Russia ditches plans for ‘no gays’ Eurovision rival
Russia has ditched plans to revive the Soviet era Intervision Song Contest as a “family friendy” rival to Eurovision.
A revival was hinted at following the victory of Austrian drag artist Conchita Wurst in the Europe-wide contest in May this year, and plans were announced in June.
The 2014 contest – which was due to take place in Sochi in October – has since been cancelled, according to Russian news service Rusnovosti.
Intervision, which ran between 1977 and 1980, had been set to be revived featuring countries with values closer to Russia’s, including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Despite the cancellation, the show’s producers are reportedly still planning to hold a contest in 2015, blaming the “political situation” in Russia for the delay.
Russia has meanwhile already confirmed its participation in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, despite Russian politician Vitaly Milonov calling for the country to boycott the “Eurovision sodom show”.
The president of Russia’s state-run rail corporation also accused the West of imposing “pure propaganda” following Wurst’s victory, while the drag artist’s win was labelled “the end of Europe” by Russian MP Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
So far, twenty-six countries have confirmed their participation in Eurovision 2015.
