The ABU Radio Song Festival is a biennial non-competitive gala that showcases songs or instrumentals by musicians across Asia, organised by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), and is based on the Eurovision Song Contest. The format consists of a non-televised semi-final and grand final which is broadcast.
Participating countries which have full or additional full ABU membership are invited to submit a song from an act that is unsigned to any record label. These entries are listened to by a panel of jury members, who select fifteen to proceed towards the radio festival final, were another panel of judges determining the top-5 prize winners. The grand final may be broadcast live via radio and television, or as a delayed live recorded broadcast for national broadcasters who may wish to add subtitles in their native languages.
Development
The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) had already run an international song contest for its members inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest between 1985 and 1987, called the ABU Popular Song Contest, with 14 countries of the Asia-Pacific region competing. The show had a similar concept to the current radio song festival with winners being chosen by a professional jury. South Korea, New Zealand and Australia celebrated victories in this competition. ABU later co-produced the ABU Golden Kite World Song Festival in Malaysia with participation of Asia-Pacific countries, as well as Yugoslavia and Finland. This also ran for three editions, from 1989 to 1991.
Shortly before launching the ABU Song Festival, the ABU had been considering the possibility to organize the ABU ASEAN TV Song Festival in Thailand. Historically, ASEAN song contests had been organized in periods between 1981 and 1997, however since 2011 the ASEAN Festival had been organized between local Radio stations as Bintang Radio ASEAN. The ABU outlined a plan about a "television song festival" based on the style of the Eurovision Song Contest following the cancellation of Our Sound. Kenny Kihyung Bae, chosen to the project manager, attended Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan to learn more about the contest before putting it to work.
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. The name Asiavision Song Contest was initially mentioned as a possibility, but they were later officially titled ABU TV Song Festival and ABU Radio Song Festival. According to the ABU, the deadline for participation applications for ABU TV Song Festival 2012 was 18 May 2012.
Format The ABU Radio Song Festival is a concert performance for musicians, who are not under contract with any label. The ABU recommends its members to introduce participating musicians and their songs on radio.abu.org.my: ABU Radio Song Festival Every participant is chosen by one national radio broadcaster. A jury represented by ABU members chooses 15 finalists from 26 submissions. The finalists perform during the general assembly of the ABU. Another jury awards the best artists.abu2012seoul.com: Program at a Glance
Participation
Participation in the contest is open to members of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Table key
Country Broadcaster(s) Debut year Most recent entry Number of entries Wins Afghanistan RTA 2018 2018 1 CRA 2012 2014 2 Bangladesh BB 2019 2019 1 BBSCR101 2012 2014 2 RTB 2012 2015 3 CNR 2016 2016 2 FBC 2012 2012 1 AIR 2012 2018 10 RRI 2012 2019 8 IRIB 2012 2019 4 KA 2018 2018 1 KTRK 2012 2012 1 TDM 2016 2018 2 RTMAstro All Asian Network 2012 2014 3 PSM 2015 2019 6 MRTV 2015 2016 2 Radio Nepal 2016 2019 3 PBC 2012 2014 2 Radio Romania 2016 2016 1 Mediacorp 2012 2016 4 KBS 2FMKBS Radio 2 2012 2016 5 1 MBC Networks 2014 2019 3 Sudan Radio 2012 2012 1 NBT 2014 2016 2 TRT 2018 2018 1 TTV 2018 2019 2 ABCVanuatu Radio 2012 2012 1 VOV 2012 2019 5
Hosting
Year Date Host country Host city Venue Participants 11 October 2012 Seoul KBS Hall 13 23 May 2014 Colombo Stein Studios 12 29 May 2015 Yangon National Theatre of Yangon 10 26 April 2016 Beijing China National Radio Auditorium 14 2017 11 July 2018 Astana Kazmedia Centre 10 31 October 2019 DhakaHotel Intercontinental8
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links ABU Radio Song Festival website
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