The United Kingdom will likely host Eurovision 2023. Given the ongoing war in Ukraine, it is impossible for the winning broadcaster UA:PBC to host the contest. Therefore, the EBU has confirmed that it will continue talks with BBC.
“It has become a well-known tradition that the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest hosts the competition the following year,” EBU writes a the start of its press statement. “The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most complex TV productions in the world. With thousands working on, and attending, the event and 12 months of preparation time needed.”
Therefore, EBU concludes that “Given the ongoing war since the Russian invasion of this year’s winning country”, broadcaster UA:PBC will not be capable of hosting in 2023. UA:PBC had booked a historic victory in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, with the band Kalush Orchestra getting an extremely high televote.
BBC likely to host Eurovision 2023 in the United Kingdom
EBU will now begin discussions with the BBC, this year’s runner up, to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom. “It is our full intention that Ukraine’s win will be reflected in next year’s shows,” says the press statement. “This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts.”
The BBC and the Eurovision Song Contest have had a love-hate-relationship over the past few years. On several occasions, BBC tried to blame its own poor performances on external factors such as Brexit or an unfair voting process.
However, this year marked the start of a new attitude when BBC sent Sam Ryder to the contest. The TikTok-star not only gave a great performance and achieved a top result, he also showed motivation to ” change the British attitude towards Eurovision“.
Sam Ryder: “Changing British attitude towards Eurovision is more important than a good result”