Status: 30.08.2024 10:00 a.m.
Basel will host the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. This was announced by the Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR. Apart from Basel, only Geneva was in the running to host the event.
The grand finale of the 69th ESC will take place on Saturday, May 17th, in the St. Jakobshalle. The semifinals will take place on May 13th and 15th.
“Basel’s strategic location at the crossroads of Europe makes it the ideal setting for an event that celebrates the power of music to connect people across borders.”
Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the ESC
Basel wants to “cross borders”
As a border town to Germany and France, Basel had put the ESC application under the motto “Crossing Borders”. Lörrach on the German side was also in the image film for application included. The St. Jakobshalle has a capacity of 12,000 spectators. As the “Tagesanzeiger” newspaper reported in advance, there will be a public viewing in the adjacent football stadium. In addition, a “Eurovision Street” will be built in the Steinenvorstadt nightlife district and a stage for local bands on Barfüsserplatz – both located directly in Basel’s city center.
The ESC kicked off in Lugano
Switzerland hosted and won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano in 1956. The Swiss singer Lys Assia brought the victory to her home country with the song “Refrain”. The Alpine republic has since won the contest twice more: in 1988, Céline Dion won with “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi” and this year Nemo with “The Code”.
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