Birmingham is yving to host the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time, the city is all set to formally bid to host the event if the BBC accepts EBU’s invitation to take over the hosting responsibilities.

There seems to be a very high interest in the UK to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with a large number of British cities showcasing their interest in welcoming the Eurovision party.

Birmingham hosted the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest and has great experience in hosting large scale concerts and events. The city will be hosting the Commonwealth Games in the summer and has 2 potential venues to host the the competition: Utilita Arena and the Resorts World Arena. Both venues can house circa 16,000 spectators.

The Utilita Arena formerly known as the National Indoor Arena hosted the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.

Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena has cleared its schedule for May 2023 in order to accomodate the Eurovision Song Contest. The venue is all set to do its level best to bring the Eurovision Song Contest to Birmingham.

Paul Thandi ( NEC Group Executive Chief) says:

Birmingham and the NEC Group would, once again, be honoured to host Eurovision. There’s no better venue in the country to do this than Resorts World Arena, with our 40-year history of hosting world-class live event.

Situated on the NEC Campus, we have unrivalled transport links and on-site accommodation, plus technical broadcast capability which is known and been used by the major television broadcasters. We also have all the necessary facilities to turnaround and host major televised live music events at pace, demonstrated at the Concert for Ukraine earlier this year.

Andy Street (The Mayor of West Midlands) says:

The last time the UK hosted Eurovision it was right here in Birmingham, and so there is absolutely no reason our city and the wider region cannot host this extravaganza again. I will personally be making contact with the Director General of the BBC, who has spearheaded their recent significant investment into Birmingham, to see how we can best take this forward.

Ian Ward (Birmigham City Councilor) says:

Our hearts go out to them and as a city we are eager to lend our support in any way that we can. The Concert for Ukraine, held at Resorts World Arena back in March, really showed how music can unite us even in the most uncertain and troublesome of times.

Source: BBC/expressandstar.com
Photo credit: visitibritain