After selecting the United Kingdom as the host for Eurovision 2023 due to the impossibility of keeping Ukraine at the event because of the war, the European Broadcasting Union shared fresh details about the festival’s next edition. On Friday, August 12, the British BBC announced a highly awaited update for devoted followers: the official list of cities chosen to stage the music spectacle.
BBC Radio 2 revealed the seven nominees on Friday: Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, and Sheffield. These cities are the finalists to host Eurovision, eliminating other potential venues such as London and Bristol. In total, twenty British cities expressed interest in hosting the festival, but only seven advanced to the final round.
The EBU explained that the host city selection process for Eurovision 2023 would conclude in the autumn. Once a winner is determined, tickets will be released to the public.
Although the event is staged in the United Kingdom, the semi-finals and the grand final will blend Ukrainian elements with the theme of Stefania, echoing Kalush Orchestra’s victory in Turin last May. The BBC stated that the twenty cities that submitted nominations demonstrated in their proposals how they would reflect the culture of the winning country across different concepts and presentations.
Seven finalists were chosen “based on their ability to meet a set of minimum requirements that attest to the following: capacity and experience to host an event of this scale and complexity. The experience of hosting major international events was a key factor for the final stage for those selected. They will now need to develop their respective proposals in detail before the BBC and EBU jointly determine the winner.”