Intervision Song Contest then and now – rival song contests of rival organisations (Part 1/3)
Intervision Song Contest then and now - in the first part of our series, we look at the history of rivalry from an organisational perspective
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Intervision Song Contest then and now – from the Forest to TV screens (Part 2/3)
On 20 September 2025, the revived, reorganised version of the Intervision Song Contest will take place (again) – to mark the occasion, we look back at what is worth knowing about the Soviet alternative to the Eurovision Song Contest; in the second part of our mini-series, we continue the story of Intervision, looking at the golden age of the event and the attempts to revive it.
Eurovision and Intervision – a perfect example of rivalry that sticks together
The early fifties were all about laying down the rules for coexistence – as the previous part showed: the International Broadcasting Organisation* (officially: Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion; IBO/OIR*), which became the governing body of the Soviet bloc, and the European Broadcasting Union (officially Union européenne de radio-télévision; EBU), which served the western half of the continent, had established a balance for the industry in 1950, which the organisations sought to deepen with their own programmes, but the EBU remained the flag-bearer throughout.
The creation and institutionalisation of Eurovision – sorry: the Continental Television Exchange – in 1952 confirms this: the aim was not only to develop technology between the Western countries, but also to bring the countries involved in the work of the union closer together, and the successful product of this process, which continues to this day, is the Song Contest that was created 3-4 years later and is considered the flagship of the EBU’s network. Of course, the long-lasting success had several antecedents: the first direct British-French television link (1952), the coronation of Elizabeth II (1953) and the official launch in the summer of 1954, which resulted in up to 60-65 million television viewers in total being able to watch the events of the Montreux Festival of Daffodils in the framework of the so-called Lille Experiment.
“What you can do, I can do” – in fact, this was the motto of those years, those decades in the Eastern Bloc, and it became the basis of the Intervision. Boris Bergant, a former vice-president of the EBU, also pointed out in his look back in the EBU’s half-century commemorative publication that broadcasters in Central and Eastern Europe operated very differently and had a very different understanding of many areas, including copyright, the subscription fee system and how to solve technical problems. And, of course, there was the very different interpretative, communicative and cultural background, which was naturally specific to the political system(s) in place, so that Intervision was created for a completely different purpose after a delay of 5-7 years in 1960. It was called “a response to the Eurovision”, “a tool for the development of international relations”, “a counter-pole to the lights of the West”, but it was also considered a “propaganda tool” – the appropriate part should be underlined according to the level of temperament.
Although, as can be seen from the above, the point of view was quite different, the relationship between Eurovision and Intervision was decidedly mixed: some claimed that relations between the two organisations were friendly, and even that by the autumn of 1965 regular news exchanges had become official, yet the mood turned sour at the mention of the Song Contest.
Intervision Song Contest: the Eastern copy
The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) played a key role in the cooperation: research shows that it was the only EBU production that could be broadcast by the Intervision Network in the Soviet member states. The programme’s popularity was demonstrated by the fact that from 1956 onwards the Eastern OIR(T) showed a continuous interest in participating in the song contest, but a Soviet proposal to organise a joint international show was categorically rejected by the EBU in 1964, according to a statement by the then head of Czechoslovak television, Jiří Pelikan. Pelikan also proposed that the OIRT should organise its own competition and that it should be broadcast on both the Eurovision and Intervision networks. The collaboration did not materialise, despite an attempt by Czechoslovakia to approach the OIRT with the Golden Prague International Television Festival later that year, but the following year’s continuation was organised as OIRT’s own song contest, now called the Golden Key Intervize (Zlatý klíč Intervize).
We could not find any major differences between the Intervision Song Contest (ISC) and its original counterpart: most of the ISC rules were based on those of the Eurovision Song Contest, and the EBU clearly did not object to the similarities. At the time, the only difference – which was significant given the nature of Eurovision – was that that the Intervision version only had an international jury, whose members were music experts delegated by the participating countries, and there was also a Czechoslovakian member who was the non-voting chairman of the music competition, and the voting for the entire competition was conducted in secret.
“Common denominators”
Despite the creation of Intervision, the popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest remained unbroken: in 1966, the organisers of the ISC made a new attempt to open up to the West by allowing Western performers to appear in the Eastern version, but this rule was not to the liking of the EBU, as Eastern broadcasters were not allowed to participate in the ESC. Nevertheless, Intervision did not give up, and another attempt to open up to the East followed the latest ISC amendment: the Eastern bloc also proposed to match the songs of the two blocs of Europe in a song contest, but this request also failed, as Finland and Yugoslavia were allowed to participate in both song contests thanks to their parallel EBU and OIRT membership. The competition in the song contests was thus palpable: many Eurovision performers, including winners, were guests on Intervision, and this unprecedented openness was also true of the second edition of the Intervision Song Contest, from 1977 to 1980.
