Eurovision confirms Liverpool as host city for 2023 Song Contest
Liverpool will be the first UK city to host Eurovision since Birmingham in 1998.
The UK host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 has been revealed.
Liverpool has been confirmed as the host of the next Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Liverpool's 11,000 capacity dockside M&S Bank Arena.
The news was revealed by long-term Eurovision commentator Graham Norton on The One Show on BBC One tonight (Friday 7th October).
What's more, the date of the next Eurovision has also been confirmed: Liverpool will host the Song Contest on 13th May 2023.
It was previously between Liverpool and Glasgow for the honour of hosting the long-running musical competition, after being whittled down from a shortlist that also included Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
Liverpool will be the sixth UK city to host the musical extravaganza, following London (1960, 1963, 1968, 1977), Edinburgh (1972), Brighton (1974), Harrogate (1982) and Birmingham (1998).
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Liverpool will be hosting in place of Ukraine, who won the 2022 Eurovision Song contest but are unable to host due to the ongoing war with Russia. It was confirmed that the UK would host next year's competition in July of this year, as UK entrant Sam Ryder was placed second in the 2022 Song Contest.
The BBC will be hosting the show on behalf of Ukraine's UA:PBC, and also chose the host city in conjunction with the European Broadcasting Union.
However, the BBC is yet to announce a presenter for the event, after long-term commentator Graham Norton revealed that he won't be hosting Eurovision 2023.
Norton ruled himself out while appearing on This Morning, after asking hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield if they had "thrown [their] hats into the ring to host".
"I don't want to give up the commentating," Norton said. "If I stop the commentating, someone else will do it and they might be better than me and then I'll lose that job.
"Well, I might wander on and wave, and then run back to my rabbit hutch and put my ear things on."
The Eurovision Song Contest is expected to air in May 2023.
The 2022 Eurovision Song Contest aired on the BBC from Tuesday 10th May to Saturday 14th May – listen to all of this year's Eurovision songs on TIDAL, while the full album of tracks is available on CD and vinyl now.
You can also check out the full list of Eurovision winners and how many times the UK has won Eurovision here. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide.
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