The shortlist of UK cities that could host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 has been revealed, with seven locations battling it out to stage the event in May.
The seven cities were announced by Scott Mills live on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 breakfast show this morning (Friday 12th August).
Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra emerged victorious at this year’s competition in Turin, Italy, but the winners were forced to pull out of hosting the 2023 event due to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Instead, the honour of hosting the event fell to the UK after Sam Ryder came second in the competition.
So, which seven UK cities will be vying to stage the event in 2023? Read on for everything you need to know.
Which UK cities could host Eurovision 2023?
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Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield are the seven locations in the running to stage the event in May 2023.
Twenty cities expressed an interest, according to the BBC, and those not making the cut include London and Belfast.
The cities that bid to host the event were judged on various criteria, including having a venue that can acccommodate at least 10,000 spectators and access to an international airport.
After the shortlist was unveiled, Kate Phillips, the BBC’s director of unscripted content, said: “We would like to thank all of the cities and regions that submitted bids to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. We have seven fantastic cities who we are taking through to the next round.
“Congratulations to Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield – it’s exciting to see such a breadth of bids going through from across the UK.”
She added: “We are committed to delivering a truly unique Song Contest that celebrates wonderful Ukraine and champions British music and creativity in all its diversity.”
The seven shortlisted cities will now enter a second and final stage in the process, during which they’ll be asked to provide further details on their plans.
The winning city will be chosen by the BBC and Eurovision organisers, and will be announced in the autumn.
Earlier this week, London mayor Sadiq Khan had said that London should be chosen as the host.
“I’m really excited Eurovision is coming to the UK and, actually, whether it’s in another part of the UK or London it’s really important that we do Ukraine proud,” he said.
“It’s a fact, though, that the largest number of Ukrainians here live in London. It’s also a fact that there are many Londoners of Ukrainian origin and this is going to be Eurovision hosted by Ukraine in another city in the UK. Clearly it’s got to be London.”
The 2022 Eurovision Song Contest aired on the BBC from Tuesday 10th May to Saturday 14th May – listen to all of this year’s Eurovision songs on TIDAL, while the full album of tracks is available on CD and vinyl now.
You can also check out the full list of Eurovision winners and how many times the UK has won Eurovision here. If you’re looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide.
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