Zoe Ball and Scott Mills announced the shortlist of cities on BBC Radio 2 on Friday (August 12). “It’s exciting that we’re talking about Eurovision in August,” Mills said, before naming the cities tipped to host the annual contest in honor of 2022 winners Ukraine. Since it was revealed that Ukraine would be unable to host the event due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country, 20 cities in the UK have announced their bids to host the event. However, only seven have been named as contenders. These cities are Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield. Mills said these cities were deemed to have the “capacity and capability” to host the event, stating that they had demonstrated they had the “passion” to celebrate Eurovision. Those cities will move on to a second and final stage, after which they are expected to “provide a bit more detail” on what they would do if they were successful in their bids. The final decision will be announced later this year. The Eurovision contest was last hosted in the UK in 1997, the eighth time the event has visited British soil. It was announced in July that the UK would host the event in honor of Ukraine, with Martin Österdahl, Eurovision’s chief executive, saying: “We are extremely grateful that the BBC has agreed to host the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK in 2023 . The Kalush Orchestra won the competition for Ukraine in May after receiving overwhelming support in the public vote. UK entry Sam Ryder came in second. Kalush Orchestra Eurovision 2022 winners (Getty) Shortly after the country’s victory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Facebook post: “Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe! Next year Ukraine will host Eurovision! For the third time in its history. And I believe – not for the last time.” However, Eurovision’s governing body, the Reference Group, has since concluded that “given the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize and produce the Eurovision Song Contest in accordance with the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled”. The next Eurovision Song Contest will take place in May 2023.
