From six to two: The potential host cities await their fate
20 July 2016 at 12:00 CEST
Which Ukrainian city will host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest?
Photo: NTU
Earlier this month the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) announced that six cities had submitted bids for the right to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Each candidate city presented their bids to the to the Organisational Committee of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in a live televised special. Two candidate cities will then be chosen and their bids will be scrutinised by the Organisational Committee and the EBU. A final decision on the host city of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is expected by 1st August.
The six cities that submitted bids are:
Dnipro
Kharkiv
Kherson
Kyiv
Lviv
Odessa
City Battle, a special two hour programme, was be broadcast live on NTU1 and on national radio where representatives from each of the prospective host cities presented their respective bids in front of a live studio audience. The show will also be streamed live on YouTube and on NTU's official Facebook page. The official hashtag was #whowillhost.
Members of the Organisational Committee, media representatives, Ukrainian musical experts and fans took part in the discussion. Two cities will then be shortlisted before the final choice is announced. Preference will be given to the candidate cities that have the most suitable arena as well as sufficient accommodation and infrastructure.
The city representatives
Dnipro: Borys Filatov (City Mayor)
Kharkiv: Igor Terekhov (Deputy City Mayor)
Kherson: Volodymyr Mykolaienko (City Mayor)
Kyiv: Oleksii Reznikov (Deputy Head of City State Administration)
Lviv: Andrii Moskalenko (Deputy City Mayor)
Odessa: Henadii Trukhanov (City Mayor)
Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 as well as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in both 2009 and 2013. More information about the city selection process can be found in the press release issued by NTU.
