The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 won’t be held in the winning country of Ukraine, now several cities are vying to hold the competition in the UK.
The Scottish city of Glasgow has been trending since the news dropped the competition organisers decided Ukraine is not capable of hosting it due to safety reasons because of the ongoing war with Russia.
Eurovision 2023
In the statement by the organisers the EBU said: ‘Given the ongoing war since the Russian invasion of this year’s winning country, the EBU has taken the time to conduct a full assessment and feasibility study with both UA:PBC and third-party specialists including on safety and security issues.
‘The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most complex TV productions in the world with thousands working on, and attending, the event and 12 months of preparation time needed.
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‘Following objective analysis, the Reference Group, the ESC’s governing board, has with deep regret concluded that, given the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize and produce the Eurovision Song Contest under the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled by UA:PBC.’
Following this they said they would be in talks with the BBC about the UK hosting the competition since they came second in the competition with Sam Ryder’s ‘Space Man’ -the UK’s best placing in 25 years.
Cities like Manchester, Aberdeen, Birmingham and London have all been mentioned since the news dropped, however when Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, hinted at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow in a tweet and Glasgow city council people have said it was a great idea for the city to host.
Sturgeon said she can ‘think of a perfect venue on the banks of the River Clyde’ – this is where the OVO Hydro Glasgow is situated in the city.
Since then others have chimed in agreeing with the Scottish minister – one even saying due to the fact past winners ABBA mentioned Glasgow in one of their songs it’s almost ‘meant to be’.
Another stated the OVO has a ‘Eurovision-sized hole’ in it’s event schedule for 2023.
Hydro Glasgow Capacity
Thousands of people travel from all over Europe (and the world if people travel to support the Australian act) so would the OVO Hydro in Glasgow have the capacity to hold them all?
The OHO Hydro has over 1 million visitors each year and with its strong global partnerships, it’s a prime choice in the Live Entertainment touring calendar with dozens of major acts taking to its stage each year including Ed Sheeran and Rod Stewart meaning this place can really pack in the people.
According to the venue’s website, the seats and staging can be configured to provide a capacity of 14,300 and its floor area is around 3,957 m2 or 42,593 sq ft.
Boris Johnson Eurovision controversy
However, if the UK Prime Minister has anything to say about it the UK won’t be hosting, the winning country will be.
According to the Guardian following the PM’s visit to Ukraine has said as much as he’s love the UK to host he thinks Ukraine should. He said: ‘The Ukrainians won the Eurovision song contest. I know we had a fantastic entry, I know we came second and I’d love it to be in this country
‘But the fact is that they won and they deserve to have it. I believe that they can have it and I believe that they should have it. I believe Kyiv or any other safe Ukrainian city would be a fantastic place to have it.’
