Thought Eurovision was wacky? Inside Putin’s weird anti-West singing extravaganza – from Kremlin pal to ‘X-Factor’ star

VLADIMIR Putin’s knock-off Eurovision song contest stars a pro-war Russian singer, a former X-Factor star from Belarus, and the “Chinese Elvis”.

The revived Soviet Union-era show dubbed Intervision is a West-bashing extravaganza – with 23 weird and wacky participants representing countries like India, Cuba, and even the United States.

Vladimir Putin’s bizarre Intervision Song Contest is kicking off this weekend

Russia is being represented by a pro-war singer who has been accused of using Nazi imagery

You Tube//@intervisionworld.officialBelarus, a key ally for Russia, is also being represented[/caption]

ReutersVladimir Putin’s new show is a desperate attempt to make a Eurovision rival after he was banned from the competition[/caption]

You Tube//@intervisionworld.officialRussia ally China is sending their version of Elvis[/caption]

The peculiar event is kicking off this weekend, and comes after tyrant Putin was banned from the original competition for his bloody war in Ukraine.

Typical Russian allies such as China and Brazil, as well as former Soviet republics like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, are all sending singers to Moscow for the show.

Key Russian ally Belarus’s contestant, wannabe star Nastya Kravchenko, 21, has even appeared on X-Factor – though it was the bootleg Belarusian version.

Meanwhile, China is being represented by 40-year-old pop singer Wang Xi – known professionally as Elvis Wang.

Putin crony and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested their cheapskate Intervision contest would be “free of perversion and abuse of human nature, as we saw in the Paris Olympics”.

The rip-off event has heavy anti-Western narratives and makes no mention whatsoever of Putin’s meatgrinder war in Ukraine.

It is also seen as a desperate attempt from Mad Vlad to win soft power on the world stage – hoping participating countries will turn a blind eye to his rampaging invasion.

Bizarrely, the United States is also set to show face at the off-brand version of the iconic Eurovision song contest.

But their original contestant Brandon Howard mysteriously pulled out at the last minute due to “unforeseen family circumstances”

He said on social media that Vasiliki Karagiorgos – an Australian pop singer known as Vassy – would take his place for Saturday night’s competition.

All online posts mentioning her support for LGBT rights were suddenly removed from her website after she agreed to step in for Howard.

In Russia, the international LGBT+ movement is classed as an extremist and terrorist organisation.

Putin’s regime is being represented by a pro-war pop singer called Shaman – who recently travelled to the hermit kingdom of North Korea to perform in front of dictator Kim Jong-un.

The Putin pawn – who has been accused of using Nazi imagery in his music videos – appeared on stage with the Russian despot at a Red Square concert celebrating the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

You Tube/@intervisionworld.officialRussian singer Shaman appeared on stage with Putin celebrating the war in Ukraine[/caption]

You Tube/@intervisionworld.officialParticipants attended a draw for the event earlier this month[/caption]

EPASerbian singer Slobodan Trkulja speaks during the draw of the knock-off contest[/caption]

Kyiv has blasted Intervision as “an instrument of hostile propaganda and a means of whitewashing the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation”.

In typical authoritarian fashion, the winner will be decided by an international handpicked jury, rather than a public vote.

Putin’s move to set up the competition has been seen as an attempt to revive two similar flopped music contests from the Soviet era.

The communist Soviet Union tried to set up an event also called Intervision in the 1960s – aimed at bringing together its allies in Eastern Europe and across the world.

InstagramFormer US contestant Brandon Howard pulled out at the last minute[/caption]

APIt comes as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine[/caption]

You Tube/@intervisionworld.officialParticipants from 23 countries are being represented[/caption]

Intervision ran between 1965 and 1968, and later between 1977 and 1980, before Putin floated the idea of bringing it back in the 2000s.

The 2025 version of the competition will reportedly showcase “traditional universal, spiritual and family values”.

Deranged organisers have promised a “true celebration of music” promoting “national identity” – despite Putin constantly spinning the idea that Ukraine isn’t a real country.

Despite frosty tensions between the US and Russia over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Kremlin propaganda masters managed to pay for an advert for the contest in New York’s Times Square.

Azerbaijan has also pulled out of Putin’s new show after accusations that Russia accidentally shot down an Azerbaijani jet last December, killing 38.

The Russian dictator expressed regret for the “tragic incident” – but did not apologise or accept that his regime was responsible.

Following a report by The Guardian revealing that Putin was “dusting off” Intervision, seething Lavrov lashed out at UK media.

He said: “The British no longer have anything to dust off, there is nothing left.

“Unfortunately, they continue to undermine contacts between people.”

You Tube//@intervisionworld.officialSoviet Union ally Cuba is also being represented[/caption]

EPARussia ally Belarus’s singer Nastya Kravchenko has appeared on a version of ‘X-Factor’[/caption]

You Tube//@intervisionworld.officialMadagascar’s contestant, pictured[/caption]