The anti-Eurovision of Soviet-style singers

The Live Arena in Moscow hosted the latest edition of “Intervidenie”, the singing competition that brought together the countries of the Eastern Bloc during the Soviet era. Revived after Russian singers were excluded from the Western event due to the invasion of Ukraine, it brought together artists from 22 ‘friendly’ nations, with Dyk Fuk, a rapper from Hanoi, ultimately winning.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Russian singers have been excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, and Russia has since been pushing friendly countries to revive the Intervidenie song contest, which harks back to Soviet memories of the Cold War era.

The latest edition was held on 20 September at the Live Arena in Moscow. Artists from at least 22 countries took part: it was billed as a “celebration of culture”, but in reality it was a geopolitical propaganda tool to revive Russia's influence internationally.

The first version of Intervidenie was held between 1965 and 1968 in Czechoslovakia, under the auspices of the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT), an Eastern European network, and was seen as a socialist alternative to Eurovision, with significant political weight, although it obviously could not compete with the popularity of its competitor at an international level, demonstrating the ‘cultural solidarity’ of the Eastern Bloc countries.

It was then revived in Poland in 1977, before petering out in the early 1980s against the backdrop of the Polish economic crisis and the rise of the anti-communist Solidarity movement. The last big winner was Russian superstar Alla Pugacheva, who now lives abroad and is at odds with Moscow because of her opposition to the war in Ukraine.

In 2008, in Sochi, one of the most symbolic places of Putin's quest for new greatness, another attempt was made with the “Five Stars – Intervidenie” competition, in which singers from 11 former Soviet countries took part, as a more extensive variant of the Russian “Five Stars” competition for young singers, but in subsequent years it was not repeated.

When Eurovision was won in 2014 by the Austrian drag queen Koncita Wurst, in female form with a long beard, the Russian authorities decided to react by reinstating the contest as an “alternative to Eurovision for beggars”, but they were unable to organise it. Now, however, it has returned with great fanfare, with Vladimir Putin's announcement in February, in the jubilee year of the great Victory.

The organisers presented the new version of Intervidenie as “a proposal for international cultural and humanitarian cooperation”, even though the musical and singing value appeared to be secondary to the political significance of the event, which was to demonstrate Moscow's influence in the global alternative arena. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko headed the organising committee, and the entire process was entrusted to the deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kirienko, a loyal supporter of Putin. The final of the competition was held at the Live Arena in Novo Ivanovo, near Moscow, and the winner was Dyk Fuk (Nguyễn Duc Fuc), a young rapper from Hanoi.

Chernyshenko stated that “the main condition for participating in Intervidenie is the shared affirmation of our spiritual values”, although Putin's representative for culture, Mikhail Shvidkoy, assured that the competition was also open to participants from “unfriendly countries” who agree with Russia's priorities.

In fact, most of the countries that made it to the final reflect Russia's political orientation, with competitors from Belarus, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.

The planned participation of American singer Brendon Howard from Los Angeles was a clear propaganda move, intended to show the “inclusiveness” of Intervidenie even compared to Eurovision, but the American withdrew at the last minute for unspecified “family reasons”.