In this week’s Newsletter we look at all three Eurovision bids for 2017, review some of the new artists and music of Junior Eurovision and find some our favourite new Eurovision versions that have kept us going all summer.
In the traditional column Robertson’s Reflection, editor Ben Robertson this week looks at the huge investments the Ukrainian cities are making to lure the EBU to their city next year. It’s not just about snazzy presentations and visionary dreams, but cold hard cash as well.
“The issue now is that the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest becomes more about the amount of money that can be put on the table rather than ensuring a high quality show, venue and city. As this bidding process continues the cities are putting more and more upfront to cover costs in the only way they can really further compete with each other at this stage. Kyiv’s methodology for this is including taking the arena into public ownership, so they can splurge on the renovation costs, and to suggest a co-organising role in the Contest so that Kyiv’s brand can be seen alongside the EBU’s. Kyiv is suggesting, with Klitschko’s determination behind them as Mayor, to underwrite far more Eurovision costs than most host cities could dream of.
It all seems quite comical when we compare to the Olympics starting this week in Rio de Janiero. Hosting the Olympics is becoming an incredibly unpopular activity due to the hoops you have to go through and the huge infrastructure costs. While hosting Eurovision appears to have energised Ukraine, one must question if any of these cities will benefit from the staggering expenditures they are suggesting. The last thing we want to do is arrive next May in a city struggling to pay the bills and with a local population frustrated at the white elephant building projects that may sit empty for months after our parade leaves.”
To read the Reflection in full, check out the full link here, and make sure to subscribe to get all the Eurovision news straight into your inbox.