The decision has been made: The 66th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) will take place next year in Turin, the capital of the Piedmont region in northern Italy.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) also announced the date of the final on Friday: May 14th, 2022. The two preliminary rounds are planned for May 10th and 12th.
The Swede Martin Österdahl, who has been responsible for the organization of the ESC for the EBU for a year, called Turin a perfect host.
As the venue for the Winter Olympics in 2006, the city had already proven that it was capable of hosting a major global event.
Peter-Philipp Schmitt
Editor in the section “Germany and the World”.
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Turin, the fourth largest city in Italy, has long been considered a secret favorite among the possible ESC cities. The main reason for this is the Pala Alpitour hall, which offers space for almost 16,000 spectators. It is located in the southern district of Santa Rita and next to the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino and the exhibition center. The multi-purpose hall, built in 2005 by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, was the main venue for ice hockey tournaments during the Olympic Games. The ATP finals in men's tennis are planned in her in the future.
The ESC has returned to Italy for the first time in 30 years.
The 36th competition took place in Rome in 1991, after Toto Cutugno and “Insieme” had won the Grand Prix the previous year.
This year the rock band Måneskin won the final in Rotterdam with “Zitti e buoni”.
For the next year’s event, more than 20 cities initially got in touch, including Sanremo, where the ESC participant is determined every year at the music festival.
In the end, Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Rimini and Turin had officially applied.
The broadcaster Rai is responsible for the organization in the country.