Intervision 2025

International song competition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Intervision 2025 (Russian: Интервидение 2025, romanized: Intervideniye 2025), officially the Intervision 2025 International Music Contest,[8] was an international song competition that took place at the Live Arena [wd] in Novoivanovskoye near the city of Moscow, Russia, on 20 September 2025.[9][10] The event primarily featured representatives from BRICS, CIS, Latin American, African, Middle Eastern, South and Southeast Asian countries, each with a single entrant.[11][12] Although its organiser, format, objectives, and set of participants differed from the original run, it was regarded as a revival of the Intervision Song Contest.[13][14]

Final
  • 20 September 2025
VenueLive Arena [wd]
Novoivanovskoye,[a] Russia
Organiser
DirectorRoman Butovsky[4]
Quick facts Intervision 2025 Интервидение 2025, Date and venue ...
Intervision 2025
Интервидение 2025
Музыка в сердце твоей страны
"Music in the heart of your country"[1][2]
Date and venue
Final
  • 20 September 2025
VenueLive Arena [wd]
Novoivanovskoye,[a] Russia
Organisation
Organiser
Production
DirectorRoman Butovsky[4]
Executive producerKonstantin Ernst[5]
PresentersDomestic: International:
Participants
Number of entries22
Debuting countriesSee list of participants
  •      Participating countries
Vote
Voting systemEach juror awarded 29, 25, 22, 20, 18–1 points to their favourite 22 songs
Winning songVietnam Vietnam
"Phù Đổng Thiên Vương"
Intervision Song Contest 2026
Official website Edit this at Wikidata
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In a decree by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko was appointed chairman of the organising committee, while the Russian foreign ministry was in charge of promoting the contest.[15][16][17] The winner was Vietnam, represented by Đức Phúc with the song "Phù Đổng Thiên Vương".[18][19]

Background

The Intervision Song Contest was originally launched in the 1960s by the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) as an alternative to the Eurovision Song Contest for the Eastern Bloc of states, but was eventually discontinued in 1980.[20] After 28 years, in 2008; an unrelated song contest entitled Five Stars: Intervision took place, this time featuring countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the former Soviet Republics.

On 25 February 2022, following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) excluded Russia from the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, as "the inclusion of a Russian entry in [the 2022] contest would bring the competition into disrepute",[21] following pressure from several participating broadcasters.[22] On 26 February, the Russian member broadcasters of the EBU (RTR, Channel One, and RDO) announced their intention to withdraw from the union following their exclusion from the contest. On 1 March, the EBU suspended their membership,[23] and on 26 May, the suspension became indefinite, making them ineligible to participate in any EBU events.[24][25]

On 3 February 2025, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the return of an Intervision Song Contest by decree,[26][27] inviting "friendly" countries to the contest, with the goal of "developing international cultural and humanitarian cooperation".[28][29] The new contest is also supposed to, according to Russian senator Lilia Gumerova, "promote real music" and reject "fake values that are alien to any normal person", referring to Eurovision's inclusion of acts such as drag performer Conchita Wurst, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 for Austria. The contestants are encouraged to "emphasise respect for traditional universal, spiritual and family values".[30] Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that Intervision would be free of "perversion and abuse of human nature, as we saw in the Paris Olympics".[30][31]

On 26 May 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that it viewed the event "as an instrument of hostile propaganda and a means of whitewashing the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation". The ministry instructed its foreign diplomatic missions to take measures of "political and diplomatic response" against countries that intend to take part in Intervision, with the aim of persuading countries with which Ukraine has at least neutral relations to opt out of the event.[32][33]

On 16 September 2025, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that there were countries whose artists were willing to participate in the contest, but their governments prevented them from participating. He added: "We will not name these countries in order to avoid difficulties [in the future]. Anyone who wants to come will always be welcome."[34]

Location

On 29 October 2023, Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin announced plans for an Intervision Song Contest to be held in 2024 in Saint Petersburg. However, on 21 March 2024, the planned location was changed to Moscow and a budget of 600 million  was allocated for the event.[35][36] In June, the contest was postponed to 2025.[37]

