Latest news with #Intervision
Korea Herald
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Russia's revived Soviet music contest to take place in September
MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia will hold its "Intervision" music competition in September, organizers announced on Wednesday, after authorities revived the Soviet-era competition that was meant to rival Eurovision. Moscow has been banned from taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest over its Ukraine offensive and President Vladimir Putin earlier this year ordered for the USSR-version of the contest to be held in Russia this year. The Intervision Song Contest — mainly made up of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc states — was held in the 1960s and 1970s to rival the West. Organizers said that Intervision 2025 will be held in Moscow's LIVE Arena on Sept. 20, promising artists from "various continents" and "unforgettable emotions." The European Broadcasting Union, the organizer of Eurovision, banned Russia after its February 2022 offensive in Ukraine, meaning it cannot enter or broadcast the contest. Russia has in previous years been a serious Eurovision contender, and took part in the contest since 1994, winning it in 2008. Putin issued a decree in February setting out a plan to hold the alternative contest. The Intervision Song Contest was held in the 1960s and 1970s, before being replaced by the Sopot International Song Festival, held in the Polish Baltic coast city of Sopot, and drawing artists from the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc. Alla Pugacheva, Russia's most famous artist considered as the country's pop queen, won the competition in 1978.
Malay Mail
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Russia's Intervision reborn: Putin's decree brings back Soviet-style music contest
MOSCOW, May 1 — Russia will hold its 'Intervision' music competition in September, organisers announced on Wednesday, after authorities revived the Soviet-era competition that was meant to rival Eurovision. Moscow has been banned from taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest over its Ukraine offensive and President Vladimir Putin earlier this year ordered for the USSR-version of the contest to be held in Russia this year. The Intervision Song Contest — mainly made up of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc states — was held in the 1960s and 1970s to rival the West. Organisers said that Intervision 2025 will be held in Moscow's LIVE Arena on September 20, promising artists from 'various continents' and 'unforgettable emotions.' The European Broadcasting Union, the organiser of Eurovision, banned Russia after its February 2022 offensive in Ukraine, meaning it cannot enter or broadcast the contest. Russia has in previous years been a serious Eurovision contender, and took part in the contest since 1994, winning it in 2008. Putin issued a decree in February setting out a plan to hold the alternative contest. The Intervision Song Contest was held in the 1960s and 1970s, before being replaced by the Sopot International Song Festival, held in the Polish Baltic coast city of Sopot, and drawing artists from the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc. Alla Pugacheva, Russia's most famous artist considered as the country's pop queen, won the competition in 1978. — AFP
Euronews
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Russia to relaunch Soviet-era Eurovision Song Contest rival in Moscow under Putin's orders
Following Russia's ban from competing in Eurovision in 2022 after the country's invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has ordered the return of Intervision, a Soviet-era singing competition that last took place more than 40 years ago. On Monday 3 February, the Russian leader signed a decree directing officials to bring back the Intervision Song Contest in Moscow this year, with the goal of 'developing international cultural and humanitarian cooperation.' While Eurovision has become a glitzy, global spectacle celebrating diversity and LGBTQ+ representation - last year's winner, Nemo from Switzerland, was the first non-binary contestant to take home the trophy - Russia's rebooted Intervision will strike a much different, sober tone. Do not expect any bearded drag queens, outrageous wigs, sequinned costumes or pride flags. Plans for the rebooted contest stress a commitment to 'traditional universal, spiritual, and family values,' making it clear that this is Russia's ideological counter-programming to the flamboyant pop extravaganza that is Eurovision. Russian senator, Liliya Gumerova, told state media that Intervision would "promote real music" and reject "fake values that are alien to any normal person." A brief history of the Intervision Song Contest Launched under the former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, the Intervision Song Contest took place in Czechoslovakia (1965 to 1968) and later in Sopot, Poland (1977 to 1980), replacing the Sopot International Song Festival during that period. The format was similar to Eurovision: Eastern Bloc countries connected via the Intervision television network could each send a performer, where a jury chose the winner after watching the performances. Despite its clear political undertones, the contest wasn't completely isolated from the West. European nations like the Netherlands and Spain occasionally sent entries, and in a surprising twist, Finland - a country that maintained neutrality during the Cold War - won the final Intervision contest in 1980. 'It was live, and it was in a wonderful outdoor theatre. And it was very big, I think 15,000 people or maybe even more,' recalls Marion Rung, the Finnish singer who won that final Intervision Song Contest. 'It looked very much like Eurovision. It was a fantastic orchestra, and a fantastic conductor,' she told Euronews from her home in Helsinki. However, the contest was cancelled in 1981 due to political turmoil, particularly with the rise of the Solidarity movement (Solidarność), an independent trade union that opposed the ruling communist government in Poland, as well as growing unrest in the Warsaw Pact countries. But now, over 40 years later, Russia is determined to bring it back. Who will participate in the revived Intervision Song Contest? The Kremlin claims that "almost 20 countries" are prepared to participate in Intervision, including all members of the BRICS and CIS blocs. Among them are China, India, and Brazil - nations that have not participated in the Western sanctions. North Korea, whose soldiers have come to Putin's aid in the war in Ukraine, already takes part in the Own Asiavision Song Contest, so it's unclear whether they would take part. Putin has attempted to resurrect Intervision before. In 2014, as Russian officials decried what they saw as Eurovision's 'moral decay' following Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst's victory, Moscow announced plans to relaunch the contest in Sochi. But the project never materialised. The resurrected competition is now set to take place this autumn in Moscow.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Putin relaunches Soviet-era Intervision song contest amid Eurovision ban
