I’ve been getting lots of ideas about how to promote the message, “Come to the elections and vote against the Party of Crooks and Thieves.” Some of them are quite interesting. One idea is to announce a contest for something like a musical video appeal. If it works out well, a couple of million people could watch it. And most importantly, they won’t just watch it—they’ll remember it: a song, after all, helps people build and live (a reference to a well-known Soviet saying). Let’s try it as an experiment. And have some fun while we’re at it—we ought to get some enjoyment out of fighting the Kremlin crooks.
So, I’m announcing a contest for a music video. It should be a YouTube video with an original song and original visuals. (In other words, simply taking a song by the group “Kombinatsiya” and putting it over footage of OMON riot police beating up elderly women won’t do.) Any musical format is fine—rap, chastushki (short, comic folk verses), opera, whatever. The visuals can be anything you want. You can make it funny, or full of anguish and torn-shirt passion. There are two requirements: A clear and unmistakable focus on promoting the message: "Come to the elections and vote for any party against United Russia—the Party of Crooks and Thieves." The video must comply with current law. (This point is included especially for the prosecutor’s office.) Procedure: a) make the video b) upload it to YouTube with restricted access. In the description, say that the video is participating in the contest. c) send me the video so that I (and those helping me) can verify that it was submitted by that specific person and register you as a contest participant d) receive confirmation from me e) make the video public f) I post the video on my LiveJournal g) you can promote it yourself by any means you like h) if YouTube itself takes the video down for violating its terms of service, that’s your responsibility. The video will be removed from the contest, but that does not prevent you from fixing the violations and entering again. Winner: The winner will be the person whose video gets the highest number of views by November 10, 2011. As you understand, this is not a race to see who uploads first: a good video can get a million views in two days, while a bad one won’t reach 20,000 in a month. We’ll count views according to YouTube’s own counter. Prize: I thought for a long time about the prize. Obviously, the main thing is not winning but taking part, and the best prize for everyone would be a good thrashing for the Party of Crooks and Thieves. But video editing and all the musical aspects cost money. So the prize will be cash. 150,000 rubles (about 3,700 USD at the 2011 exchange rate). Where will the money come from? Obviously, it would be very easy to raise it through Yandex.Money, but I decided that would give the crooks an opportunity to invent some legal complaints and nitpicking against us. They’d freeze the account and grab the money. So the prize money (either the full amount right away or a substantial part of it) can be provided by anyone, on the condition that they identify themselves publicly: "I, Ivanov Sidor Semyonovich, am funding this prize." So there’s no speculation about where the money came from. It’s a kind of experiment too: will this Sidor Semyonovich appear? If no Sidor Semyonovich turns up, then I’ll provide the money myself. In any case, a prize fund of 150,000 Russian rubles is guaranteed. (Payment or non-payment of personal income tax is the winner’s responsibility.) If you feel you have video, poetic, or musical talent, don’t hide it—let it work for Russia. It is the duty of every honest citizen and patriot to contribute to crushing the regime of Crooks and Thieves. Don’t be afraid that it will turn out badly—all participants automatically get +500 karma points. We’ll love and cherish them. Let us rank the mixing console and video-editing software alongside the bayonet! Send your creations to navalny at gmail dot com Update. Sidor Semyonovich has been found and has publicly declared his readiness to provide the prize money. 150,000 rubles for first place. 50,000 rubles for second.