Russia's riposte to Conchita: A Soviet-era version of Eurovision

Russia is set to revive a Soviet-era song contest after falling out of love with Eurovision.

The sight of a bearded Austrian woman - Conchita Wurst - winning the event and the Russian twins Shine being booed over the annexation of Crimea were thought to be the last straw for Moscow.

"This is the end of Europe. It’s rotted away. There are no more men and women. There is just ‘it’,” exclaimed extreme far-right politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky in the wake of May's result.

Instead, Russia will revive the Intervision Song Contest, an event that ran in the 1970s, containing countries from the former Soviet Union and China, according to the Times (£).

The new contest is scheduled to take place in October at an arena in Sochi, the city that hosted the Winter Olympics earlier this year.

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