Russia is set to revive the Intervision song contest, a Soviet-era alternative to Eurovision, with the first edition since the collapse of the Soviet Union beginning in Moscow on Saturday. The event will feature performers from 23 mostly allied countries, including members of the Brics bloc such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa, as well as post-Soviet allies like Belarus and several Central Asian states.
Unlike Eurovision, known for its camp theatrics and Europop, Intervision promises a focus on “traditional values”, patriotic ballads, and cultural heritage. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said: “The quality is high … The main thing for us is that they bring with them their culture, a sense of life and spiritual traditions. This has succeeded.”
Russia will be represented by Shaman, a peroxide-blond singer and prominent cultural face of the Kremlin’s war effort, best known for patriotic songs such as I Am Russian. The contest will be hosted by Chinese showman Lay and Indian actor Stefy Patel.
Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022 following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to revive Intervision, which originally ran sporadically from the 1960s to the 1980s as the eastern bloc’s answer to Eurovision. Organisers faced a setback when American singer Brandon Howard pulled out, though he was never part of an official US delegation.
Russian officials have long criticised Eurovision for undermining “traditional family values”. Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Russia’s Communist party, said: “Eurovision used to be bright and interesting. But when the west started dragging all sorts of perversions on to television I not only didn’t like it, I no longer wanted to watch it.” He expressed confidence that Intervision would surpass Eurovision in popularity.
However, local media reported that organisers, concerned about low attendance, planned to use paid extras instructed to pose as “foreign guests”.
