Ebu made the painful but sensible decision not to let the 2023 Eurovision song contest be held in Ukraine, the 2022 winning country due to ongoing Russian aggression and full blast war that seems to not be ending anytime soon sadly.
When the speculation started immediately, or even before their win, many broadcasters and countries stepped in line more or less seriously to have it from Italy to Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain but the Ebu decision fell on BBC and United Kingdom, the historical back up country and this time also the runner up with the official announcement on July 25.
By then most every UK city has expressed its willingness to host Eurovision 2023: Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield, Sunderland and Wolverhampton.
This will be 9th time United Kingdom hosts the contest: 1968 London, 1977 Wembley/London, 1982 Harrogate, 1998 Birmingham after their wins but also 1960 (London, after the Netherlands declined), 1963 (London, after France declined), 1972 (after Monaco was unable to host), 1974 (Brighton, after Luxembourg declined to do a double) and now 2023.
I have only one wish: Graham Norton not to host. Let it be Robbie Williams with Kylie Minogue. I know many people are shouting for Ukrainian presenters etc but I would let them take care of the opening and interval acts, the design and graphics instead. That would give a lot more Ukrainian flavor to the show than hosts.
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