Asia’s Eurovision Contest Is Missing China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Japan

China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Japan aren’t joining the singing contest. That leave some of the region’s best-known musical cultures out of the mix. For a competition meant to introduce the diversity of Asian pop music to the world, the lineup for the first Eurovision Song Contest Asia has several notable absences. For starters, the continent’s four most populous nations — China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia — won’t be there.

Even Japan, a country globally considered a cultural powerhouse , is absent. That leaves some of the region’s best-known musical cultures out of the mix. India has Bollywood hits. China has produced both Mandopop and Cantopop, the genre associated with Hong Kong pop stars.

JPop was once huge across Asia. China’s absence is relatively simple to explain. Performers are entered by local broadcasters, and Eurovision has long had a messy relationship with China’s, which are heavily regulated and try to reflect the government’s social and political values.