Intervision Song Contest

Intervision Song Contest
One of several on-screen logos used by the Intervision Network between 1977–1980.
Genre	Song contest
No. of episodes	5 contests
Production company(s)	Intervision
Distributor	Intervision
Release
Original release	24 August 1977 (1977-08-24) – 23 August 1980 (1980-08-23) 28 August 2008 (2008-08-28) – 31 August 2008 (2008-08-31) 2015 (2015) –
Chronology
Preceded by	Sopot International Song Festival
Related shows	Eurovision Song Contest (1956–)

The Intervision Song Contest (ISC) is an international song contest consisting of both Intervision, the network of Eastern Europe television stations. It took place mostly in the Forest Opera in Sopot, Poland.

The ISC was organised between 1977 and 1980. It replaced the Sopot International Song Festival (Sopot ISF) that had been held in Sopot since 1961. In 1981 the ISC/Sopot ISF was cancelled because of the rise of the independent trade union movement, Solidarity, which was judged by other Eastern-bloc countries to be counter-revolutionary. Because many citizens did not own private telephones, instead of a phone vote viewers would turn on lights if they liked the song and turned them off if they did not. According to load experienced on the electrical network, points were granted accordingly to each contestant.^[1]

In May 2014, it was announced that the contest will return in October featuring both ex-Soviet states and members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.^[2]

History

The first Władysław Szpilman, assisted by Szymon Zakrzewski from Polish Artists Management (PAGART).^[3] The first three editions were held in the Gdańsk Shipyard hall (1961–1963), after which the festival moved to the Forest Opera (Opera Lesna). The main prize has been Amber Nightingale through most of its history.

Between 1977 and 1980 it was replaced by the Intervision Song Contest, which was still held in Sopot. Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the Sopot International Music Festival often changed its formulas to pick a winner and offered many different contests for its participants. For example, at the 4th Intervision Song Festival (held in Sopot 20–23 August 1980) two competitions were effective: one for artists representing television companies, the other for those representing record companies. In the first the jury considered the artistic merits of the songs entered; while in the second, it judged the performers' interpretation."^[4] The festival has always been open to non-European acts, and countries like Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and many others have been represented in this event.

The contest lost popularity in Poland and abroad in the 1980s, declining further during the 1990s, and the rather unconvincing organisations by TVP made the authorities of Sopot give the organization of the 2005 Sopot International Song Festival to a private TV channel, TVN. Since 1999, there was no contest. TVP chose to invite well-known artists instead, featuring the likes of Whitney Houston or The Corrs. In 2005, TVN was expected to bring the competition back. In 2006 TVN invited Elton John. The Sopot International Song Festival is usually considered bigger than the Benidorm International Song Festival because of its ability to attract star performers. In 2010 and 2011, the festival did not take place due to renovation of the Forest Opera. Since 2012, it is called Sopot Top Of The Top Festival and is broadcast annually by Polsat. The festival also provided opportunity to listen to international stars. In the past, it featured Charles Aznavour, Boney M, Johnny Cash, and more recently: Chuck Berry, Vanessa Mae, Annie Lennox, Vaya Con Dios, Chris Rea, Tanita Tikaram, La Toya Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kajagoogoo, and Goran Bregovic.

Revival

In 2009, Russian prime minister

• BBC Magazine: The Cold War rival to Eurovision, Steve Rosenberg, 13 May 2012

External links

References

Notes

References

See also

Winners by language

Winners by country

Winners

Participation since 1977:

  Entered at least once

  Never entered, although eligible to do so

Table key

     Withdrawn – Countries who have participated in the past but have withdrawn.

The contest is open to members of the former Soviet Republics (including the Baltic states).^[2][10][11]

Participation

Pundits have interpreted Putin's push to revive the contest as part of his geopolitical posturing. It's thought he wants to use the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a cultural counterweight to NATO and the European Union.^[8] The contest was postponed to 2015 due to political reasons.^[9]

[2]