The Intervision competition has come a long way since its launch in 1965: while the Czechoslovak version toured Prague, Bratislava and Karlovy Vary in the early years, it replaced the Sopot International Song Festival at the Sopot Forest Opera between 1977 and 1980. By 1980, both the song contest and the Sopot Festival had lost popularity both in Poland and abroad, thus sealing the existence of the alternative television production.
Attempts at revival – alongside Eurovision participation
2008 – Five Stars: Intervision – 11 countries took part and Tajikistan won. In 2009, Vladimir Putin, then Prime Minister of Russia, proposed to relaunch the competition, this time between Russia, China and the Central Asian member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
2014 – The result of the Copenhagen Eurovision Song Contest – specifically the victory of Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst (AUT14; Thomas Neuwirth) – was a surprising/shocking phenomenon for many countries and public broadcasters, including Russia (Channel 1). It was announced that the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation were to host the event in Sochi in October this year, but it was not held in 2014 or 2015 – despite Vladimir Putin’s broader cultural diplomacy agenda which included a relaunch of the competition.
2022 – This is the year in which the EBU suspended the membership of Russian public media and no longer allowed Russian contestants to compete at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that erupted in February, and in response the Russian side has indicated its intention to withdraw from the festival, but no substantive response has been given to date on this issue. In a related development, the revival of the Intervision Song Contest for a third time in November 2023 has been mooted, with BRICS countries being invited in the first instance. By June 2024, 16 countries had already indicated to the Russian government their intention to take part in the competition. This time, the revival was a success: in February 2025, Vladimir Putin issued a decree to organise the competition, which was “aimed at developing international cultural and humanitarian cooperation”, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Joint participants of the Eurovision Song Contest and the Intervision Song Contest**
| Artist | Eurovision Song Contest (year – song – placement) |
Intervision Song Contest (year – song – placement) |
Guest Appearance(s) |
| Udo Jürgens | 1964 – „Warum nur, warum?” – 6. (AUT); 1965 – „Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen” – 4. (AUT); 1966 – „Merci Chérie” – 1. (AUT) |
– | 1966 ISC interval („Merci Chérie”) |
| Sandie Shaw | 1967 – „Puppet on a String” – 1. (GBR) | – | 1967 ISC interval („Puppet on a String”) |
| Karel Gott | 1968 – „Tausend Fenster” – 13. (AUT) | 1965 – „Tam, kam chodí vítr spát” – 1. (CSK); 1968 – „Proč ptáci zpívají?” – 1. (CSK) |
– |
| Viktor Klimenko | 1965 – „Aurinko laskee länteen” – 15. (FIN) | 1967 ISC (participant, song not recorded, CSK) |
– |
| Lasse Mårtenson | 1964 – „Laiskotellen” – 7. (FIN) | 1966 ISC (participant, song not recorded, CSK) |
– |
| Lado Leskovar | 1967 – „Vse rože sveta” – 8. (YUG) | 1966 ISC (participant, song not recorded, CSK) |
– |
| Vice Vukov | 1963 – „Brodovi” – 11. (YUG); 1965 – „Čežnja” – 12. (YUG) |
1967 – 2. hely (Silver Clef, CSK); 1968 – „Ako sada odeš” – 2. hely (CSK) |
– |
| Salomé | 1969 – „Vivo cantando” – 1. (ESP) | 1968 – „Pase lo que pase” – 3. hely (CSK) | – |
| José Vélez | 1978 – „Bailemos un vals” – 9. (ESP) | 1977 – „Romántica” – 19. (POL) | – |
| Kirka | 1984 – „Hengaillaan” – 9. (FIN) | 1977 – „Neidonryöstö” – 15. (POL) | – |
| Alla Pugacsova | 1997 – „Primadonna” – 15. (RUS) | 1978 – „Vsjo mogut koroli” – 1. (POL) | 1979 ISC interval („Vsjo mogut koroli”) |
| Marion Rung | 1962 – „Tipi-tii” – 7. (FIN); 1973 – „Tom Tom Tom” – 6. (FIN) |
1980 – „Hyvästi yö” – 1. (POL) | – |
| Pierre Rapsat | 1976 – „Judy et Cie” – 8. (BEL) | 1979 – song not confirmed – 10. (BEL) | – |
| Marie Myriam | 1977 – „L’oiseau et l’enfant” – 1. (FRA) | – | 1977 ISC interval („L’oiseau et l’enfant”, „On garde toujours”) |
| Alexey Vorobyov (Alex Sparrow) | 2011 – „Get You” – 16. (RUS) | – (2025: host, RUS) | 2025 ISC host |
* Since 1960, it has operated the Information Television Network under the name Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision (OIRT).
** under review
Source: EBU, The Guardian, RadioFreeEurope, RadioLiberty / OurVision International
Illustration: snapshots from the history of the Intervision Song Contest: the Hungarian version of the Intervision Network’s monoscope, Marion Lung as an ISC contestant, Alla Pugacheva as an ISC contestant; a snapshot of one of the 1970s Intervision Song Contests; the former Intervision Network logo in the background – Graphics by OurVision International