Venue

Live Arena was the host venue

The venue had to be able to sustain a capacity of at least 5,000 spectators.[38] The contest was held in Live Arena [wd], which is located in Novoivanovskoye, an urban-type settlement in the Odintsovsky District of the Moscow region of Russia. Opened in 2022, Live Arena is a multi-purpose entertainment complex located with a seating capacity of up to 11,000 spectators.[39]

Format and production

Graphic design and slogan

On 16 May 2025, the logo and slogan of the contest was revealed by the organisers. The logo is based on a rhombus inspired by Russian suprematism.[40] The graphic design maintains visual continuity with the old contest of 1965–1980 but also incorporates modern elements to "emphasise the relevance" of the event. According to the organisers, the chosen slogan "Music in the heart of your country" (Russian: Музыка в сердце твоей страны, romanized: Muzyka v serdtse tvoyey strany) is supposed to illustrate the unifying nature of the event as music holds the ability to "make a million hearts beat in unison".[1][2]

Entries

Entries were supposed to be pieces "popular in the [participant's] country as of the date of the Contest Final", and released within the year preceding the contest, performed by no more than six people on stage.[38]

Documents seen by Reuters stated that "artists may not perform songs that call for violence, humiliate the honour and dignity of society, and it is required that political themes in the lyrics are completely excluded". Participants had up to four minutes and could sing in any language they wish. The winner would be awarded a trophy and 30 million .[20][41]

Voting

The results were determined by an international jury from the competing countries. Each competing country provides one juror, defined as "a cultural figure from their respective country (such as a producer, pop artist, composer, musician, teacher, etc.) recognized as a professional in the music industry".[38][42][43][44][45]

Ambassadors

The following list includes Russian personalities who were announced as official ambassadors of the contest by the organisers.

Participants

The Russian government directly coordinated participation with foreign governments. A list of 20 countries confirmed to participate in the contest was publicly announced on 12 June during a press conference,[122][123][124] with Madagascar additionally confirmed as a participant on 25 July.[125][126][127] On 19 August, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates were announced to have withdrawn,[128][129][130] while Ethiopia and Kenya were announced to be participating the following day.[131][132][133][134][135][136] On 27 August, Brazil was added to the list and the United Arab Emirates was reinstated.[137]

During the contest's final, the hosts announced that the United States' entrant, Vassy, would not be performing. They claimed that this was due to "unprecedented political pressure from the Australian government", as Vassy is a dual citizen of both countries. In a later interview with Australia's ABC, Vassy expressed disappointment and was "reluctant to give further details until she spoke with the Australian government". The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, meanwhile, said it had "no engagement" with the organisers of Intervision.[138] The US continued to participate as a juror.

It is not known whether government officials and/or organisations from China, Kenya, Serbia and United States took part in the selection of their countries' respective entries.

Key
  Withdrew
More information Country, Entity ...
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Other countries

The following countries expressed interest, were invited, or even "confirmed" by the organisers. However, they were all ultimately not in the list of participants announced by Russia.

