Intervision Song Contest

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Intervision (disambiguation).

Intervision Song Contest
One of several logos used by the Intervision Network between 1977–1980.
GenreSong contest
No. of episodes5 contests
Production
Production companyIntervision
Original release
Release1965 (1965) –
1968 (1968)[1]
Release24 August 1977 (1977-08-24) –
23 August 1980 (1980-08-23)
Release28 August (2008-08-28) –
31 August 2008 (2008-08-31)
Related

The Intervision Song Contest (ISC) was an international song contest for artists from Eastern Bloc countries. It was the communist equivalent to the Eurovision Song Contest. Its organiser was Intervision, the network of Eastern Bloc television stations. The contest would usually take place in the Forest Opera in Sopot, Poland.

The ISC was organised between from 1965 to 1968 and again from 1977 to 1980.[1][2] It replaced the Sopot International Song Festival (Sopot ISF) that had been held in Sopot since 1961. In 1981 the ISC/Sopot ISF was cancelled because of the rise of the independent trade union movement, Solidarity, which was judged by other Eastern bloc communist governments to be "counter-revolutionary". A revived contest took place in 2008, though subsequent editions planned to stage the contest again in both 2014 and 2015 did not materialize.[3][4] After Russia withdrew from the European Broadcasting Union upon being excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, another revival of the Intervision Song Contest was announced by the Russian Ministry of Culture in 2023.[5]

History

Further information: Sopot International Song Festival

Intervision began in 1965 and ran to 1968,[2] though a common myth states that it began in 1977.[6]

The first

Opera Lesna
). The main prize has been Amber Nightingale through most of its history.

Between 1977 and 1980 Sopot was replaced by the Intervision Song Contest, which was still held in Sopot. Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the Sopot International Music Festival often changed its formulas to pick a winner and offered many different contests for its participants. For example, at the 4th Intervision Song Festival (held in Sopot 20–23 August 1980) two competitions were organized: one for artists representing television companies, the other for those representing record companies. In the first competition, the jury considered the artistic merits of the songs entered, while in the second, it judged the performers' interpretation.[8] The festival has always been open to non-European acts, and countries like Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and many others have been represented in this event.

The contest lost popularity in Poland and abroad in the 1980s. The rather unconvincing organizations by TVP made the authorities of Sopot give the organization of the 2005 Sopot International Song Festival to a private TV channel,

Goran Bregovic, Anastacia
.

Revival

Eleven countries participated in the fifth edition in 2008, which was won by Tajikistan.[9] In 2009, the then prime minister Vladimir Putin of Russia proposed restarting the competition, this time between Russia, China and the Central Asian member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.[10][11] In May 2014, it was announced that the contest would return, featuring countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.[12] Russian singer and producer Igor Matvienko, announced that the revival of the Intervision Song Contest would take place in October 2014 in the coastal city of Sochi, which played host to the 2014 Winter Olympics.[13][14] Seven countries had declared their interest to compete prior to the event's cancellation: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China and Uzbekistan.[15][16] Russia had also selected Alexander Ivanov as its representative.[17]

The contest was scheduled to take place in October 2014 ostensibly due to "Russian anger at the moral decay of the West", particularly in response to the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst. Moreover, the revival was seen as part of "Putin's broader cultural diplomacy agenda".[18] Despite plans to stage the contest in both 2014 and 2015, the revival of the contest has not taken place.[19][20] Ivanov later represented Belarus in Eurovision 2016 with the song Help You Fly but he failed to qualify.[21]

In November 2023, Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova and Channel One Russia Director General Konstantin Ernst revealed at St. Petersburg's International Cultural Forum that the broadcaster planned to produce a revival of the Intervision Song Contest featuring the member countries of BRICS.[5] This occurred after the broadcaster had withdrawn from the European Broadcasting Union upon the exclusion of Russia from the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 due to its invasion of Ukraine.

Participation

The contest was formally open to members of the

Shanghai Co-operation Organisation and any countries of the former Soviet Union.[15][22][23]

Table key
  Former – Former countries that have been dissolved.
Country Debuting year Withdrawing year Returning year Number of entries Wins Broadcaster(s)
 Armenia 2008 Inactive[note 1] 1 0
AMPTV
 Azerbaijan 2008 Inactive[note 1] 1 0
İTV
 Belarus 2008 Inactive[note 1] 1 0
BTRC
 Belgium 1979 1980 1 0
VRT (Dutch)
RTBF (French)[a]
 Bulgaria 1977 2008 4 0 BNT
 Canada 1978 1979 1 0 CBC
 Cuba 1977 1978, 2008 1979 3 0 ICRT
 Czechoslovakia 1977 2008 4 3
CST
 East Germany 1977 2008 4 0 DFF
 Finland 1977 2008 4 1
YLE (Finnish
)
 Hungary 1977 2008 4 0 MTV
 Kazakhstan 2008[note 1] Inactive[note 1] 1 0 ATV
 Kyrgyzstan 2008[note 1] Inactive[note 1] 1 0 KTR
 Latvia 2008 Inactive[note 1] 1 0
LTV
 Moldova 2008 Inactive[note 1] 1 0
TRM
 Morocco 1979 1980 1 0
SNRT
 Netherlands 1980 2008 1 0 NOS (1956–2009)
 Poland 1977 2008 4 1 TVP
 Portugal 1979 1980 1 0 RTP
 Romania 1977 2008 4 0
TVR
 Russia 2008[note 1] Inactive[note 1] 1 0
C1R
 Soviet Union 1977 1980 4 2 CT USSR
 Spain 1977 2008 4 0 TVE
  Switzerland 1980 2008 1 0
SRG SSR
 Tajikistan 2008[note 1] Inactive[note 1] 1 1
 Turkmenistan 2008 Inactive[note 1] 1 0
TTV
 Ukraine 2008 Inactive[note 1] 1 0
NTU
 Yugoslavia 1977 1978, 2008 1980 2 0 JRT
Participation since 1977:
  Entered at least once
  Never entered, although eligible to do so
  Entry intended but contest later cancelled

