MOSCOW The Intervision Song Contest countdown clock sits on the central Manezhnaya Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow. With artists from 23 countries, hopes for a billion-plus viewers and a generous sprinkle of glitter, Russia hosts Intervision on Sept. 20, a song contest championed by Moscow as a rival to Eurovision. Originally a festival for the Soviet Union and its satellite states, Intervision is returning as a soft-power tool, heavy on anti-Western narratives with Moscow banished from