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| The 2022 Eurovision Song Contest was won by Ukraine but, on 25 July 2022, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the BBC formally confirmed that the 2023 Contest would be held in the United Kingdom (which had been runner-up in 2022) on behalf of Ukraine’s UA:PBC. It had been agreed that the event "could not be held in Ukraine for safety and security reasons" following the country's invasion by Russian Federation forces. The BBC and EBU had agreed that the BBC would take on hosting duties with Ukraine - as the 2022 Contest winner - automatically qualifying for the Grand Final alongside the "Big 5" countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). Representatives of UA: PBC would work with the BBC to develop Ukrainian elements for the 2023 shows. On 12 August 2022, the BBC and the EBU announced that, whilst the BBC had received expressions of interest from twenty cities across all four nations of the United Kingdom, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield had been accepted as Shortlisted Host Cities for the Contest. A few weeks later - on 27 September 2022 - it was announced that the shortlist had been whittled down to just two cities: Glasgow and Liverpool. BBC Eurovision commentator Graham Norton finally confirmed that Liverpool would host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest during an edition of The One Show on BBC One TV on 7 October 2022. The official host city handover from Turin - the host city for 2022 - to Liverpool took place alongside the semi-final draw in a ceremony televised live on BBC Two TV on 31 January 2023 hosted by Rylan Clark and AJ Odudu. The Grand Final of the 2023 Contest will take place at the Liverpool Arena on Saturday 13 May 2023 with the two semi-finals being held on Tuesday 9 May 2023 and Thursday 11 May 2023. For the first time ever, the semi-Finals will be broadcast on BBC One TV, previous editions having been consigned to either BBC Three TV or BBC Four TV. |
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