ABU Song Festivals

The television festival which is a non-competitive, musical gala presentation, is live recorded so that each of the national broadcasters may add subtitles in their native languages.

[1][2] In 2008, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) proposed a partnership with ABU on the establishment of an Asiavision Song Contest,[3] however these talks did not produce any result, and in September 2008 it was announced that the Eurovision Song Contest format for Asian production had been sold to a private company from Singapore, Asiavision Pte.

[3][5] Initially, the contest (which was supposed to be a two programme live broadcast TV show with public voting) was set to premiere in 2009, but it was later rescheduled for March 2010 in Macau and then for November 2010 in Mumbai, at the end being postponed indefinitely "due to the ongoing issues between the organizers and EBU".

[3][better source needed] The show had a similar concept to the current radio song festival with winners being chosen by a professional jury.

[7][8] In November 2011, the ABU announced that they would organize its own TV and Radio Song Festivals to take place in Seoul, the South Korean capital, in time with 49th General Assembly in October 2012.

Ltd, stated that "the format is highly suited to the Asia region and its people who love popular music and have a strong national pride.

Like in Europe, the universal language of music will help to bring people closer together and nurture mutual understanding in the region.

[14][15] The ABU TV Song Festival is a concert performance for professional musicians, who according to the organiser are well known in their country of origin.

[15][23] At a press conference held on 18 July 2013 it was announced that Indonesia were submitting a bid to host the ABU TV Song Festival 2015.

[27][better source needed] However, it was announced in August 2014 that Indonesia were making plans to host the ABU TV Song Festival 2016 instead.

[48] After China implementing entry ban of other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic on 28 March 2020, ABU is yet to announce the fate of the contest.