Where will it be hosted?

[Simon]

I think President Zelensky hinted something when he said his desire is to see Eurovision hosted in a liberated and rebuilt Mariupol.

I also think there’s more of a chance that Ukraine can host next year than a month ago, but that it’s still far less than a 50% chance.

Russia does seem to have abandoned its desire to occupy and control the whole of Ukraine, but they are still shelling Lviv and other places. While I don’t think Russia would want to target Eurovision specifically, they are unpredictable, and the EBU and Ukrainian broadcaster will be risk averse and want to maximise safety for all involved. The country is still at war and is likely to be for the foreseeable future.

I was pretty surprised by UK’s second place after so many poor performances. The song was good, but something about it or (more likely) the performer didn’t sit right with me. I preferred many other songs. It wasn’t even in my top 10 and I didn’t give it any votes. I wonder if the UK’s very strong support of Ukraine had something to do with it?

So I think UK is probably in the box seat to be the “physical” host for Ukraine who will still technically be the host country with Ukraine organising everything in collaboration with the UK/BBC, or as much as they want and can organise anyway. They could even temporarily cede the host location to Ukraine for the duration of the event!

 

[HarryUK]

As selfish as it is for me to want it to be held at one of our arenas in London (the ExCel centre would be absolutely PERFECT imo), just imagine what a triumph it would be to host it in Ukraine. I imagine there would be significantly less press centre coverage though, not through less allocations, but people's desire to travel there may not be there even next year.

 

[Rocket man]

I'd prefer Ukraine to host it in their country, the UK can assist in helping them achieve this if Ukraine want us to. But if it really isn't possible to host it in Ukraine, then maybe Poland would be a good choice because they would finally have the chance to host Eurovision (excluding Junior version) in Poland for the first time.

 

[Loindici]

Today the EBU will start meeting up with UABC and Suspilne to discuss about the hosting. Fingers crossed the decisions going to be made are the best ones for both parties.

 

[Miss Antartica]

The only solution in Kiev in 2024

 

[Zeus]

Logical order in my eyes:

1. In Ukraine if it's safe again
2. In a country close to Ukraine that Ukraine chooses (probably Poland)
3. In one of the last countries that organised it (Italy or Netherlands)
4. In the UK, because they finished 2nd
5. In whatever country that has a nice bid

 

[SAYAY]

Logical order in my eyes:

1. In Ukraine if it's safe again
2. In a country close to Ukraine that Ukraine chooses (probably Poland)
3. In one of the last countries that organised it (Italy or Netherlands)
4. In the UK, because they finished 2nd
5. In whatever country that has a nice bid

I wonder if EBU is keen on hosting it in Poland though after the voting scandal. They (the polish broadcaster) didn't exactly sell themselves in there.

 

[goncalovieira]

No way, Ukraine will be ready in one year to host Eurovision.
It should be BBC. Second place, a know-how broadcaster, has plenty of arenas to host it.

 

[ESCConor]

There are rumours going about that the OVO Hydro in Glasgow has cleared the entirety of their schedule for the end of April and for the whole of May next year, may not come to anything, but it is an interesting indication that the BBC may have already been in touch with Suspilne about stepping in.

The OVO Hydro holds something like 14,500 people, and you have the SECC located right next door to the Arena itself which could be a press centre, the SECC itself has 5 halls so its a very sizable place for a press centre to be located in.

And the fact that BBC Scotland's HQ is a 6 min walk away from the venue itself does help with organisation.

 

[HarryUK]

There are rumours going about that the OVO Hydro in Glasgow has cleared the entirety of their schedule for the end of April and for the whole of May next year, may not come to anything, but it is an interesting indication that the BBC may have already been in touch with Suspilne about stepping in.

The OVO Hydro holds something like 14,500 people, and you have the SECC located right next door to the Arena itself which could be a press centre, the SECC itself has 5 halls so its a very sizable place for a press centre to be located in.

And the fact that BBC Scotland's HQ is a 6 min walk away from the venue itself does help with organisation.

BBC has moved the entire Eurovision team to Manchester, so I can only realistically envisage it happening in Manchester tbh

 

[EliGrant6]

I feel like it it's in the UK, it's going to depend on the press center. If Glasgow hosts, the press center can be near by at the SECC. Manchester Arena and the O2 in London are huge but where would the press center be placed? I'm just an American looking at Google Maps so I'm just guessing at what the best venue could be

 

[ESCConor]

BBC has moved the entire Eurovision team to Manchester, so I can only realistically envisage it happening in Manchester tbh

Manchester Arena is fully booked for May and April next year btw

Also the MEN Arena doesnt have any real venue nearby for a press centre, whilst the OVO Hydro does. with the SECC next door.

