We're wrapping up our live coverage for the evening, here's a round-up of what's been happening:

• Liverpool has beaten Glasgow in the running to be the Eurovision Song Contest host city
• The event will take place on 13 May
• PM Liz Truss said Liverpool will put on an "unforgettable show"
• Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Liverpool, but said she was "gutted" for Glasgow
• Kalush Orchestra - the Ukrainian band who won Eurovision this year - said they were "very pleased" for Liverpool but vowed to try and bring the show to Kyiv in 2024

Ian Youngs
Entertainment and Arts Reporter, BBC News

The night is still young in Liverpool's Masquereade drag bar, where fans watched the announcement on screens earlier, before DJ Candi Take-It put on Sir Cliff Richard's 1968 Eurovision song Congratulations.

"Anything that brings investment into the city has got to be good, hasn’t it?" she said after the celebrations had died down.

"We’re only hosting Eurovision to support Ukraine, aren’t we, because we didn’t win it [this year]. The UK has decided to do that, and I’m glad that Liverpool won it, and sorry for Glasgow. Sort of!"

She added: "At the end of the day, it’s going to advertise the city more. And the more people who come to the city, the better for Liverpool. I just hope that the hotels can take the capacity.

"We’ve got a lot of hotels, but there are going to be a lot of people - one massive big flood into Liverpool over that period of time. The bars will be heaving."

Daniel Rosney
Entertainment reporter

Image source, EBU / SARAH LOUISE BENNETT

We have the city, we have the dates and we have congratulatory statements being posted on social media.

But while both the Prime Minister and the Culture Secretary have given a big well done to Liverpool, it’s not actually clear if they’re going to help with the bill.

Over the past few months I’ve been speaking to councillors from the original seven shortlisted cities (Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds and Birmingham) and their excitement was paused the minute I mentioned money.

It cost Turin £10m to put on the event in May and officials there told me that if Italy’s cost of living crisis hit earlier then they would have struggled to justify that.

I understand conversations are happening between Liverpool Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and - at a time when we’re all tightening our budgets – I’m sure the outcome of those discussions will be very interesting to the public.

The BBC also is expected to spend between £8m and £17m, but with inflation that could be much more.

Read more here.

Tim Davie, BBC director-general, has offered his congratulation to Liverpool: “They will be an amazing host for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Liverpool is such an exciting, warm and vibrant city.

"It’s the undisputed capital of pop music and is celebrating the 65th anniversary of its twinning with the Ukrainian city of Odesa.

"I know the people of Liverpool will welcome Europe, and the rest of the world, with open arms, and in partnership we will create something truly special.”

The UK’s artist and song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 have not yet been selected.

The BBC has, however, confirmed its selection plan - it will collaborate with music publishing company TaP Music to select an act and song to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest next May.

The partnership selected TikTok star Sam Ryder to represent the UK in this year’s contest, who came second with his hit Space Man.

Rachel Ashdown, commissioning editor for the BBC, said she hopes to find“another artist who will not only be a brilliant ambassador for Eurovision but like Sam will sing their head off with a stand-out song”.

There is no date for the UK’s act and song to be released as of yet, but watch this space.

Image source, EBU/ CORINNE CUMMING

This year’s Eurovision "was a success well beyond our expectation", Turin's deputy mayor Michela Favaro tells BBC News.

The city spent £10m on the event - but, with nearly half of hotel bookings made by foreign tourists, she says "what you get back from the investment is much higher".

Favaro says it was important for her "to involve the residents" in the months leading up to the contest.

She advises the UK winning city to do the same because it "will be an important milestone in the city's history".

"Prepare your hotels, your restaurants, your pubs," this year's host, Alessandro Cattelan, tells BBC News.

"It's going to be a great week for your city. Be kind to the people who'll come - they'll have everlasting good memories of your city."

Fabrizio Goria from newspaper La Stampa agrees. The hospitality sector made "seven times" what the city spent, with "nine out of 10 saying they'll come back for a second visit".

