Many questions about the status of the Eurovision Asia project have swirled as we wondered about the fate of the third (?) attempt to break the world’s biggest music show out of its European confines. Radio silence from the organisers set in after an initial flurry of activity when the project was announced almost a year ago.
Until today! In a statement to ESCXTRA.com, organisers of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest confirmed that the project was still in development, but admitted it was not far along:
Work on bringing the Eurovision Song Contest to Asia is still ongoing and EBU are working closely with the organisers to help them bring it to fruition. It’s still early in the development process but once the team are at the point they are able to talk about timings we will be sure to make an announcement.
Indeed, we’ve long held that the late-2018 goal is, at best, fanciful, and severely underestimates the enormous amount of work and coordination required to bring an event of this scale to fruition. Classic Eurovision (should we start using this term?) benefits from massive pre-existing buy in from broadcasters and the public; organisers in Asia have the tricky task of building that all-up fresh.
We also understand that internal changes and movements among organisers has put pressure on production partners. A few weeks before the project announcement by the EBU, the firm primarily charged with delivery of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest, Blink TV, received an investment from Village Roadshow for a 50% ownership stake.
This change in ownership structure has led to delays in the planning process for Eurovision Asia, as staff from Village Roadshow have moved in to assist with the ongoing development of various Blink TV series and formats, including Eurovision Asia.
Nevertheless, it is encouraging to hear that work continues on bringing the Eurovision brand to Asia. We remain hopeful that this attempt will be the one to do it – fingers crossed!
