President Zelensky assures that “he will do everything possible” so that the country can host the festival
Radiotelevisión Española is prepared to celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in the event that Ukraine, the winner of the edition, could not do so due to the consequences of the Russian invasion. This was confirmed, as soon as the final on Saturday was over, by the director of Communication and Participation, María Eizaguirre, who made the offer made official by the president of RTVE, José Manuel Pérez Tornero. “The corporation offers to support the organization in Ukraine and, in case they need it, we would be willing to host the next edition,” he announced on the public channel.
In this context, the European Broadcasting Union (UER) would have an avalanche of Spanish cities that have publicly offered their municipality for the contest. From Valencia to Madrid, passing through Barcelona, Torremolinos (Málaga) or Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Mérida was the last to join this list, making its Roman Theater available.
However, it is early to know where the next venue for Eurovision 2023 will be located. Those responsible for the festival will have to meet in the coming weeks with Ukrainian television to make a decision. In addition, the opinion of the British BBC should also be known, which came in second position with Sam Ryder, and which could be the first alternative in the event that Ukraine renounces it.
Yes, the Ukrainian president has already spoken, assuring that he will do “everything possible” so that “one day” they can receive participants and guests of the festival in Mariupol. “Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe! Next year Ukraine will host Eurovision for the third time in its history,” he said in a message broadcast on Telegram.
Although the EBU has not defined a clear criterion in the event that a country refuses to host Eurovision, it did establish what would happen if the winner was Australia, which has participated since 2015. In this case, it was agreed that the Australians could maintain their status as hosts but the celebration would always be within the European continent.
In Eurovision history, yes, we find precedents for what could happen next year if Ukraine cannot face the organization of the contest. In 1980, Israel argued for economic reasons for not holding the festival for the second consecutive year after the victory of Gali Atari & Milk and Honey with ‘Hallelujah’. He also alleged that the musical contest coincided with the date on which the day of the Jewish Holocaust is remembered. Finally, the Netherlands, which had been in twelfth position, was chosen to hold it in The Hague.
Likewise, in 1969, with the technical tie for first place between the representatives of Spain, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, the city of Amsterdam was chosen by lottery to host the following year’s edition.
The best audience since Chikilicuatre
The 2022 Eurovision final was followed by an average audience of more than 6.8 million viewers and a 50.8% audience share in La 1, which makes it the edition with the most ‘share’ since 2008 with Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. It is the fourth best mark since audiences are measured, also below Rosa López (2002) and Beth (2003).
The expectation rose at the time of the voting to 7,942,000 followers and a 61.3% audience. Up to 11,441,000 viewers contacted the first TVE channel at some point to follow these decisive moments.
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