[Clean Feed]

Looks like the shortlist of cities to host next year's contest will be announced this Friday.

twitter.com 

[Lester]

Looks as though it's going to be Glasgow/Manchester.

Will be surprised otherwise!

[gottago]

Presumably this will simply be a case of weeding out the cities that have expressed an interest but ultimately don't have the infrastructure to host it rather than it being a shortlist of cities the BBC prefer?

If so then judging from those that have "presented a bid" from the Wikipedia page I'd say the shortlist will be Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Aberdeen, London, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield.

[Jon]

I’m not sure why you’d list Aberdeen but not Bristol. The former seems to have a larger Airport, not sure they’d want Eurovision to be used as a test event for a new venue though and not sure on what the transport links are like from the city to the airport.

I’m sure the shortlist will just be what the BBC/EBU want it to be, no reason they won’t narrow it down to 2 or 3.

I think it’s unlikely to be Birmingham but the fact they were the last UK hosts and have just hosted what seems to have been a fairly successful Commonwealth Games could either work for or against them. In purely logistical terms it should be first choice and there is the opportunity to create more of a Eurovision festival at the NEC.

[gottago]

I’m not sure why you’d list Aberdeen but not Bristol. The former seems to have a larger Airport, not sure they’d want Eurovision to be used as a test event for a new venue though and not sure on what the transport links are like from the city to the airport.

Because Aberdeen has an open arena while Bristol's is due for completion a year after the event. I'm sure Bristol will go to the effort of trying to convince that they can finish the space sooner but why would the BBC risk it when there's a number of other ready to go options on the table?

I know airport and transport links are a consideration but as I said in the other place I think the vast majority of cities do meet the requirements anyway and many have superior links to a few cities that have hosted it in the recent past. The arena is going to be absolute first and foremost priority in their ultimate decision.

I’m sure the shortlist will just be what the BBC/EBU want it to be, no reason they won’t narrow it down to 2 or 3.

Well fairness is a pretty solid reason. The BBC's hardly going to discount a load of appropriate cities because the production team doesn't fancy going there. Their own FAQs says this:

"There will be two rounds. Once we have received applications, we will shortlist cities based on their ability to meet the requirements and their responses around capability and experience."

Last year RAI announced 4 shortlisted cities based on that criteria out of 17 who initially applied. If you look on the wiki for it you can see most of the other cities failed due to their arenas not being appropriate.

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 - Wikipedia
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  Source: en.wikipedia.org

[all new phil]

I’m not sure why you’d list Aberdeen but not Bristol. The former seems to have a larger Airport, not sure they’d want Eurovision to be used as a test event for a new venue though and not sure on what the transport links are like from the city to the airport.

I’m sure the shortlist will just be what the BBC/EBU want it to be, no reason they won’t narrow it down to 2 or 3.

I think it’s unlikely to be Birmingham but the fact they were the last UK hosts and have just hosted what seems to have been a fairly successful Commonwealth Games could either work for or against them. In purely logistical terms it should be first choice and there is the opportunity to create more of a Eurovision festival at the NEC.

You’d hope that the only criteria would be being suitable and capable of hosting it. I don’t think Brum should be hindered by having been the last hosts or hosting the Commonwealth games. If cities are to be ruled out then it should be explicitly laid out why.

[no1fanofthepals]

Shortlisted cities: Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Leeds.

[all new phil]

Shortlisted cities: Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Leeds.

Selfishly I’d like it to be Leeds. Got a feeling it will be Liverpool though. They all have the capability hence being shortlisted, but I think Liverpool has the edge when it comes to musical heritage.

[gottago]

It's great to see genuine buzz for just the shortlist announcement. It's going to be huge next year. Sam coming second was a turning point but I think hosting it in the UK again is going to be the lasting turning point for Eurovision in this country in terms of people's attitudes to the contest and the willingness of acts to represent the UK in the future.

[Jon]

Shortlisted cities: Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Leeds.

Selfishly I’d like it to be Leeds. Got a feeling it will be Liverpool though. They all have the capability hence being shortlisted, but I think Liverpool has the edge when it comes to musical heritage.

Perhaps if it’s Liverpool you’ll get a Beatles reunion using the living ones and a hologram of the dead ones. They could even get Cilla for semi-finals.

I do think it would really mean something for Newcastle and it has a more iconic look than some of the others. 

I do think if they just go for practicalities Birmingham is the most logical choice.