Daniel Rosney
Entertainment reporter

Eurovision is the most-watched live music event anywhere in the world. In fact, no other annual show - outside of sport - gets higher viewing figures than the 160 million who tune in each year.

It’s also one of the most complex TV productions and that’s why organisers need a venue for six to eight weeks before the final to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse and rehearse.

The crew has less than a minute to reset the stage between performances - and all 40 countries have their own setup.

One of the organisers told me Lady Gaga has 30 trailers of technology for her world tour (and she’s known for being elaborate on stage).

In comparison Eurovision has 200 trailers and accredits between 10-11,000 crew, staff, journalists and acts for the production.

Already booked shows in Liverpool will need to be moved to make room for the song contest.

Image source, CITY OF TORINO ARCHIVES

It will have been 25 years since the UK last threw Europe's biggest party - in Birmingham, that time - and the event has a changed a lot.

Although the winning country normally hosts the song contest the following year, organisers ruled staging it in Ukraine would be unsafe.

So the BBC accepted the invitation, after the UK's Sam Ryder came second. It’s estimated the event will cost between £8m and £16m.

Eurovision 2022 in numbers:

• About 2,300 people worked on the construction and production in Turin
• Nearly 12,000 applied for the 650 volunteer roles
• Tourism rose 68% compared with the same period in 2019
• The Eurovision village was visited 220,000 times
• The 161 million audience was lower than previous years, after organisers disqualified Russia and data could not be collected from Ukraine

There could be some sore heads in Liverpool tomorrow as the city celebrates being awarded Eurovision.

(Available to UK viewers only)

Holly Johnson, lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, has congratulated all who worked on Liverpool's bid to host Eurovision 2023, saying the city "has an amazing heritage for the arts".

"What other city can you visit that you land at John Lennon's airport?" he says in a video posted on Twitter.

"Music in the 60s with the Mersey Beat, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Beatles, many other acts including Cilla Black came from the city".

"It's a really wonderful city to visit now."

Liverpool City Council said the Eurovision team would now start to put plans into action, including working with Ukrainian street artists and fashion designers, creating a Liverpool/Ukraine community education programme and developing plans to host a special culture trail featuring former Eurovision contestant from near Liverpool, Sonia.

Ukraine won this year's Eurovision, and subsequently would have been the hosts, but the UK was chosen to hold the event in 2023 on their behalf, due to the ongoing war there.

Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson said: “I’m over the moon that Eurovision is coming to Liverpool!

“We knew that we faced strong competition from Glasgow, but we also knew that we had a great bid underpinned by the expertise of our award-winning Culture Liverpool team and supported by all our brilliant partners.

“This is a massive event and the eyes of the world will be on us in May, especially those of our friends in Ukraine.

“Now begins months of work to put on the best party ever. Ukraine - you have my promise we will do you proud.”

The arena is on a former dock on the banks of the River Mersey - next to the vibrant Albert Dock, and near the historic "Three Graces" (the Liver Building, Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building), which dominate the waterfront.

In short, it will look great on TV.

The facilities probably helped its bid too - it's next to a convention centre and an exhibition centre, which will be handy for hosting things like the press centre and other facilities, and has a couple of hotels on site.

It's also a short walk to the city centre's other hotels and rail links, and eight miles from John Lennon Airport.

Image source, ANT CLAUSEN

The arena is likely to have to postpone some concerts that are already in the schedule, though, because the venue will be needed for preparations for six to eight weeks ahead of the song contest.

Although there is no confirmation yet of which shows will be moved, events currently in the diary include Sir Elton John on 22 and 23 April and Andre Rieu on 12 May.

Olly Murs has just announced a show there on 6 May - but that may now be rearranged too.

You can read more on this story here.

Image source, Reuters

The congratulations for Liverpool continue to pour in. Labour leader Keir Starmer says the city will "put on a show to remember".

"Congratulations to Liverpool! An incredible city," Starmer tweeted, external. "I have no doubt you’ll do Britain and Ukraine proud by putting on a show to remember."

