The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 is in its final week.
Taking place in Turin, Italy this year, it is bringing together 40 different nations to compete for the top prize.
The bookies favourite to win is Ukraine, following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country.
Russia has subsequently been banned from participating in the competition.
The whole event takes massive amount of preparation, with each victorious country given just one year to prepare to host the show for the world.
Reports on the specific costs for each year vary significantly, but it is estimated the UK still pays hundreds of thousands just to participate.
What is the UK’s bill for Eurovision?
It is currently unknown what the UK has paid for 2022’s Eurovision participation, but based on previously years, it will likely be an enormous figure.
The most recent numbers on how much the UK has paid to enter come from the year 2012, according to the adamsmith.org blog.
In the blog, it says the BBC paid £310,000 to take part in the competition.
This money was given directly to the European Broadcasting Union, the organisation that runs the event.
This was a slight increase from 2009’s number of £279,805.
If the increase continued like this, the figure to participate would likely be much higher in 2022.
How much are the stars paid for Eurovision?
It has not been revealed how much each individual star has been paid for the show.
The UK will be represented by viral TikTok sensation Sam Ryder in 2022.
He will be singing SPACE MAN and the star said in a statement: “Having been a fan of Eurovision since I was a kid l I am so honoured to have been presented with the opportunity to sing at an event alongside some of Europe’s most talented creatives, performers and songwriters.
“I hope to sing my head off in a way the UK can be proud of, and to showcase a song I wrote with my friends last summer makes the whole experience even more special. See you in Turin legends!”
According to fitnessfreak360.com, the musician has a net worth of £2 million, but this is generated almost entirely through his social media.
While the UK pays hundreds of thousands to participate in Eurovision each year, it's unclear how much it pays its performers. In other countries, the entrants are expected to fund their own performances.
They may be able to recuperate their spending from sales of their songs.
What is the cost of Eurovision each year?
The cost of Eurovision varies from year to year, as it depends on the contributions from all participating nations, according to Eurovision.tv.
It explains that this cost is around €6.2 million (£5.3 million) when combined.
Each country pays a different amount each year, depending on factors such as GDP to its size.
Eurovision states that the payment is broken down by which countries “carry the most weight” in the competition.
This doesn’t account for all costs though, as the host nation’s broadcaster will also foot the bill.
This broadcaster will generally be expected to pay between €10 million and €20 million (£8.6 and £17.2 million).
Once again, this largely depends on the underlining circumstances of the nation and its broadcaster.
The host city will also be expected to contribute to costs, either financially or “in kind”, as stated on the Eurovision website.
This can take the form of side events, city branding, security and more.
The last main form of revenue stream comes from sponsorship, televoting and merchandise.
The Big Five Nations are believed to contribute the most each year.
These are the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
