The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the BBC announced on Friday that Liverpool has been chosen as the Host City of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest following a competitive bidding process.

The 2023 competition would have taken place in Ukraine, after the band Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 contest in Turin this past May, with the song “Stefania”.

However, it was concluded that the event could not be held in the winning country, as is customary, due to safety and security reasons.

The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place at the Liverpool Arena next to the River Mersey on Saturday May 13, with Semi-Finals on May 9 and 11.

The BBC, together with the EBU, will organize the event next year in consultation with UA:PBC, Ukraine’s public broadcaster.

Liverpool was chosen following a strong city bid process that examined facilities at the venue, the ability to accommodate thousands of visiting delegations, crew, fans and journalists, infrastructure, and the cultural offer of the Host City in reflecting Ukraine’s win in 2022, amongst other criteria.

A shortlist of 7 cities which included Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, and Newcastle, was announced in August before being narrowed down to two in September.

Glasgow and Liverpool were then left in the race to host the world’s largest live music event, which reached over 175 million viewers on TV and online in 2022.

The UK will host the Eurovision Song Contest for a record ninth time having previously stepped in to host the event for other broadcasters in London in 1960 and 1963, in Edinburgh in 1972 and Brighton in 1974. The BBC also staged the Contest following four of their five wins: in London in 1968 and 1977, Harrogate in 1982 and Birmingham in 1998.

Israel will be represented in the contest by singer Noa Kirel, who officially announced her participation in a press conference this past August.

The Israeli entry to Eurovision in 2022 failed to qualify for the finals for the first time since 2014, after Israeli representative Michael Ben-David failed to finish in one of the top ten spots in the second semi-final.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)