Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Disappointment as West misses out on Eurovision
BRISTOL Mayor Marvin Rees said he is “very disappointed” that the city’s bid to host next year’s Eurovision fell flat at the first hurdle.
Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield are the seven cities which were yesterday shortlisted to host the event in place of Ukraine, which won the contest earlier this year but cannot stage it next year because of the ongoing war with Russia.
While Bristol’s bid was viewed as an outsider by most observers – given it doesn’t have an arena currently capable of hosting it – it was perhaps more surprising that London failed to progress.
Mr Rees told BBC Radio Bristol yesterday: “We’re very disappointed for the city. We thought we had some fantastic people come forward to back our bid, including (Bristol Pride director) Daryn Carter, Bristol Pride, lots of people to thank. YTL arena obviously, our Ukrainian community as well, all in City Hall just a week or so ago with excitement.
“So we’re disappointed but we
We were confident that we could build on our existing experiences to host Eurovision MARVIN REES
continue to be ambitious for the city, and ambitions come with knockbacks, don’t they.”
Bristol does not currently have a venue capable of hosting Eurovision, with the YTL arena not scheduled to open until 2024. But Mr Rees and YTL had pledged to create a bespoke venue for the song contest a year early.
And when he was asked by presenter James Hanson whether he thought that this counted against Bristol, he disagreed.
“No, because the Brabazon hangars were big enough to take a purpose-built set there. Our sense was that one of the biggest factors they were looking for was existing experience of hosting an event of this scale.
“Now we talked about the events we do host, the Balloon Fiesta, the Harbour Festival. And then we obviously have our big music festivals, Tokyo World, Love Saves The Day, Bristol Pride, Forwards Festival.
“But Birmingham’s got the Commonwealth Games, Glasgow’s just had COP, you know, Manchester, Liverpool have all had party conferences. So I think that we haven’t had events of that scale, even though we were absolutely confident that we could build on our existing experiences to host Eurovision.
“And I think that’s been one of the key factors, but we won’t know fully until the BBC open the books and give us feedback. But it is experience and now we’ve been through it we’re in a better position to pursue our ambitions with Bristol in the future.”
Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra triumphed at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Italy but the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) concluded the country could not stage next year’s competition given the ongoing war.
The UK was given the chance to host Eurovision for the ninth time, more than any other country, after Sam Ryder came second in the competition. Of the seven cities shortlisted, six are in England with the other being Glasgow.
Cardiff withdrew its bid to host, citing the complexity of staging which meant a significant number of scheduled events in the Principality Stadium during spring 2023 would have had to be cancelled.
Scott Mills joined Zoe Ball on her BBC Two Breakfast show to announce the shortlist of host cities, alongside Eurovision executive supervisor Martin Osterdahl yesterday.
Mr Osterdahl said: “We’ve waited 25 years for Eurovision to be hosted in the UK, so very excited.”
After the announcement, Mills said: “It’s huge, it’s a beast and it’s complicated as an event to put on.
“But also it’s cities who have the passion to put on a contest like this, because of time, past experience with huge international events and also being able to host a celebration of modern music.
“The next thing that happens, these cities go through to the second and final stage, they have to give a bit more detail about their plans.
“The final, final decision gets made based on what city and region scores highest against the BBC’s criteria.”
Reacting to news that Glasgow made the shortlist, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “It’s got to be Glasgow!”
Meanwhile, 1969 Eurovision winner Lulu said she is also rooting for Glasgow to host the singing competition in 2023.
Cheryl Baker, who won Eurovision in 1981 with Bucks Fizz and who had originally backed Cardiff to host, said it would be great for Liverpool to win because of its “beautiful heritage”, and equally Birmingham because “it’s in the middle of the country”.
The BBC, which broadcasts the contest in the UK, and the EBU made the shortlist selection based on the cities’ “capacity, capability and experience to host an event of this scale and complexity”.
The winner will need a large events space, suitable accommodation and international transport links for the competing countries and their delegations.
The host city is expected to be announced by the autumn.