The bar singer, the K-pop veteran and the ‘railway track diva’: meet three Eurovision Asia 2026 hopefuls

For some, it’s their first big break, for others it’s a chance to secure their fame. But for all 11 acts, it’s an opportunity to be Asia’s first ever winner

Eurovision is heading to Asia: here’s what to expect

Next week the Eurovision juggernaut beloved by millions across Europe will arrive in Bangkok for its inaugural Asian edition, with organisers hoping for all the fanfare that the glitzy song contest usually brings.

Countries are getting behind their acts, particularly on social media, but much of the region is still familiarising itself with the competition; there are no big fanbases like those that have developed over the past seven decades in Europe.

Indeed, many of the 11 acts taking the stage next weekend for their three minutes of fame had never heard of the competition before they were chosen to represent their countries.

Among those competing for the prize are a bar singer from Bhutan taking his first flight, a K-pop veteran from Seoul and a 19-year-old Filipina who grew up singing beside railway tracks.

Nyendra had never heard of the contest until a friend rang him a year ago to ask whether he was entering. The 24-year-old went looking for it online. “I learned about how countries were united with the help of songs in Europe,” he says. “And that was really beautiful for me.”

Months later, after winning Bhutan’s national selection, he applied for his first passport, so he could fly to Thailand to represent the tiny Himalayan Buddhist kingdom. “I’ve never been outside [the country] my entire life,” he says. “I’ve never actually stepped on a plane before. Forget about the plane. I’ve never been on a train before!”

Nyendra’s song, Lhayi Semo (ལྷ་ཡི་སྲས་མོ), means roughly “the angel”, and is sung in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. He describes it as a sad love song about longing for someone you have never seen but believe is listening.

Originally from a border town in the south, Nyendra moved to the capital, Thimphu, to study when he was 19. For the past five years he has supported himself by singing in bars and restaurants around the city.

He would usually sing acoustic pop covers or ballads rather than his own songs because, he says, he feels insecure. “I’m not that famous or anything,” he says. “Those were the only places I could go and do a few gigs.” Some nights, people “wouldn’t even want to listen”.

His family had been “in disbelief” when he first chose music over steadier work. “I had to work my way through,” he says. When the national final was broadcast in August, his grandparents watched at home, and one of his uncles “was jumping and kissing the screen”.

“I know how hard it is for us to get such an opportunity in our life,” he says of representing a country of 800,000 people. “If I could bring a little positive effect to whatever I’m doing right now, and to Bhutan, that would be so beautiful for me.”

“I just feel blessed in the most beautiful way possible.”

Junhee debuted in 2017 as the leader of the five-member group A.C.E and now records solo under his own label.

His entry, Deep Dive, began as a loose demo with no connection to the contest and was rebuilt so heavily he says it’s almost a remake. It is “progressive EDM, but there’s a tempo change in the middle into a hip-hop, rap tempo, and then some R&B singing,” he says. “It’s a real hybrid.”

The lyrics were co-written with AleXa, who won the American Song Contest, the US version of the format that ran for a single series in 2022 and was never renewed.

Used to staging bigger and longer productions, the 32-year-old found the three-minute limit and the cap on performers the hardest part. “There’s so much I want to show.”

“I thought that if a singer is representing Korea, people abroad are definitely going to expect K-pop,” he says. “So, among all these contestants, what’s the thing I do best? K-pop.”

He has studied past winners and entrants on YouTube, and is planning a big staging for Bangkok. He is going in expecting to win.

“There might be a second or third Asian season. So the title of being the first winner means a lot to me,” he says. “I want to be remembered as someone who did really well.”

Nineteen-year-old Carmelle has been competing in talent shows since she was 12, among them the Philippines’ edition of The Voice Kids. Last year, she won the televised singing competition Tawag ng Tanghalan, and in May released her self-titled debut album accompanied by a sold-out concert.

She grew up in a family of singers in the Bicol region, in a house beside the railway tracks, and entered the reality show Pinoy Big Brother as the “railway track diva”. Filipino media now call her the “new gen pop diva”.

But representing her country takes things to a whole new level. “I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m pressured, but more than pressure I see it as an honour,” she says.

Her song Sobra-Sobra mixes pop and rap supported by traditional Philippine instruments, the kubing and kulintang, and is sung in Tagalog and English. “It’s about how unapologetic, independent and strong Filipinas are,” she says. “It describes me – not just me, but of course all the Filipinas.”

Carmelle too says she’s in it to win it, but has been enjoying befriending other contestants, including Junhee and Nyendra, who follow and message each other on Instagram. What she’s most looking forward to in Bangkok is meeting her co-finalists in person.

In the lead-up to the finals, Carmelle has been combining daily vocal sessions with her studies as a first-year psychology student.

As per Eurovision rules, audiences cannot vote for their own country, but Carmelle expects a boost from her country’s large contingent of overseas workers.

“I’m really honoured and privileged to represent our country because we all know that representing your country, it’s a big responsibility,” she says. She hopes she can “show that OPM [original Pilipino music] are the best!”.