Turning Eurovision into a culture war
Historically, pro-Kremlin outlets have had a complicated relationship with Eurovision. The contest’s undeniable popularity among ordinary citizens in Russia has to be squared with the insistence by the Russian government that Eurovision – like Europe – is evil.
A rainbow coloured moral decay
The Kremlin spends considerable time and efforts to skew the public discourse in Russia to promote the idea of Russia’s moral and civilizational superiority over the West. They’ve even invented a derogatory catch-all term to capture what’s wrong with Europe. That term is “Gayropa” – the notion that Europe is “gay”. And in the Kremlin’s books, being gay is equal to utter moral failure and degeneracy, hence Europe is headed for collapse, rainbow flags and all. As a rule, the Kremlin then contrasts this notion with praising the spiritually put-together Russia.
This slanderous term is now ubiquitous in Russian anti-Western discourse. However, it was originally used in the context of Eurovision in 2014. And so, since then, the Kremlin’s disinformation peddlers have sought to target Eurovision as the original symbol of Western “degeneracy”.
Like a toxic ex
In 2022, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) finally helped Russia resolve its internal conflict with Eurovision. The country was kicked out of the contest altogether for launching an unprovoked full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine.
Despite all the pro-Kremlin rhetoric vilifying Eurovision, that EBU decision must have stung, because the subsequent contests, now lacking the moral uprightness of Russian participants, were met with more vitriol than ever. Eurovision 2024, held in Sweden’s Malmo is a telling example. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the official newspaper of the Russian government, cited Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying that the competition “outdid any orgy, sabbath, or ritual sacrilege”.
One pro-Kremlin think tank noted that that 2024 competition had been won by a “homosexual from Switzerland”, and opined that this constituted definitive proof of “Europe’s degeneration”. Another pro-Kremlin website proclaimed Eurovision a “swamp of immorality, anti-Christianity and corrosive anti-values”.
A vision for the Russian soul
Something had to be done. As one Russian lawmaker argued, the Eurovision had become harmful to children. The state had to ensure the “advancement and protection of traditional Russian moral and spiritual values” in the face of Europe’s gay onslaught. Russia needed a non-gay analogue of Eurovision.
So, on 3 February 2025, Putin issued an edict calling for the creation of just such an analogue – the Intervision Song Contest. The idea is not new: the Intervision Song Contest was the Cold War-era attempt by the Soviet Union-led Bloc to create its own version of Eurovision and ran intermittently between 1965 and 1980. Reviving it now is not just a nostalgic gesture: it is a deliberate nod to the Soviet legacy that modern Russia seems increasingly eager to replicate.
Keep the reins tight
Putin’s edict also calls for the creation of a supervisory board to oversee the competition, boost its international prestige, and control its portrayal in the media. Putin’s own deputy chief of staff, Sergey Kirienko will chair the supervisory board. Incidentally, he is also a person who sincerely believes that society should be programmed, a pioneer of modern disinformation methodology, and Putin’s right-hand man and fixer.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured the public that Intervision will be free of any “perversions and mockeries of human nature”. One participant – Belarus, already confirmed. Perhaps because Putin personally requested it from Lukashenka at a recent meeting. Other expected participants may include Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, Kyrgyzstan and Cuba, along with some likely representation from the Middle East.
A stage for the Kremlin’s mouthpieces
On paper, the leader of each participating country’s pop charts will represent their nation. In Russia’s case, the top pick is unsurprisingly a vocal supporter of Putin, a pro-Kremlin pop star Yaroslav Dronov, AKA Shaman. His song Vstanem (Time to Rise) opened Putin’s 2022 rally and has since become something of a war anthem echoing through Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Another Shaman ‘masterpiece’, Ya Russkiy (I Am Russian), proudly declares: “I am Russian, to spite the whole world”. Shaman’s militarist aesthetic and nationalist rhetoric have drawn comparisons to 1930s Germany – some social media users have even faced lawsuits for likening him to the Hitler Youth singer in Bob Fosse’s Cabaret.
Cultural warfare
It’s a far cry from 2003, when Russia was represented at Eurovision by t.A.T.u, a pop duo posing as a lesbian couple. At the time, it would have been hard to imagine that Russia would one day essentially ban people from openly declaring their sexual orientation by inventing an “international LGBT movement” and designating it as ‘extremist’.
Clearly, the decision to re-establish Intervision is less about music and more about cultural warfare. It’s a part of the Kremlin’s broader strategy to redefine culture on its own terms, rejecting anything perceived as foreign or too liberal, and placing the state and tradition above all else. Putin’s Russia isn’t just turning its back on Europe and the West, it’s positioning itself as a new centre of power – an ambition that expands even to pop song contests.
Don’t be deceived.
