Eurovision song contest not to be held in Ukraine in 2023 - organizers

MOSCOW. June 17 (Interfax) - The Eurovision Song Contest will not be held in Ukraine in 2023 because of the current situation in the country, and the United Kingdom is being considered as the possible host, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement on Friday.

"Following their win at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in May the EBU has been exploring options for the hosting of next year's competition with Ukraine's public broadcaster UA:PBC," the EBU said in a statement on its website.

"Following objective analysis, the Reference Group, the ESC's governing board, has with deep regret concluded that, given the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize and produce the Eurovision Song Contest under the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled by UA:PBC," it said.

As per tradition, the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest hosts the competition the following year, it said. Considering that BBC was this year's runner up, the EBU will discuss the possibility of hosting the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the UK, it said.

Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian band performing the song Stefania, won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest held in Turin, Italy with 631 points. Sam Ryder from the UK, performing the song Space Man, came in second with 466 points. Russia was barred from the contest this year over the Ukraine situation.

The Eurovision Song Contest has been held since 1956 and is considered one of the most popular non-sporting events in the world, viewed by up to 600 million spectators. Australia has been competing in the contest since 2015.