Eurovision 2023: Birmingham is officially in the running for the next contest!

One after the other, the British cities interested in hosting the 67th Eurovision Song Contest submit their proposals for the holding of Eurovision 2023. Today it is the turn of Birmingham, which in 1998 hosted the last contest on British soil.

Should the BBC and EBU go ahead with Birmingham’s choice, Eurovision 2023 will be held at the Resorts World Arena rather than the Utilita Arena Birmingham. The West Midlands city has two indoor stadiums that are able to host the Eurovision Song Contest.

Nevertheless, the Birmingham City Council ended up choosing the Resorts World Arena, which is available until the end of June next year. This means Utilita Arena Birmingham will not have the chance to become one of the few arenas to have hosted Eurovision more than once.

Many music events have been hosted at Resorts World Arena, such as the BBC Music Awards in 2015 and most recently the ITV Charity Concert for Ukraine where Eurovision 2016 winner Jamala performed her winning song “1944”. Resorts World Arena has a capacity of 15,685 spectators.

Birmingham’s bid is backed by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward. The mayor of the UK’s second largest city wants his city to host both the next Eurovision Song Contest and the 2026 European Athletics Championships in addition to the Commonwealth Games starting tomorrow.

The following cities have confirmed that work has begun on their proposals: