Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield are still in the race to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023. The BBC made the announcement this morning. A total of twenty cities had expressed an interest in hosting the festival next year. After an initial selection, which mainly looked at the capacity, suitability and experience of the cities and their halls, London, among others, was dropped. The seven will have to further develop their bid book in the coming period. The way in which the cities incorporate Ukrainian culture and music into their (peripheral) programs will also be examined. A decision will then be made in the autumn where the festival will be held in 2023.
The seven cities with their likely locations are:
Birmingham: Resorts World Arena
Glasgow: OVO Hydro
Leeds: First Direct Arena
Liverpool: M&S Bank Arena
Manchester: AO Arena
Newcastle: Utilita Arena Newcastle
Sheffield: Utilita Arena Sheffield
At the end of July, the EBU announced that the United Kingdom would take over the organization from Ukraine. In mid-June it became clear that it was not possible to organize the festival there due to the situation in Ukraine. The two broadcasters will work together before 2023, incorporating Ukrainian elements into the shows. In addition, Ukraine also gets a direct place in the final.
It will be the ninth time the United Kingdom will host the festival and the fifth time it has taken over from a country that was unable or unwilling to host the festival. The last time the British hosted the festival was in Birmingham in 1998 when Dana International won on behalf of Israel. A year earlier, Katrina & The Waves took care of the last victory for the time being. This year Sam Ryder finished second in Turin.
