After Ukraine’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to organize the next edition in Mariupol. That’s what he said on his Telegram channel. The Eurovision Song Contest is organized every year in the country that won the previous edition. Since the Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra, with the song ‘Stefania’, collected the most points from the participating countries on Saturday, this honor will go to Ukraine next year.
Zelensky showed himself overjoyed with the win on Telegram. “Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe!” he wrote. “Next year, Ukraine will receive the Eurovision Song Contest. For the third time in our history.”
The president would then like to invite Europe to Mariupol for the song contest. The port city in the southeast of the country has been virtually destroyed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and is currently under Russian control. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that Ukraine’s Mariupol will one day receive participants and guests of the Eurovision Song Contest.” He expressed his wish for a “free, peaceful and rebuilt” Mariupol.
Whether Ukraine will actually be able to organize the Eurovision Song Contest remains unclear for the time being. The organizer of the international music competition, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), already indicated in the night on Sunday that it would enter into talks with the Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC.
“Clearly there are unique challenges in organizing next year’s competition,” said the EBU. “As in any other year, we look forward to engaging with UA:PBC and other stakeholders about the requirements and responsibilities of hosting the competition.”
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