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Russian leader sounds off on song contest

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-15 07:15

MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been singing the praises of a proposed new song competition for Chinese and Central Asian nations.

Putin told Asian leaders yesterday that such a regional song competition, which he suggested could be called "Intervision", could rival the Eurovision Song Contest.

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The event might see Chinese crooners compete for a prize with Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kazakhs, Russians and Kyrgyz.

"Conducting an international modern song contest - Intervision - would strengthen cultural ties between our nations," Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of government in Beijing.

It was not immediately clear whether Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan, countries that have SCO observer status, will take part.

The annual Eurovision contest was launched in 1956. It reaches a TV audience of some 100 million people, despite its reputation in many countries as being a celebration of kitsch.

Countries around Europe can each enter one song and, after live performances, the winner is decided through a lengthy voting process that sometimes appears to be based on geopolitical factors rather than musical merit. Moscow hosted the contest last May.

Reuters