The European Broadcasting Union has said it is in talks with the BBC “to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest” in the UK after concluding next year’s contest cannot be held in war-torn Ukraine. Ukraine won this year's content with the UK coming second and the Eurovision Song Contest final was the UK’s most-watched TV programme of the year so far, figures show.
Ukraine will not host the Eurovision Song Contest next year due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has announced.
The Ukrainian entry of Kalush Orchestra won the competition in Turin, Italy this year and it is traditional that the winning country hosts the event the following year.
However, the EBU has stated that following a “full assessment and feasibility study” they have concluded that the “security and operational guarantees” required to host the event cannot be fulfilled by Ukraine’s public broadcaster UA:PBC.
The EBU has said that it is beginning discussions with the BBC to potentially host the event in 2023 as they were the runners up.
The president of Spain's national broadcaster, Jose Manuel Perez Tornero, said: “We don’t want to be left with the mirage of a good result. We are going to go out to win next time. We were also interested in organising 2023 Eurovision. But if Ukraine resigns, it will be the BBC that organises it.”
Glasgow has been earmarked as the city to host the event. Sam, 32, was recently asked whether he would be willing to give it another try next year.
Sam commented: “I just want more people to experience it…The more people that do, the more it will become engrained in the UK’s attitude that Eurovision is something that we are so lucky to have.” Asked if he would help to find the next hopeful to fly the flag for the UK, Sam responded:
“Of course! Whoever does it is in for the time of their life.”
An average 9.3 million people saw BBC One’s coverage of the four-hour spectacular in Turin earlier this month, which ended in an emotional victory for Ukraine, with Sam Ryder claiming second place for the UK.
This was just enough to beat the 9.2 million who saw the final episode of BBC One thriller The Tourist, which aired in January.
It was also the largest audience for a Eurovision final in more than a decade.
The UK’s Sam Ryder performs Space Man at the Eurovision Song Contest final in Turin on May 14 2022 (Luca Bruno/AP)
The figures published by the research organisation Barb are the official consolidated ratings for the final, meaning they include people who recorded and watched the broadcast up to seven days later.
They cover audiences watching on TV sets, PCs, tablets and smartphones.
Other programmes in the most-watched top five of the year include ITV crime drama Trigger Point, with 8.9 million viewing the debut episode in January; and The Thief, His Wife & the Canoe, ITV’s dramatisation of the real-life disappearance of John Darwin, which attracted 8.7 million for its first episode in April.
Old favourite Britain’s Got Talent is also in the top five, with 8.3 million watching the launch episode in April on ITV.
The last time the Eurovision final had ratings of more than nine million was in 2011, when an average TV audience of 9.7 million saw former boy band Blue represent the UK in Dusseldorf, Germany, where they finished in a respectable 11th place while Azerbaijan came first.
This year’s audience of 9.3 million is up from 7.7 million in 2021, when UK hopeful James Newman finished last with zero points.
