Azerbaijani artist Jamal Gasimov has won the competition run by the ZOOP platform and will perform the official opening warm-up act of the first Eurovision Song Contest Asia, to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday 14 November. The One Bangkok Forum in the Thai capital will welcome 11 countries, with Woody Milintachinda and Cindy Bishop as hosts.
Alongside the competing entries, the contest will feature special guests. One of them is Jamal Gasimov, who will take to the stage of this historic first Eurovision edition in Asia as the official opening act. As part of his prize he will also receive US$10,000 and return flights and accommodation in Bangkok for himself and a guest.
The Eurovision Asia organisers announced his win on their official social media channels, highlighting the role of fans around the world who took part in the competition and backed their favourite candidates. Jamal Gasimov is now preparing to perform at one of the biggest events on the Asian calendar.
Jamal Gasimov‘s performance will come before the main show as the opening number or warm-up act. Under the official terms of the ZOOP competition, the performance will take place before the main programme and its inclusion in the TV broadcast is not guaranteed.
With Jamal Gasimov announced as winner, one of the side initiatives linked to the launch of the Eurovision Song Contest Asia is now settled, as the contest puts the finishing touches to its first edition.
A competition powered by fans
The artist chosen to warm up the crowd before the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 was selected through a competition in which fans played an active part. The voting experience and the running of the contest were handled by ZOOP, with voting technology provided by Hedera.
Having won the competition, Jamal Gasimov will get the crowd going before the contest begins, a performance that gives him the chance to introduce himself to an international audience.
The organisers congratulated both the winner and the other artists who took part in the competition and mobilised their fan communities during the vote.
Jamal Gasimov‘s fans can follow his road to Bangkok on his ZOOP profile, where he will share exclusive content and updates about his participation. With this win, Jamal Gasimov is getting ready for a special moment in his career and to be part of the first steps of Eurovision Asia, a new chapter in the Eurovision brand‘s international expansion.
Opening act at Eurovision Asia 2026, US$10,000 and a trip to Bangkok
As well as the chance to perform live in front of the audience at the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026, Jamal Gasimov will receive a cash prize of US$10,000, plus return flights and accommodation in Bangkok for himself and a guest.
The initiative, run by ZOOP, a social platform linked to the contest, was created to give independent artists a chance to be seen at an international event. The competition was launched on 30 September and allowed entrants to rally their communities to win a place among the five finalists.
ZOOP’s warm-up act competition was born as part of the new Asian contest’s online outreach strategy. It also set out to boost the careers of independent artists and give them the chance to perform on one of the music industry’s most prominent stages.
Entry took place entirely through the ZOOP app. Interested artists had to download it, create a profile and sign up for the competition from the home screen. Once registered, they appeared on a public leaderboard and received a personal link to share with their followers.
Every verified person who signed up to ZOOP through that link counted as one vote for that artist. Fan support was therefore decisive in determining which entrants went through.
Once entries closed, the five artists with the most verified votes reached the final round, where a jury picked the overall winner: Jamal Gasimov. Songs entered had to be no longer than three minutes, and entrants had to hold the necessary rights to perform them.
With this competition, ZOOP aims to give visibility to new talent without a large industry presence yet and to open doors to bigger stages. The platform presented the initiative as a way to involve fans directly in their favourite artists’ journey, letting them help their rankings by signing up themselves.
The competition also included a prize for the person who invited the winning artist to the platform: a trip to Bangkok with the musician and US$2,000 in spending money.
The competition is part of the strategy of ZOOP, a social platform focused on creators and communities and built on Hedera technology. Its model is based on channels dedicated to major cultural events and aims to offer an alternative to traditional content distribution. The company wants to show that the backing of a committed community can be decisive in opening up new professional opportunities, even for artists who do not yet have a big presence in the music industry.
The Eurovision Song Contest Asia will be the platform’s first flagship channel. ZOOP says it has reached close to one million registered users and offers creators up to 80% of the revenue they generate.
Who is Jamal Gasimov? Meet the artist opening Eurovision Asia 2026
Jamal Gasimov is a young singer-songwriter from Azerbaijan known for his vocal versatility and a sound that blends contemporary pop with pop-rock and folk-rock influences. He sings in Azerbaijani and English, with lyrics about love, personal growth, identity and freedom of expression.
His career began to gather pace in 2024, when he released several songs including “Affirmation”, “Good Day”, “Love Story”, “Ey Azərbaycanım” and “Xəzərin Sahilində”, the last recorded with musician Jasur Nematov. With these songs he started to shape his own identity, marked by expressive vocals and modern arrangements.
International recognition came in March 2025, when he represented Azerbaijan at Sanremo Junior, an international competition for young performers held at the famous Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Italy. Jamal Gasimov sang “Affirmation” with a symphony orchestra and finished third out of 25 participants, an important step forward for his career.
Since then, Jamal Gasimov has added songs such as “Özünə İnan”, “Stereotype”, “Danış” and “Ürəyimsən” to his discography. In “Stereotype”, he explores individuality and challenges social labels through modern pop production and a deeply emotional performance.
With a musical identity that alternates introspective songs and upbeat tracks, Jamal Gasimov continues to build his career with the aim of connecting with audiences from different cultures through music.