China, India and Japan to join in Asiavision song contest

Hong Kong - Asia is to have its own version of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 with at least seven countries and territories taking part, a Hong Kong news report said Monday. China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong have all committed to taking part in the contest which will be screened on TVs across the region, the South China Morning Post said.

Contests to select the entries from each of the participating destinations will be held early next year before a three-hour finale at a venue yet to be decided, the newspaper said.

Asiavision, the company set up to arrange the event, said that unlike Eurovision, which launched the international careers of acts like ABBA, the Asian contest would feature existing pop stars.

"We are aiming at having established artists," said spokesman Mishal Varma. "It's like the Olympics for music."

Varma said the organizers of Eurovision had been consulted about the idea and partnerships would be formed with broadcasters in each of the participating countries and territories.

The Eurovision Song Contest has run for 53 years and is as famous internationally for its naff tunes and heroic failures scoring "null points" as its famous graduates like Lulu and Cliff Richard.

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