Opinion: Without Australia, Eurovision Asia may never have happened
As Eurovision Asia finally becomes a reality, we look back at the crucial role Australia played in helping bring the contest to life.
After nearly two decades of failed attempts, Eurovision Asia is finally becoming a reality in Bangkok this weekend.
The inaugural contest has been brought to life by Voxovation, the international production company established by Swedish television figures including Christer Björkman and Peter Settman, working alongside the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Thai organisers and local broadcasters to bring 11 countries together.
It's an enormous achievement in a region where previous attempts to establish the contest have repeatedly fallen short.
But as we celebrate this historic moment, we shouldn't overlook the years of work Australia put into making Eurovision Asia a reality, helping lay the foundations for the contest we see today.
Some recent accounts have pointed to Sweden in 2019 as the starting point for Eurovision Asia, but the story goes back much further, including years of work by Australia's SBS and production company Blink TV.
In fact, the development of Eurovision Asia is closely connected to why Australia joined Eurovision in the first place.
Australia's Eurovision invitation was about more than just loving the contest
When Australia joined Eurovision in 2015, the story was largely one of a country that loved the contest finally being invited to take part.
SBS had broadcast Eurovision for decades, Australian commentators had attended since 2009, Jessica Mauboy had performed as an interval act in 2014, and we were invited to celebrate Eurovision's 60th anniversary.
But there was also a bigger picture, with the EBU already interested in expanding the Eurovision brand beyond Europe, particularly into Asia.
In 2024, I co-hosted the three-part SBS podcast Why is Australia in Eurovision? alongside fellow Aussievision co-founder Mike Jones.
In that podcast, Eurovision academic Associate Professor Jess Carniel explained how Australia's invitation fitted into those ambitions.
"We need to be thinking the bigger picture at this point. The EBU always had plans for expansion," she told us.
Jess pointed to earlier unsuccessful attempts to establish an Asian contest, including licensing the format to a production company in Singapore, before explaining how Australia became part of the EBU's plans.
"So by extending some extra privileges to Australia, it was a way of building that relationship and starting to work on that project of Eurovision Asia, which we never came to see the fruition, but that was eventually announced officially as something that SBS and the EBU were working on together."
Perhaps an even more revealing insight came from longtime Australian Eurovision producer and former Head of Delegation Paul Clarke, who explained the relationship he had developed with then Eurovision Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand.
"They were really interested in seeing the Eurovision brand grow into other parts of the world. And I made a promise to Jan Ola that if we built Eurovision and a bridge to Asia, that they would build a bridge for us into Eurovision and Europe. And that's sort of what we're still following through."
It's a fascinating insight into Australia's Eurovision journey, with our participation connected to the broader ambition of expanding the contest into Asia.
And it wasn't long before Australia would be leading that expansion.
Australia takes Eurovision Asia forward
The first attempts at an Asian Eurovision date back to 2008, when plans emerged for a competition initially known as Asiavision and later Our Sound, with proposed contests in Macau and Mumbai never getting off the ground.
But in March 2016, just a year after Australia's Eurovision debut, the EBU announced an exclusive agreement with SBS to develop Eurovision Asia.
Alongside Australian production partner Blink TV, SBS would lead discussions with broadcasters, sponsors and potential host cities, with the first edition initially planned for Australia in 2017 and involving up to 20 countries.
It was a major step forward, with Australia taking a leading role in turning the concept into a potential international television event.
The 2017 contest never happened, but SBS and Blink TV continued developing the project, and by 2018 the Gold Coast had emerged as a potential host for Eurovision Asia.
Council documents outlined plans for a December 2019 contest involving 16 countries, a three-hour televised Grand Final and a Eurovision Asia Village.
Although nothing was formally confirmed, it showed the scale of the ambition and just how seriously the project was being pursued.
The Gold Coast was also becoming an important Eurovision destination for Australia, hosting the inaugural Eurovision – Australia Decides in February 2019, followed by a second edition in 2020 attended by Jon Ola Sand himself.
Meanwhile, Australia's participation in Eurovision had been secured through a new five-year agreement tied to the contract with the Gold Coast City Council.
