On May 1, 2025, the final gala concert of the VII International Music Competition-Festival Road to Yalta took place at the State Kremlin Palace. This season was particularly significant, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. Foreign artists from 15 countries across various continents performed beloved songs about the Great Patriotic War, cherished by many generations.

The finalists of the 2025 Road to Yalta competition included vocalists from Brazil, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Morocco, Mongolia, Serbia, Tunisia, the USA, and France. They were selected through an online process from 160 applications submitted from 55 countries.

The first competition day was held on April 28 at the Yauza Palace Theatre Concert Hall, where foreign performers sang solo war songs of the Soviet time in their native languages. The jury’s task was to evaluate the contestants’ performances, with the winners to be determined at the gala concerted on May 1 in the grand hall of the State Kremlin Palace.

On the final day, the festival baton was passed to the 2025 contestants by participants and laureates of previous seasons: Vanit Bakshi (India), Ricardo Rodrigues (Brazil), Aylin Yeshilsev (Turkey), Yoel Romero and Eduardo Breff (Cuba), Boushra Mahfoud (Syria), Ekaterina Linkowski (Moldova), Raymond Pardamean (Indonesia), Karen Sosa Limones (Ecuador), Ambinintsoa Vololonarimanga (Madagascar), Arthur Garfunkel (USA), Evgeny Malinovsky (Poland), Sašo Gačnik (Slovenia), and Marko Dolaš (Serbia). Together with Tatyana Kurtukova, who joined via teleconference, they performed the popular hit "Matushka".

The event was opened by the festival’s president, TASS Russian News Agency Director General Andrey Kondrashov, who read a welcoming address from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the participants, organizers, and guests of Road to Yalta. The address highlighted that the festival "traditionally unites talented artists, musicians, cultural figures, and journalists from Russia and many foreign countries — those who cherish the memory of their ancestors, the courage, and unparalleled resilience of the generation of victors who defeated Nazism and saved the world".

The audience warmly honored the evening’s most esteemed guests – veterans. The concert hosts, festival artistic director Ernest Matskiavichius and TV journalist Tatyana Remezova, introduced each veteran and shared their stories.

In the final gala concert, Russian artists performed duets with the contestants: Honored Artist of Russia Kai Metov, Alexey Petrukhin, the Quattro originals, Honored Artist of Russia Yuta, Mikhail Grushevsky, Marusya Lyovkina and Nika Lyovkina, Honored Artist of Russia Nonna Grishaeva, Anastasia Malkova-Makeeva, Honored Artist of Russia Zara, Honored Artist of Russia Askar Abdrazakov, Aglaya Shilovskaya, Honored Artist of Russia Alexander F. Sklyar, Valentina Biriukova, Yaroslav Sumishevsky, and Soslan Fidarov. One contestant’s performance was accompanied by the Firsts’ Choir. The audience was treated to two non-competitive performances: "He Never Came Back from the Battle" by the 2020 festival silver laureate Evgeny Malinovsky (Poland) in a duet with Honored Artist of Russia Denis Maidanov, and "Farewell of Slavianka" by the 2024 festival special prize winner Sašo Gačnik (Slovenia) and Honored Artist of Russia Ekaterina Guseva.

The jury and audience, having followed the festival’s evolution over several seasons, agreed that the 2025 final concert was the most memorable and emotional in its history. They noted the beautiful voices of the vocalists and the heartfelt, deeply understood performances of cherished songs by both foreign and Russian artists. The audience stood for songs such as "We Need One Victory", "Cranes", "Eternal Flame", and "Upon a Summit with No Name".

The festival jury, chaired by People’s Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Lev Leshchenko, included Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, President of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk, Honored Artist of Russia Zara, Honored Artist of Russia Denis Maidanov, Honored Artist of Russia Kai Metov, and Honored Artist of Russia Alexander F. Sklyar.

The winners were announced as follows:

• 1st place: Duo Zeng Zhao & Yang Yujie (China) and Deborah Bowman (USA);

• 2nd place: Emira Dakhlia (Tunisia);

• 3rd place: Emmanuel Forest (France).

The special prize, awarded by the festival’s general partner PSB Bank, went to the duo Zeng Zhao & Yang Yujie (China).

Special jury prizes were awarded to Irene Guglielmi (Italy), Michael Batista Martínez (Cuba), Georgia Katsivelou (Greece), Jelena Velimirovic (Serbia), Otgonbayar Barkh (Mongolia), Daiane Cristina Marques da Silva (Brazil), Ayoub Souane (Morocco), Katerina Andreou (Cyprus), Udit Saxena (India), Emmanuel Désiré Boyer (Côte d’Ivoire), and Adventina Delfia Gracia ButarButar (Indonesia).

Following tradition, the festival concluded with the song "Dark Night", performed in the languages of all contestants, and "The Victory Day", sung by Lev Leshchenko.

The event was broadcast live on the festival’s web platforms, the Smotrim platform, TASS and Sputnik websites, the Moscow24 TV channel website, the "Firsts’ Movement" VKontakte community, and communities of friends and partners of Road to Yalta on VKontakte, as well as on screens in central Yalta and Simferopol.

The Road to Yalta festival is organized by the "Humanitarian World" Fund, which implements major socially significant projects. The International Music Festival Road to Yalta is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Russian Presidential Administration, the Government of the Republic of Crimea, All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), TASS Russian News Agency, and the National Copyright Holders Support Fund (NFPP).

General partner of the festival: PSB Bank. The Bank of a Strong Country.

Press-service of the festival:
Marina Pavlova
+7-903-286-22-58
pr.doroganayaltu@yandex.ru

Deputy Director of the Festival, Marketing:
Maria Arzhaeva
+7-916-134-11-93
pr_marketing@gumanitarniymir.ru