  •  Armenia  On 6 April 2025, the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy, stated that on 7 April he would go to a meeting with the Minister of Culture of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasian [hy], to find out to what extent Armenia is ready to participate in the contest.[210] The media later regularly mentioned Armenia as one of the countries confirmed to participate in the contest.[211][212][213][214] On 16 September, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Armenia had not explained in any way the reasons for its refusal to participate in the contest, even though they got the invitation.[215][216][217]
  •  Azerbaijan  On 12 June, the country appeared on the official list of participants.[122][123][124] Amid speculations of a potential withdrawal of Azerbaijan due to the 2025 Azerbaijan–Russia diplomatic crisis, on 7 July, Anastasia Grigorieva, spokesperson of Press for Intervision confirmed the country hadn't communicated its withdrawal at the time and was still set to participate.[218] However, on 19 August, it was confirmed that Azerbaijan withdrew from the contest.[128][129][130] On 20 August, the Azerbaijani state news agency Report İnformasiya Agentliyi [az] stated that the official reason for Azerbaijan's withdrawal from participation in the contest was due to "internal circumstances and lack of time for preparation",[219] while first deputy chairwoman of the State Duma's Culture Committee, Yelena Drapeko, stated that country's withdrawal was "a continuation of its general policy of distancing itself from Russia" in the face of the above-mentioned diplomatic crisis.[220]
  •  Bolivia  On 26 April 2024, Lavrov told Russian media that the Bolivian government had been invited to organise Bolivia's debut in the contest.[221]
  •  Hungary  On 6 April 2025, Shvydkoy said that negotiations were underway with the Government of Hungary on their participation in the contest.[222][223][224]
  •  Iran  The country is a member of BRICS, which the organisers have listed as an organisation whose members they intended to invite to participate in the contest.[225][226] Russian media regularly mentioned Iran as one of the countries confirmed to participate in the contest.[227][228][229]
  •  Mexico  On 19 April 2025, Mexico's ambassador to Russia Eduardo Villegas said in an interview that, according to his information, Mexico would take part in Intervision 2025. He added that he thought a decision on the choice of representative would not be made before June or July.[230]
  •  North Korea  On 22 July 2025, the Intervision press office confirmed in a conversation with Russian media that the organisers had sent an invitation to participate in Intervision 2025 to North Korean representatives.[231][232]
  •  Pakistan  On 2 December 2024, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Ayaz Sadiq stated that Pakistan was ready to participate in Intervision 2025, but found it difficult to answer the question whether artists from Pakistan had already been invited to Intervision.[233][234][235]
  •  Slovakia  The country was included in the list of countries that the organisers intended to invite to participate in the contest.[236]
  •  Thailand  On 25 March 2025, Shvydkoy stated that the Thai government had "politically approved" the country's participation in Intervision 2025.[237] Russian media later mentioned Thailand as one of the countries confirmed to participate in the contest.[238]
  •  Turkmenistan  Russian media regularly mentioned Turkmenistan as one of the countries confirmed to participate in the contest.[227][239][240]

Contest overview

The event took place on 20 September 2025 and featured 23 competing countries. The running order (R/O) was determined by a random draw on 12 September.[241] Before she was set to go on stage, it was announced that Vassy, representing the United States, was not allowed to perform "due to pressure from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia".[196][197] Vietnam won the contest with 422 points, with Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Colombia, Tajikistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, China, and Uzbekistan completing the top ten. Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Brazil occupied the bottom five positions.

Key
  Winner
  Withdrawn
More information R/O, Country ...
Results of Intervision 2025
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  Cuba Zulema Iglesias Salazar "Guaguancó" 285 11
2  Kyrgyzstan Nomad "Jalgyz saga" 373 2
3  China Wang Xi "Zài lùshàng" 328 9
4  Egypt Mustafa Saad "Ben elbanat" 166 20
5  United States Vassy "Midnight"
Withdrawn[b]
6  Kenya Sanaipei "Flavour" 214 18
7  Kazakhstan Amre "Dala tañy" 339 7
8  United Arab Emirates Saif al-Ali "Dawaa lilsalam" 232 16
9  Russia Shaman "Pryamo po serdtsu" Not ranked[c]
10  Brazil Luciano Calazans and Tais Nader "Pipoca com amor" 164 21
11  Tajikistan Farrukh Hasanov "Gori!" 344 5
12  Qatar Dana Al Meer "Huwa dha anta" 369 3
13  Madagascar D-Lain and Denise "Tiako hanjeky" 338 8
14  Saudi Arabia Zena Emad "Mojrad ham" 224 17
15  Colombia Nidia Góngora "En los manglares" 347 4
16  Ethiopia Netsanet Sultan "Halaala" 179 19
17  Venezuela Omar Acedo "La fiesta de la paz" 268 13
18  Serbia Slobodan Trkulja and Balkanopolis "Tri ružice" 236 14
19  South Africa Mzansi Jikelele "Home" 233 15
20  Vietnam Đức Phúc "Phù Đổng Thiên Vương" 422 1
21  Belarus Nastya Kravchenko "Motylyok" 341 6
22  Uzbekistan Shokhrukh Mirzo Ganiev "Sensan sevarim" 296 10
23  India Rauhan Malik "Ishq" 272 12
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Detailed voting results

