Leeds and Sheffield have been knocked out of the running to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, leaving Glasgow and Liverpool as the final shortlist candidates.
Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council said: “Congratulations to both Glasgow and Liverpool on making the final shortlist to host Eurovision 2023.
Having Eurovision in the UK next year, and honouring Ukrainian culture and heritage is something that every city will have had in the forefront of their minds as part of the bid. We worked closely with our local Ukrainian community as we bid for Eurovision and remain committed in our support for the Ukrainians in Leeds and West Yorkshire and the country as they continue to face the devastating impact of a needless war.
I would like to thank our local Ukrainian community for all their support and help, and I would also like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been involved in bringing the Leeds bid together from our own staff to all our key partners who worked so hard to bring it to life.
We believe the city did the best we possibly could and whilst we may not have been successful we have an amazing year of culture to look forward to, as we let culture loose in 2023, and come together to celebrate everything and everyone in our great city.”
Cllr Ben Miskell, Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee Deputy Chair for Sheffield City Council said: “Massive congratulations to Glasgow and Liverpool – the final 2 left in the race to host Eurovision.
Getting to the final 7 showed we really mean business here in Sheffield – loads of cities wanted to host this and it was amazing to see Sheffield and South Yorkshire get behind this bid. Over the last few months we have showcased the very best of Sheffield – the love of music that runs through our veins, our stunning Outdoor City, and of course our people.
As the UK’s first City of Sanctuary we have said all along we were doing this in solidarity with Ukraine and its people. We have long-held and strong connections with Ukraine and they have been at the forefront of our minds throughout this bid.
The BBC have paid tribute to the passion, enthusiasm, quality and creativity we showed in our bid and we’re incredibly proud of the work team Sheffield and team South Yorkshire did to get us this far. Massive thanks goes to the universities, colleges, businesses, culture sector and of course our Ukrainian communities too, all of whom got behind this.
After the summer we’ve had hosting the record-breaking UEFA Women’s Euros, we have some massive events coming up in Sheffield – the Rugby League World Cup, the Arctic Monkeys at Hillsborough and the UK Figure Skating Senior Grand Prix, for example.
‘There’s more to come from Sheffield and we cannot wait.”
