What’s Mandarin for “nul points”? “Líng fén” could become just as familiar a phrase, as the creators of the Eurovision Song Contest are to produce a version of the world’s best loved and most derided musical competition in Asia.

At least 15 nations, including India and China, will take part in the inaugural Asiavision, an event that promises to serve up a toe-curling fusion of Bollywood bling and excruciatingly naff oriental pop. Six months of regional qualifying tournaments will culminate in a grand final next summer before a projected television audience of some 500 million.

Those behind the new contest believe that it will unite countries as diverse as Pakistan and Japan. They can point to evidence that in Asia cheesy music can transcend time and space: last month Boney M had a top five album in India.

Others, however, predict that the vast chasms in taste that divide the continent – coupled with its myriad political tensions – risk making the contest a discordant debacle. Radhakrishnan Nair, the editor of Rolling Stone India, said: “It’s very hard to see how this is going to work. I just can’t see a Chinese audience understanding, appreciating or voting for a Hindi, Bollywood-style song.”

Eurovision, onlookers have long noted, has thrived by mixing camp irony with mild geopolitical controversy. Last year’s Israeli entry, for instance, was calledPush the Button– a barely-veiled allusion to the potential bombing of Iran.

Television talent shows have already fuelled riots in Asia. Last year a secessionist movement in the Darjeeling region of India was reignited when a local won the region’s version of Pop Idol.

Meanwhile, Asiavision’s organisers have admitted that musical merit often comes second to politics when it comes to how songs score. “Asia today is all about competition, economically and politically,” said Andreas Gerlach, chief executive of Asiavision, the newly created company that will produce and market the programme.

The first Eurovision contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956. The competition has delighted – and appalled – audiences from Belfast to Belgrade every year since.

Asia, however, is by far the richest potential prize in the global media market. Focusing on the most populous region in the world, the Asiavision Grand Final has the potential to attract a television audience about five times that achieved by its European equivalent. “The format has proven it can travel worldwide,” said Bettina Brinkmann, head of formats and special events at Eurovision TV. “We are looking forward to other versions of it developing internationally.”

Indeed, it has been suggested Asiavision is merely a stepping stone to a global musical showdown and that “Worldvision” is the ultimate goal. “Imagine the Olympics, but for pop,” a spokesman said – a concept many would be tempted to give “lÍng fén”.

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