The UK will host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest if Ukraine can’t, says Spanish official
Sam Ryder's 'Space Man' landed the UK in second place overall in this year's contest.
Words: Emily Maskell; pictures: Instagram/@samhairwolfryder
The UK will be hosting the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest if Ukraine can’t, according to an official for a Spanish broadcasting network.
Sam Ryder enjoyed meteoric success as this year’s UK entry with his song ‘Space Man’ making it onto the left hand side of the leaderboard, ultimately landing in second place.
While it was Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, with their track ‘Stefania,’ that won this year’s contest, some are unsure whether Ukraine will be able to host 2023’s Eurovision Song Contest due to the country’s ongoing invasion by Russia.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper Faro de Vigo, José Manuel Pérez Tornero, the chairman of the Spanish state broadcaster, RTVE said that “if Ukraine resigns, it will be the BBC that organises [Eurovision].”
“We are going to try to launch a similar festival for Latin America and compete as best we can in the next Eurovision,”he continued.
However, according to reports from Ukrinform, Ukraine’s multimedia broadcasting platform, Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Information, Oleksandr Tkachenko, has said he has “no doubt” that Ukraine will host next year’s Eurovision.
“The only thing is that no one has held Eurovision during the war…” he continued adding, “We are now looking for answers with colleagues to the most important conditions set by the EBU, but I think we will have to explain that some conditions need to be changed.”
He also said that Ukraine has already received a questionnaire from the European Broadcasting Union on the issues to be addressed as part of organising the contest.
Following Ukraine’s Eurovision win earlier this year, the country’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, posted on Instagram: “Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe! Next year Ukraine will host Eurovision!”
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After their win, The Independent reported (16 May) that the hip-hop group Kalush Orchestra said: “If the president said it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. We’ll host Eurovision in a newly rebuilt and happy Ukraine.”
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