2023 Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the demands of hosting the event due to security concerns caused by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on behalf of the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), the contest will be held at the Liverpool Arena, and will consist of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, and a final on 13 May 2023.

Thirty-seven countries will participate in the contest, with , and all deciding against participation, mainly due to the economic impact of the 2021–2023 global energy crisis.

Location

The 2023 contest will be held in Liverpool, United Kingdom. It will be the ninth time that the United Kingdom hosts the contest, having previously done so in , , , , , , and . The selected venue is the 11,000-seat Liverpool Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the ACC Liverpool complex, which serves as a venue for events including concerts and sports. The venue has previously hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2008 and 2017, and the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

In addition to the main venue, the host city will also organise side events in tandem with the contest. The Eurovision Village is the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors area during the event weeks, where it will be possible to watch performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as the three live shows broadcast from the main venue. It is set to be located at the Pier Head and open from 5 to 13 May 2023. The EuroClub, which will take place at Camp and Furnace, will host the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants.

Host country selection

The was won by with the song "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, and in accordance with Eurovision tradition, the EBU initially gave Ukraine the opportunity to organise the 2023 contest. Ukraine had hosted the contest twice before, in and , both times in Kyiv. However, in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, speculation was raised that the country would not be capable of hosting the event. Due to this, several countries expressed interest in hosting in the event that Ukraine could not, including Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain (which later withdrew its interest), Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The previous time the contest was not held in the previous year's winning country was in .

On 16 May 2022, , chairman of the Ukrainian participating broadcaster UA:PBC, stated that they wish to host the contest in a peaceful Ukraine and hoped that the country would be able to guarantee the safety of all participants and their delegations during the event. Chernotytskyi stated on 20 May that the broadcaster would begin discussions with the EBU regarding the hosting of the contest.

Numerous Ukrainian politicians advocated for the contest to take place in Ukraine. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he hoped for the contest to one day take place in Mariupol. Mykola Povoroznyk, the first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, stated on 26 May 2022 that Kyiv would be ready to host the contest if asked. Ukrainian minister of culture Oleksandr Tkachenko stated on 3 June his intention to discuss conditional changes with the EBU in order to allow the contest to be held in the country. Taras Melnychuk, representative of the Ukrainian government for the Verkhovna Rada, stated on 10 June that a committee was formed to aid the organisation of the contest.

On 16 June 2022, UA:PBC and the Ukrainian government held a meeting with the EBU to discuss potential hosting options in Ukraine. At the meeting, UA:PBC proposed Lviv, Zakarpattia and Kyiv as potential host locations. The following day, the EBU announced that Ukraine would not be able to host the contest, following assessments with both UA:PBC and third-party specialists, and that discussions would begin with the BBC for potentially hosting in the United Kingdom, which had finished in second place in the 2022 contest with the song "Space Man" by Sam Ryder. In response, UA:PBC chairman Chernotytskyi and Ukrainian minister of culture Tkachenko, alongside former Ukrainian Eurovision winners Ruslana, Jamala and Oleh Psiuk of Kalush Orchestra, issued a joint statement requesting further talks with the EBU on hosting the event in Ukraine. This stance was supported by then-British prime minister Boris Johnson, the Polish broadcaster TVP, Polish deputy prime minister and minister of culture Piotr Gliński, and then- British culture secretary Nadine Dorries. A follow-up statement from the EBU on 23 June reaffirmed its decision to not host the event in Ukraine, highlighting the security considerations for doing so while also urging for the process of choosing the host country to not be politicised.

On 25 July 2022, the EBU, UA:PBC and the BBC announced that the 2023 contest would be held in the United Kingdom, with the host city bidding process to commence in the same week. This would be the fifth time that the UK hosts instead of the previous year's winning country, having previously done so for the in , in , in , and in .

Host city bidding phase

Simultaneous with the confirmation that the United Kingdom would host the contest on behalf of Ukraine, host broadcaster BBC launched the bidding process on 25 July 2022. The BBC stated that "any potential candidates must meet a set of minimum standards that demonstrate they have the capacity, capability, and experience to host an event of this scale and complexity." The selection criteria for the host city in previous years have included: a venue capable of accommodating at least 10,000 spectators, a press centre for a maximum of 1,500 journalists, easy reachability to an international airport, and hotel accommodation for at least 2,000 delegates, journalists and spectators.

