Liverpool has been revealed as the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
The news was confirmed on The One Show this evening, with BBC Eurovision commentator Graham Norton making the announcement.
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“It means everything,” Liverpool’s director of culture, Claire McColgan, said. “We’re doing it for Ukraine first of all, for our brilliant city and for the people who come here. It’s going to be incredible.”
Lord Mayor of Liverpool Roy Gladden added: “We’ve wanted it, we expected it but you’re always on edge. We’ll have a party that’s never been done before.”
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will officially take place at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on May 13.
Liverpool will host #Eurovision 2023 on behalf of Ukraine…and it’s gonna be proper boss ?
???? Find out all about Liverpool 2023 right here: https://t.co/a1zGojGfbr pic.twitter.com/hCrSYkMAsO
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) October 7, 2022
Last month, it was confirmed that either Glasgow or Liverpool would be staging next year’s event on behalf of Eurovision 2022 winners Ukraine. A shortlist of seven potential cities was announced in August before organisers whittled it down to two.
Yesterday (October 6), Norton told Chris Evans on Virgin Radio that he would be “discussing where Eurovision is going to be” on TV tonight alongside this year’s runner-up, Sam Ryder.
It was then confirmed by the BBC that the official announcement would take place on The One Show at 7pm.
The United Kingdom’s entry Ryder came in at second place to Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra at Eurovison 2022, scoring an impressive 466 points overall with his song ‘Space Man’.
Numerous cities made bids to stage the contest after the BBC confirmed it would be hosting, with the initial shortlist featuring Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
Phil Harrold, the chair of the BBC’s Host City Selection Committee, last month said that Glasgow and Liverpool had put forward the “strongest overall offer[s]” in a “highly competitive field”.
The UK has staged the Eurovision Song Contest eight times previously: London (1960, 1963, 1968 and 1977), Edinburgh (1972), Brighton (1974), Harrogate (1982) and Birmingham (1998).
Further details about the 2023 contest will be announced in the coming months but the BBC has confirmed that as well as the final, it will host the semi-finals on May 9 and 11.
