Two Yorkshire cities have made the shortlist to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year.
After the Eurovision shortlist was announced, Kate Phillips, the BBC’s director of unscripted content, said: “We would like to thank all of the cities and regions that submitted bids to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. We have seven fantastic cities who we are taking through to the next round.“Congratulations to Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield – it’s exciting to see such a breadth of bids going through from across the UK.
“We are committed to delivering a truly unique Song Contest that celebrates wonderful Ukraine and champions British music and creativity in all its diversity.” Sheffield was one of the first cities to announce a bid to host Eurovision 2023 after it was revealed the song contest will come to the UK next year.
Organisers the European Broadcasting Union previously decided the event could not be held in the war-torn Ukraine following the Russian invasion. This was despite Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra triumphing at this year’s competition in Turin, Italy, with the UK’s Sam Ryder the runner-up.