During the first stage of the bidding process, the BBC received expressions of interest from 20 UK cities and towns, seven of which were shortlisted on 12 August 2022: Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, and Sheffield. These cities went to the second stage, where they had until 8 September to develop their bids in detail for evaluation by the BBC, who also conducted visits to the cities throughout the month. On 27 September, Glasgow and Liverpool were announced to have made the final shortlist, and on 7 October, the EBU and the BBC announced Liverpool as the host city, with the Liverpool Arena as the chosen venue for the contest.

Key:

Host venue
Final shortlist
Shortlisted
Submitted a bid

Production

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will be produced by the British public broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC will work with the BBC to develop and implement Ukrainian elements for the live shows, including theme artwork, background music, selection of presenters, and opening and interval acts. The three shows will be produced by BBC Studios Entertainment Productions and BBC Studios Music Productions, part of the BBC's commercial subsidiary BBC Studios.

The senior production team consists of Martin Green as managing director, Rachel Ashdown as lead commissioner, Andrew Cartmell as executive producer, Lee Smithurst as head of show, Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen as head of contest, and James O'Brien as executive in charge of production. Additional production personnel includes multi-camera directors Nikki Parsons, Richard Valentine and Ollie Bartlett, lead creative director Dan Shipton, music director Kojo Samuel, stage designer Julio Himede, head of sound Robert Edwards, and lighting designer Tim Routledge. The Ukrainian consultation team is led by Oksana Sybinska, Tetiana Semenova, and .

The preliminary budget is (), of which Liverpool City Council and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will each contribute , and the remaining by the BBC, the EBU and the UK government.

Visual design

On 7 October 2022, along with the host city announcement, the EBU revealed the generic logo for the 2023 contest. The Eurovision heart, which typically has the flag of the host country placed in its centre, contains the Ukrainian flag for this year to reflect the country's win the previous year. The 'Song Contest' text is accompanied below by 'United Kingdom' and further down by 'Liverpool 2023'.

The theme art and slogan for the contest, "United by Music", was unveiled on 31 January 2023. Designed by London-based brand consultancy Superunion and Ukrainian production company Starlight Media, the artwork was built around a string of two-dimensional hearts resembling an electrocardiogram, representing response to rhythm and sound, while the colours were inspired by those of the Ukrainian and British flags; the typography, Penny Lane, was inspired by 20th-century Liverpool street signs and the city's musical heritage.

Stage design

The stage design for the 2023 contest was revealed on 2 February 2023. Designed by New York-based set designer Julio Himede, the stage design was based on "the principles of togetherness, celebration and community", taking inspiration from a wide hug and the "cultural aspects and similarities between Ukraine, the UK and specifically Liverpool". The stage is 450 square metres wide, with 220 square metres of independently rotating LED screens, over 700 LED floor tiles and more than 1500 metres of LED lights.

Opening and interval acts

Information about the opening and interval acts will be released in April 2023.

Format

Voting changes

On 22 November 2022, the EBU announced major changes to the voting system for the 2023 contest. The results of the semi-finals would be determined solely by televoting, as was the case between and , while the results of the final would be determined by both national juries and televoting, as has been the case since the final. In the event that a country cannot deliver a televoting result for the semi-finals, a backup jury result would be used, and should the issue persists into the final, the jury points awarded in the final would be doubled, replacing the previous procedure of using an algorithm to calculate and assign points based on countries with similar voting patterns. If a country's jury is disqualified, the televoting points from that country would be doubled and used as a substitute in the final, effectively reversing a change made in 2016 that provided for calculating points, rather than reverting to purely the jury or televote score. The procedure of using calculated points would remain as a last resort in the event that a country cannot deliver a valid jury or televoting result. Viewers from non-participating countries would also be able to vote in all shows, with their votes being aggregated and presented as one individual set of points under "Rest of the World". Those viewers would be able to cast votes via an online platform, which requires ownership of a credit or debit card for verification.

Entries

For the third year in a row, delegations have the option to use pre-recorded backing vocals, though each delegation can still use backing singers – whether on or off stage – or a combination of live and recorded backing vocals. However, all lead vocals performing the melody of the song must still be live.

Semi-final allocation draw

The draw to determine the participating countries' semi-finals took place on 31 January 2023 at 19:00 GMT (20:00 CET), at St George's Hall. The thirty-one semi-finalists were divided over five pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. The purpose of drawing from different pots was to reduce the chance of "bloc voting" and to increase suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final each of the six automatic qualifiersthe previous year's winning country and " Big Five" countries , , , and the would vote in. The ceremony was hosted by AJ Odudu and Rylan, and included the passing of the host city insignia from Stefano Lo Russo, the mayor of previous host city Turin, to Joanne Anderson

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