"Russia is holding the final of its Intervision song contest on Saturday evening, a competition from Soviet times that has been relaunched by President Vladimir Putin as a conservative answer to the West's glitzy, liberal and queer-friendly Eurovision Song Contest . Russian artists have been banned from participating in Eurovision since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Kremlin-friendly singer Shaman will be representing RussiaImage: Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS/ZUMA/picture alliance"
"There will be no "perversions and mockery of human nature," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a remark seemingly aimed at Eurovision's pro-LGBTQ+ stance. The queer community in Russia has faced persecution in recent years. Among the 23 countries taking part in the event near Moscow are not only former Soviet republics such as Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but also Russia's BRICS partners Brazil, China and India."
Russia relaunched the Intervision song contest as a conservative cultural alternative to Eurovision, promoting national identity and traditional values. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov framed the contest as rejecting what he called perversions and mockery of human nature, signalling opposition to Eurovision's pro-LGBTQ+ orientation. Russian artists remain banned from Eurovision after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and most European countries are absent from Intervision. Twenty-three countries participate, including former Soviet republics and BRICS partners such as Brazil, China and India. Participants compete for a 30 million rouble cash prize and organizers aim for over a billion television viewers. Russia's entrant is ultranationalist singer Yaroslav Dronov, alias Shaman.
Read at www.dw.com
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