Saudi Arabia will not host Intervision in 2026 — The Moscow Times

Saudi Arabia will not host the Russian song contest Intervision in 2026. The event may be postponed until 2027, The Moscow Times reports, citing an unnamed source from the TASS news agency.

Reasons were not specified

According to the source, it is impossible to hold the contest in Saudi Arabia this year due to a “combination of circumstances.” No details were provided. As early as August, a source in Riyadh told TASS that the dates, list of participants and program of the event remained unclear.

Saudi Arabia was announced as the next host country during the contest final in Moscow in September 2025. Later, Saudi officials said that the aggressor state Russia had not yet transferred formal responsibility for organizing the event to them.

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The contest was revived after exclusion from Eurovision

Russia revived Intervision after being excluded from Eurovision in 2022 amid its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Eurovision organizers said at the time that Russia’s participation could damage the contest’s reputation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in February 2025 to revive the contest, for which Russian authorities allocated 750 million rubles, or $9.3 million. According to organizers, performers from 22 countries took part in the Moscow contest. Vietnamese singer Duc Phuc won, Kyrgyz band Nomad took second place, and Qatari singer Dana Al-Mir came third.