Status: 07/25/2022 2:40 p.m
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place in Great Britain (UK). After the rejection of Ukraine, the EBU has reached an agreement with the BBC on the alignment. The Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra won the ESC 2022 with “Stefania”.
As soon as it became known that Ukraine would not be able to host ESC 2023 due to the current war, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced talks with the British BBC. These are now officially successful. Next year, the Big Five, i.e. the countries with the largest audience markets (Germany, Spain, Italy, Great Britain (UK) and France), as well as Ukraine as the current winner, are automatically set for the final. So there are again 26 starters in the final, like last time in Rotterdam 2021. Also, the BBC is working with representatives of the Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne to integrate Ukrainian elements into the shows. What the show’s logo will look like will be announced at a later date. Normally, the “V” of the “Eurovision” lettering contains the flag of the host country.
ESC 2023 aims to showcase Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture: The Kalush Orchestra won the ESC 2022 with the folk-hip-hop song “Stefania”.
Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the ESC, is pleased about the BBC’s willingness to hold the song contest – and reminds us that this is not the first time: “The BBC has already taken on hosting tasks for other winning countries four times. We set Continuing this tradition of solidarity, knowing that next year’s competition will showcase the creativity and skill of one of Europe’s most experienced public broadcasters, while ensuring that this year’s winner, Ukraine, is celebrated and represented throughout the event becomes.” The EBU had previously set the point of Ukrainian representation during ESC 2023 as a condition to the host country.
Ukraine looks forward to working with the BBC
Immediately after the ESC 2022 he had Ukrainian President Zelenskyj announced that the upcoming competition would be held in his own country. The EBU’s cancellation was greeted with defiance by those responsible in Ukraine and the demand for further talks. The CEO of the Ukrainian broadcaster, Mykola Chernotytskyi, now also finds words of praise for the decision in an EBU statement: “The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will not take place in Ukraine, but in support of Ukraine. We are grateful to our BBC partners for showing solidarity with us.I am confident that together we will be able to bring the Ukrainian spirit to this event and once again unite all of Europe around our shared values of peace, support, and the celebration of diversity and talent unite.” It is still unclear in which city the ESC 2023 will take place. The application phase in Great Britain (UK) for this starts now and will continue over the coming months. It already have brought various cities into the race to host the ESC.
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