September 16, 2025

Intervision: Russia's Eurovision


Intervision: Russia's Eurovision
Russian Singer Shaman | Okras Wikimedia commons

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European singing competition Eurovision announced that Russia would no longer be permitted to compete.

This year, Russia opted to revive Intervision, a Soviet-era singing competition that functions in the same way, with participating countries selecting a representative musician to compete before a panel of judges. Intervision will take place on September 20, and will be aired on Russia’s Channel One.

Intervision’s conception in the 1960s is key to its marketing. The contest was invented in Czechoslovakia, though this fact is not promoted. And it was initially conceived as a tool for soft diplomacy. Intervision’s website notes this bit of history, calling the show “a cultural bridge between East and West.” Despite this, participating countries are largely Eastern, and neutral to or supportive of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s representative will be Shaman, an artist whose popularity has been bolstered by support from the Kremlin. Shaman rose to stardom with songs like “Ya Russki,” (“I am Russian”) a patriotic anthem declaring Russian pride in the face of an ambiguous global enemy.  The song includes lines like, “I’m Russian. I’ll fight to the end,” and, “I’m Russian to spite the whole world.”

One dark horse in the list of participants is the US, to be represented by Brandon Howard, stage name B Howard, an artist most notable for the rumors surrounding his paternity. Speculation has it that he is the son of pop legend Michael Jackson, due to his resemblance to this singer and the connections of those close to him. None of the claims have been substantiated.

Intervision’s Instagram page currently has just over 6,000 followers, as compared to Eurovision’s 2.2 million. With an odd mix of participants, and its confused message on diplomacy, it is unclear if the contest will pop or burn.

You Might Also Like

Where Is Polina Gagarina?
  • October 04, 2023

Where Is Polina Gagarina?

A pro-war concert promised great stars on the stage, but instead had only ultranationalist poets.
Not-Russia Does Great Figure Skating
  • April 25, 2021

Not-Russia Does Great Figure Skating

The non-doping "Russia" won three out of four events at the recent world figure skating championships and swept the ladies' podium.
Pop Star Politics
  • September 23, 2020

Pop Star Politics

“Just know that you don’t give away your loved one… Belarusians, we are a force.” – a group of Belarusian and Russian pop singers, singing in a patriotic music video to support President Lukashenko
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955