Christer Björkman: “Germany will host if Australia wins”

Christer Björkman EBU SVT Eurovision

According to Christer Björkman, Germany will host the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, should Australia win the upcoming edition in Vienna. Björkman was part of the Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest at the time when the Australian participation was being considered.

“Australia from the onset had to cooperate with a European broadcaster who could guarantee that they could host it, in case Australia would win the contest,” Björkman stated. “That was part of the deal. It then soon became clear that NDR was that broadcaster. So if Australia wins, SBS and NDR organize it together, but the contest takes place in Germany.”

Björman told the news/rumour during the Swedish show Inför Eurovision on broadcaster SVT. You can watch that episode here, Christer Björkman is talking about the possible German hosting around 52:00 minutes into the show.

Event Supervisor Sietse Bakker recently informed ESC Daily that such a decission has not been made yet. “We have looked into several scenarios already, but we decided it would be best to keep that question for in case they actually win the contest.” When asked about the words of Björkman, Bakker stated that “Germany is one of the options, but since a final decision will not be made until Australia actually wins, the words of Christer Björkman are premature.”