{"id":845216,"date":"2025-11-09T06:30:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T06:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalvoices.org\/?p=845216"},"modified":"2025-11-08T04:34:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T04:34:54","slug":"song-contest-or-political-arena-what-are-the-nuances-of-eurovision-and-intervision-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalvoices.org\/2025\/11\/09\/song-contest-or-political-arena-what-are-the-nuances-of-eurovision-and-intervision-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Song contest or political arena?: What are the nuances of Eurovision and Intervision in 2025?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Screenshot of a video<\/a> of Intervision 2025's winning performance from Vietnam, represented by \u0110\u1ee9c Ph\u00fac with the song \u2018Ph\u00f9 \u0110\u1ed5ng Thi\u00ean V\u01b0\u01a1ng\u2019 on Kieran Edmunds's <\/a>YouTube<\/a> channel. Fair use.<\/p><\/div>\n

Song contests have become deeply politicised. From Eurovision<\/a> to Intervision<\/a>, nearly every international music competition, like ABU TV Song Festival<\/a> or Vi\u00f1a del Mar International Song Festival<\/a>, eventually turns into a mirror of geopolitics. Judges, audiences, even performers find themselves drawn into a game of symbols, where melody and lyrics cease to exist on their own and become a way of saying something between the lines.<\/p>\n

In September 2025, Russia announced the revival of Intervision, which seems to be setting itself up as an alternative to Eurovision, from which Russia has been banned since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Officials from the host country insist, of course, that the revived contest is \u201capolitical.\u201d Alexander Alimov, an official at Russia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview with TASS<\/a> that \u201cIntervision was never intended as a counterweight to Eurovision, although there are certainly differences. Our contest carries no political undertones. We are seeking a unifying language based on such values as mutual respect, cultural sovereignty, and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, this independent project, described in Russian media<\/a> as having its own distinct concept, happens \u2014 quite coincidentally \u2014 to look strikingly similar to Eurovision: in its name, selection of hosts, visual style, and overall design.<\/p>\n

Below is the full broadcast of the Intervision final<\/a>\u00a0on YouTube:<\/p>\n