The BBC’s act of “solidarity” with its Ukrainian counterparts in hosting next year’s Eurovision Song Contest could end up costing it tens of millions of pounds.
The corporation confirmed yesterday that it had accepted proposals from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to change next year’s headquarters from Ukraine, which as this year’s winner was due to host the contest. The invasion of Russia has made that impossible.
Britain, which has hosted Eurovision eight times, more than any other country, came second in this year’s competition with Sam Ryder’s song, Man from spacefact that prompted the EBU to open talks with the BBC.
The Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra won this year’s Eurovision with 439 points, the most in their history.
MYKOLA TYS/AP
Several cities have already expressed interest in hosting next year’s event, including Liverpool, which has said its costs would be