Intervision, supposed to be the Russian alternative to Eurovision, was to illustrate the country’s newfound greatness and its ability to bring the world together under its own “cultural marquee”. Organized on September 20 at the Live Arena near Moscow, the event was praised by Kremlin propaganda which praised “billions” of viewers. On site, however, the blow quickly died down: artificial atmospheres, recruited audiences and absent fans from the start; what should have been a grandiose spectacle turned into a clumsy and hollow communications operation, says an article from The Insider, a journalist of which was able to attend the spectacle.
Upon arrival, the deception is obvious. Buses specially chartered to transport crowds of Russian or foreign fans are running almost empty. In front of the 11,000-seat arena, there is no queue: only a few dozen guests are waiting, most of them are there out of pure professional obligation.
Most of the non-Russians present that evening were foreign students or workers already living in Russia – many Chinese, a few Africans – all speaking Russian with an ease that was suspicious to say the least. Some swear they paid for their ticket themselves, but struggle to remember the booking site they used. Others say they came from Madagascar for the simple pleasure of traveling, with Intervision representing for them an unexpected escape more than a musical challenge.
In Moscow, it is difficult to find real popular momentum. The city, although covered with banners and light installations, remains impassive, indifferent despite the noisy communication started 100 days before the showduring the national holiday. Muscovites, accustomed to world-class events, did not feel concerned by this Intervision, the first international competition organized in the country since the start of the war in Ukraine.
A perfectly mastered staging
The entire evening is orchestrated for the cameras: distribution of flags, “foreign” groups in traditional folkloric outfits, encouragement to artists on command. The interior of the room is impeccably decorated, with TV images combining digital fireworks and AI-generated animations.
The great national star, Shaman, seemed destined to win the competition even before the first note of his song. However, he cast a chill by announcing, in the name of hospitality, that he was withdrawing from the competition to only be rated “out of competition”.
According to Russian officials, the event was a global success, saying“one in two humans” on the planet had followed the Intervision, four billion people. This figure is obviously completely false: the official interviews during the competition were not even translated for the international audience and the instructions for the public only appeared in Cyrillic. On site, it was above all the very notable absence of the American artists announced, then mysteriously deprogrammed, which got people talking.
No need to look for lines of fans who came to ask for an autograph from the Vietnamese winner, the only lines at the end of the evening were those of extras who came to collect their pay. Many spectators left with their cash bonus – 6,000 rubles or approximately 62 euros – for having danced and smiled in front of the cameras. They will have to pay part of this sum in taxis to return home, the Moscow metro not having seen the benefit of adapting its timetables to the big event.
Intervision 2025 will above all have revealed the reality of soft power Russian: overabundance of resources, precise strategy, but total absence of spontaneity and real popular support. This attempt to stage international unity around Russia looks more like a bad play than a festival capable of thrilling crowds. It will have made it possible to confirm the brutal contrast between the ambition displayed and the reality of Russian isolation on the world cultural scene.
