Two more cities are now added to the list of those who are confirmed to have submitted a bid to host Eurovision 2023. Sheffield and Bristol are ready to submit tehir own bid while the city of Bristol still considers this possibility.
Sheffield
A statement released by the city council confirms that Sheffield’s bid for Eurovision 2023 is the Utilita Sheffield Arena to serve as the venue of the contest. The Utilita Sheffield Arena (known as Sheffield Arena), has a capacity of 13.600 spectators and has been used for concerts and sporting events since its opening in 1991.
Sheffield stands in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, including those with whom we have long been associated in our sister city of Donetsk.
As the first designated city of refuge in the UK, we strive to offer our city not only as a place of refuge, but as a place to celebrate the unity and solidarity that Eurovision symbolizes.
Sheffield stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we are submitting ourselves to host Eurovision 2023 to make its people proud.
Bristol
During Bristol’s pride in mid July, the town’s mayor, Marvin Rees, has announced their intention to claim the hosting of Eurovision 2023. Now that it has been made official that the competition will be held next May in the United Kingdom, Marvin Rees has reiterated his statement to the media, saying that Bristol are preparing their bid.
The city plans to use the YTL Arena, which is still under construction, for the event. The arena is designed to be able to seat 17,000 spectators using the large space that was once used to build the largest aircraft ever built in the United Kingdom.
Nottingham
Nottingham City Council has announced that it will consider submitting a formal bid to host Eurovision in 2023 after first looking at the official nomination criteria that the BBC has set.
A spokesman for Nottingham City Council said:
“Nottingham has excellent credentials to host a prestigious and internationally popular show like the Eurovision Song Contest. We look forward to the publication of the detailed criteria and bidding process to then consider whether we will be able to submit a formal application to be the host city.”
Katrina supports Manchester
While the British cities submit their bid to host Eurovision 2023 one after another, Katrina Leskanich, the last winner of the British winner of Eurovision back in 1997, says that she supports Manchester hosting the contest.
Speaking shortly after the EBU’s announcement of the UK taking over the next event she said:
“There are only a few cities that claim hosting and I think that Manchester is one of them. It would be on top of my list because it meets all the criteria.”
City councilor Bev Craig confirmed that Manchester will submit its proposal for Eurovision 2023, pledging at the same time that it will be “A Eurovision to remember”!
The following cities are confirmed to have started preparations for their proposals:
- Aberdeen
- Glasgow
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Bristol
- Sheffield
While the following cities have already declared their intention to bid:
- Belfast
- Birmingham
- Brighton
- Cardiff
- Leeds
- London
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
- Sunderland
- Wolverhampton
The Contest of 2023 will be the first contest since 1079 in which the winning country is not able to host the next year. Its the sixth time in total that the winning country doesn’t host the contest the following year. Eurovision 2023 also extends United Kingdom’s record of hosting, having hosted Eurovision a total of nine times.
Kalush Orchestra won Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song “Stefania”. It was Ukraine’s third win in the Contest.
Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2023!
