Leeds is one of the favourites cities to host Eurovision 2023 and we are putting the case forward as to why the other UK destinations competing should be put out of their misery now.
As you’ll likely know, due to the ongoing Ukrainian conflict the country isn’t in a position to host next year’s competition. Instead, the honour falls to the UK and we have the opportunity to celebrate Sam Ryder coming second in this year’s event.
The Eurovision host city will be decided in the coming months with London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield joining Leeds in campaigning to be the competition’s venue. In order to be chosen to hold the competition, cities must demonstrate that they have a 10,000-seater venue and are located within close proximity to an international airport.
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Prospective host cities must also have enough hotel rooms to house 2,000 delegates. The BBC will broadcast the legendary singing competition with Graham Norton one of the favourites to host the fun.
While we are still a little way off any official host being confirmed we’re putting forward the case for Leeds to host Eurovision 2023.
The venue
As we said, we’ve got the perfect venue for Eurovision 2023 right in Leeds city centre with Leeds Train Station nearby and Leeds Bradford Airport not too far away. We are, of course, talking about Leeds First Direct Arena. Down the years, the venue has welcomed music superstars such as Sir Elton John, Diana Ross, Prince and Bruce Springsteen among others. So, it is fair to say it has pedigree and what a great way to mark its 10th anniversary which will fall in 2023. As an addition, we'd ask that Brudenell Social Club gets to host a support event or two during the week building up to the main event.
Next year is Leeds’ year
We’ve got the big Leeds 2023 campaign of cultural events coming next year. For the whole year, the city is promising to let culture loose. On their website, it states: “We’re gonna create, make, perform, run, bake, eat, share, sing, speak, play and more besides. Because culture is everywhere in this city.” Eurovision in Leeds would be the cherry on top of the cake.
Big event experience
Leeds has so much big event expertise it could call upon should Eurovision be held here in the city. The Infrastructure around the city centre and beyond has been enjoyed for years and years with thousands coming from far and wide to enjoy big annual events like Leeds Festival and a host of popular outdoor festivals at Temple Newsam. That venue is hosting BBC Radio 2 Live in Leeds later this year. That collaboration will likely provide further evidence of how well Leeds and the BBC could work together.
Leeds being the best day out
Eurovision tends to be a week of events so those visiting and competing will want a bit of down time - there’s no better place for this than Leeds. We recently brought you news of the city earning this rank officially. Tombola carried out a study which saw them analyse 1,393,370 TripAdvisor reviews in 20 of the UK’s most popular destinations. Leeds came out on top.
That Yorkshire welcome
Following on from our previous point, there’s nowhere like Yorkshire for a big friendly welcome. The city has ample hotels as well as brilliant bars, pubs and restaurants. If those making the big Eurovision decisions are reading this take a look at the winners of our Leeds Loves Awards to get just a hint of what is on offer.
The Football link
All roads do often lead to football. We know how big Eurovision is in Scandinavia countries and, as it happens, so are Leeds United. We regularly see people from that part of the world travelling over to Elland Road. It is likely Eurovision will take place in May, as it usually does, and the Premier League season will still be ongoing. Eurovision organisers could make fans from a block of countries very, very happy.
The perfect hosts available
Okay, so Eurovision legend Graham Norton should 100 per cent get one of the hosting roles but what about all the famous Leeds celebs who’d be perfect for the other presenting duties. Imagine if we got Keith Lemon, Stephanie Hirst, Chris Moyles, Gabby Logan, Mel B and some of the city’s other famous faces together.
Anyways, these are just some of the reasons why we think Leeds should host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. You can give us your reasons by commenting on this article.
To find out the latest big gig and event news in our city you can visit our Best in Leeds homepage. There you will also find a guide to great things to do in Leeds.
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