Eurovision Song Contest: Eurovision: Liverpool want to make Ukraine “proud”

Euro Vision Song Contest
Eurovision: Liverpool want to make Ukraine ‘proud’

The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Liverpool in 2023. photo

© Corinne Cumming/EBU/dpa

The party of the year is to be celebrated in the home of the Beatles: Liverpool is hosting the next Eurovision Song Contest. But the focus should be on a different culture.

As the host of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the British city of Liverpool wants to throw a lavish party in honor of this year’s winning country, Ukraine.

“Now months of preparation begin for the best party ever,” said Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson after her city beat Scotland’s Glasgow on Friday night. “Ukraine, we promise you, we will make you proud.”

Britain is stepping in to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, replacing Ukraine, which won this year’s competition in Turin with the Kalush Orchestra. The band welcomed the news that the Eurovision Song Contest is now set to take place on May 13th at the M&S Bank Arena by the Port of Liverpool. “Playing in the same city where The Beatles started will be a moment we will never forget,” the Ukrainian band wrote in a statement. Even if it is sad that the ESC cannot take place in their home country, they are sure that the people of Liverpool will be warm hosts. The band also wants to work to ensure that Ukraine wins again and that the 2024 contest can take place in Kyiv.

For security reasons, next year’s event cannot be celebrated in the fiercely contested Ukraine. Great Britain, as the runner-up, already offered the hosting months ago. The British have often stepped in for other countries. The BBC expects 160 million TV viewers around the world to follow the major event.

While the home of the Beatles will host the music extravaganza for the first time, it will be the ninth time that the ESC will be held in the UK. Several ESC fans had already gathered in Liverpool on Friday evening, who broke out in cheers after the decision, as the BBC broadcast showed. “Liverpool will put on an unforgettable show that will celebrate Ukraine’s rich culture and creativity,” British Prime Minister Liz Truss wrote on Twitter. According to the BBC, the city wants to work with Ukrainian street artists and designers, among others, to put Ukrainian culture and music at the center of it all.

“It’s Ukraine’s party. We’re just inviting them to throw it at our house,” said this year’s ESC runner-up Sam Ryder after the decision to host Great Britain. “We know how to party here in the UK.”

Liverpool has a long and rich musical history – largely influenced by the Beatles – and thus attracts visitors from all over the world every year. In addition, the city even sent local musicians into the race at past Eurovision Song Contests. Singer Sonia took second place with “Better the Devil You Know” in 1993. The band Jemini, also from Liverpool, competed in 2003 but only came last. The fact that Liverpool already has a relationship with the country through its twinning with the Ukrainian port city of Odessa is said to have played a role in the election.

Glasgow had also had high hopes for the competition until recently. However, the Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Stugeon took the defeat sporty and congratulated the city of Liverpool on Twitter. “Disappointed for Glasgow but no doubt you will make Eurovision and Ukraine proud,” wrote the politician.

dpa

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