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Feb. 3 ordering the revival of the Intervision song contest, the Soviet Union's equivalent to Eurovision. The Eurovision Song Contest banned Russia from participation in 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin's order instructs officials to host Intervision in Moscow in 2025 for the purpose of "developing international cultural and humanitarian cooperation." The decree appoints Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko as chair of the organizing committee and Deputy Chief of Staff Sergei Kiriyenko as chair of the contest's supervisory board. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed in December 2024 that over 25 countries had expressed interest in participating in Intervision, including several in Latin America. Mikhail Shvydkoi, Putin's culture envoy, previously claimed that all BRICS nations would take part. The original Intervision contest ran from 1965 until 1968, then again from 1977 to 1980. The competition served as the Soviet bloc's answer to Eurovision, which began in 1956 and is organized annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Russia first competed in Eurovision in 1994 and has sent many performers to the contest in the years since. Russian singer Dima Bilan is the country's only Eurovision winner, taking first place in 2008. Moscow hosted the competition the following year. Russia has been barred from Eurovision since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Later that year, Ukraine won the song contest, but was unable to host the event in 2023 due to the ongoing war. Ukrainian artists have won Eurovision three times: Ruslana in 2004 with "Wild Dances," Jamala in 2016 with "1944," and Read also: Explainer: Ukraine's EuroMaidan was not a coup, despite Russian disinfo pushed by Musk We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Telegraph
04-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Putin launches anti-woke Eurovision rival
It's the beloved festival of camp kitsch that shot Abba and Conchita Wurst to stardom. Now, Vladimir Putin wants his own macho version of Eurovision. But under the isolated Russian president's stern gaze, it is out with bearded drag crooners and anything to do with decadent Western culture. The despot has ordered his apparatchiks to reboot Eurovision was hugely popular in Russia, which won the competition once, in 2008. But in 2021, Manizha became the last Russian act to perform in the contest, which took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, because the following year, the county Ukraine then went on Liliya Gumerova, a Russian senator, told state media on Monday that Intervision would 'promote real music' and 'not fake values that are alien to any normal person'. She slammed Eurovision for Shirtless and covered in pink ruffles, Switzerland's entry Nemo was crowned the first non-binary singer to win Eurovision in 2024. The Kremlin was fuming. It has 'surpassed any orgy, revelry or ritual sacrilege', cried Maria Zakharova, Russia's foreign ministry spokesman, condemning the competition as another 'funeral' for Western Europe. Fun-starved Russians can instead look forward to staid patriotic fare in Moscow later this year, organised under the watchful eye of Dmitry Chernyshenko, the deputy prime minister. Light-hearted Graham Norton-style commentary will be unlikely as singers drawn from the ranks of communist China and pro-Putin influencers take to the stage to celebrate traditional values. According to Putin's decree, Intervision will serve to increase the 'development of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation'. Moscow has attempted to position itself as an 'anti-woke' sanctuary in recent years, offering Western citizens a chance to emigrate to Russia. Putin said the aim of providing such 'humanitarian aid' was to 'save' those who identify with Russian 'spiritual and moral values' from 'destructive neoliberal ideological attitudes' in the West. The Kremlin claims almost 20 countries are ready to take part in Intervision, including all the members of the BRICS and CIS blocs. That includes China, India and Brazil, which have not joined the Western sanctions against Moscow and maintain relations with a pariah president wanted for war crimes. North Korea, whose soldiers are being forced to fight in Ukraine, already competes in the Own Asiavision Song Contest. It was not immediately clear who would represent Russia in a contest, which will fall far short of the sexy cheekiness of Buck's Fizz or the smiley joyousness of Space Man singer Sam Ryder. Many of Russia's most popular musicians have fled the country or been blacklisted after criticising the war in Ukraine. One candidate who could take centre stage is Shaman, best known for his Ya Russki (I'm Russian) song. It has been adopted as the unofficial anthem of a nationalist wave that has swept parts of the country since the war in Ukraine. School pupils have been ordered to study the song to 'boost their patriotism'. Shaman shared the stage with Putin at a concert in Moscow's Red Square in 2022 as the Russian leader described the war in Ukraine as a battle against the 'satanic' West. Lyube, Putin's favourite rock band, could also play a central role in Intervision. The band made more money from pro-Kremlin concerts in the first 16 months after the war in Ukraine than in the previous eight years, according to Agentstvo, a Russian news outlet banned by the Kremlin. Then there are the pro-Putin Z Influencers, named after the letter that shows support for Russia's invasion. Singer Yulia Chicherina has been known to perform her songs in occupied Ukraine, often for troops hunkered down in a bunker. On a recent visit to Russian soldiers in occupied Ukraine, she was presented, to her delight, with a stolen Chanel bag, which she posted on social media. Chicherina, who performed during an event to celebrate the ninth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea, was a relatively unknown indie-rock artist until she resurfaced after Putin seized control of the Ukrainian territory. 'This is a war of orthodoxy against the Antichrist,' she said about the war in Ukraine. It's not the sort of comment one can imagine Cilla Black or Cliff Richard coming out with back when they were racking up the points for the UK in the 1960s. Putin previously attempted to launch a 'world festival of friendship' in Russia last year after the country was banned from the Olympics. The project was postponed indefinitely and many hope the Russian president could soon meet his Waterloo as well.
