Belgium: Willing to Host Eurovision 2023 If asked!

RTBF, the French-language Belgian national broadcaster, has stated that they would host Eurovision 2023 if asked.

Following reports that the European Union is supposedly preparing a bid to host Eurovision 2023 in Brussels as a gesture of solidarity to Ukraine, RTBF confirmed that they would be willing to host the contest if asked. Jean-Paul Philippot, General Manager of RTBF, stated that he will discuss this idea with the EBU during their General Assembly next Thursday. If chosen, RTBF would look to host the event with other public organisations. The City of Brussels also supports this idea.

RTBF has hosted three Eurovision events before. The first event was the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, followed by Eurovision Young Musicans 1992, which were both held in Brussels. In 2005, RTBF and VRT, the Dutch-language Belgian national broadcaster, organised the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Hasselt in East Flanders. Both broadcasters also collaborated on Eurokids, the Belgian national final for the contest that same year.

Earlier this month, the EBU announced that Ukraine would not host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 due to ongoing war in the country.

The EBU has offered the hosting duties of the 2023 contest to the United Kingdom but the BBC have yet to state whether or not they will accept the offer. Should the United Kingdom agree to host the 2023 contest, it would be the fifth occasion on which the country has hosted after the original host nation was unable to, following for the Netherlands in 1960, France in 1963, Monaco in 1972 and Luxembourg in 1974. It would also extend the United Kingdom’s record of hosting the contest to nine times.

To date, the following cities have expressed interest in hosting the 2023 contest:

• Aberdeen
• Belfast
• Birmingham
• Brighton
• Cardiff
• Glasgow
• Leeds
• Liverpool
• London
• Manchester
• Sheffield
• Sunderland
• Wolverhampton

Source: L’Echo

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