The main musical event in Liverpool

The musical contest "Eurovision" in 2023 will be held in the English city of Liverpool. The announcement was made Friday by broadcaster Graham William Walker on the air of the BBC Broadcasting Corporation, which chose the winning bid along with the European Broadcasting Union.

"The venue for Eurovision 2023 will be Liverpool," he said.

A total of 20 British cities expressed a desire to host "Eurovision" at the initial stage, of which were then selected seven with the most experience in organizing events on this scale: Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield. Subsequently, the BBC and the EBU narrowed the field down to Liverpool and Glasgow, eventually settling on the home of the rock group The Beatles. Nevertheless, British Prime Minister Liz Truss said the organizers will dedicate Eurovision 2023 to Ukrainian culture, as a musical group from Ukraine won the last Eurovision. "Huge congratulations to Liverpool for choosing it as the venue for Eurovision 2023.

"Liverpool is a welcoming city with a proud musical heritage that is putting on an unforgettable show designed to celebrate Ukraine's rich culture and creativity," she wrote on Twitter.

According to the organizers, the M&S Bank Arena, which seats 11,000 people, will host the competition on May 13, 2023.

But while Liverpool has seen fewer international stars recently, the local music scene is small and "healthy," said the author of "Hit Factories: A Journey Through the Industrial Cities of British Pop." "There are a lot of great bands from Liverpool," he said, "but the Beatles obviously outshine everything.

The city plans to work with Ukrainian street artists, designers and musicians to bring the country's culture to the city, The Liverpool Echo reported this week Claire McColgan, Liverpool's director of culture, told the paper that "it's their party, it's just taking place in our house," referring to the Ukrainians.

"If we are chosen as the host city, there is no doubt that Eurovision will take over Liverpool like no other event before," she said this week.