“Intervision”, the competition revived by the Russians to compete with “Eurovision”, starts in Moscow tomorrow with the participation of the US and 22 other countries
Excluded by Eurovision, Russia will launch the final of its own international song competition on Saturday, at the urging of President Vladimir Putin, under a name from the Soviet era and with artists mentioned as promoters of “traditional family values”, reports Reuters.
Singers from 23 countries, totaling more than half of the world's population – including China, India, Brazil and the United States – will participate in “Intervision”, competing for a money prize of 30 million rubles ($ 360,000).
Russia was excluded from the Eurovision contest in 2022, after Putin ordered tens of thousands of soldiers to Ukraine. Earlier this year, Putin announced the organization of a rival contest, with a high -ranking counselor from the Kremlin designated to lead the Supervision Council. Kiev has qualified the right event “a hostile propaganda tool”.
The show will be broadcast live on Russian television. Russian organizers say that it will be available on the Internet or on television in other countries, with a total population of over 4 billion people, although they have not published the list of foreign stations that intend to broadcast it.
How will “intervision” take place
Songs can be interpreted in any language. The result will be decided by a professional jury, made up of representatives of each country, and not by the viewer.
Intervision brings the name of a musical contest that Moscow organized in the Soviet era with the satellite states of Eastern Europe. The new version will include artists from countries that Russia today consider friends, such as Belarus, Cuba, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Serbia is the only country to participate in both Eurovision and intervision. The United States will also be represented, by an artist born in Australia called “Vassy”, after the American singer of R&B Brandon Howard has been withdrawn at the last moment, invoking family motifs.
In contrast to the famous kitsch of Eurovision, the Russian organizers of Intervision states that they promote “traditional, universal and family values”.
Stings at Eurovision in Moscow
The Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov said, in a press conference held before the competition, that Moscow did not forbade the Russians to follow Eurovision, but he considers that there is also what he called “alternative approaches to preserve national traditions and cultures, as well as to our ancestors, spiritual and moral construction”.
“If this enjoys high demand, this can only make us happy. But we do not challenge the right of the jury or the Eurovision viewers to vote for a bearded man,” he said, making obvious allusion to the 2014 Eurovision by Conchita Wurst.
At that edition Russia was copiously fed several times while announcing the results of the vote, given that the contest hosted in 2014 by Copenhagen took place a few months after the Russian troops occupied Crimea.
After the fall of communism, Russia participated in Eurovision from 1994 to 2021, during which time he presented in the European competition some of his biggest stars.
Russia won the competition in 2008 through Dima Balan, which played the song “Believe”. The Eurovision contest was then organized in Moscow, at the Olympic Stadium in the Russian capital, in 2009.
Moscow will be represented at the intervision by “Shaman”, by the real name is Iaroslav Dronov, with a song in Russian entitled “Direct to the heart”.
Dronov, who at one time simulated the detonation of a nuclear bomb on stage, climbed the wave of war -powered patriotism, with pieces such as “I am Russian”, becoming a constant presence on the Russian state television.
Russia organizes the contest on “Live Arena”, a room with a capacity of 11,000 spectators.
