UK's last Eurovision winner backs Manchester to host 2023 contest

The UK's last Eurovision winner has said Manchester has "everything you need" to host the 2023 event and was "crying out" to hold the show.

The show's organisers have announced the contest will take place in the UK, as it cannot be held in Ukraine due to the ongoing conflict there.

Katrina Leskanich, who won with her band The Waves in 1997, said Manchester would be "at the top of my list".

Council leader Bev Craig tweeted that the city "will be bidding to host".

Traditionally, the country which produced the winner of Eurovision hosts the following year's contest, but a month after Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won the show in Italy in May, the show's organisers decided 2023's edition could not be held in the country.

Following the announcement that the UK, whose Sam Ryder took second place in Italy, would host, Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that the show "must celebrate the country and people of Ukraine".

Manchester is one of a number of places in the UK to have expressed an interest in hosting and Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Aberdeen, London, Brighton, Bristol, Belfast and Cardiff could also be in the running.

Birmingham, which may also make a bid, was the last place in the UK to host the song contest in 1998.

That followed Katrina and the Waves' victory in 1997 with the song Love Shine A Light.

Leskanich told BBC Radio 5 Live it was "an absolute privilege" the UK would host the contest in 2023.

She said there were "just some cities that are just crying out to host and I think Manchester is one of them".

"It would be at the very top of my list as it meets all of the criteria," she added.

She said the city's arena, infrastructure and Gay Village showed it had "everything you need and it is a great party city".

Ms Craig announced on Twitter that the city would make a formal bid to be the host, stating that it was a "world class music city", which had "brilliant venues, experience in hosting major events, and of course one of the UK's largest Ukrainian populations".

Greater Manchester's night time economy adviser Sacha Lord said the host city "has to be Manchester".

He said he could not think "of any reason why Manchester wouldn't get it".

"It feels like this is our time," he added.

The bidding process to decide which city will host will begin in the coming days and the BBC and European Broadcasting Union will consider all official approaches and will publish the longlist later in the summer.

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