The United Kingdom will host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine, the organizers of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the BBC confirmed on Monday.
Traditionally, it would be Ukraine’s role, as the ultimate winner, to host the next song contest – following the triumph of Ukrainian folk rap group Kalush Orchestra with their track “Stefania” in May.
However, the EBU said last month that after a “full assessment and feasibility study” it concluded that it would not be viable for Ukraine to host, because of the ongoing war with Russia.
The UK came in second in this year’s competition.
BBC director-general Tim Davie said on Monday it was a “great privilege” to be asked to present the programme.
“It is a great pity that our colleagues and friends in Ukraine will not be able to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023,” he said in a statement.
“Being invited to host the biggest and most complex music competition in the world is a great privilege,” he added.
He went on to say that the BBC is “committed to making the event a true reflection of Ukrainian culture, as well as showcasing the diversity of British music and creativity”.
Davie confirmed that the next steps would be to find a host city to partner with for the annual singing competition.
Ukrainian winners sold trophy to buy drones
The Ukrainian winners of this year’s Eurovision festival announced that they sold their trophy for US$900,000. The funds were intended for the purchase of drones for the Ukrainian military.
Kalush Orchestra was awarded the crystal microphone trophy in early May after winning this year’s competition, beating out competition from top rivals in the UK and Spain.
The winning bid for the trophy was awarded to WhiteBIT, a cryptocurrency exchange. WhiteBIT said the aim of the online auction was to raise one million euros (about R$5 million) to buy three PD-2 drones for the Ukrainian armed forces.
“You guys are amazing,” the folk rap group wrote on Instagram.
“We are grateful to each and every one of you who donated funds for this auction and especially grateful to the @whitebit_ua team who purchased the trophy for $900,000.”
The band has also scheduled a tour of Europe to raise funds for the needs of Ukraine’s army and charitable foundations, said band leader Oleg Psyuk.
Source: CNN Brasil
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