Liverpool Hosts Eurovision for a Country It Isn't

MAY 15 2023 · 12:30

UK (for Ukraine) · 2023 Placement: Host-by-proxy · Venue: Liverpool Arena · Host: Liverpool, United Kingdom · Type: political statement · Broadcast: streaming On May 13, 2023, at the Liverpool Arena on the banks of the Mersey, the United Kingdom produced and hosted the 67th Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine — the first time in the contest's history that a non-winning country had staged Eurovision for another's account. Kalush Orchestra's 2022 victory with 'Stefania' had earned Ukraine hosting rights; Russia's full-scale invasion, then fourteen months old, had made a Ukrainian-staged contest logistically and safely impossible. The EBU, after consulting Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC, offered the rights to the UK — runners-up in 2022 — which accepted. The 2023 edition was produced by the BBC with explicit Ukrainian editorial co-ownership: Ukrainian presenter Julia Sanina hosted alongside Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham and Graham Norton; Ukrainian correspondent Timur Miroshnychenko reported from the arena; Kalush Orchestra opened the final with 'Voices of a New Generation'; and the entire production incorporated blue-and-yellow visual branding and direct references to Ukrainian cities, artists and landmarks. Sweden's Loreen won her second Eurovision with 'Tattoo.' Context The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which had begun in February 2022, had by May 2023 settled into a grinding full-scale war affecting every aspect of Ukrainian public life. The EBU had already expelled Russia within days of the invasion's start. The decision to host in Liverpool rather than defer or cancel the contest was reportedly made after extended discussions between the EBU, UA:PBC and the BBC about whether Eurovision could be staged in a safer Ukrainian city or in a country with an existing Ukrainian-host-support infrastructure. Liverpool beat Glasgow in the UK host-city selection. Legacy Liverpool 2023 is now the template for any future Eurovision held under similar displaced-host conditions, and is widely considered one of the most editorially successful host editions of the streaming era. The UK's six-plus-decade Eurovision reputation as a contest-hosting power was reportedly partially rehabilitated. Ukraine's Eurovision standing hardened as an imagined continuous presence: the country has competed in every post-2022 contest and the 2023 edition is now referenced alongside Jamala 2016 and Kalush 2022 as one of the three Ukrainian-Eurovision pillars of the war period. Mythology The 2023 edition is sometimes described as having been 'hosted in Ukraine' via satellite; this is inaccurate — the contest was physically produced in Liverpool with Ukrainian correspondents, not as a Ukrainian broadcast. The UK is sometimes described as having won the right to host; it did not — it was offered the hosting rights because it was runner-up, and accepted.