Which UK city do you think will host Eurovision?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

In our house we are guessing either Manchester, because it has the Media City area, and has a reputation for being very vibrant and up and coming, or Cardiff because the waterfront would provide a beautiful backdrop and the Millenium center is right on the bay.

I'm hoping for Glasgow.

the success of the commonwealth games will surely increase Birmingham’s chances

Brum has had it before so I think this will count against them. I'd hope that Manchester is the hot favourite (but I live there so biased). Glasgow in with a good shout I'd hope.

Still would choose Manchester myself. I notice Cardiff has declined given events already arranged.

Personally I think it will be Birmingham. They recently did the concert for Ukraine and right next door to an international airport.

The shortlist of cities being considered has been revealed this morning:
Birmingham
Glasgow
Leeds
Liverpool
Manchester
Newcastle
Sheffield

Wow! No London on the list.

Fascinating.

Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool or Birmingham are drivable from me within just over an hour. Any of them will do thanks muchly!

Surprised at no London. My original suggestion of Cardiff was clearly complete rubbish! but it's really sad to see that there's only one city outside of England as a contender.

Red your location sounds excellent!

Manchester please let it be Manchester!

There was a BBC article about advice Turin would give to the next host. It said that there were events from 6am in the morning right through until 3am in the morning the whole week of Eurovision so the host city had to be able to manage that. That again says to me, it really has to be a city with a big BBC base to keep costs down as far as possible because of the size of the team they will need.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-62496803

The seven remaining cities will be scored on a set of criteria, the BBC said, including:

"Having a suitable venue and sufficient space to deliver the requirements of the Song Contest

"The commitment that can be made by a city or region to hosting the event, including the financial contribution

"The strength of the cultural offer which includes off screen local and regional activity as well as showcasing Ukrainian culture and music

"And alignment with the BBC's strategic priorities as a public service broadcaster, such as providing value to all audiences and supporting the creative economy in the UK"

The successful city will be chosen by the BBC and Eurovision organisers, and will be announced in the autumn.

Glasgow and Birmingham have been named as the bookmakers' favourites, while Glasgow and Manchester have proved the most popular in polls on Eurovision fan sites.

Eurovision organisers say the host venue should accommodate about 10,000 spectators, be within easy reach of an international airport and have enough hotel accommodation for at least 2,000 delegates, journalists and spectators.

A venue would be needed for preparations for six to eight weeks ahead of the song contest, meaning all potential locations would need to move concerts and events that are already in their schedules.

Events potentially affected in the 6 to 8 Week period:
Leeds:
Sabaton - The Tour To End All Tours - 14th April
Michael Starring Ben - 22nd April
Magic Mike Live - 29th April
Andre Rieu - 11th May

Sheffield:
Magic Mike Live - 26th April
Andre Rieu - 13th May

Glasgow:
Sabaton - The Tour To End All Tours 18th April
Magic Mike Live - 25th April

Manchester:
Rob Beckett & Josh Widdicombe's Parenting Hell Live - 14th April
Magic Mike Live - 2nd May

Birmingham:
Elton John - 19th April (nearly sold out)

Newcastle:
Nothing booked

Liverpool:
Nothing booked

Leeds simply looks to have too much on during that period. So that is going to be a big issue for the city to get past. I just can't see it happening.

I REALLY can't see Elton John getting the boot, unless Elton is personally up for that (unconvinced) - but the costs of postponing are going to be pretty high. I am not sure thats going to be viable. So that would kill off Birmingham's chances unless Elton is happy - the fact its already nearly sold out is a big issue.

Sheffield, Glasgow and Manchester ALL have two things on, which complecates things: Not sure what to make of the Magic Mike problem. I suspect cancellation or changing the date is possible but expensive. It probably depends on ticket sales so far.
Having said that I suspect the staging for Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's thing could work around Eurovision or they wouldn't mind postponing which might give Manchester a slight advantage here over Sheffield and Glasgow.

That means Liverpool and Newcastle appear to have at least one thing significant going for them because the venues aren't busy in April/May next year.

On venue issues alone, you'd have to put in this order of viability:
Liverpool / Newcastle
Manchester
Sheffield / Glasgow
Leeds / Birmingham

Which given that Glasgow and Birmingham are the bookies fav is slightly interesting.

Oh dear. Poor Magic Mike will be dingied whatever the final choice.

Looking forward to a fan zone event at Glasgow Green

Newcastle

In an ideal world I'd have like to see it in Salisbury after the city's economy was decimated by the poisonings which took place there. Although its picked up it's never been the same since.
A nice signal to Putin too, not that he'd know anything about it!

My boss booked up hotel rooms in Glasgow weeks ago saying that the Glasgow arena (think that is what is called) was booked up on the dates in question but no one knew who to so she surmised it was for Eurovision!

Glasgow, the UK government will love union jack's being flown in Scotland

I think if Liverpool or Newcastle have the space, it should be there. The BBC has a big presence in Salford so Liverpool would be the most practical given Manchester looks to have too much else going on.

Also agree Salisbury would have been a nice touch, but it doesn't have the venues.

They are going to have to decide soon, they're making a massive meal of choosing. Just get on with it!

My original suggestion of Cardiff was clearly complete rubbish! Grin but it's really sad to see that there's only one city outside of England as a contender

I agree, Cardiff or Belfast would have been great choices too.

I hope Glasgow gets it.

For those saying that Glasgow has Magic Mike on, you do know that the SEC is HUGE. The Hydro holds over 12k people, and the SEC hall 4 holds 10k people and if they opened up next hall, that holds another 5k. This was discussed on radio a few days ago, and why Glasgow is in there.
Don't think Magic Mike show no matter how popular would attract that sort of audience!

Cardiff didn’t put themselves forward in the end because they would have had to cancel too many already-booked events. Otherwise I think they’d have been a good choice.

The date isn't known yet, is it? Too soon to book hotel accommodation!

Why not Ely? It never hosts anything like this. And it’s really nice.

I,d love leeds to get it my daughter lives there and we live in Doncaster.The arena is still relatively new compared to the one in Manchester loads of hotels loads of bars the fan zone could be in millennium square they do know how to do big gigs there with big screens the lot they could easily manage it.

I think it'll be Liverpool, which is good for me, although I would imagine tickets would be impossible to get!