The Intervision Song Contest (ISC) is an international song competition originally organised by the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) and broadcast live via the Intervision network. Launched in 1965 as the Eastern Bloc equivalent to the Eurovision Song Contest, its first phase was staged in various cities across Czechoslovakia until 1968. From 1977 to 1980, the contest was held at Sopot's Forest Opera in Poland, followed by a one-off revival in Sochi in 2008. After a lengthy hiatus, the contest was relaunched in 2025 under an annual rotating-host model, with each edition staged in a different country.
The ISC replaced the long-running Sopot International Song Festival (Sopot ISF), which had been held in Sopot since 1961, when it moved there for its second phase from 1977 to 1980. In 1981 the unified 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". In 1984, Polish broadcaster TVP revived the Sopot ISF under its original name.
In 2008, a one-off revival contest took place in Sochi, as an attempt to revive the contest, though subsequent editions planned in both 2014 and 2015 did not materialise. After the withdrew from the European Broadcasting Union upon being excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, another revival was announced by the Russian Ministry of Culture in 2023, with Russian president Vladimir Putin signing a decree for it to be held in Moscow. Intervision 2025 was held on 20 September at the Live Arena in Novoivanovskoye, Moscow. The next edition is scheduled to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2026, though the Iran war has called it into question.
History 1965–1968: Golden Clef Intervision Contest The first series of Intervision Song Contest, officially called Golden Clef Intervision Contest () ran from 1965 to 1968 in Czechoslovakia. The inaugural contest was held at the Musical Theatre Karlín in Prague, with subsequent editions held in Bratislava and Karlovy Vary. After 1968, the Intervision Song Contest didn't take place because of Prague Spring of 1968.
1977–1980: Sopot
The first Sopot International Song Festival was initiated and organised in 1961 by Władysław Szpilman, assisted by Szymon Zakrzewski from Polish Artists Management (PAGART). The first three editions were held in the Shipyard hall of Gdańsk (1961–1963), after which the festival moved to the Forest Opera in Sopot. The main prize has been Amber Nightingale for most of its history.
Between 1977 and 1980 the Sopot International Song Festival was replaced by the Intervision Song Contest, which was still held in the same venue. 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 1980 contest two competitions were organised: 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. The festival has always been open to non-European acts, and countries like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, and many others have been represented in the event.
In 1980, the contest took place alongside with beginning of the Solidarity movement. Next year, martial law was introduced in Poland. The Sopot Festival was returned in 1984 with its old name.
The festival lost popularity in Poland and abroad in the 1980s. (TVP)'s unconvincing attempts at organising several of the contests led to the authorities of Sopot giving the organisation of the 2005 festival to a private broadcaster, TVN. Since 1999, there had been no competition. TVP chose to invite well-known artists instead, featuring the likes of Whitney Houston or The Corrs. In 2005, TVN was expected to bring the competition back. In 2006 TVN invited Elton John. In 2010 and 2011, the festival did not take place due to renovation of the Forest Opera. Since 2012, it has been called Sopot Top of the Top Festival and is broadcast annually by Polsat. The festival also provided opportunity to listen to international stars. It featured Charles Aznavour, Boney M, Johnny Cash, and more recently: Chuck Berry, Vanessa Mae, Annie Lennox, Vaya Con Dios, Chris Rea, Tanita Tikaram, La Toya Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kajagoogoo, as well as Goran Bregovic and Anastacia.
2008: Five Stars - Intervision
In 2008, Five Stars: Intervision was organised where eleven countries participated and was won by Tajikistan. In 2009, the then Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin, proposed restarting the competition, this time between Russia, China and the Central Asian member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.Intervision: The Russian proposed song contest with China, Central Asia (Shanghaiist: Shanghai News, Food, Arts & Events)Putin mulls Intervision Song Contest (BBC World Service)
In May 2014, it was announced that the contest would return, featuring countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Russian singer and producer Igor Matvienko, announced that the contest would take place in October 2014 in the coastal city of Sochi, which played host to the 2014 Winter Olympics. Seven countries had declared their interest to compete prior to the event's cancellation: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China, and Uzbekistan. Russia had also selected Alexander Ivanov as its representative. 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". Despite plans to stage the contest in both 2014 and 2015, a revival has not taken place. Ivanov later in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Help You Fly", but failed to qualify for the final.
2025–present In November 2023, Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova and Channel One Russia's 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. This occurred after the broadcaster's membership in the European Broadcasting Union was suspended, upon the exclusion of Russia from the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 due to its invasion of Ukraine. On 8 June 2024, Russian government official Mikhail Shvydkoy told RIA Novosti that "more than 16 countries" would take part in the competition, naming Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, China, Cuba, and Kazakhstan.
On 3 February 2025, president Putin signed a decree formalising the revival of the competition. Intervision 2025 was held in the Moscow area on 20 September 2025. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko was appointed as chair of the event's organizing committee, while domestic policy chief Sergey Kiriyenko was installed as chair of its supervisory board. 23 countries competed in the event, which was won by Vietnam. The 2026 edition is planned to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, organised by the country's culture ministry, though the Iran war has called it into question.
