Eurovision 2023: Liverpool honour bittersweet, says Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor of Liverpool said winning Eurovision was "bittersweet" and vowed to do his utmost to honour the Ukrainian sister city.

Councillor Roy Gladden has written to the Mayor of Odesa after Liverpool secured the right to host the 2023 European Song Contest last week.

The city won a competition to hold the event after it was decided last year's winner Ukraine was unable to host.

He said it will celebrate Ukraine's culture with a "scouse twist".

It comes as BBC director general Tim Davie praised Liverpool for its "energy" and "warmth" and "record of delivering great events", after meeting the city's culture team to discuss the forthcoming show.

Ukraine's entrant Kalush Orchestra won May's contest and the winning country normally hosts the following year's contest.

However, the event will not be staged in the country because of the war in Ukraine, so Sam Ryder's second-placed finish led the UK to step in.

In his letter to Mayor of Odesa Gennadiy Trukhanov, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool said he was "proud" the city would host in Ukraine's place on 13 May, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"When it was announced that we were the winner, it was a bittersweet moment.

"We know this is your event - it should be you and your colleagues across your country working together on plans to host the competition in 2023 - but sadly that is not to be.

"Ukraine is at the heart of our Eurovision plans - we will do our utmost to celebrate your culture, your people and your country - giving it a scouse twist which we're sure you'll approve of."

The BBC's director general spoke to the media in Liverpool on Friday

Mr Davie said it was a "real honour" and "joyous" for Liverpool to be able to stage the contest on behalf of Ukraine.

"Liverpool has a great record of delivering great events," he told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"There is a soul to this place; the history of this place; the energy.

"This is going to be a properly integrated production where we are doing real justice to Ukrainian culture," he added.

Hosting Eurovision "truly is an honour", the Lord Mayor of Liverpool says

"Warmth comes up a lot when you are talking about Liverpool and there is that sense of bringing people together and boy do we need it; these are not easy times.

"Being part of something that brings us close to Ukraine is very, very important to this event," he added.

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During the bidding process, Odesa and its mayor gave their full backing to Liverpool, saying it "perfectly reflects the brightness of the event and demonstrates the true diversity within unity," adding: "Let the songs of the entire Europe ring over the River Mersey."

Liverpool first struck up links with Odesa in 1957 when it was still part of the Soviet Union.

City officials maintained an active policy of twinning with other cities following World War Two where links were forged with the Black Sea port.