Russia is reviving the Intervision Song Contest, a Soviet-era music event last held more than 40 years ago, under the orders of President Vladimir Putin. The contest aims to challenge Eurovision by promoting “traditional values” and will take place in Moscow later this year.
After being barred from Eurovision in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine, Russia is seeking to establish an alternative music competition. Putin has framed Intervision as a means to “enhance international cultural and humanitarian cooperation.” Unlike Eurovision, which emphasizes diversity and LGBTQ+ representation, Intervision will focus on “spiritual, universal, and family values.” Russian senator Liliya Gumerova stated that the contest will celebrate “authentic music” while rejecting “foreign influences incompatible with traditional norms.”
First introduced during the Soviet era under Leonid Brezhnev, Intervision was held from 1965 to 1968 in Czechoslovakia and later from 1977 to 1980 in Sopot, Poland, replacing the Sopot International Song Festival. Its format mirrored Eurovision, featuring competitors from Eastern Bloc nations with a jury selecting the winner. Despite its ideological connection to the USSR, some Western countries, including the Netherlands and Spain, occasionally participated. Finland even won the final edition of Intervision in 1980. However, the contest was discontinued in 1981 due to political turmoil and the emergence of Poland’s Solidarity movement.
According to Russian officials, nearly 20 nations have expressed interest in participating, including members of the BRICS and CIS alliances such as China, India, and Brazil—countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia. North Korea, which participates in its own Asiavision Song Contest, has yet to confirm its involvement.
Putin previously attempted to relaunch Intervision in 2014, following Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst’s Eurovision victory, which Russian officials condemned as proof of the contest’s “moral decline.” While plans were made to hold the event in Sochi, they never came to fruition. Now, after more than four decades, Intervision is set to return, with Moscow preparing to host the revived competition this autumn.
