Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on 12 June 2025.Photo: Alexander Shcherbak / AFP
Russia has announced the resumption of the Intervision music contest, which is scheduled to take place in September 2025. Participation in the contest has been confirmed by 20 countries, including the United States, China, India, Egypt, Cuba, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Qatar and others. This is reported by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, Lenta.ru reports.
The competition will be held in Moscow at the Live Arena, which can accommodate 11,000 spectators. Soon, a large counter will be installed in the city centre to count down the time until the event starts on 20 September.
A source among the organisers confirmed to TASS that the United States had indeed agreed to participate in Intervision, but the names of the participants have not yet been disclosed.
Russia will present one of its most popular performers, Yaroslav Dronov, known as SHAMAN. Serbia will be represented by singer and composer Slobodan Trkulja and his band Balkanopolis.
According to the organisers, the competition will become a “platform for open intercultural dialogue”, and the participants aim to demonstrate the national identity and cultural wealth of their countries through art.
As a reminder, Intervision already existed in the Soviet period in 1965-1968 and 1977-1980 as the socialist camp’s response to Eurovision. In 2022, Russia was expelled from the Eurovision Song Contest after launching a full-scale war against Ukraine. In February 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to officially restore the contest.
