Eagle-eyed viewers discovered which city would host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest a few seconds early after Graham Norton inadvertently let the cat out of the bag before intended.
The chat show star, who helms the BBC coverage of the European extravaganza, tried to build the suspense during a special edition of The One Show on Friday evening.
Eurovision fans sat on tenterhooks as they waited to see whether Liverpool or Glasgow would host the event in the coming year.
“They’ve told me to build the drama, I just want to rip it open!” said Norton ahead of the reveal.
He proceeded to open his silver envelope and pulled out a card, but did not realise that on the back of the card were the words ‘Eurovision Song Contest, United Kingdom, Liverpool 2023’.
Unaware of the blunder, Norton paused for a prolonged moment as he held the card up to the camera and waited a little longer before announcing Liverpool as the host.
Twitter users were quick to point out the mistake, with one tweeting: “Incredible scenes during the Eurovision announcement as Graham Norton builds some tension before the big reveal… holding a card saying ‘Liverpool 2023’.”
Another wrote: “Literally right there in front of us”, while one tweet read: “Not Graham Norton taking time in announcing the host city when we could see it on the card”.
The international music show will take place at the Liverpool Arena, culminating in the grand final on Saturday May 13.
Eurovision is being held in the UK after this year’s winner, Ukraine, was deemed unable to host because of the ongoing war with Russia.
In a message to Ukraine, Liverpool's mayor said the event, at the M&S Bank Arena, would ‘do you proud’.
Joanne Anderson said the city ‘faced strong competition from Glasgow’ but she was ‘over the moon’.
“This is a massive event and the eyes of the world will be on us in May, especially those of our friends in Ukraine,” she said.
“Now begins months of work to put on the best party ever. Ukraine - you have my promise we will do you proud.”
A number of fans watched the announcement on screens at Liverpool's famous Masquerade drag bar, where DJ Candi Take-It celebrated by playing Sir Cliff Richard's 1968 Eurovision classic Congratulations.
The announcement on Friday came after a hotly-contested bidding process, which saw 20 possible host cities cut to a final two.
Glasgow had been the bookies' favourite, but Liverpool can now expect thousands of visitors in May.
