ZOOP Launches $10,000 Competition To Open Eurovision Asia's Grand Final

New York, New York, September 30th, 2026, FinanceWire

The exclusive social partner of Eurovision Song Contest Asia is giving artists the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Bangkok and perform live as the official warm up act at the Grand Final event, with fans helping choose the finalists.

ZOOP, the exclusive social partner of Eurovision Song Contest Asia, has launched the Warm-Up Act, a new route for independent artists onto the Eurovision stage. The winning artist will receive a $10,000 cash prize, an all expenses paid trip to Bangkok and the opportunity to perform their song live as the official warm up act at the Eurovision Song Contest Asia Grand Final event, which takes place on November 14, 2026, with Thailand's Channel 3 as host broadcaster.

Eurovision Song Contest Asia is the first edition of the seventy year old format to be staged in Asia, and an opening slot has long been one of the most valuable breaks in music. Sara Bareilles and Neon Trees both went on to sign record deals after opening for Maroon 5 and The Killers. The competition puts a stage of that caliber within reach of artists who might otherwise wait years for the call, and gives their fans a direct role in getting them there.

How To Enter

Entry runs entirely through the app. Artists download ZOOP, set up a profile and enter the competition from the home screen, where they are added to a live leaderboard and given a personal voting link to share. Every verified person who joins ZOOP through that link counts as one vote. The five artists with the most verified votes advance to the final round, where a jury selects the winner. Entries need a song of three minutes or less, and artists must hold the rights to perform it.

"Every artist knows what it feels like to have fans who believe in them before the industry does," said RJ Phillips, founder and CEO of ZOOP. "The Warm-Up Act Competition gives that belief a vote. Your community helps carry you to the final five, your song carries you to the stage, and one artist gets to open the first Eurovision Song Contest Asia Grand Final event in Bangkok."

Fans At The Center

Giving fans the power to set the shortlist reflects what Eurovision Asia audiences have already shown. When Bhutan, a country of fewer than a million people, held its national selection, the Eurovision Asia Instagram account drew 14 million views in a single week on the strength of Bhutan alone. Engagement on that scale from a small market suggests the depth of a fan base can matter as much as its size, and the competition's voting model is designed to reward exactly that kind of committed support.

Fans also have a stake of their own. Anyone who refers an artist who goes on to win will fly to Bangkok alongside them and receive $2,000 in spending money, making the person who spotted the talent first part of the story.

Built For Cultural Moments

The competition reflects how ZOOP itself is built. The social platform, which runs on Hedera technology and is now live, organizes itself around channels dedicated to major cultural events, with Eurovision Song Contest Asia as its first flagship channel. It rewards users for participation and offers creators up to 80 percent of the revenue they generate. ZOOP says close to a million people have already signed up.

Eurovision director Martin Green has said the contest will be "shaped by the artists, broadcasters and audiences who make it their own." The Warm-Up Act Competition puts that idea into practice, giving audiences a hand in choosing who takes the stage first.

For artists ready to take the next step, entry is open through the ZOOP Warm-Up Act Competition.

Learn more and enter athttps://zoop.com/warm-up-act/ | Follow ZOOP on X: @ZOOP

About Zoop

ZOOP is a creator first social platform built to replace noisy, algorithm driven feeds with real fans and real connection. Founded by RJ Phillips, ZOOP offers what the company describes as the largest revenue share in the industry for creators and their communities, powered by infrastructure built on the Hedera network. ZOOP is available now on the App Store and Google Play. Learn more at zoop.com.

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