The 67th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in in the UK in 2023.
The 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Italy in May, was won by Ukranian rap group Kalush Orchestra. The UK – represented by Sam Ryder – finished in second place.
The victory raised questions as to whether the tradition of the following years’ hosting duties falling to the winning country could be upheld in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The European Broadcasting Union “explored a number of options” with Ukrainian broadcaster UA: PBC before concluding that it couldn’t.
The BBC has now accepted the European Broadcasting Union’s invitation to host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in the UK in 2023. The Beeb have pledged to create and deliver a “unique” Eurovision Song Contest that reflects Ukraine’s victory in Turin in May 2022.
The BBC has been the broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK since 1956 and has staged the Eurovision Song Contest more times than any other broadcaster, hosting in London in 1960, 1963, 1968 and 1977, Edinburgh in 1972, Brighton in 1974, Harrogate in 1982 and Birmingham in 1998.
The show will, the Beeb note, celebrate the culture and heritage of Ukraine as the winners of the 2022 Contest as well as the Eurovision’s proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music
The bidding process to select the Host City for the Song Contest will begin this week, which the BBC will manage alongside the EBU.
The two Semi-Finals and Grand Final will be produced by BBC Studios, who were previously commissioned to produce Eurovision 2023 coverage before there were any discussions about the Song Contest coming to the UK.
Kate Phillips, Director Unscripted BBC, says:
“We are honoured that we have been asked to take on hosting duties for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine. Clearly the set of circumstances our colleagues find themselves in is not what we wanted but we will work with UA: PBC and the other participating broadcasters to deliver a special event that has glorious Ukraine at its heart.”
