New key: Vietnamese singer took the Intervision Cup

American singer Vassy did not sing at Intervision due to political pressure from Australia, SHAMAN refused to compete for the main prize for reasons of "Russian hospitality", and the winner was Duc Phuc from Vietnam. He took home a crystal cup and 30 million rubles. About how the triumphant objection of the song contest went — in the Izvestia report.

Aerialists and "I am Russian" a cappella

On September 20, people from all over the world came to the Live Arena in Moscow to see with their own eyes how one of the oldest song contests will be revived. A sea of flags, painted faces, twinkling garlands, kokoshniks and numerous national costumes turned the crowd into a living kaleidoscope. 11,000 guests in the hall and millions of viewers gathered at the screens to see which of the 23 participating countries would become the first winner of Intervision 2025.

All tickets are over within a day. At the same time, the price for the most expensive reached 50 thousand rubles. Long before the start of the final ceremony, the stands were full of guests. People danced to a DJ set of world hits, and when the music died down, they themselves chanted "Katyusha", Igor Matvienko's "Horse" and even the Russian national anthem. In the corridors, the audience sang the famous SHAMAN song "I am Russian."

The ceremony was opened by the ambassadors of the contest, Klava Coca and Dima Bilan, who still remains the only Russian winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. Aerialists and a giant white balloon descended from the roof of the arena to the audience to the legendary song "At Dawn" by the Alliance group.

Two pairs of presenters appeared on the stage — singer Alexey Vorobyov and opera diva Aida Garifullina, as well as Indian actress Stephie Patel and Chinese-English TV presenter Meng Lei. They greeted the audience and marked the opening with an official address by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the final of the international song contest "Intervision" one of the most anticipated cultural events of the year.

— The modern world is changing rapidly. It creates a huge demand for justice, for broad and equal access to the fruits of socio-economic and cultural progress. Peoples have the right to free development, to preserve their identity. People are eager to communicate, they want to get to know and understand the culture of other countries better," the President noted.

Putin stressed that Russia has always been and continues to be a country open to communication and cooperation. The president called the main idea of the competition respect for traditional values and diversity of cultures.

The American did not perform in Moscow, SHAMAN refused to compete.

The official part ended, and the first contestant, singer Sulema Iglesias Salazar from Cuba, appeared on the stage. She lit up the arena with a passionate Cuban rumba to the song Guaguanco. The second number went to the Nomad trio from Kyrgyzstan, which later confidently led the voting. Separately, Azat Raimberdiev, Bek Israilov and Minzhashar Murzaev have long been familiar to the Russian public thanks to their participation in the show "Come on, all together!". That's why the guys were welcomed here as if they were family. The band performed a lyrical pop ballad in their native language "Zhalgyz saga".

Next came the Chinese performer Wang Xi, who was named Elvis Wang in his homeland for the velvety and deep timbre of his voice. The singer performed alone: without ballet, acrobats and computer graphics, but it was he who received the first deafening applause.

After a couple of lyrical compositions, Mustafa Saad from Egypt returned the drive to the hall. To the national motifs of the Middle East, with an admixture of electronic beats, he sang a love song by Ben elbanat.

But the next participant in Russia was awaited with special trepidation. The fifth number was supposed to be singer Vasilika Karagiorgo, known under the pseudonym Vassy from the USA. However, the girl did not sing in Moscow due to unprecedented political pressure from the Government of Australia, of which she is also a citizen.

The organizers apologized to the audience and noted that the United States remains a full participant in Intervision and will be represented on the international jury by the legendary ex-vocalist of the bands Deep Purple and Rainbow Joe Lynn Turner.

— We are not chasing any political effect. We want the original purpose of a person and his identity to be respected and realized in free contacts, mutually enriching each other by touching each other's spiritual values," commented Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Chairman of the competition's Supervisory Board and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Another surprise was presented to the audience by the Russian participant SHAMAN. After an impressive performance with Maxim Fadeev's song "Straight to the Heart", complemented by fantastic computer graphics, the young man stayed on stage to make a statement.

— According to the laws of hospitality, I have no right to claim victory. I ask the distinguished members of the jury not to evaluate my performance today," Yaroslav Dronov said.

The triumph of Vietnam

Next, the matrimonial and creative duo Luciana Calazans and Tais Nader from Brazil, one of the youngest artists of the competition Farrukh Hasanov from Tajikistan, the powerful vocalist Dana Al-Mir from Qatar and the piercing duet of Madagascar stars Denise & D-Lain showed their numbers.

If you measure the noise level in decibels when Chinese and Russian artists exit, it seems like a whisper compared to the audience's reaction to the appearance of Vietnamese singer Duc Phuc. In addition to the army of fans in Russia, he instantly turned those who saw him for the first time into his fans. Confident and powerful vocals, a technically complex and dramaturgically verified number, a change of genres and a combination of ethnicity and modernity instantly made Duc Fuk a favorite of the evening.

At the end of the ceremony, Nastya Kravchenko from Belarus sang her song "Moth". Igor Matvienko, who represents Russia on the judging panel, gave her the highest score.

Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the winner was chosen not by the audience, but by an international jury. Its members included Joe Lynn Turner, Indian composer Jan Nissar Lone, Egyptian musicologist Mohsen Al-Sayed Issa, DJ Pinye from Kenya and other cultural representatives from the participating countries. Each awarded the contestants from 1 to 23 points. The winner was determined by a majority vote.

The songs are sung. The jury voted. Performers on stage. According to the tradition established at such contests, the presenters announce to whom the members of the commission gave the most votes. Due to technical issues and translation difficulties, the participant from China, Wang Xi, initially decided that he was the winner. But these were just the first points.

While Alexey Vorobyov and Aida Garifullina read out the favorites, the leaderboard changed before the eyes of the audience. A trio from Kyrgyzstan and a duet from Madagascar took the first place. But in the end, it was Vietnamese Duc Phuc who gained a foothold at the top of the list, becoming the winner of Intervision 2025.

If the audience in the hall could vote, they would have made the same decision. People were scanning: "Vietnam! Vietnam! Vietnam!", and a stunned Duc Phuc, clutching a crystal goblet to his chest, thanked the hosts in Russian.

Thanks to Russia's colossal creative, technical and political efforts, the Intervision song contest was able to resurrect from oblivion and loudly declare itself to the whole world. The next stop is Saudi Arabia. It is there that the competition will be held in 2026.