However, bringing together broadcasters across a region as diverse as Asia was proving difficult, and the proposed contest never eventuated.
Then came COVID-19.
SBS steps away, but the Australian push continues
In May 2021, SBS confirmed it was no longer pursuing Eurovision Asia after years of development.
SBS commissioning editor and Australian Head of Delegation Josh Martin explained that the broadcaster had spent years trying to make the project work before the pandemic created further complications.
“I think it’s fair to say we’ve rescinded our rights. We spent a number of years trying to figure out how to do it and then the global pandemic came along," he said.
"Eurovision Asia is difficult for a number of reasons: timezones, language barriers, all sorts of issues."
Josh acknowledged that despite those efforts, the broadcaster had been unable to overcome the challenges of establishing the competition.
It was a disappointing end to five years of official development by SBS and Blink TV, but it wasn't the end of Australia's advocacy for Eurovision Asia.
In December 2022, Paul Clarke reiterated his ambition during an acceptance speech at the Asian Academy Creative Awards, where Australia Decides had won two awards for SBS and Blink TV.
"Our chief goal as a company is to bring Eurovision to Asia so please look out for that! Eurovision is coming people!"
And as Paul's comments in our 2024 SBS podcast demonstrated, that ambition to build a bridge between Eurovision and Asia had continued well beyond SBS's decision to relinquish its rights.
Those years of discussions and relationships would also prove valuable for the producers who eventually took the contest forward.
The final push to make Eurovision Asia happen
Voxovation, which had been pursuing the international expansion of Eurovision following its involvement in the American Song Contest, eventually secured the rights to develop the Asian competition.
And while this was a new team leading the project, they weren't starting entirely from scratch.
Speaking to Aussievision here in Bangkok, I asked Christer Björkman about the earlier work by Paul Clarke and the Australian team.
He acknowledged the contribution they had made in introducing Eurovision Asia to broadcasters across the region.
"It sort of paved the path for us," he said.
"[When] we came here, we could then much easier get in contact with people. We could get an understanding for what this is because they already knew. And they had been told by him and his crew. So well done. We had a good starting point."
It's significant recognition from one of the people now delivering the contest, demonstrating the value of the years of Australian work that preceded Voxovation's involvement.
But those relationships were only part of the challenge, with securing firm commitments from enough broadcasters the hurdle that had prevented Eurovision Asia from happening for so long.
In a separate interview with Aussievision, I asked Christer what had finally made the difference after so many unsuccessful attempts.
"I think, I think what actually made it happen was that Assaf managed to get a commitment from, I think, eight countries, a solid commitment to do this in the same season, which is an achievement. It's an enormous achievement actually," he told us.
"And at that point EBU had the guts to give the go-ahead."
They have managed to deliver a major international music competition in a region with vastly different broadcasting markets, cultures and political considerations, something that should not be underestimated.
But as Christer himself acknowledged, the earlier Australian efforts had helped establish the relationships and awareness that made the next attempt easier.
Australia's connection continues
After playing such an important role in developing Eurovision Asia, Australia won't be among the 11 countries competing in Bangkok this weekend.
And by all reports, SBS remains focused and committed to the European contest at this time.
However, SBS will broadcast the contest to Australian audiences with commentary by Courtney Act, continuing the relationship between Australia and Eurovision's expansion into our region.
Australian fans and media have also travelled to Bangkok, including Aussievision, to cover and celebrate a contest that has been nearly two decades in the making.
For now, the achievement rightly belongs to Voxovation, the EBU, the Thai organisers and the participating broadcasters who have finally managed to bring the contest to life.
But the road to Bangkok has been a long one, with Australia playing a particularly important role in taking Eurovision Asia forward through years of development, negotiations and advocacy.
It has taken many people and organisations over many years, but the commitment of SBS, Blink TV and the wider Australian Eurovision community deserves to be recognised as a significant part of that journey.
As we prepare to watch the inaugural Eurovision Asia Grand Final, Australia can take considerable pride in the role it played in helping make this contest a reality.
And without that Australian groundwork, it's fair to wonder whether we'd be watching Eurovision Asia at all.
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