Also the BBC Scotland HQ would be an ideal place for a production office.

 

[HarryUK]

Manchester Arena is fully booked for May and April next year, whilst OVO Hydro has cleared its schedules for May and for the end of April.

I think its more likely to be in Glasgow than in Manchester.

It's not uncommon for events to get moved to make way for Eurovision

 

[Chrisiam]

In the event that the UK did co-host with Ukraine I'd laugh if one of the acts whose show got rescheduled/cancelled for the contest was someone who always scoffed at the idea of representing the UK.

 

[Ezio]

I don't want the UK as a backup host.

Their second place is too controversial for me, since the EBU made up 3 sets of jury votes, there of which 2 gave them 12 points, while Spain beat them by a lot in the televote and fell only 7 points short.

Also, UK has been backup host way too often, while Spain is waiting to host since more than 50 years.

Hotel costs and price of living in the UK are way too high, and hotel rooms are often tiny.

Compared to that, Spain is a wonderful country for Eurofans. It makes every gay's heart beat much faster. The sun, the rhythm of life, the food, the guys. It's caliente!! It would be the most loved host country of all times. Spain is the complete fan package. Spain doesn't come with a hefty price tag at all.

But I also feel like, in case Ukraine cannot host it, give the gig to a neighbour. Poland, Lithuania and Moldova deserve love and exposure too.

Maybe the Ukraine should decide themselves, in which country they want to co-host.

 

[Chorizo]

Logical order in my eyes:

1. In Ukraine if it's safe again
2. In a country close to Ukraine that Ukraine chooses (probably Poland)
3. In one of the last countries that organised it (Italy or Netherlands)
4. In the UK, because they finished 2nd
5. In whatever country that has a nice bid

There is not much time to decide and Ukraine won't be safe by that time.
Why would it be logical to choose Italy or the Netherlands because they just hosted? It makes more sense to let another country host, as long as others are interested. Choosing a recent host might be cheaper and easier if the respective broadcasters are interested to host again, but there is no reason to choose them as long as others want to host as well. Eurovision is not about being cheap and easy, but about something new and exciting every year.
If the Ukrainian broadcaster could come up with a co-hosting concept in a neighboring country and a venue near the border, that might be seen as the first choice, but the obvious candidate, Poland, was just involved in a jury scandal, so this isn't the most obvious choice either.
This leaves choosing the UK and in case the BBC were not interested, Spain would be the next country to ask. If nobody else wants to host, the contest will be hosted in Sweden. These are the safe choices the EBU should and will go for.

 

[empo21]

As much as we all want Ukraine to be able to host Eurovision in homeland, I don't see it as a possibility. Even if the war ends tomorrow, the land and the people will need lots of time and funds to recover to what it was before February.

UK and Spain make the most sense - first and second runner-up, Big 5 countries so they have the hosting money and no need to worry about automatic finalists beside Ukraine. Also, UK or Germany were noted as backup hosts in case Australia wins, so as much as Eurovision is trying to be coy, they do have some back-up plans from before.

Poland hosting seems unlikely given the voting scandal and they also have to be automatic finalists and 7 of them seem a bit much.

 

[HayashiM]

Fans every year: "BBC sends subpar entries cause they are afraid of the costs of hosting!"
Fans this year: "EBU rigged it so BBC can host!"

 

[EscUKFan]

Manchester Arena is fully booked for May and April next year btw

Also the MEN Arena doesnt have any real venue nearby for a press centre, whilst the OVO Hydro does. with the SECC next door.

Also the BBC Scotland HQ would be an ideal place for a production office.

The MEN has more than enough room for press centre/delegation bubbles etc, trust me We’re also not fully booked at all, and as has already been mentioned above they’ll move events around to accommodate Eurovision if that was the case anyway. The Glasgow story doing the rounds this week is a complete non-story. I do think it’d be between the two cities if the UK did host though.

Even if the MEN can’t host it there’s still the Manchester Central and the new arena they’re building at the Ethiad Campus (if they finish it in time )

 

[EscUKFan]

I think the EBU a will try and make it happen in Ukraine but it just isn’t logistically viable at all. I think it’ll probably end up in either Poland or the U.K. in the end. I think it’d be quite controversial for the EBU to go with the likes of Italy/Netherlands/Sweden again when there’s a number of broadcasters who haven’t hosted before/in decades willing to do it and with the means to.