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Australia

Philippines wins inaugural Eurovision Asia as public vote lifts Carmelle

2026-11-15

Illustrative empty concert stage in Paris, not the Eurovision Asia final.

Carmelle of the Philippines won the first Eurovision Song Contest Asia in Bangkok overnight, performing Sobra-Sobra, or Too Much. The 19-year-old moved ahead through the public vote after Malaysia's Aina Abdul had performed strongly with the juries. Thailand finished second, followed by Vietnam, Malaysia and Laos.

Eleven countries competed in the inaugural final. Nepal, Cambodia and Bangladesh occupied the bottom of the table. Carmelle described her song as a tribute to Filipino women and said the experience felt like giving her own concert. The contest drew enthusiastic fans despite a relatively small Bangkok audience, with Thailand's Mang x Daou and South Korea's Junhee among the crowd favourites.

The staging used smoke, flares, digital visuals and colourful tuk-tuks to bring performers onto the stage. Live singing remained part of the rules. Aina Abdul performed inside a large water-droplet design in a dress said to have taken 600 hours to make. Vietnam's Toc Tien shifted from pop into a heavier dance arrangement. Participants ranged from established stars to Bhutan's Nyendra, making his first trip abroad, and Mongolia's Beck, an economist advising his deputy prime minister.

An Asian edition had been discussed since about 2009. Earlier Australian efforts were shelved before the European Broadcasting Union announced this version in March. Unlike the European event's national-broadcaster model, the Asia edition was organised by commercial television. India, Japan and China were absent, and organisers hope to attract them later.

The final was streamed for Australian viewers, with a 15 November evening replay scheduled. The broader Eurovision brand attracted 131 million viewers in 2026, down 35 million amid a five-country boycott over Israel's participation. Organisers say the Asian expansion was long planned and should not be read simply as a response to that controversy. They caution that establishing the new event could take several years, particularly after a short-lived US version in 2022.

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