For a competition aimed at introducing the diversity of Asian pop music to the world, the line-up for Asia’s first Eurovision Song Contest has several notable absences. For starters, the continent’s four most populous nations (China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia) won’t be there. Even Japan, a country considered worldwide a cultural power, is absent. That leaves some of the region’s best-known musical cultures out of the mix. India has Bollywood hits. China has produced both Mandopop and Cantopop, the genre associated with Hong Kong pop stars. JPop was once huge throughout Asia. As a result, the only major pop power in this competition is South Korea. China’s absence is relatively simple to explain. Performers are entered by local broadcasters, and Eurovision has long had a complicated relationship with those in China, which are heavily regulated and try to reflect the government’s social and political values. Mango TV once had a deal to broadcast Eurovision to Chinese viewers, but Eurovision abruptly canceled it in 2018 after Mango TV censored acts whose performances featured gay themes. He also blurred the rainbow flags in the performance arena. Frank-Dieter Freiling, a former Eurovision official, said in an interview that such censorship went against Eurovision values and that the show’s organizers had historically prohibited broadcasters from broadcasting the competition with delays. It is less clear why broadcasters from India, Pakistan, Japan and Indonesia are not participating. Assaf Blecher, executive producer of Eurovision Asia, said talks with Chinese, Japanese and Indian broadcasters had not been concluded in time. But he insisted that “they are knocking on our door.” Not participating spares those countries the potential embarrassment of being the last remaining regional power. Just look at Europe, where Britain and Germany often perform poorly at Eurovision. In this year’s edition, the British Look Mum No Computer came last, with just one point, while Germany finished second to last. Whenever that happens, political commentators give interviews suggesting that the results reflect the poor standing of those countries across Europe.
