The Intervision Song Contest hosted by Russia was “brilliantly” organized and captured global attention, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
The revived Soviet-era competition that Russia has cast as a rival to Eurovision, took place on Saturday in Moscow with performers from 22 nations, including China, India and Brazil.
The event organizers said Intervision’s mission was to foster “dialogue between civilizations based on the mutual enrichment of national histories and traditions.”
Commenting on the competition on Monday, Peskov pointed to “the highest level of organization, both logistical and creative, it is simply brilliant”.
“In this domain, we really know how things are done. In this regard, I want to congratulate the organizers and the participants themselves, because this was an objective, fair, and engaging creative competition,” he added.
He also rejected a suggestion that the contest had provoked hysteria. “I do not see any hysteria in the world. The interest is very justifiably very high,” Peskov said, adding that the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the participants and a multi-billion audience speaks volumes of the attention he pays to the event.
Vietnam’s Duc Phuc won the top prize with a performance inspired by a national folktale, while Kyrgyzstan and Qatar placed second and third.
Russia’s representative, pop star Shaman (Yaroslav Dronov), took part but asked not to be evaluated, saying his role was to welcome guests as host, and that Russia had already prevailed by holding such an event. Saudi Arabia will host the Intervision next year.
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