The English city of Liverpool will hold the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC has reported, after Britain stepped in on behalf of Ukraine, which won this year's contest on a wave of support following Russia's invasion.
The BBC's Eurovision show presenter, Graham Norton, announced the selection of Liverpool, saying the show will be held on May 13 in the northwestern English city that is home to the Beatles and other world-famous bands.
Ukraine had been due to host the contest after its folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 Eurovision crown under a decades-long tradition that the winner gets to host the show the following year.
The group beat 24 competitors in the final in May in Turin, Italy, with Stefania, a rap lullaby combining Ukrainian folk and modern hip-hop rhythms.
But the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs Eurovision, ruled in June that Ukraine could not guarantee the safety of the more than 10,000 people involved in the production of the annual show plus tens of thousands of fans.
Britain was invited to host based on the second-place finish of British singer Sam Ryder with his song Space Man.
The government in Kyiv vowed to fight the decision but agreed to a U.K.-hosted event after assurances that it would have an "extremely high integration of Ukrainian context and presenters."
Eurovision is the world's biggest live music event, featuring performers from across Europe and Central Asia as well as Israel and Australia.
The BBC will stage the event, which normally draws a television audience of close to 200 million. Ukraine will automatically qualify to the grand final of the competition, the EBU said.