Banished from Eurovision, Russia will launch the final of its own international song contest at President Vladimir Putin’s behest on Saturday, with a Soviet-era name and acts intended to promote “traditional family values.”
Singers at “Intervision” will hail from 23 countries accounting for more than half the world’s population, including China, India and Brazil, and compete for a cash prize of 30 million roubles ($360,000).
Russia has been excluded from the Eurovision song contest since Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022. This year, Putin announced his rival contest, with a top Kremlin aide named to head the supervisory board. Kyiv has called the event “an instrument of hostile propaganda.”
The show will be broadcast live on Russian television. The Russian organizers say it will also be available either over the internet or on TV in other countries with a combined population of more than 4 billion people, although they have not released a list of foreign broadcasters that plan to carry it.
Songs can be performed in any language. A professional jury of representatives from each country will decide the outcome, rather than the viewing public.
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