For years, Russia has aimed to unite global allies to challenge the West’s geopolitical and cultural dominance. This weekend, it tried a new method: song.
On Saturday night in Moscow, the country staged the Intervision Song Contest, a revival of a Cold War-era spectacle, with competitors representing countries including China, Cuba and India.
The United States was meant to be represented onstage, too: by Vassy, a Greek-Australian dance musician who recently gained American citizenship.
But about an hour into the show, Alexey Vorobyov, one of the competition’s presenters, announced that Vassy would not appear. An Intervision statement said she had withdrawn because of “unprecedented political pressure from the government of Australia,” without explaining further.
“It’s sad when politics attempts to interfere in the world that belongs to art, music and human feelings,” Vorobyov said.
The Australian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The eventual winner of the four-hour event was Duc Phuc, a Vietnamese pop star with two million followers on Instagram, who sang “Phù Đổng Thiên Vương” (“Heavenly Prince of Phù Đổng”), which tells of a legendary Vietnamese hero through soaring vocals and rapid dance beats.
Much of the show played out like a typical TV song contest, with acts performing amid pyrotechnics and taking part in oddball interviews (Duc Phuc was asked about his love of ice cream).
But Intervision also occasionally highlighted the Russian government’s desire for the show to be a hit and to reflect its social ideals. The night opened with a video message from President Vladimir V. Putin who said Interview would demonstrate “traditional values” as well as showcase the world’s diversity.
And after Russia’s artist, Shaman, performed his track, “Straight to the Heart,” in which he sung while suspended in midair, he asked the judges to ignore his entry.
“Hospitality is an integral part of the soul of the people of Russia,” he said. “I understand that, by the laws of hospitality, I have no right to aspire for victory.”
Intervision was originally staged in the 1960s and 1970s, and music critics have often called it a rival to the Eurovision Song Contest. The Kremlin had high hopes that the new event would attract an avid global audience, just as Eurovision does each year.
But before Saturday’s event, it hadn’t caused much of a stir in Russia, let alone internationally, despite a heavy promotional campaign on Russian social media and around Moscow. When the winner was announced during Saturday’s show, about 8,900 people were watching the global YouTube stream.
Here’s what else to know about this year’s event and why it mattered.
What is Intervision?
The first Intervision Song Contest took place in 1965 in Prague, which was then part of Czechoslovakia. Karel Gott, a Czech crooner often called the “Sinatra of the East,” took first place.
Czechoslovak television put the event together, and the Soviet authorities were not directly involved.
Dean Vuletic, an author who has written about both Eurovision and Intervision, said in an interview that there was a misconception that Intervision was “the communist challenger to Eurovision.” In reality, he said, its organizers wanted it to be a bridge between East and West, and a way of promoting their country’s pop stars abroad.
Some of the original eight editions of Intervision were broadcast in Western Europe, Vuletic said, and Intervision’s organizers invited Western artists like Gloria Gaynor and Boney M, the reggae and disco act, to perform as special guests.
Why did Russia revive it?
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and its resulting suspension from most international cultural and sporting events, Moscow created a raft of its own competitions, awards and festivals. Intervision is just the latest event aimed at projecting Moscow’s image as a leader of the Global South and guardian of what it describes as traditional values.
Before Russia was prohibited from participating in Eurovision, in 2022, it had taken its participation in that high-camp singing competition seriously, broadcasting it on a main state-run TV channel, and selecting competitors via a nationwide process. In 2008, the pop star Dima Bilan won Eurovision for Russia with “Believe.” (On Saturday, Bilan sung a track as part of the Intervision broadcast.)
Yet as Russian lawmakers moved to restrict gay culture in recent years, they also criticized Eurovision — which often features gay acts — as undermining Russian values. The victory of Conchita Wurst, a bearded drag queen from Austria, in 2014, was a particular point of contention.
Did everyday Russians care?
Despite active promotion by the government, which allocated more than $7 million for the competition, Intervision has generated little hype in Russia.
In Moscow, the government unfurled flags and installed flashy pavilions in front of railway stations and major tourist attractions, and advertised Intervision as the “No. 1 show in the world.” The state-run news media portrayed it as an event of global significance.
Sergei V. Kiriyenko, one of President Vladimir V. Putin’s most trusted lieutenants, said this week at a news conference that more than four billion people would “be able to watch the broadcast.”
But Russians never demonstrated much buy-in. Russian news outlets reported that people were being hired to pose as fans of some competing countries, greeting artists at the airport and showing support at the arena.
How was the U.S. involved?
In August, Intervision announced that an American competitor would be taking part: Brandon Howard, also known as B. Howard, a singer with ties to Michael Jackson’s family.
It was unclear how he came to represent the United States in the contest, whose rules state that any individual, business or institution can nominate an artist to take part.
Yet B. Howard’s said in a video posted to Russian social media on Wednesday that he was pulling out because of “unforeseen family circumstances.” Then, Vassy, his replacement — a musician known for singing on electronic dance music hits by David Guetta and Tiësto — pulled out, too.
Who else took part, and what was the event like?
Intervision ended up featuring 22 acts, some representing countries that have challenged or questioned Western dominance of the global political order, including singers from Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Wang Xi of China sang “On the Way,” a deep-voiced ballad; Omar Acedo, representing Venezuela, performed an upbeat party track called “La Fiesta de la Paz” with pyrotechnics going off around him; and Rauhan Malik, representing India, performed a psychedelic rock song, “Ishq.”
Mzansi Jikelele, a group representing South Africa, sang “Home,” a gospel number that calls for global unity. At one point during its performance, one of that band’s singers soared skyward, her dress unfurling to cover much of the stage.
How was it different from Eurovision?
A typical Eurovision is filled with flashy spectacle. In this year’s contest, for instance, Finland’s entrant sang an innuendo-laced song atop a giant microphone suspended midair. The Intervision didn’t feature such high camp, although it did feature several singers and dancers who used harnesses to perform in the air.
Additionally, whereas both juries and television viewers vote on who should win Eurovision, only a jury decided Intervision’s winner. The jury included a representative for each participating country.
Who was the winner?
Duc Phuc is a former winner of “The Voice,” a televised singing competition in Vietnam, and he has had several hits in his home country. One of his tracks has over 150 million streams on YouTube.
After he won Intervision, with 422 points and far ahead of his nearest competitor — Kyrgyzstan’s entrant, with 373 points — he thanked fans “for every second you devoted to watching this show.”
Is the contest likely to return?
Yes. During the show, the presenters announced, after a lengthy drum roll, that Saudi Arabia would host next year’s event. And in a news conference this week, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said that several countries had expressed interest in hosting the event in two years’ time.
Alex Marshall is a Times reporter covering European culture. He is based in London.
Ivan Nechepurenko covers Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the countries of the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
The post Why Russia Revived a Cold War-Era Song Contest appeared first on New York Times.
