Not many time ago it was revealed that the Soviet Union planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Brussels in 1987.
By that time it was a contest where communist countries (excepting Yugoslavia) did not participate because of many reasons, but one of them was purely cultural (communist block rejected typical Western pop music).
At the end, the Soviet government decided that the participation in such 'Western' event was 'too radical'. What if they would have finally participated? And even won it (= meaning that ESC 1988 would have been in communist Moscow, with Céline Dion singing there).
By that time it was a contest where communist countries (excepting Yugoslavia) did not participate because of many reasons, but one of them was purely cultural (communist block rejected typical Western pop music).
At the end, the Soviet government decided that the participation in such 'Western' event was 'too radical'. What if they would have finally participated? And even won it (= meaning that ESC 1988 would have been in communist Moscow, with Céline Dion singing there).