The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place in
Liverpool.
The grand final will take place at Liverpool Arena on
Saturday 13 May with semi-finals on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 May.
Liverpool pipped Glasgow to the post to host the event following
a city bid process that examined facilities at the venue; the ability to
accommodate thousands of visiting delegations, crew, fans and journalists;
infrastructure; and the cultural offer of the host city in reflecting Ukraine’s
win in 2022.
Faye Dyer, managing director of The ACC Liverpool Group, said: “We are ecstatic to have won the bid to
host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. This has been a whole city effort and we
are truly grateful for everyone’s hard work and support to bring this to the
region and to our campus. We know we have a busy few months ahead planning this
phenomenal event but our team are ready and really excited.
“Delivering fantastic, successful events
is what we do best and we can’t wait to show the world how Liverpool can party. This will be a fabulous global event
for the city and, most importantly, gives us the opportunity to show our
support for Ukraine.
After Ukraine won the 2022 contest, it was decided that the
ongoing war with Russia meant the country would not be able to host.
The UK, who came second in this year’s contest, was
announced as the host country, with seven cities shortlisted in August –
Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
These were whittled down to the final two of Liverpool and
Glasgow in September, with the winner being announced by Graham Norton live on
BBC’s The One Show on Friday.
The BBC, together with the European Broadcasting Union
(EBU), will organise the contest in consultation with UA:PBC, Ukraine’s public
broadcaster.
Eurovision Song Contest executive supervisor Martin
Österdahl said: “Liverpool is the ideal place to host the 67th Eurovision Song
Contest on behalf of Ukraine.
“The city is synonymous with music and Liverpool Arena
exceeds all the requirements needed to stage a global event of this scale. We
have been very impressed with the passion the city has shown in embracing the contest and their inclusive ideas for placing last year’s winners, Ukraine,
front and centre when thousands of fans visit next May.”
It will be the first Eurovision Song Contest to be held in
the UK in 25 years, when Birmingham hosted the event in 1998.
