Will it be Lviv for Eurovision 2017 after all?

PHOTO: MARC MINGELS / OIKOTIMES.COM

UKRAINE – Several Ukrainian cities have expressed interest to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Lviv, Kherson and Odessa are all in the running to welcome Europe next year. The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Volodymyr Hroysman, hopes to see a bidding war develop between the cities. “The selection should take place among all the candidate cities. It should be a public selection process, where the competition should be addressed not at the level of the government. Most cities have to determine it on the basis of which one has the best conditions. Whoever has the right conditions will host”, the PM said.

The Ukrainian capital Kiev, which hosted the show in 2005, is keen to do it again. Mayor Vitali Klitschko has suggested for Eurovision to be held at the Olympic stadium in the city centre. Lviv, in western Ukraine, is also open to the possibility of welcoming singers from all over Europe. Its mayor said, “If need be, Lviv will hold Eurovision high. We are always ready to carry out activities at the highest level. We showed this when hosting the European Football Championship and FIFA”.

Dnipropetrovsk’s mayor, Boris Filatov, noted that the southern Ukrainian city should host Eurovision due to its “Jewish soul” and appeal. Kherson, in Sothern Ukraine, near Crimea, has said basing Eurovision there next year would send a strong political message. “For our boarder city, it would be a huge stimulus for development, investment, and politics. We have proved that Kherson is Ukraine.

This would be a chance to prove that Kherson is Europe”, mayor Vladimir Mykolayenko, said. Finally, Odessa, also in southern Ukraine, has expressed hope to host Eurovision. “A platform worthy of such a prestigious competition, may well be our Odessa – a cosmopolitan, beautiful, European city with a rich history and cultural traditions; I hope it will be so”, mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian public has selected Lviv as their favourite to host Eurovision when asked on a popular TV show.44% voted for Lviv, followed by Keiv (21%), Odessa (8%), Dnepropetrovsk (5%), and Kherson (2%).