Nottingham expresses interest in hosting Eurovision
Nottingham has informally expressed an interest in hosting the Eurovision Song Contest after it was announced that next year’s competition will take place in the UK.
The contest is normally held in the home country of its previous winner.
Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra triumphed at this year’s event, but safety fears prompted by the ongoing conflict in the country have necessitated the search for an alternative venue.
The UK confirmed it would host the event earlier today (26 July).
In a statement, a spokesperson for Nottingham City Council insisted the city has the credentials to host the popular musical contest.
The statement reads: “With a world class Arena that hosts entertainment superstars and international sporting events, Nottingham’s infrastructure of hotels, restaurants and bars is geared to welcoming fans from all over the world to our great city.
“We look forward to the publication of the detailed bidding criteria and process to then consider whether we will be able to formally apply to be the host city.”
At the time of writing (c. 3pm) most bookmakers rated Nottingham’s chances of hosting the contest at 2%, far behind the runaway favourite, Glasgow (30%), and some distance behind other major cities such as Manchester (14%), London (8%) and Birmingham (7%).
