Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The wait is over and Swiss city of Basel will host the 69th Eurovision song contest in St.Jakobshalle on May 13th and 15th the semi-finals, and May 17th the grand final.  Basel is a border town just like Malmö last year, and sixth year in a row that Eurovision isn't hosted by a capital city, and Eurovision fans may find themselves staying in either Switzerland, France or Germany during their Eurovision adventure.  St.jakobshalle was opened in September 1976 and renovated in 2015-2018 and has now 12.400 capacity in the main arena. Besides the main hall there are five other halls of different space so probably they will manage to house everything in the same building from dressing rooms to press center.   During the renovation it was suggested the arena to be named Roger Federer Arena, Basel's own tennis hero but that was blocked in the local council vote and St.Jakobshalle name remained. The day of announcement of the venue and dates (August 30, 2024) 24 countries hav...

As a surprise twist front runner favorite Zurich is out of the race to host Eurovision song contest 2025 and the Swiss team with Ebu announced that Basel and Geneva are the top two bids and of them will get the honor to host the contest in May 2025.  Basel is apparently aiming on St.Jakobshalle that could have been also called Roger Federer Arena to honor the local tennis player but the local council vote blocked that idea. Built in 1976 and completely renovated between 2016-18 adding fro its original 9.000 capacity to 12.400. The complex also has five smaller halls that would nice serve as press center, delegation lounge and all that extra needed for the show under same roof.  The arena has been used mainly for tennis, handball, ice hockey, curling and of course concerts, including Bob Dylan leaving him with life changing experience.  Basel itself is Switzerland's third biggest city by river Rhine with its approx 178.000 inhabitants (541.000 in greater Basel). In multi l...