"Music's coming home!", said Liverpool's City Region mayor, Steve Rotheram.

He tweeted, external: "Music wouldn't be music without Liverpool - and now the biggest music contest in the world is coming to our region!

"Now the real work begins as we pull out all the stops for a Eurovision contest to make Ukraine proud - Slava Ukraini".

Colin Paterson
Entertainment Correspondent, reporting from Glasgow

Heartbreak in Glasgow

In Delmonicas, The Drag Queen host Bella Houston, fell to the ground face down in angst when Liverpool was announced. But recovered to lead a round of applause of congratulations for the city.

What made it all very strange for me was that Lulu had agreed to do an interview as soon as the announcement was made, so for 15 minutes I had her on Zoom in my pocket as we all waited.

And what do you know? Despite her disappointment, the total pro she is Lulu still did the interview. As I stood in the street with a crowd gathering round she told me:

"You have to be a good loser. It's very important. And in the end you know the UK is hosting and that's what we've got to be grateful for that we are now focused on supporting Liverpool doing a great job for Ukraine.

"My heart sunk I have to say but I'm such an old fart and have had a lot of disappointments in my life, I've managed to get over them I suppose I'll get over this one but I thought we were going to do it.”

Lulu also laughed that she didn’t have a clue if she still has her Eurovision trophy and said she doesn’t know Sonia well enough to have to congratulate her. I also introduced her virtually to Bella Houston, who it turned out had seen Lulu sing at the James Bond concert at The Albert Hall on Tuesday.

See the interview on tomorrow’s BBC Breakfast.

Image source, Getty Images

Kalush Orchestra - the Ukrainian band who won Eurovision this year - say they are "very pleased" for Liverpool but have vowed to try and bring the show to Kyiv in 2024.

"Although I've never been there, you know, performing where the Beatles themselves started will be so inspiring," the band said in a video.

"I would also like to remind everyone that it is our mission to make sure that the next Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place in Kyiv."

Daniel Rosney
Entertainment reporter

If you can’t get a ticket to any of the nine shows then you won’t have necessarily missed out.

Someone once described Eurovision to me as “the world cup of music” and they’re not far off.

Like football tournaments, there’s a fan zone in the host city - the Eurovision Village - for thousands of fans to watch the shows on big screens.

There’s also an outdoor stage there where some of the artists perform, as well as local acts to entertain the public throughout the week of the song contest.

It’s where I was when Ukraine qualified in their semi-final back in May and the roar of the crowd celebrating was one of the stand out moments for me in Turin.

There's no atmosphere like it, it’s also just a fun place to hang out with a drink in the afternoon.

Pubs, bars and clubs also become Eurovision themed.

So if you fancy a night out in Liverpool next May, you’re more than likely going to hear Eurovision music a lot.

There will be flags absolutely everywhere and a lot of lost looking tourists.

Image source, Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Liverpool City Council has said its "unrivalled reputation for staging large-scale cultural events" was a major deciding factor in the decision-making process.

The council also says Liverpool's relationship with its Ukrainian sister city Odesa was also played a part.

LCC has said the city's "region-wide support for Liverpool's bid" proved to be "a hit with the judges".

Liverpool's residents, visitors, organisations and community groups got behind the bid, the council says.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has also congratulated Liverpool on winning the race to host Eurovision 2023.

Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon has congratulated Liverpool on being chosen as the city to host Eurovision next year, but says she is "gutted" for Glasgow.

"Congratulations, Liverpool. Gutted for Glasgow, but no doubt you’ll do Eurovision and Ukraine proud," she tweeted, external.

Image source, Getty Images

Gemma Abbey, the Liverpudlian who was one half of pop duo Jemini - who scored nul points for the UK in 2003 - says she's “totally made up" after hearing the news.

"Having competed in Eurovision, this is going to be massive," she says.

“I don’t think the people of Liverpool will realise how massive it is going to be," Abbey adds.

“It is brilliant.”