Kyiv, Lutsk, or another country? Where Ukraine plans to host Eurovision 2023

Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision 2022 final for Ukraine. In Turin, the delegation of our country was handed over documents for holding a song contest in 2023, said Mykola Chernotytskyi, Chairman of the Board of the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine.

No wonder that Ukrainians have already begun discussing the venue for Eurovision in 2023, so has compiled the statements that are being made in the information space on this subject.

Conditions for holding Eurovision 2023 in Ukraine

According to Chernotytskyi, the venue for the song contest must meet the requirements for a large stage and the level of security. However, the situation regarding the end of the war in Ukraine, unleashed by Russia, is difficult to predict.

According to producer and TV presenter Ihor Kondratiuk, if hostilities in Ukraine do not end by the end of summer and the enemy is not pushed out of the border, at least the border as of February 24, 2022, Eurovision will most likely not take place in Ukraine. He said this in a commentary to Radio Svoboda.

"Because it will be difficult for the Eurovision organizing committee to make a decision to hold the contest in a country where the aggressor shells the entire territory — from Zakarpattia to Luhansk region," he said, adding that the right to host the contest could be given to the country that ranked second, that is, to Britain.

What city of Ukraine can Eurovision 2023 be held in

The Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko said during the TV program Snidanok z 1+1 program that the song contest will certainly be held in Ukraine next year.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, congratulating the Kalush Orchestra on the victory, stated on his Telegram channel that Ukraine will host Eurovision next year.

However, Ihor Kondratiuk is somewhat less optimistic on this matter.

"Mariupol is a city of heroes, but there will not be enough infrastructure for tourists to come there. Although it is possible to build a performance hall, but who to fill it with so that it is safe for foreign Eurofans. Rather, it will traditionally be Kyiv, maybe Lviv," he said.

Instead, a member of the band of winners, Ihor Didenchuk, proposed to make Lutsk the venue for the contest. He told reporters about this upon arrival in Kyiv by train No. 43\44 "Ivano-Frankivsk — Kyiv" with the name "Stefania Express".

Can Eurovision 2023 be held in Poland

Let us also add that the Ukrainian singer and frontwoman of the band Kroshka, Oleksandra Koltsova, stated in an interview to Channel 24 that Eurovision could be held in Poland next year. According to her, while Russia continues the war against Ukraine, it is impossible to talk about holding an international song contest in one of the Ukrainian cities.

"I think that in terms of economics, it is necessary to understand whether we have an extra half a billion hryvnias to hold it. Let’s think about the safety of tourists and the economy. Poland, as a country that "advocates" us in Europe, that saved our refugees, could play a partner role in holding Eurovision. Now we need money to rebuild everything, and not for Eurovision," she said, adding that she would be glad if the competition could be held next year in Crimea, Mariupol or any other Ukrainian city.