The ABU Radio Song Festival 2016 was the fourth edition of the ABU Radio Song Festivals, organised by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). Originally a biennial event, the festival organisers changed its format to an annual festival commencing from 2014. The festival took place on 26 April 2016 in Beijing, China. Thirteen songs from ten countries took part in the festival. The hosts China, along with Macau, Nepal, Romania, and Turkmenistan all made their début in the festival. Brunei had withdrawn from the festival stating that they had not received an invitation to participate from the broadcasting union. Indonesia failed to qualify from the pre-selection stage of the festival.
| ABU Radio Song Festival 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final | 26 April 2016 |
| Host | |
| Venue | China National Radio Auditorium, Beijing, China |
| Host broadcaster | China National Radio (CNR) |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 13 songs from 10 countries |
| Debuting countries |
|
| Non-returning countries | |
| |
Location
It was announced that the 2016 ABU Radio Song Festival would take place in Beijing, China.[1]
Format
Unlike the format used in the Eurovision Song Contest there are two versions of the Song Festivals, ABU Radio and ABU TV Song Festivals. The ABU Radio Song Festival took place alongside the Radio Asia 2016 event took place in April 2016.
Host broadcaster
China National Radio (CNR), was the host broadcaster for the festival on 26 April 2016.[1]
Participating Countries
A total of thirteen countries took part in this years festival. Host country China made their début in this years festival along with Macau, Nepal, Romania and Turkmenistan. Brunei withdrew from the contest. The following entries had been selected by the ABU to participate in the final of the ABU Radio Song Festival 2016.[2]
| Country[3] | Artist[3] | Song[3] | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
 China | Wang Yi, Zhang Yingying, Ren Yanmin, Zhenmin, Hua Shukai | "Youth Never Ends" | Mandarin |
| China | China Broadcasting Children's Chorus | "Singing in the Drizzling Rain" | Mandarin |
 India | Thokchom Lansana Chanu | "Creation" | English |
 South Korea | Seungjin Han | "Little Wings" | English |
 Macau | Josie Ho | "Who Am I" | Cantonese |
 Maldives | Bathool Ahmed | "Unikan" | Maldivian |
 Myanmar | Eastern & Phoe Pyae | "New Fangled Harmony" | English |
 Nepal | Suman Gurung | "Aaja Mero Man Ma" | Nepali |
 Romania | Analia Victoria Selis & Mariano Castro | "Viento Del Sur" | Spanish |
 Singapore | Ling Kai | "Year, Month, Day" | Mandarin |
 Thailand | Nawapol Roadsomjit (Ome) | "Take On This World" | English |
 Turkmenistan | Atajan Berdiyev | "Folk song" | Turkmen |
 Vietnam | Phan Thi Thu Lan | "Good news bring by the bird" | Vietnamese |
Did not qualify
Of the seventeen preliminary entries, thirteen were selected to proceed to the final of the ABU Radio Song Festival. The remaining four songs did not qualify (as shown in the following table)[3]
| Country[4] | Artist[4] | Song[4] | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | Vince Costa | "Home Before Christmas" | English |
 Indonesia | Debora Febricia Romauli | "Mati Rasa" | Indonesian |
| Indonesia | Novri Batteny | "Di Antara Kita" | Indonesian |
| Maldives | Abdulla Ziyau | "Eid Ufaa" | Maldivian |
Other countries
Brunei - Radio Televisyen Brunei (RTB) announced on 20 February 2016 that they had not been invited to the festival, making their participation unlikely.[5]