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United Kingdom confirmed as Eurovision 2023 hosts

It's official. Eurovision will be held in the UK after organisers ruled Ukraine as unsafe.

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It’s official. The United Kingdom will host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted in the United Kingdom on behalf of this year’s winning broadcaster, Ukraine’s UA:PBC.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the BBC confirmed the news with the Host City bidding contest to begin this week.

The unsurprising news follows confirmation that 2022 winners Ukraine could not be considered a safe destination.

The BBC, as runner up was invited by the EBU to act as Host Broadcaster -the first time for the UK since 1998.

Ukraine will automatically qualify for the Grand Final along with ‘Big 5’ that financially contribute the most towards the Contest: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom).

“We’re exceptionally grateful that the BBC has accepted to stage the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK in 2023,” said Executive Supervisor, Martin Österdahl.

“The BBC has taken on hosting duties for other winning countries on four previous occasions. Continuing in this tradition of solidarity, we know that next year’s Contest will showcase the creativity and skill of one of Europe’s most experienced public broadcasters whilst ensuring this year’s winners, Ukraine, are celebrated and represented throughout the event.”

Mykola Chernotytskyi, Head of the Managing Board of UA:PBC added, “The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will not be in Ukraine but in support of Ukraine. We are grateful to our BBC partners for showing solidarity with us. I am confident that together we will be able to add Ukrainian spirit to this event and once again unite the whole of Europe around our common values of peace, support, celebrating diversity and talent.”

Tim Davie, BBC Director-General, “It is a matter of great regret that our colleagues and friends in Ukraine are not able to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Being asked to host the largest and most complex music competition in the world is a great privilege. The BBC is committed to making the event a true reflection of Ukrainian culture alongside showcasing the diversity of British music and creativity. The BBC will now begin the process to find a host city to partner with us on delivering one of the most exciting events to come to the UK in 2023.”

Representatives of UA: PBC will work with the BBC to develop and implement the Ukrainian elements of next year’s shows and the logo will reflect the cooperation between the host country and this year’s winners.

2 Responses

  1. It almost certainly won’t be London. The BBC have been on a drive for a number of years now to regionalise more content away from London. It would seem silly to do all that work, then host the biggest even they’ve staged in years in London.

  2. The host city choice should be interesting. Do they go with a cultural city known for arts and the humanities, such as Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow or London. Or do they give a chance and go with a city that requires revitalisation and could do with the boost, such as Blackpool, Hull, Newcastle, Nottingham and other cities.

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