Eurovision has never been a bigger deal to the UK than it is in 2023 - and believe it or not we've won it a fair few times in the past. Last year, following the win of Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra and the second place spot of our own Sam Ryder, it was announced that we would be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest for 2023.
With the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the decision was made for the runners up (us) to host this year's Eurovision Song Contest in the winner's honour, as a somewhat collaboration of the two most successful acts of last year's competition. It was then decided that the host city for this year's event would be Liverpool and, this evening, the torch will be well and truly passed from last year's hosts Italy, beginning the countdown to the final in May.
To kick things off, tonight presenters Rylan and AJ Odudu will host a BBC programme titled Eurovision 2023 Handover and Allocation Draw, but just what does this all mean and how can you get involved?
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The slogan and various artwork for this year's competition has already been revealed, with a trailer for the upcoming competition sharing a message of music over war, a colour scheme that blends the colours of the flags of the UK and Ukraine and a slogan which reads: "United by Music". Even the font is named 'Penny Lane' in honour of the host city and, while this is definitely Ukraine's year, there's definitely no shortage of nods to the UK in all things Eurovision right now.
What is the Eurovision Handover and Allocation Draw?
The Handover
The Eurovision Handover consists of the previous host city of the Eurovision Song Contest, which was Turin, handing over the keys to the next host city - Liverpool. This hasn't been part of our TV schedule in previous years as, well, we haven't won the chance to host the iconic European music competition since the late 90s.
This year, the mayor of 2022 host city Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, will hand over the official keys of the Eurovision Song Contest to the mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson. These keys are known as the Insignia and are a pretty treasured possession in the world of Eurovision - arguably just as important as the winner's trophy itself.
The Allocation Draw
With the list of participating countries for the Eurovision Song Contest a pretty hefty one, they all have to be divided into two groups. These correspond to the two semi-finals they will have to get through to book themselves a spot in the grand final.
The event, which is an exciting one in itself, will determine which country competes in which semi final in May and also decides which semi final the 'Big 5' - Spain, the UK, France, Germany and Italy - as well as 2022 winners Ukraine, will vote in. Every country taking part in the semi-finals will be divided into separate pots, sorted based on their historic voting pattern in order to try and avoid countries who would traditionally vote for each other ending up in the same semis.
The pots have to be approved by the Contest's executive supervisor on behalf of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) and the chairman of the Reference Group, the contest's governing body. The participants for each semi final are then pulled from the pots at random, to give us the line up.
How can I watch the Eurovision Handover and Allocation Draw?
The live draw will take place on both BBC Two and BBC iPlayer tonight (Tuesday, January 31) from 7pm and will also be available to watch in your own time on iPlayer following the live event too. You can expect to see hosts AJ and Rylan being joined by young local people from a Liverpool school, as well as members of the Ukrainian community living in the city since the outbreak of the war.
What's more, Scott Mills will be giving viewers an insight into what to expect when the semi finals roll around in May and will be taking a look back at the most memorable moments from the past few years of the contest. There may even be a few famous Liverpudlians welcoming the world to the city.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 semi finals will take place on Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11, with the Grand Final on Saturday, May 13.
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