Winners

Year Date Host City Winner[24] Artist(s)[24] Song[24] Language
1977 24–27 August Poland Sopot Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Helena Vondráčková "Malovaný džbánku" Czech
1978 23–26 August Poland Sopot Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Václav Neckář "Patrik" Czech
Soviet Union Soviet Union Alla Pugacheva "Vsyo mogut koroli" (Всё могут короли) Russian
1979 22–25 August Poland Sopot Poland Poland Czesław Niemen "Nim przyjdzie wiosna" Polish
1980 20–23 August Poland Sopot Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Marika Gombitová "Chcem sa s tebou deliť" Slovak
Finland Finland Marion Rung "Hyvästi yö" Finnish
Soviet Union Soviet Union Mykola Hnatyuk "Na vstrechu oseni" (На встречу осени) Russian
No contests held from 1981 to 2007
2008 28–31 August Russia Sochi Tajikistan Tajikistan Tahmina Niyazova "Zangi Telefon" (Занги телефон) Tajik
No contests held from 2009 to present

Winners by country

Wins Country Years
3  Czechoslovakia 1977, 1978, 1980
2  Soviet Union 1978, 1980
1  Tajikistan 2008
 Finland 1980
 Poland 1979

Winners by language

Wins Language Years
2 Czech 1977, 1978
2 Russian 1978, 1980
1 Tajik 2008
Finnish 1980
Slovak 1980
Polish 1979

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Five Stars Intervision to open in Sochi". UzReport. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  1. ^ VRT and RTBF alternate responsibilities for the contest.
References
  1. ^ a b Vuletic, Dean. "Dr. Dean Vuletic: Intervision: Popular Music and Politics in Eastern Europe". Universitat Wien. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9781350107397
    .
  3. ^ Granger, Anthony (1 September 2014). "Intervision: 2014 Contest Is Cancelled". Eurovoix. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. ^ Granger, Anthony (14 March 2015). "Intervision: Contest Moved To Autumn 2015". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  5. ^ a b "В России возродят советский фестиваль песен вместо "Евровидения"" (in Russian). The Moscow Times. 17 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  6. ^ Vuletic, Dean. "The many myths of the Intervision Song Contest — the first attempt to produce a regional version of Eurovision". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  7. ^ Szpilman, Wladyslaw (1 December 2005). "Songs composed by Wladyslaw Szpilman". szpilman.net. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  8. Nielsen Business Media. p. 65. Retrieved 5 April 2011. Two competitions were held at the 4th Intervision Song Festival in Sopot August 20–23, 1980: one for artists representing television companies, the other for those representing record companies. In the first the jury considered the artistic merits of the songs entered; while the performers' interpretation was judged in the second. The outcome was a victory for Finnish singer Marion
    in the first contest, "Where Is the Love?" taking the Grand Prix. Six year ago, the same artist won Grand Prix at the Sopot International Song Festival. First prize was shared by Czech performer, Marika Gombitová with "Declaration", and Russian Nikolai Gnatiuk for the song "Dance on a Drum".
  9. ^ "Five Stars Intervision to open in Sochi". uzreport.uz. UzReport. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  10. ^ Intervision: The Russian proposed song contest with China, Central Asia (Shanghaiist: Shanghai News, Food, Arts & Events)
  11. ^ Putin mulls Intervision Song Contest (BBC World Service)
  12. ^ Bartlett, Paul (23 May 2014). "Bearded Lady Spurs Russia to Revive Soviet-Era Song Contest". eurasianet.org. eurasianet. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  13. ^ Bartlett, Paul (23 May 2014). "Bearded Lady Spurs Russia to Revive Soviet-Era Song Contest". eurasianet.org. eurasianet. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  14. ^ Kozlov, Vladimir (26 May 2014). "Russia launches Song Contest as Eurovision alternatives". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  15. ^ a b Granger, Anthony (23 May 2014). "Russia: Intervision To Return This October". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  16. ^ Ko, Anthony (23 May 2014). "Russia: Intervision Song Contest to return this October". Wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  17. ^ Granger, Anthony (15 June 2014). "Russia: Alexander Ivanov Wins "Five Stars"". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  18. ^ Lee-Adams, William (25 July 2014). "Following Outrage Over Conchita, Russia Is Reviving Its Own Straight Eurovision". newsweek.com. Newsweek. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  19. ^ Granger, Anthony (1 September 2014). "Intervision: 2014 Contest Is Cancelled". Eurovoix. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  20. ^ Granger, Anthony (14 March 2015). "Intervision: Contest Moved To Autumn 2015". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  21. ^ Vasilyev, Mikhail (22 January 2016). "Belarus: IVAN will sing "Help You Fly" at Eurovision 2016". Wiwibloggs.com.
  22. ^ Bartlett, Paul (23 May 2014). "Bearded Lady Spurs Russia to Revive Soviet-Era Song Contest". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  23. ^ Olga, Elenskiy. Rossiя našla zamenu "Evrovideniю" (in Russian). dni.ru. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  24. ^ a b c Rosenberg, Steve (14 May 2012). "The Cold War rival to Eurovision". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2014. Intervision winners

External links

Media related to Intervision Song Contest at Wikimedia Commons

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