tiên, who opens the show with EM TIÊN, and Laos’ Thinla with BAE.
How was Monetrey selected for Eurovision Asia 2026?
To select the Khmer representative, a national final titled Cambodia’s Finest Voice was held on Saturday 17 October at AEON Mall Sen Sok in Phnom Penh.
The winner was decided by a combination of jury voting (40%), Cambodian public voting (40%) and international voting (20%). Online voting was free, and each voter had eight votes to spread across at least three songs. The show was broadcast in Cambodia via Sabay and streamed internationally on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.
Seven artists competed:
Nov Dana – Smoke on the Mekong
GOOFY – Fly
Sam Rocker – Angels
KESORRR – Goddess
Satiya – Motherland
MC PICH – Nor Na Ke Nor (Who’s That)
Monetrey – I Let You Go
The field covered a wide range of styles. GOOFY is known for appearing on The Rapper Cambodia, MC PICH comes from Cambodian hip-hop and Sam Rocker from the country’s rock scene. KESORRR has built her profile through independent projects including SmallWorld SmallBand, Nov Dana has experience in both music and acting, and Khmer-Australian performer Satiya rounded out the line-up.
However, Monetrey was ultimately announced as the winner with I Let You Go, with KESORRR (Goddess) and Nov Dana (Smoke on the Mekong) completing the top three. The official announcement did not confirm their exact second and third positions or publish a full breakdown of the votes, so it’s unclear which of the three voting groups tipped the result.
Cambodia will compete in the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest Asia on 14 November 2026 at the One Bangkok Forum in Bangkok, Thailand, with the show beginning at 8:30 p.m. local time.
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