Six wild, weird and wonderful moments from the first Eurovision Asia

Detailed summary

Eurovision has gone global, hosting its first-ever Asia instalment. While it may not have been as campy and kooky as the OG, it seems there is potential.

The Eurovision Song Contest, some may argue, is one of a kind. For 70 years the wacky, campy and joyous competition has delivered fresh batches of craziness to millions of viewers – from heavy metal monster jams to foul-mouthed turkey puppets. Is this level of weirdness something only Europe (and, inexplicably, Australia) can truly pull off? The Eurovision Song Contest Asia – the first iteration to solely feature Asian entrants – put that to the test.

Taking place at the One Bangkok Forum in Thailand overnight, the inaugural competition kicked off with a bang, filling the stage with dancers atop street-food carts, neon deities, backflipping Muay Thai fighters and blinged-up tuk-tuks. It was a worthy introduction not only to the 11 participating countries – Bhutan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Vietnam – but also to a Eurovision spin-off 18 years in the making.

A 19-year-old Filipina ultimately took home the trophy, making history for what organisers hope becomes a regular Eurovision instalment. Carmelle Collado’s pop-rap combo Sobra-Sobra won the hearts of both the professional juries and public voters. Thailand’s duo Mang x Daou took out second place, followed by competitors for Vietnam and Malaysia.

While it didn’t quite meet the OG Eurovision’s level of camp and kookiness, it suggested that, with time, it certainly could. So here are some of the wildest, weirdest and most wonderful moments from the world’s first Eurovision Asia.

Nepal’s Pratik Himal Rai delivered arguably the most Eurovision-coded performance of the night. He appeared on-stage looking like any Joe Blow, as if he’d strolled in from the office. But then, suddenly, he erupted into the hard rock ballad Ananta Maya, hitting both unexpectedly high and low, gravelly notes.

In one of few quasi-political moments on the night, the Nepalese performer implored the audience to offer their support for his home nation, which he said is…

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Opening of the article, excerpted from The Sydney Morning Herald. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.