The 2017 Eurovision host city bidding race has kicked off in Ukraine, whilst the potential candidate cities are working round the clock in order to prepare their respective bids.

Ukrainian news portal Ukraine Today reports that Kyiv’s authorities are working round the clock in order to gather all the required material in order to submit its bid to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Kyiv would like the Eurovision bandwagon to return to the city after having hosted the 2005 ESC and the JESC twice.

The City of Kiev is working hard in order to bring about the bid to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The official authourities of the city of Kiev have started to prepare the official bid to host the 2017 ESC.

Ms. Hanna Starosktenko, Deputy Chairperson of the Kyiv City State Admistration comments:

Kyiv has the necessary infrastructure, capacity and resources to host Eurovision 2017 and is willing to ensure security and provide financial guarantees for its holding. The capital has the most developed and modern infrastructure: hotels, two international airports, efficient transport connections, and it can organize the event at the highest level.

Ms Starosktenko is convinced that Kyiv also has the best technical and quality specifications for hosting the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, as well as considerable experience in organizing and hosting major events. The city has already hosted ESC 2005, UEFA EURO 2012,  JESC 2013,

The mayors of several Ukrainian cities have expressed their wish to bring the contest to their respective cities including the Mayor of Kyiv Mr. Vitali Klitschko. Dnipro, Odessa, Lviv, Kyiv are all set to welcome the Eurovision extravaganza next year.

The preliminary dates for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest have been set on 9, 11 and 13 May. The official announcement of the 2017 ESC host city and venue is expected to take place by August 1st.

The 2017 ESC host city race kicked off on 24 June and will consist of 4 stages.

Jamala won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm with her entry 1944 and gave her homeland Ukraine its 2nd Eurovision victory, thus bringing the event to her homeland for the 2nd time in ESC history.