History: ABU TV Song Festival 2014

The ABU TV Song Festival 2014 was the third edition of this festival, which tries to be the asian response to the successful Eurovision Song Contest. After an awesome first edition, which took place in Seoul, the South Korean capital, and after a second edition which was heavily criticised by the camera work, the job made with the LED screens and the tiny venue, the third edition brought mixed feelings.


At first the non asian fans of the ABU TV Song Festival were very angry due to the stream link provided to see the show via TDM, the state broadcaster of Macau. After being able to see all the performances, my opinion has changed positively, and nowadays, I think that this third ATSF has been better than the previous one in Hanoi, the vietnamese capital, but has not reached the level of the very first one, organised by the powerful korean state broadcaster.

The event was originally planned to take place in the Venetian Theatre of Macau, which had a seat capacity of over 1.400 viewers, but later, it was changed to the smaller Sands Macau, with a capacity of only 600 seats. This change of venue was something annoying, but after seeing that, at least, that centre was more modern that the Hanoi Opera (The venue of the previous edition), I felt better.

The design of the stage was very original, much better than the stage planned by the vietnamese television, last year. That stage had a shape which was similar to an eye, with led screens around. The effect was very interesting.

The presenters, this time, unlike the previous years when Jamaica de la Cruz used to be the host of the first two editions, were both from TDM, the host broadcaster, and  The job done by them in the show was OK.

The peformances.

12 were the participating countries in this third edition of the ABU TV Song Festival. For unknown reasons, six countries were wirthrawing, while 3 countries debuted, the Maldives, Macau and Turkey.

Australia was the starter of the show. Dami Im, who was chosen by the australian broadcaster did a very good job. The song was very uplifting, with an inspirational melody and electronic arrangements. "Living dangerously" is one of those songs that you love from the very first momment. The performance can be only described as epic. She gave everything on stage, showing all the power of her voice. Her outfit was also beautiful. In spite of being a long dress, it was glittery and suitable enough for an up tempo song. If the ATSF was a competitive event, she would be in the top 5.

Brunei, the little and wealthy country in the Borneo island, was the next country to show its song. Juan Madial, who is a well known singer in his homeland appeared with an acoustic guitar on stage.
The song was beautiful and correctly performed by the singer, who also had a good voice. Although is a beautiful ballad, it would not be enough to atract the viewers i the show turned into a competition.

Tere Cia, from Indonesia was the third singer who performed in the ATSF. Indonesia is used to be the first broadcaster to reveal its singer and song. In this case, Theresia Hutabarat, more known as Tere Cia, started her music career last year, when she won the Lake Toba Song Contest. The song "Dimana Hatimu", a romantic ballad, was rearranged for the ABU TV Song Festival, giving it an epic, and also ethnic flavour. In the first seconds of the performance, the song is difficult to recognise from the original version, but the final one is more powerful, and much better. The singer appeared on stage with a flamboyant golden outfit and performed the song elegantly showing also all her voice. This song could get easily a top 10 in case that this event turned into a competition.

Bibi Zhou, who represented China in the ABU TV Song Festival, is very well known in all the chinese speaking areas. She got the second place in the Super Girl competition in 2005, and from then on, she has developed a highly successul career turning into one of the most famous mandopop divas of Mainland China. Her song entittled "I miss you missing me", was sung in mandarin and english. She appeared dressed with a red outfit. The song is a beautiful ballad, and her performance, very emotional and touching, but unfortunately, nothing special if the contest turned into a competition. Maybe it could finish in the half places.

In ist third appearance in he ABU TV Song Festival, Hong Kong, the special administrative region of China, took parti in the event, sending Fred Cheng. The song, called "Xiongmao" (Panda) which was initially written in the cantonese dialect, was finally performed in mandarin during the event. The song is another cute ballad, also elegantly performed by the singer, who appeared on stage with a purple suit. Although the song is also beautiful, this song would be considered as random by many viewers if the contest was a competition.

The japanese entries in the ABU TV Song Festival, are usually the most expected ones by the music fans. In fact, we are talking about the favourite country of the viewers of this event. In this case, Japan was represened by the band Sekai No Owari, with the song "Dragon Night". Although in this video, the audio is altered due to copiright issues, the song is the best one in this edition, and it would be the clear winner if the contest turned into a competition. The popular japanese band entered on the stage with a militaristic uniform. The lead vocal was singing with a walkie talkie shaped microphone and carriying a white and red flag. It was maybe one of the most entertaining event in this years edition.

After Japan, the Korean K-pop band, Girl's Day, were the next band to perform. The song "Something", was sensually performed by the members of the band. They appeared with white suits, dancing the same choreography they used in the promotional video of the song. The song soulds OK and due to their popularity in the rest of the asian countries, they could get a second place in case that the show turned into a competition.

The appearance on stage of the macanese entrants supossed a great change of style in the course of the event. The heavy metal band Blademark gave a powerful performance with the song "Heartcore". This song, sung in cantonese dialect, has got a message that encourages to "Fight for your right", and "Fight for your freedom", some of the phrases in the chorus of the song.

After Macao, Mooshan Mubarik, who was selected by the maldivian national broadcaster after an accident suffered by Mariyam Unoosha, who was previously selected. The representative of the maldives sung an ethnic pop-rock song which has been one of the greatests surprises of the night. The deep lyrics and a very inspirational melody has apparently aroused some interest in countries such as Japan, where the singer is going to have some performances. If the contest turned into a competition, this song wold get a top 10.

For second time in the ABU TV Song Festival, Jetrin Wattaassin, best known as J-Jetrin, sung "7th heven", a song originally released in 2008. The start of the performance was somehow interesting, J-Jetrin is a well known performer in Thailand, the country he represented. He started his career in the early 90's and has been very popular since then. The song is really entertaining and innovative compared with the rest of the songs of the festival, but the staging was simple, and not enough to get the victory if the contest was a competition.

For the very first time in the ATSF, the turkish debut in the festival was sung by the band "maNga", a very well known band in Turkey, also known outside their homeland for taking part in 2010 in the Eurovision Song Contest, getting the second placce.
The song is one of the best ones in this edition of the show, the performance was also remarkable by the charisma of the lead vocal. Their song, translated into english as "Does Anyone have extra love?", would be another candidate for the victory.

Closing the festival, The vietnamese entrant, Nguyen Ngoc Ahn, appeared on stage singing, again, another ballad. "The spring is magically comming" was originally released in 2011. The song was drastically rearranged for the event with some orchestral and Jazzistic elements. The voice of this largely awarded singer sounds also well. Her vocal range is enormus and probably, she would have deserved a better song.

Apart from the mistake in the stream broadcast, the show was OK, the stage was beautiful and except from some cases, the camera work and the Led screens were properly handled.

After finishing the festival, I had the typical feeling of many viewers of this event. Something is missing. The votes, the part of a contest when the winning song is decided, still has not been included in the rules of the contest. The show was very interesting, but it could be even more hooking if this event evolved into a competitive show.

I also thing that limitating the number of participating countries to 15, is a serious mistake. Asia is very big and diverse, with many countries that deserve to show the talent of their singers. The most recomendable thing would be that the show was opened to all the asian countries interested to take part.