Newcastle's dream of hosting Eurovision is one step closer to becoming a reality as the UK has officially been confirmed as the host country of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. The BBC will hold next year's contest on behalf of the 2022 competition's winners, Ukraine.
Announcing the news earlier today (July 25) Eurovision added: "Next year’s host city will be chosen in the coming months following a bidding process to be launched this week." The Nort East faces stiff competition from some of the UK's major cities, however, with cities up and down the UK already expressing their interest in playing host to the annual singing competition.
London and Manchester are the current frontrunners in the bid to host the next Eurovision Song Contest, with Birmingham close behind. As it currently stands, Newcastle is tied with Sheffield, Liverpool and Leeds with odds of 10/1 to hold the competition.
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In order to be chosen, cities must provide evidence that they have a 10,000-seater venue and are close to an international airport. Prospective host cities must also have enough hotel rooms for 2,000 delegates.
Several mayors, councillors and MPs have already informally expressed an intention to bid, including representatives from: Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Swindon and Wolverhampton.
According to Eurovision: "Of course, not all of these locations will formally apply, and the BBC and the EBU will await official approaches and applications from this week onwards."
The formal application process for potential host cities will commence this week, with a long list expected to be published "later in the Summer". The winning city will likely be announced by the end of the year.
In terms of who could host, Graham Norton, who provided the BBC commentary for this year's event, is the firm favourite to front the live ceremony. Other contenders so far include Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield and Alan Carr.
Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said: “With the European Broadcasting Union confirming the UK will host next year’s Eurovision, Graham Norton is the 3/1 favourite to anchor the song contest and he is followed by Holly Willoughby & Phillip Schofield at 9/2, while Bonnie Tyler, who represented the UK at Eurovision in 2013, is 8/1. Looking at which city could host Eurovision, London is the 7/4 frontrunner, with Manchester 7/2 and Birmingham 5/1.”
Here's the full list of odds for who could host Eurovision 2023 so far:
Betfair: City to host Eurovision 2023
- London: 7/4
- Manchester: 7/2
- Birmingham: 5/1
- Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds: 10/1
- Edinburgh: 14/1
- Cardiff: 16/1
- Glasgow: 20/1
- Belfast, Bristol: 25/1
Betfair: Person to host Eurovision 2023
- Graham Norton: 3/1
- Holly Willoughby & Phillip Schofield: 9/2
- Bonnie Tyler: 8/1
- Davina McCall: 10/1
- Dermot O’Leary, Lulu: 16/1
- Maya Jama: 33/1
- Rylan: 40/1
- Alan Carr: 50/1
- James Corden: 66/1
- Laura Whitmore: 80/1
- Alison Hammond, Jonathan Ross, Jack Whitehall: 150/1
- Simon Cowell: 200/1
- Piers Morgan: 250/1
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