King Charles unveils Eurovision stage

His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort visited Liverpool Arena today (26 April 2023) to see the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 and revealed the stunning set and stage for the event.

King Charles and the Queen Consort were joined by Tim Davie, BBC Director-General for a tour and to meet staff, the creative team and apprentices getting the Arena ready to host the world’s largest live music event. They were then invited to light and animate the Arena with the set designer, and sound and lighting directors – revealing the Eurovision staging, for the very first time.

The royal party also chatted to a selection of the Eurovision hosts including Ukrainian singer, Julia Sanina, Emmy-Award winning actress Hannah Waddingham and BBC Radio 2 commentators Rylan and Scott Mills.  They also met the  UK’s entrant for the 2023 contest Mae Muller and music director of Eurovision 2023 Kojo Samuel.

The set was revealed to a soundtrack of the Eurovision theme composed by Michael Nekrasov, our Ukrainian composer.

Blue Peter presenters Abby Cook, Joel Mawhinney and Mwaksy Mudenda were on hand to present their Majesties with a Gold Blue Peter badge each – the programme’s highest award.

Tim Davie, BBC Director-General, says: “It is an honour that His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort have come here today to reveal the fantastic staging for our Eurovision Song Contest programming. This set will be the focal point for all of the celebrations and we cannot wait to see it lighting up Liverpool and TV screens across the world.”

Martin Green CBE, Managing Director of Eurovision, says: “We are thrilled His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort have unveiled this landmark moment for 2023 Eurovision. It has been a fantastic collaboration between all of our partners and the BBC to get to this point and now the stage is officially set to capture everyone’s imaginations and bring together audiences from across the world.”

Designed by Julio Himede, the impressive stage has been designed on the principles of ‘togetherness, celebration and community’. Across more than 450 square metres of staging, the stunning set brings together another 220 square metres of independently moving and turning video screens, as well as over 700 video tiles integrated into the floor and more than 1500 metres of LED lights.

Following the visit to the Arena, Her Majesty The Queen Consort dropped into The Big Eurovision Read pop-up reading den outside Liverpool Central Library. Led by The Reading Agency and supported by BBC Arts, the Big Eurovision Read is a reading-for-pleasure campaign celebrating music and reading, to mark the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this May with Semi-Finals on May 9 and 11 and the Grand Final on May 13. The Eurovision Song Contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union and watched annually by around 160m people. Staged in Liverpool in May it is being hosted by the BBC on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine.

The BBC are proud to be the host broadcaster and lead organiser of the event working closely with Liverpool City Council, the European Broadcasting Union, Suspilne Ukraine (Ukrainian public broadcaster) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

In a UK first, the two Semi-Finals on Tuesday May 9 and Thursday May 11 and the Grand Final will all air live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

The city of Liverpool was selected to be the host city for the 67th Contest by the BBC and event organisers the European Broadcasting Union in October 2022.