Vietnam wins Russian-hosted Intervision song contest after US singer drops out at last minute

MOSCOW: Vietnam was crowned the winner of the Russian-hosted Intervision song contest in the early hours of Sunday morning after the Australian-born U.S. participant dropped out at the last minute after what the Russian organisers said was political pressure.

Banished from Eurovision because of the war in Ukraine, Russia revived the Soviet-era song contest featuring acts meant to promote “traditional family values” which saw singers hailing from 23 countries accounting for more than half the world’s population, including China, India and Brazil, compete for a cash prize of 30 million roubles ($360,000).

A professional jury made up of representatives from each participating country decided that Vietnam was the strongest act. Kyrgyzstan was awarded second place and Qatar third place.

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Songs were performed in national languages.

Russia’s own entrant - “Shaman”, whose real name is Yaroslav Dronov - asked the jury to disregard his performance due to Moscow being the host.

The organisers said that Saudi Arabia had agreed to host the contest next year.

The show was broadcast live on Russian television and the Russian organisers said it was also broadcast over the internet or on TV in other countries with a combined population of more than 4 billion people.

“Vassy”, an Australian-born-singer representing the United States, had dropped out at the last minute after coming under “unprecedented political pressure from the government of Australia,” the organisers said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from Australia.

Aside from a duo of Russian-language presenters, the presenting team included a female Indian presenter speaking in English and a Chinese male presenter speaking in Mandarin.

President Vladimir Putin opened the final with a video statement saying that the world was changing fast and wishing the contestants good luck.