Will the Eurovision Song Contest return to Göteborg  in 2016? The city that hosted the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest at the Scandinavium is all set to bid to host next year’s Eurovision extravanganza.

Whilst SVT, the Swedish broadcaster is preparing to officially launch the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest bidding race, there are already several cities in Sweden who have shown keen interest in hosting the event next year. Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest is a plus for the host city as it brings in revenues, massive advertisement and publicity for the host city and is a great window to showcase the city to the world.

Göteborg  has 2 venus that could host the Eurovision Song Contest: The Scandinavium, which hosted the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest with a capacity of 12,000- 14,000 persons and the Ullevi Stadium (which will have to get a roof in case it hosts the contest) with a capacity of 45,000-75,000 persons)

Swedish newspaper Goteborgs Posten reports that Göteborg  is keen on hosting the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest next year.

Camilla Nyman the CEO of Göteborg & co assures that the city is more than ready to host the event next year:

Göteborg is ready! We are willing to enter the race and fight for the bid! The city is fit to organize the event.

Camilla goes on to comment why Göteborg  would be the perfect choice to host the event:

We have our arena in the middle of the city, we have the required capacity to host the event and the town is small enough for everyone to merge together and feel Eurovision!

Camilla has been in contact with SVT since Monday and is expected to have further talks with the Swedish broadcaster on Wednesday, whilst an official  submission for bidding the 2016 ESC is expected to be sent to SVT in due course.

The last time Göteborg bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest was back in 2013 when Malmo was awarded the honour to host the event, the Scandinavium was fully booked. This time there are no obsctacles. The city has a great hotel capacity which will also back Göteborg’s bid.

The Scandinavium is the prime bidding venue for Göteborg , whilst the Ullevi Arena has not been discarted but requires a roof which can take at least 5 weeks to construct and install.

Whilst the 2016 Eurovision bidding race is set to kick off, the announcement of the 2016 Eurovision host city is not expected to be made until mid summer, early August.

Swedish media speculate that Malmo’s chances to host the event are low as the city hosted the event back in 2013 and Stockholm is the hot favorite with its Tele 2 Arena. It’s early days yet as the bid is open to every city in Sweden and the potential bidding cities will have to comply and fit in with SVT’s and EBU’s requirements.

Sweden has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 5 times already: twice in Stockholm: 1975, 2000, twice in Malmo: 1992, 2013 and once in Goteborg: 1985.

The preliminary dates for the 2016  Eurovision Song Contest have been set to 10, 12 and 14 May and are subject to change by the host broadcaster.

Stay tuned to ESCToday for the latest news on the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.