The Eurovision Song Contest returns to the public eye next month, and this edition, which will be hosted in Liverpool on behalf on last year’s winners, Ukraine, is set to be one of the most important editions of the contest yet, at least according to co-host Alesha Dixon.
The singer and television personality has told the BBC that this year’s event is “so much more than a competition“, adding that “It’s very important. We feel that sense of responsibility, to do it with joy, love“.
Dixon will host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest alongside actress Hannah Waddingham, perhaps best known for her role in the comedy series Ted Lasso, and Julia Sanina, front woman of Ukrainian alternative rock band The Hardkiss, with the trio set to be joined by television presenter Graham Norton for the final.
Sanina has also stressed the competition’s importance, telling the BBC, “Even last year, when people were watching Eurovision from bomb shelters, lots of them were still voting and wanted to win“.
Waddingham added, “We have to always balance the joy and the love with what Julia just said. People voting from the bomb shelters hits me more than anything and there’s the reason I wanted to get involved“.
The competition was originally supposed to be hosted by Ukraine, given that the country, represented by rap group Kalush, won the event last year with the song “Stefania“, receiving the most amount of votes the competition has seen in its history. Organisers decided, however, that it was too dangerous to host this year’s event in the war-torn country following the Russian invasion, and Liverpool has stepped in to play host.
Watch Kalush in the 2022 Winner’s Performance below:
This motto for this year’s contest, ‘United by Music’, encompasses fully what responsibility the event has for the country, and indeed for the people, of Ukraine. Staunchly anti-war and a vehicle of peaceful protest, the contest is set to be a proud example of what the world of music can do in the face of injustice and indiscriminate violence, standing tall for the values of peace and prosperity and upright and strong with Ukraine in the face of hostile adversity.
Watch the video for Mae Muller’s “I Wrote a Song“, the official UK entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, below:
The competition is set to commence on May 9th with the first of the semi-finals, with the other being on May 11th. The final will then be held on May 13th. Full coverage of the event will be provided by the BBC. See here for a full breakdown of all the songs that will be performed.
