Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the revival of the Soviet equivalent of the Eurovision song contest in a bid to counter what he says is the decline of modern Western culture, reports "Reuters".
Putin signed a decree to hold the "Intervision" song contest in Moscow this year and told senior Kremlin and government officials to prepare for the event. China, Cuba, Brazil and other "friendly" countries are expected to participate.
Russia was not allowed to Eurovision in 2022 after Putin sent tens of thousands of soldiers to Ukraine. The country has been trying to revive Intervision for more than a decade.
Unlike Eurovision, which often celebrates LGBT+ themes and performers, Intervision will have a "more sober tone", according to documents seen by "Reuters" introduced, emphasizing respect for "traditional universal, spiritual and family values".
"Artists cannot perform songs that call for violence, degrade the honor and dignity of society, and political themes must be completely excluded from the lyrics," one of the Russian planning documents states.
Putin has increasingly sought to portray Russia as a defender of traditional family values, and says the West has lost its moral ground in the pursuit of what he sees as excessive individualism and a lack of respect for religious traditions.
In Russia, strict rules now prohibit anything deemed to promote homosexuality, while the international LGBT movement has been declared an extremist organization.
Russia has participated in Eurovision 23 times since 1994, but as relations with the West have steadily deteriorated, it has begun to consider resuming The Soviet-era Intervision contest, especially after Conchita Wurst, an Austrian drag queen known as the "Bearded Lady," won the contest in 2014, the year Putin annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
Intervision was originally launched under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 1960s as an alternative to the capitalist Eurovision Song Contest of the Eastern Bloc, uniting Moscow's allies in Eastern Europe and other communist nations such as Cuba.
Russian officials say a number of countries, including China, Brazil, Cuba and former Soviet republics such as Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Belarus, have expressed interest in taking part in the revived Intervision music contest.
According to documents reviewed by Reuters, performers will have up to four minutes to sing their song live in the language of their choice. The winner will go on tour and receive a cash prize.
"The competition will be open to all countries that wish to participate", the document says, adding that participants must "respect the cultural, ethical and religious traditions of other peoples around the world".