The bidding race to host the world’s biggest, most beloved music competition on behalf of war-stricken Ukraine is over. It’s official: Eurovision is coming to Liverpool. So, here’s everything keen fans need to know about Eurovision 2023:
- when is it?
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May is often referred to as Eurovision month, and there’s no change here. If you’re booking time off, these are the dates to make a note of:
- Semi-final 1: Tuesday 9th May 2023
- Semi-final 2: Thursday 11th May 2023
- Grand final: Saturday 13th May 2023
- where is it?
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All eyes will be on the M&S Bank Arena in the centre of Liverpool for Eurovision 2023. The arena holds 11,000 people and has been the stage for many events, including the MTV Europe Music Awards and concerts by Kanye West, The Killers, Rihanna and others, so it’s a great venue for the event.
- Who’s taking part?
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As of October 2022, 34 of the 40 countries that participated in 2022 have publicly confirmed they’ll be battling it out on stage:
Albania, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom
- TiCKETS – SALE TIMES
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Eurovision tickets are usually sold late the year before or early the year of the contest. This is dependent on the host city and venue, ticket agency, and venue floor plan being decided. Since the host city and venue have already been chosen, Eurovision 2023 tickets will likely be on sale in late 2022.
- TICKETs – PRICES
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The prices of Eurovision tickets change a lot from year to year. But tickets to the semi-final rehearsals are usually the cheapest, and tickets to the Grand Final live show are usually the most expensive. Tickets will be sold for all 9 Eurovision shows; the 3 live shows and the 6 rehearsals.
Last year, tickets to the Eurovision song contest in Italy ranged from £8.50 for an audio-only ticket to a semi-final rehearsal, to £300 for the Grand Final (the best tickets). These prices give us a bit of an idea about Eurovision 2023 pricing.
- SPECIAL logo
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The Eurovision heart usually contains the host country’s flag. This year, however, the logo will feature the flag of Ukraine instead of the UK, since Ukraine was supposed to host the song contest.
- Ukrainian flavour
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Liverpool and Ukraine will very much be co-producing Eurovision this year. This collaboration will give Eurovision 2023 a uniquely Ukrainian flavour, with a variety of special gestures to Ukrainians and their culture:
- Statues and monuments will be dressed in the beautiful, traditional Ukrainian flower crowns “Vinoks” – a famous symbol of resistance in the country
- Ukrainian fashion designers will develop garments for event staff and other key attendees, with designs expected to take inspiration from traditional Vyshyvanka embroidered shirts
- Central Liverpool will host a “Pysanka” painted egg (Ukrainian Easter Egg) exhibit and associated cultural programmes in schools and local neighbourhoods
- There’ll be a city-wide Ukrainian-British street art takeover
- There’ll be a musical collaboration with the city of Kharkiv and its orchestra
And finally, there’ll also be a far more British element: a city-wide game of hide-and-seek where players have to find 20 cutouts of Sonia, the scouse singer who placed 2nd at Eurovision 1993.
One thing is for sure: Eurovision 2023 will be an extraordinary extravaganza that you won’t want to miss!