Eurovision 2023: UK host city will need to cancel other events to make way for contest

No large arena in the UK currently has enough of a gap in its event listings to host Eurovision next year.

Several council officials told BBC News that organisers told them a venue would be needed by producers six to eight weeks ahead of the song contest.

Cities hoping to host the event will find out on Friday if they will be shortlisted.

It’s now almost certain other tour dates will need to be postponed or cancelled to make room for it in May.

Magic Mike, André Rieu and Elton John all have shows booked in places bidding to hold the contest during that period, including Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow in that period.

Producers of the Magic Mike tour – who have dates scheduled in April and May in bidding cities such as Newcastle and Manchester – confirmed to BBC News that no arena has asked them to move any tour dates yet.

Tickets are still on sale for all shows as a final decision won’t be made until the autumn, making it logistically difficult at this stage to know which city will need to move previous bookings.

This year’s head of show in Turin, Claudio Santucci, confirmed that organisers would need access to the venue for several weeks.

“The set up takes around three weeks, then three or four weeks of rehearsals but one of those weeks is the show”, Claudio Santucci, this year’s head of show explained to the BBC.

Santucci was responsible for the opening, interval and closing sequences of this year’s competition, after working with Italian broadcaster RAI on its winning entry the year before.

“It’s a long period of rehearsals to make it work,” he said. “It’s an event that would normally take two years to organise but instead you have less than a year because you only know when you win.”

The BBC accepted the invitation to host the event in 2023 after organisers ruled – for safety reasons – that it couldn’t be in Ukraine, after its act Kalush Orchestra won in May.

It means the broadcaster, which will have to pay between £8m and £16m to host, has less time than others to put on the complex production.

Neither the BBC or the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – which puts on the song contest – would confirm how long a site would be needed for.

Organisers also wouldn’t reveal the exact requirements they had requested from cities in the first stage of the application process – instead pointing to an FAQ website.

It says: “Last year the EBU’s host city criteria was based on providing a venue able to accommodate at least 10,000 spectators (as well as a press centre), that should be within easy reach of an international airport and with ample hotel accommodation.”

Bristol’s mayor says it’s applied to host, despite not having an arena, committing to build a bespoke venue for the event in less than nine months.

Last week Cardiff said it would no longer be putting forward a bid for the song contest, explaining “a significant number of scheduled events” would need to be cancelled.

All other cities with an arena that can fit 10,000 fans – and therefore eligible to bid – face the same problem.

Multiple arenas told BBC News that if their venue is chosen, then discussions will take place with productions booked but they couldn’t respond to financial costs queries because it’s only hypothetical at this stage and every event contract is different.

10 – 11 April – Jurassic Live

20 April – Magic Mike

25 May – André Rieu

31 March – Elton John

1 April – Belfast Giants vs Guildford Flame

20 April – André Rieu

22 April – Magic Mike

29 April – Biggest 90s Disco

20 May – Anything For Love

26 – 27 March – Celine Dion

28 April – Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe

1 May – Magic Mike

15 April – André Rieu

19 April – Elton John

2 – 3 April – Celine Dion

18 April – Sabaton

25 April – Magic Mike

27 April – André Rieu

1 April – Europe’s Strongest Man

14 April – Sabaton

22 April – Michael Starring Ben

29 April – Magic Mike

11 May – André Rieu

22 – 23 April – Elton John

24 April – Magic Mike

29 April – Reminisce in Concert

30 April – Michael Starring Ben

12 May – André Rieu

2 – 9 April – Elton John

10 – 11 April – Celine Dion

12 – 13 & 16 – 17 April – Elton John

21 April – Rob Beckett & Josh Widdicombe

30 April – Tokio Hotel

8 May – Måneskin

14 May – British Basketball Play-Off Finals

14 April – André Rieu

15 April – Sabaton

23 April – Rob Beckett & Josh Widdicombe

4 May – Stromae

5 – 6 April – Celine Dion

14 April – Rob Beckett & Josh Widdicombe

2 May – Magic Mike

27 April – Magic Mike

1 April – Steelers v Glagsow Clan

26 April – Magic Mike

13 May – André Rieu