The preparations for the 2017 Eurovision song contest in Ukraine seem to be facing some major problems to start with. First NTU wanted to change the previsional dates a week earlier, because May 18 is the Day of Remembrance for the victims of Crimean Tatar genocide, but the dates proposed don't go well with EBU as they are clashing with some major sports events, namely the Champions League semifinal matches. EBU doesn't want to lose viewers, which is very much understandable.
This blogger remembers with horror when back in the day the Eurovision final and the World Championship final in Ice Hockey used to clash and with the household of one TV only there was always such a fight over it with ice hockey crazed brother and father.... Never again!
But it's not only the dates that are causing some head scraching in Ukraine, as apparently they don't have a suitable venue that would fill all the requirements by EBU either, as stated by the Minister of Culture Yevhen Nyshcuk. The idea od covering the Olympic stadium in Kyiv doesn't work as a temporary roof wouldn't be fit enough for all the heavy lighting props. That leaves us with this blogger's favorite Lviv's arena, that also needs a roof built, but being smaller it might work better.... Who knows. Surely a solution will be found in due time and by August 1 we have been promised a decision.
It could be even a brand new arena in Kyiv by the Dnieper river bank, the Azerbaijan style. But then the question is how to finance it?!
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