MOSCOW: With artists from more than 20 countries and ambitions for a billion-plus viewers, Russia on Saturday revived its Intervision song contest, which Moscow hopes will compete with a “decadent” Eurovision. First held in the Soviet era and relaunched in February on President Vladimir Putin’s orders, the concert-as-soft-power tool was held at an arena near the Russian capital, with Vietnamese singer Duc Phuc proclaimed the winner with a song inspired by a poem about bamboo.

Russland ist seit 2022 vom ESC ausgeschlossen – und belebt nun seinen eigenen Wettbewerb wieder. Es geht um mehr als nur Gesang: Intervision ist Chefsache im Ringen gegen den…

Putin resurrects a Soviet-era global song contest, to distract from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.