Winners YearDateHost CityWinner Country Song Artist Language1965–1968: Golden Clef Intervision Contest 1965 12 June Prague "Tam, kam chodí vítr spát" Karel Gott Czech 1966 25 June Bratislava "Adagio" () Lili Ivanova Bulgarian 1967 17 June "Rekviem" Eva Pilarová Czech 1968 22 June Karlovy Vary "Proč ptáci zpívají?" Karel Gott1977–1980: Sopot 1977 24–27 August Sopot "Malovaný džbánku" Helena Vondráčková Czech 1978 23–26 August "Patrik" Václav Neckář "Vsyo mogut koroli" () Alla Pugacheva Russian 1979 22–25 August "Nim przyjdzie wiosna" Czesław Niemen Polish 1980 20–23 August "Chcem sa s tebou deliť" Marika Gombitová Slovak "Hyvästi yö" Marion Rung Finnish "Na vstrechu oseni" () Mykola Hnatyuk Russian2008: Five Stars - Intervision 2008 28–31 August Sochi ''Zangi Telefon''"Tsvety Pod Snegom""Hero" Tahmina Niyazova English2025–present 2025 20 September Moscow "" Đức Phúc Vietnamese, English, Russian
Winners by country WinsCountryYears 61965, 1967, 1968, 1977, 1978, 1980 21978, 1980 119661979198020082025
Winners by language WinsLanguageYears 5 Czech 1965, 1967, 1968, 1977, 1978 4 Russian 1978, 1980, 2008, 2025 2 English 2008, 2025 1 Bulgarian 1966 Polish 1979 Finnish 1980 Slovak Vietnamese 2025
Participation Countries that have participated in the contest: Country Broadcaster(s) Debut year Latest entry Years Entries Best placement Wins Latest † AMPTV 2008 1 3 3rd 2008 0 † İTV 2008 1 3 8th 2008 0 Belarus Belteleradio 2008 2025 2 4 6th 2025 0 † BRT (Flemish)RTBF (Wallon) 1968 1979 2 2 10th 1979 0 MinC 2025 1 1 21st 2025 0 † BNT 1968 1980 5 6 1st 1966 1 † CBC 1978 1 1 6th 1978 0 — 2025 1 1 9th 2025 0 RTVC 2025 1 1 4th 2025 0 ICRT 1977 2025 4 5 2nd 1977 0 TEN TV 2025 1 1 20th 2025 0 Balageru TV 2025 1 1 19th 2025 0 † YLE 1966 1980 7 7 1st 1980 1 † MTV 1965 1980 7 8 3rd 1979 0 ITV Network 2025 1 1 12th 2025 0 ATV 2008 2025 2 4 5th 2008 0 — 2025 1 1 18th 2025 0 Kyrgyzstan KTRK 2008 2025 2 4 2nd 2025 0 † LTV 2008 1 3 9th 2008 0 Real TV Madagasikara 2025 1 1 8th 2025 0 † TRM 2008 1 3 11th 2008 0 † SNRT 1979 1 1 7th 1979 0 † NOS 1980 1 1 4th 1980 0 † TVP 1965 1980 8 10 1st 1979 1 † RTP 1979 1 1 12th 1979 0 QMC 2025 1 1 3rd 2025 0 † TVR 1968 1980 5 6 3rd 1980 0 Russia Channel One 2008 2025 2 4 2nd 2008 0 MOCSA 2025 1 1 17th 2025 0 — 2025 1 1 14th 2025 0 SABC 2025 1 1 15th 2025 0 † TVE 1968 1980 5 6 2nd 1980 0 † SRG SSR 1968 1980 2 2 6th 1980 0 Tajikistan TV Safina 2008 2025 2 4 1st 2008 1 † TTV 2008 1 3 10th 2008 0 ADMN 2025 1 1 16th 2025 0 — 2025 — — — — — † NTSU 2008 1 3 6th 2008 0 Zo'r TV 2025 1 1 10th 2025 0 TVes 2025 1 1 13th 2025 0 Vietnam VTV 2025 1 1 1st 2025 1 ‡ CST 1965 1980 8 10 1st 1980 6 ‡ DFF 1965 1980 8 11 2nd 1978 0 ‡ CT USSR 1965 1980 8 10 1st 1980 2 ‡ JRT 1965 1980 6 7 2nd 1968 0
+ Table key † Inactivecountries which participated in the past but did not appear in the most recent contest, or will not appear in the upcoming contest — Withdrawncountries that were about to participate in the contest, but never did. ‡ Formercountries which previously participated but no longer exist
Invited Countries that expressed interest, were invited, or even "confirmed" by the organisers, but ended up not participating:
Notes
References Notes
References
External links
BBC Magazine: The Cold War rival to Eurovision, Steve Rosenberg, 13 May 2012