More information Total score, Belarus ...
Detailed jury voting results of Intervision 2025[244]
Total score
Belarus
Brazil
Venezuela
Vietnam
Egypt
India
Kazakhstan
Qatar
Kenya
China
Colombia
Cuba
Kyrgyztan
Madagascar
United Arab Emirates
Russia
Serbia
United States
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
Ethiopia
South Africa
Saudi Arabia
Contestants
Cuba 2852012152018161622222012202020 20
Kyrgyzstan 373202920181815182218202922221616161316
China 3282918102020201615222225
Egypt 1661816
Kenya 214131413202016
Kazakhstan 22925151813152914252525151717201417
United Arab Emirates 232132212151217
Brazil 1642014
Tajikistan 3441717251417151017291813161616201515
Qatar 369141629152916141525171329151517182215
Madagascar 33815221714182913251322291717131518
Saudi Arabia 22416162213161512151515
Colombia 347291413221722132920141425252925
Ethiopia 179141412
Venezuela 268142512121525171212221712
Serbia 23618121318181818
South Africa 233
Vietnam 42222221725252922251314131318292925292529
Belarus 341132520162020292929252917
Uzbekistan 296161622172522171322221322
India 27216291417161818141414161214
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29 points

The table below summarises how the maximum 29 points were awarded from one country to another. The winning country is shown in bold. Vietnam received the maximum score of 29 points from five countries, with Belarus receiving four sets of 29 points. Qatar and Colombia each receive three sets, Kyrgyzstan and Madagascar receive two, and Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan, and India each receive one maximum score.

More information N., Contestant ...
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Broadcasts

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators, are shown in the tables below. An international live stream was also available through YouTube.

Brazil, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia participated in the contest, but according to the official broadcast schedule, the final would not be shown by their local broadcasters for unknown reasons.[245]

More information Country, Time ...
Confirmed broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Time Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref.
 Belarus
Live
Belteleradio Belarus-1 Vladimir Bogdan and Nikolay Sosin [246][247][248]
 China Unknown CMG CCTV Unknown [245]
 Colombia
Delayed
RTVC Señal Colombia Laura Galindo [es] [249][250]
 Cuba
Delayed
TVC [es] Cubavisión Unknown [251][252][253]
 Egypt
Delayed
TEN TV No commentary [254]
 Ethiopia
Live
Balageru TV [245][255]
 India
Live
ITV Network NewsX [256][257]
 Kazakhstan
Live
Channel One Eurasia Unknown [258][259]
 Kyrgyzstan
Live
NTRK KTRK [260]
Muzyka
Madaniyat Taryh Til
 Madagascar
Live
Real TV Mendrika Razafindratsima and Alain [261]
 Qatar Unknown QMC QTV Unknown [245]
 Russia
Live
C1R Yana Churikova and Yuriy Aksyuta [ru] [262][263][264][265]
VK Video No commentary[d]
 Serbia
Live
Toxic Entertainment Toxic TV Filip Popović and Miljan Tanić [266][267][268]
 South Africa
Delayed
SABC SABC 3 Unknown [187][269]
Live
SABC+
 Tajikistan Unknown TVS [245]
 United Arab Emirates Unknown ADMN ADTV [245]
 Uzbekistan Unknown Zo'r TV [245]
 Venezuela
Live
SiBCI TVES No commentary[e] [270]
 Vietnam
Delayed
VTV VTV3 Sơn Lâm and Hằng [41][271]
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Footnotes

  1. Labelled as Moscow in promotional material.
  2. During the contest's final, the hosts announced that the United States' entrant, Vassy, would not be performing. It was claimed by them that this was due to "unprecedented political pressure from the Australian government", as Vassy is a dual citizen of both countries. The US continued to participate as a juror.[195][196][197]
  3. Officially it is unknown why Russia was not included in the final results. After his performance, the representative of Russia, Shaman, addressed the audience and asked the jury to skip him in the voting, as "he was not interested in competing for victory, but rather in ensuring hospitality and giving other participants a chance".[242][243]
  4. The broadcast was aired on VK Video without commentary while Nansi & Sidorov presented interrupts from on-site studio between entries.
  5. TVES provided oral simultaneous interpretation to Spanish for the broadcast as well as provided the running line with biographies of entrants; however, there were no commentators of the show.

References

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