Russia Launches Song Contests As 'Alternative' To Eurovision

(Billboard.com) - In the wake of this year's Eurovision win by cross-dresser Conchita Wurst, Russia's defense ministry is running a children and youth song contest, billed as "an alternative to bearded Eurovision," while another song contest, seen as having a similar mission, will take place in Sochi this fall.

The final of the defense ministry's contest is scheduled for Monday night, just two weeks after Wurst's Eurovision victory, which some officials in Russia slammed or ridiculed as "proof of Europe's moral degrading."