It's the day of Eurovision 2023 final. Tonight, at the Liverpool Arena, 26 artists, including singers and groups, will compete for the victory of the 67th edition of the European Song Contest. There will be between them Marco Mengoni who, as the winner of Sanremo 2023, will bring to the stage a re-adaptation of the song "Due Vite" with which he won the Festival. Not only that, he will also perform for Italy Mahmood who will be the guest of the final evening.
To host the Eurovision 2023 will be Liverpool, the city of the Beatles, despite the fact that the last edition was won byUkraine with Kalush Orchestra. However, organizing the event in a country at war would have been complicated and dangerous and therefore, thanks to an agreement signed with Kiev, the task will fall to the second-ranked country in 2022, namely the United Kingdom.
Eurovision 2023: where and how to see it
From Italy it will be possible to follow the final on Saturday 13 May on Rai1, starting at 20.40. The television commentary in Italy will once again be entrusted to Gabriele Corsi, this year together with Mara Maionchi. It will also be possible to follow Eurovision 2023 on also Rai Radio 2, live streaming on RaiPlay and on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel (in original language).
How Eurovision 2023 works
The event is attended in total 37 PaeYes but 26 arrive in the final. Among them are the 5 finalists by right – Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom – and the winner of the last edition, that is Ukraine. To these are added the 20 qualifiers of the two semi-finals, 10 per evening.
During the 2 semi-finals, only the public from home through televoting. In tonight's final, however, the vote of the public will be added to that of the national juries. There is also a novelty compared to past years: the possibility of voting is also given to viewers of Countries not participating at the event, who will be able to express their preference through an online platform. The votes of the "Rest of the World", as they will be called, will total 58 and will add up to the vote of the individual states (a package that is once again 58 points).
Eurovision 2023: how much does it cost to organize and host it?
For the country that organizes it, in this case the United Kingdom, and for the city that hosts it, i.e. Liverpool, Eurovision obviously has a cost. How much is? Expenditure is shared between various entities, but most of the resources – between 8 and 18 million euros – will be borne by BBC who broadcasts and organizes the event. The Liverpool City Council instead put on the table about 2 million pounds (about 2,3 million euros) and the same amount was allocated by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. To these figures we must then add the contribution of European Union Broadcasting (EBU), which produces the European Song Contest, which is usually around 4-6 million euros. Even the British government it will do its part with an allocation of 10 million pounds (about 11,5 million euros), a large part of which will go to financially assist the BBC. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the government funding "will support the security, visa arrangements and other operational aspects of the competition" and that the money allocated will go towards supporting both the BBC and the Liverpool City Council in working with Ukrainian artists “to ensure a collaborative show that celebrates music and the way it brings people together”.
The expenses didn't end there. Each of the 37 participating nations pays an "entrance fee" of approx 5 million pounds. The 5 Big Five, including Italy. they pay more, which is why they automatically qualify for the final every year.
Eurovision: how much did the past editions cost?
Between various and possible contributions, the total amount to host Eurovision 2023 should be around 25 million euros, slightly more than last year when Italy, for organize the event in Turin, total expenditure of 22 million euros (these are estimates). Figures in line with those of previous editions. In 2021, for example, Rotterdam allocated 19 million euros (but to this figure we must add costs of 6,7 million deriving from the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 due to Covid). In 2019 Tel Aviv incurred an expense of 28,5 million, the year before Lisbon disbursed 25. In the last ten years, the highest figure spent was Azerbaijan, which in 2012 put up as much as 51 million for the festival, 9 million for collateral events and even 100 million for the construction of the Baku Crystal Hall. The cheapest edition? That of 2013 in Sweden, cost a total of 15 million euros. By averaging the various editions, we can say that the overall costs travel on average around 20-25 million euros.
Eurovision 2023: what does Liverpool gain?
Eurovision is a musical event attended every year for almost 200 million people all over the world and its induced activities are considered extremely high.
Liverpool City Council indeed hopes to receive approx 100 thousand visitors. Secondo the BBC, which reports the estimates of the city council, the musical festival could be valid for the city approx £25m for Liverpool this year and a further £250m over the next 3 years from media exposure to the city and the resulting increase in visitor numbers. According to NatWest estimates reported by the British broadcaster, visitors are spending in total £40m in the city only during Eurovision week.
The calculations were also made on the basis of what happened last year. Turin attracted 55.000 tourists in one week, despite some Covid measures still in place, which generated €23m (£20m), with media exposure worth an extra €66m (£58m). pounds).
The city therefore hopes that the global spotlight turned on Liverpool for Eurovision, will bring positive effects for the next 15 years. On the other hand, in those areas the so-called "musical tourism" is nothing new, quite the contrary. According to estimates the Beatles tourism, in 2019, it was worth around £100m.
