Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Culture in Ukraine, Yulia Datsenko, confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine that EBU has approved all the three bids in the running; Kiev, Dnipro and Odessa. She also noted the representatives of EBU were pleased with the high level of the organisations preparing for the contest in each city. So, now we just have to wait NTU's decision alone - due next Wednesday according plans -  as EBU is happy with any of them, as long as the contest does take place in Ukraine as planned. Read more about the Ukraine-Russia situation here . In an interview with Podrobnosti director general of NTU Zurab Alasania spoke about the 15 million fee that has been spoken about in the media and the budget. "The budget of the upcoming contest is not yet calculated. The figure of 15 million Euro did not come from the budget. This is the financial guarantee. The European Broadcasting Union admits that in our country can happen something (and we know this can happen), that m...

First it was late July, then August 1.... there were supposed to be two final cities to choose from but we still have three, each with their strong points and some weaknesses and none being the ideal host. NTU and the cities are working on to better their bids and the final decision will be made next week, and announced to the people of Ukraine (and the rest of us) on their Independence Day on August 24. Symbolism anyone?  It is also now known the Ukrainian government is ready with 15 million euro of financial guarantee demanded by EBU. EBU has learned their lesson from Kiev 2005 preparations and this sum will be returned to state treasury afterwards and not used for the preparations. Each bidding city has also guaranteed 5 million euros for the contest's budget in case they are chosen, the rest coming from sponsors, advertising and the participating countries. On top of that the government is to budget additional 5-10 million euros for the contest.  It will be interest...