Liverpool to host Eurovision 2023

Why not Ukraine, why Liverpool?

Traditionally, the winning country hosts the following Contest, but hasn’t always been possible (as was the case for the winning broadcasters in 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1973 and 1979), and there are no hard and fast rules dictating who should host in these circumstances.

Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC naturally wanted to host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest but on July 25, after weeks of exploring the feasibility of a Ukrainian Contest, EBU announced that regrettably, for safety and security reasons, this was not possible.

The BBC, as runner up in the 2022 Contest, was invited by the EBU to act as Host Broadcaster for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest and soon after this announcement they invited bids from potential Host Cities.

Within days, the BBC had expressions of interest from 20 cities, across all four nations of the United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. All applicants demonstrated how they would reflect Ukrainian culture, music and communities.

7 out of 20, with two of these cities in competition

In August 2022, a total of 7 potential Host Cities were shortlisted based on their ability to meet a set of minimum requirements, demonstrating that they have the capacity, capability and experience to host an event of this scale and complexity.

Given the short period of time available, the initial selection process was heavily weighted towards demonstrating past experience in hosting major international events, as well as being able to demonstrate credentials in hosting a celebration of contemporary music.

These cities were then given an additional few weeks to develop their plans, before inviting a delegation from the EBU and BBC to visit the locations.

On September 27, the BBC provided an update on the bidding process, and confirmed that two cities, Glasgow and Liverpool, remained in competition to be the 2023 Host City.

Both remaining bids impressed both the BBC and the EBU, before a final decision was announced on Friday 7 October, with Liverpool being selected as the Host City for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.

Illustration: Liverpool is the host city of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, with Ukraine on the contest symbol after their 2022 win – photo by Visit Liverpool on Eurovision.tv graphics
Source: Eurovision.tv / OurVision International