Rylan and AJ Odudu will welcome viewers to BBC Two and BBC iPlayer at 7pm on January 31 for the official Eurovision 2023 Handover and Allocation Draw.
Taking place in host city Liverpool in front of a live, invited audience the event will determine which country will compete in which Semi-Final of the Contest in May. It will also decide which Semi-Final the ‘Big Five’ (Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy) and 2022 winners Ukraine will vote in.
A total of 37 countries will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which the BBC is hosting in the United Kingdom on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine. Thirty-one countries will go into the draw for the Semi-Finals (May 9 and 11) with 10 from each semi-final progressing to the Grand Final on May 13. The ‘Big Five’ and Ukraine automatically qualify to compete in the Grand Final.
Rylan and Odudu will conduct the live draw, assisted by young people from a local Liverpool school and members of the Ukrainian community who have settled in Liverpool since the outbreak of the conflict.
The programme will also feature the Mayor of 2022 Host City Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, handing over the official keys of the Eurovision Song Contest, known as the Insignia, to the Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson and the big reveal of the 2023 contest’s slogan and branding.
Audiences can also follow the event as it unfolds with live text commentary on the BBC News website, while January 31 will also January 31 also see the launch of the BBC’s Eurovision podcast, Eurovisioncast, made by the team behind hit podcasts Newscast and Ukrainecast and broadcasting weekly on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Radio Merseyside.
Rylan said: “From being part of the UK delegation since 2018, Eurovision has become such a big part of my life. I’m so excited to be presenting the handover and allocation draw which symbolises the start of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, the year in which the United Kingdom hosts Ukraine’s party. It’s going to be an amazing year for Eurovision.”
