“Reflect the features of Ukrainian culture”: cities announced to host Eurovision 2023

On August 12, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the shortlist of cities that can host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023.

At this stage, seven out of 20 applicants were selected: Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.

One of the selection criteria was how the candidates intend to reflect the theme of Ukraine, which was originally supposed to host Eurovision.

The EBU website notes that all the cities from the shortlist have coped with this task.

“All candidates showed how they can reflect the characteristics of Ukrainian culture, music and society to commemorate the fact that Ukraine this year became the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest,” the message says.

Now the cities from the shortlist will move on to the final stage of selection, in which they will need to describe their applications in detail.

The winner will be the city with the highest score based on the following criteria: availability of a suitable venue for the event and sufficient space to fulfill the requirements of the competition, financial contribution and other commitments that the candidate can undertake in the Eurovision plan, the credibility of the cultural proposal, which includes local and regional events that will remain “behind the scenes”, as well as “demonstration of Ukrainian culture and music”.

In addition, the candidate must be in line with the competition organizers' strategic priorities, such as "delivering value to all audiences and supporting the creative economy in the UK".

The final decision on the city in which the competition will be held will be made in the fall of 2022.

• Singer Sam Ryder at Eurovision 2022 in Turin

• AP

• © Luca Bruno

The transfer of Eurovision 2023 to the UK was officially announced on July 25.

The decision was made in order to ensure the safety of the participants and guests of the song contest.

According to the organizers, the choice of the UK (besides the fact that Sam Ryder took second place in the competition in Turin) is due to the fact that the country has tremendous experience in hosting the competition - Eurovision has already been held eight times in the United Kingdom: in London (1960, 1963, 1968 and 1977), Edinburgh (1972), Brighton (1974), Harrogate (1982) and Birmingham (1998).

At the same time, it was announced that Ukraine gets the right to automatically enter the final of the competition along with the countries of the Big Five, since the Kalush Orchestra musical group won the Eurovision 2022.

In addition, the organizers of the competition reported that the Ukrainian flavor will become an integral part of the musical show in 2023.

“The BBC Corporation has already taken over the responsibility for organizing the competition four times instead of other winning countries.

This tradition of solidarity continues, and we know that next year's competition will, on the one hand, be a showcase for the ingenuity and skill of one of the most experienced public service broadcasters in Europe, and, on the other hand, will ensure that this year's winner, Ukraine, is celebrated and not forgot throughout the event,” the organizers said.

In response, representatives of Ukraine stated that they would help their British colleagues in developing the ethnic elements of the event.

“The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will not be held in Ukraine, but in support of Ukraine.

We are grateful to our partners for solidarity with us.

I am sure that together we will be able to create a Ukrainian atmosphere at this event and once again rally the whole of Europe around our common values, such as (striving for. -

) peace, providing support, as well as glorifying diversity and talent, ”said the chairman of the board of the National Public TV and Radio Company of Ukraine Mykola Chernotitsky.

Sam Ryder later posted a video in which he stated that despite being hosted by the United Kingdom, it would still be a "Ukrainian party".

Social media users did not stand aside and actively discussed both the decision to postpone and the news about the Ukrainian entourage of the contest.

Users were divided in their opinions: some left rave reviews, believing that Britain deservedly took on the role of the hostess of the competition, since it took second place.

Others opposed the EBU decision, expressing the opinion that the organizers themselves violate the rules of the competition.

According to them, since such a decision has been made, then at least the hosts of the show should be representatives of Ukraine.

Still others do not support the contest at all, noting that the debate about Eurovision is inappropriate against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine.