Howard’s music “transcends borders and unites cultures,” the Intervision organizers said in a post on Telegram announcing his participation.
Intervision, the Soviet-era alternative to Eurovision, was held between 1965 and 1980 in communist Czechoslovakia. Russian President Vladimir Putin brought it back to life in 2025, appointing Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko as chairman of the organizing committee. Russia was kicked out of Eurovision following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia will be represented in the contest by pro-war pop singer Shaman (real name Yaroslav Yuryevich Dronov), who was sanctioned by the EU for participating in Kremlin-organized concerts.
Among those also taking part in the event on Sept. 20 are Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela, Serbia (an EU candidate country), Cuba, Qatar and Kazakhstan.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry said it viewed the event “as an instrument of hostile propaganda and a means of whitewashing the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation.”