Liverpool has officially submitted its bid to host the next Eurovision Song Contest - and could find out if it has been chosen in just a few weeks.
Last week, the city council held a special cabinet meeting where plans for the official bid were agreed. The bid was then submitted before the deadline at midnight on Thursday.
Liverpool is on a shortlist of seven UK cities that are in with a shout of hosting the major international event in 2023. It was decided that the UK - the runners up in this year's contest - would host next year because the winning country, Ukraine, would be unable to amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
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It was revealed in August that Liverpool had made the shortlist of potential host cities alongside Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield. These cities were then asked to deliver their bids in more detail and submit them for consideration.
The minutes of Thursday's special cabinet meeting state that cabinet members had carefully considered "the financial and legal implications of the bid." The minutes add that "Whilst understanding there were risks and costs involved, the report included detailed information on mitigations provided by officers and taking into consideration all of these factors it was acknowledged that the opportunity to host such a iconic event was not one Liverpool should be turning down."
The cabinet also said it considered Liverpool to be the "perfect" hosts for Eurovision because of its musical heritage, adding that: "The bid would give a huge boost to the city’s vibrant visitor and hospitality economies." The cabinet then resolved to grant authority to progress the Eurovision 2023 bid through the application process.
Speaking about the bid, Culture cabinet member Harry Doyle said: "We are excited to have submitted a bid for Liverpool to host Eurovision 2023. Making a major event like this possible in such a short timeframe is complicated and is going to need some careful and creative planning, but we think Liverpool would be the perfect stage to celebrate this unique Eurovision.
“We look forward to finding out if we have been successful in getting through to the next stage of the process.”
When will we know?
When the BBC - in conjunction with the European Broadcasting Union - made the shortlist announcement in August, they said the host city would be revealed in the Autumn. It is therefore likely that we will know if Liverpool has been chosen to host next year's Eurovision Song Contest in a matter of weeks.
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