Entertainment
Eurovision Song Contest 2023’s date, location, hosts and how to get tickets to UK event-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro
It’s just a matter of months now.
Claire McColgan, director of Culture Liverpool, Bill Addy, chief executive at the Liverpool Bid Company and Faye Dyer, managing director of the ACC Group, at Liverpool M&S Arena (Picture: PA)
With the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 just a few months away, here is everything you need to know about the Liverpool event.
While the UK entry for the long-running competition has yet to be confirmed, many other details are.
We now know who’ll be presenting the show when it comes to Liverpool, with a mix of Ukrainian stars and UK household names presiding over the glitzy bash and delivering the good – and bad – news to those acts hoping for a few ‘douze points’.
Ukraine took the win last year with Kalush Orchestra but was deemed unable to host this year because of the Russian invasion.
As the UK came second at the European event with singer Sam Ryder, it took over the responsibility for organising the event before Liverpool was revealed as the host city.
Here is everything you need to know about the date, location and how to get tickets for Eurovision 2023.
When is Eurovision 2023?
The Eurovision artwork and slogan has already been unveiled (Picture: BBC)
The 2023 Eurovision grand final will take place on Saturday May 13, with the semi-finals being held on Tuesday May 9 and Thursday May 11.
A total of 37 countries will be competing in this year’s contest, six of which are automatically qualified for the final.
These six are last year’s winners Ukraine, along with the ‘Big 5’ – the main financiers of the contest – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
The other countries will compete in the semi-finals for a place in the grand final, with the top 10 from each semi-final qualifying.
For the first time ever the semi-finals will be shown on BBC One, with the results being decided entirely by televote – although the UK will be able to vote in the second semi-final on May 11.
The final will see a mix of jury votes and televotes combined to decide the eventual winner – who will have the honour of being the host country in 2024.
Where will Eurovision 2023 take place?
Sam Ryder came in second place in last year’s Eurovision (Picutre: AFP via Getty Images)
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place at the 11,000-capacity Liverpool Arena.
Previous artists who have performed at the massive venue include the 1975 and Lewis Capaldi, as well as comedian Peter Kay.
Who are the 2023 Eurovision presenters?
Alesha Dixon, Graham Norton and Hannah Waddingham have been confirmed to be hosting Eurovision 2023’s Grand Final in the UK.
Also joining the popular British and Irish TV personalities is Ukrainian singer, composer and Hardkiss band frontwoman Julia Sanina.
Mel Giedroyc will also be on hand to take turns with Graham in the commentary box, providing insight into the show and the acts while Graham is presenting – while Scott Mills and Rylan Clark will be providing commentary for the semi-finals.
Ukrainian broadcaster Timur Miroshnychenko, who went viral last year for performing his commentary on the competition from an underground bunker as Russia continued its invasion of the country, will act as the Eurovision Correspondent in Liverpool.
He will also co-host the red carpet opening ceremony for the contest along with Sam Quek – with the event streamed live online on Sunday May 7.
When will tickets go on sale?
Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine after winning the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy (Picture: REUTERS)
Tickets are not on sale yet for Eurovision and, so far, no further details about how to buy them have been released.
However, to be the first to find out when they’re available to snap up, sign up for the official Eurovision newsletter.
The good news is that there will be a total of nine shows fans can buy tickets for, including the grand final, first semi-final and the jury show.
What do we know about the UK entry?
Graham Norton announced the Eurovision 2023 host city on The One Show (Picture: BBC One)
The UK has yet to reveal its act for Liverpool, although it’s been reported that they will do soon, in early March.
Once again the song and artist are being internally selected in conjunction with Tap Music, who were behind last year’s entry from Sam Ryder.
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Speculation has been mounting that singer Rina Sawayama could be flying the UK flag in Liverpool, with Ladbrokes offering odds of just 3/1 on her being named as this year’s act – but nothing has been confirmed.
One way or another, we’ll know soon enough…
The Eurovision Song Contest airs May 13 on BBC One.
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