Despite several Ukrainian stakeholders (including the broadcaster UA:PBC and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy) expressing a wish for the 2023 contest to be held in Ukraine, the EBU ruled that Ukraine was unable to meet the demands of hosting the event due to security concerns caused by the Russian invasion. Several countries expressed interest in hosting the contest instead, but the EBU chose the UK because its entry in the 2022 contest had finished as runner–up.
Twenty UK cities and towns expressed an interest in hosting the contest, and the BBC shortlisted seven of them: Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, and Sheffield. Glasgow and Liverpool made the final shortlist, and on 7 October 2022 a joint announcement by the EBU and the BBC confirmed that Liverpool would be the host city and the venue would be the Liverpool Arena.
The last time that the previous year's winning nation had been unable to host the contest was in 1980, when Israel declined to do so for a second successive year (having won in both 1978 and 1979). On this occasion the event was hosted by the Netherlands. 2023 was the fifth time that the UK had stepped in.
© Haydn Thompson 2023