Khabar Agency is in discussions with the organisers of the Eurovision Asia Song Contest about participating in the first edition of the competition.
The Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan has confirmed to local press, that Khabar Agency is currently in negotiations about participating in the Eurovision Asia Song Contest. Kazakhstan is the first country since New Zealand to publicly confirm that negotiations and discussions are ongoing about participating in the Eurovision Asia Song Contest.
Khabar Agency is the national broadcaster of Kazakhstan, the broadcaster has aired the Eurovision Song Contest in the country for over five years. Khabar Agency has been an associate member of the EBU since January 1 2016. The broadcaster has shown an interest in participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, but Kazakhstan does not currently meet the EBU’s requirements for participation.
While Khabar Agency has not participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. Between 2013 and 2015, the country was one of the most successful in the Turkvision Song Contest, with Khabar Agency broadcasting and organising the country’s selection process. In 2014 Zhanar Dugalova, won the competition in Kazan, Tatarstan.
The Eurovision Asia Song Contest which was announced in March 2016 is expected to see around 20 countries compete in the Asian spin-off of the 61-year-old Eurovision Song Contest which is held annually in Europe. The contest would be the first time that a Eurovision spin-off has been successfully held outside of Europe. Previously the European Broadcasting Union has sold the rights to the contest in Asia, the Arab World and is looking at a US contest.
The three cities that have expressed a serious interest in hosting are:
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Sydney, Australia
The following countries have also either confirmed their participation or shown an interest in participating:
- Australia (Confirmed)
- China (Possible Steering Group Member)
- Japan (Possible Steering Group Member)
- Kazakhstan (In negotiations regarding participation)
- Maldives (Interest in participating)
- New Zealand (Interest in participating)
- Papua New Guinea (Interest in participating)
- Solomon Islands (Interest in participating)
- South Korea (Possible Steering Group Member)
- Vanuatu (Interest in participating)
Source: Tengri News