Filipino entry, pop and rap song Sobra-Sobra, takes 19-year-old to victory at grand final in Bangkok
Carmelle Collado has won the first Eurovision song contest Asia, taking the Philippines’ entry, Sobra-Sobra, to victory in Bangkok on Saturday night, at the first regional edition of the contest to be staged outside Europe.
Eleven countries competed at the One Bangkok Forum in central Bangkok, and the show ran for two and a half hours including advertising.
The winner, who performs under the single name Carmelle, finished on 211 points, 41 clear of the hosts Thailand, with Vietnam third. She received the most votes from both the national juries and the public ballot.
Carmelle, 19, grew up beside the railway tracks in the Bicol region of south-eastern Luzon and has been competing in televised talent contests since she was 12.
Sobra-Sobra mixes pop and rap, is supported by traditional Philippine instruments, the kubing and kulintang, and is sung in Tagalog and English.
After her victory, Carmelle said her song celebrated female empowerment and was intended as “a tribute to all Filipino women”.
“I made history, since this was the first time,” she told the Associated Press. “It’s such a big responsibility for me, because this one is a global stage, so thank you everybody who voted for me.”