is holding the final of its Intervision song contest on Saturday evening, a competition from Soviet times that has been relaunched by President as a conservative answer to the West’s glitzy, liberal and queer-friendly .
Russian artists have been banned from participating in Eurovision since
What is Intervision about?
Moscow says that the competition aims to foster “national identity” and “traditional values.”
There will be no “perversions and mockery of human nature,” Foreign Minister said in a remark seemingly aimed at Eurovision’s pro-LGBTQ+ stance. The queer community in Russia has .
Among the 23 countries taking part in the event near Moscow are not only former Soviet republics such as , and Uzbekistan, but also Russia’s BRICS partners , and .
The artists will be competing for a cash prize of 30 million roubles (€306,000; $360,000), with organizers hoping that more than a billion TV views will tune in for the gala.
Russia will be represented by the ultranationalist singer Yaroslav Dronov, alias Shaman, who will perform the song “Straight to the Heart.”
Geopolitics take center stage
Apart from Serbia and Belarus, no countries from Europe will be represented at the competition, an illustration of the freeze in Euro-Russian relations over the war in Ukraine.
But unlike its partners in Europe, the United States has not been shunned by the Kremlin-backed event.
Australian-born singer Vassy will take to the stage for the US, which is also to be represented on the jury by rock singer Joe Lynn Turner.
The next Eurovision Song Contest is to
Edited by: Karl Sexton
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