Eurovision 2023: UK host city will need to cancel other events to make way for contest - BBC News
Council officials confirm Eurovision organisers need access to a venue six weeks ahead of the contest.
Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won this year's contest with overwhelming support from the public vote

No large arena in the UK currently has enough of a gap in its event listings to host Eurovision next year.

Several council officials told BBC News that organisers told them a venue would be needed by producers six to eight weeks ahead of the song contest.

Cities hoping to host the event will find out on Friday if they will be shortlisted.

It's now almost certain other tour dates will need to be postponed or cancelled to make room for it in May.

Magic Mike, André Rieu and Elton John all have shows booked in places bidding to hold the contest during that period, including Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow.

Producers of the Magic Mike tour - who have dates scheduled in April and May in potential host cities such as Newcastle and Manchester - confirmed to BBC News that they had not been asked to move any tour dates as yet.

Tickets remain on sale for the shows, as a final decision on the venue won't be made until the autumn, compounding logistical issues.

Typically the country that wins the contest hosts Eurovision the following year, but next year - amid the ongoing war in Ukraine - the UK will host, after Sam Ryder emerged as the 2022 runner up.

This year's head of show in Turin, Claudio Santucci, confirmed that organisers would need access to the venue for several weeks.

"The set up takes around three weeks, then three or four weeks of rehearsals - but one of those weeks is the show", Mr Santucci explained.

He was responsible for the opening, interval and closing sequences of this year's competition, after working with Italian broadcaster RAI on its winning entry the previous year.

"It's a long period of rehearsals to make it work," he said. "It's an event that would normally take two years to organise but instead you have less than a year because you only know when you win."

The BBC accepted the invitation to host the event in 2023 after organisers ruled - for safety reasons - that it couldn't take place in Ukraine, following Kalush Orchestra's triumph in May.

It means the broadcaster, which will have to pay between £8m and £16m to host, has even less time to organise the complex production.

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Neither the BBC nor the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) - which puts on the song contest - would confirm how long a site would be needed.

Organisers also refused to detail the exact requirements they had requested from cities in the first stage of the application process - instead pointing to an FAQ website.

It says: "Last year the EBU's host city criteria was based on providing a venue able to accommodate at least 10,000 spectators (as well as a press centre), that should be within easy reach of an international airport and with ample hotel accommodation."

Bristol's mayor said it has applied to host, despite not having an arena - and is committed to build a bespoke venue for the event in less than nine months.

Last week Cardiff said it would no longer be putting forward a bid for the song contest, explaining "a significant number of scheduled events" would need to be cancelled.

All other cities with an arena that can fit 10,000 fans - and are therefore eligible to bid - face the same problem.

Many arenas told BBC News that if their venue is chosen, then discussions will take place with those productions already booked, but said they could not respond to financial costs queries because the hosting opportunity was only hypothetical at this stage and every event contract is different.

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