Earlier today, the EBU and the BBC released an official mutual announcement, stating the UK will be the host country for Eurovision 2023.
Last May, Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine were announced as the winner of Eurovision 2022, with their song “Stefania“
Due to the escalation of the war in Ukraine, the EBU has already stated that it will be impossible to host the 2023 contest in Ukraine.
Therefore, it was quite natural to approach the country that ended in the 2nd place: the UK, that is also one of the automatic qualifiers (as part of the Big 5).
However, Ukraine will get a direct path for the final of Eurovision 2023, as the country won Eurovision 2022. Ukraine will be joined by the Big5 countries: the UK, Spain, France, Italy, and Germany.
Meanwhile, other countries will have to fight for 20 spots in the final.
BBC management reacts:
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a co-production of the host broadcaster and participating members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).”There are a number of funding options to be explored that will contribute towards delivering a fantastic event and great value for licence fee payers”
UA:PBC, the Ukrainian broadcaster, will be a significant partner in the production of the shows.
They will also be responsible for combining traditional elements of Ukrainian culture in the Eurovision 2023 artistic plan.
Mykola Chernotytskyi, Head of the Managing Board of UA:PBC added:
The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will not be held 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
The bid for the host city of Eurovision 2023 will officially open this week.
Several cities have already stated or shown interest in hosting the contest.
Among them you can count:
London, Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Brighton, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff and Nottingham
The logo, slogan and artwork for Eurovision 2023 will be revealed at a later date.
They will also reflect the uniqueness of Eurovision 2023 as a collaboration between 2 countries in hosting the contest.
Sam Ryder represented the UK at Eurovision 2022 with the song “Space Man“.
He ended up as the runner-up and won the jury vote!
