Graham still has vision of play ing host
GRAHAM Norton has not ruled himself out of hosting next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in the UK.
The TV presenter had said last week he did not want to give up his ‘favourite’ commentary role, in case someone else did it ‘and they might be better than me’.
However, the Co. Cork native now appears to be tempted by the prospect of taking a starring role on the Eurovision stage, as it comes to the UK next year.
He explained: ‘The story is breaking that I am not going to host and I didn’t say that either. I don’t know what’s happening. All I said was I’m very nervous about giving up the commentary because, you know what it’s like, someone else will do it and then they’ll be better than me and I will have stupidly lost my favourite gig.
‘So, if I can do both that would be great, but my priority would be doing the commentating because I really enjoy doing that.’
Norton, who was speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk, has been the BBC’s Eurovision commentator since 2009, when he took over from the late Terry Wogan. Eurovision 2023 will be hosted in the UK, despite Britain’s Sam Ryder coming second this year, as the winners Ukraine are unable to stage the show due to the Russian invasion. Liverpool and Glasgow are the two UK cities currently in the mix to host the competition.
Norton also said that British princes William and Harry and their
‘There is a line you need to walk’
spouses would be his dream guests for his chat show. ‘It would be quite interesting to see them in that context and to see what they’re like with an audience and what an audience made of them,’ he said. Asked whether an interview with the royals would end up being over-controlled, he said: ‘Yes, but also, it’s all highly controlled. You don’t need the young royals for that. ‘Most of these people have publicists and managers and there is a line you need to walk.’