8:09 p.m. update after Ukrainian reaction
Volodymyr Zelensky’s reaction to the victory of the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra at Eurovision, in Turin (Italy), was not long in coming. “Next year, Ukraine will host Eurovision! “, announced the Ukrainian president on the night of May 14 to 15. This Friday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which oversees the organization of the musical competition, makes him lie by explaining, in a press releasethat the country, at war since the Russian invasion in February, “is unable to bring together the necessary security and operational conditions” to host the event.
The EBU made its decision after having “assessed the situation and carried out a very comprehensive feasibility study, in consultation with [la chaîne ukrainienne] UA: PBC and external specialists”. A decision that goes badly in kyiv. “Ukraine does not agree with the nature of the decision taken by the European Broadcasting Union,” Culture Minister Oleksandre Tkatchenko said in a statement. “We are calling for additional negotiations on hosting Eurovision-2023 in Ukraine.”
Talks with the BBC
“The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most complex television productions in the world: requiring a year of preparation, it requires the collaboration of thousands of people and brings together a very large audience each year on the site hosting the event” , recalls the EBU, which says it is about to “engage in discussions with the BBC” to “determine” whether the 2023 edition can take place in the United Kingdom.
This country, represented by Sam Ryder in Turin with the song spaceman, came second in Eurovision. For several weeks, rumors of a Eurovision 2023 organized in Great Britain have continued to swell: the city of Glasgow, in Scotland, would be the favorite.