LIVE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023 host shortlist to be announced - as Manchester bids for glory

Manchester will find out whether it has been shortlisted to host next year's Eurovision Song Contest, this morning (August 12).

The city is one of 10 to submit bids to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) after it was decided that UK would host the event on behalf of war-torn Ukraine. Glasgow, Sheffield, Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Brighton, Bristol, and Belfast are also vying for the chance to hold the competition.

Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester's night time economy adviser, thinks that it's a no brainer. “I’ve looked at previous Eurovisions, London’s had it four times, we’ve never had it in Manchester and I think only a few weeks ago, when Parklife was going on, you also had 50,000 at the cricket ground for The Killers, you had the full Etihad stadium, a full arena stage and the city was bouncing," he said.

READ MORE : The Northern contenders to host Eurovision Song Contest 2023

"We can prove, with that and when we held the Commonwealth Games, that we’re set up for it. I know Bev [Craig] and the team now will be looking at all of the different options, you know we’ve got stadiums, we’ve got arenas, it’s ours for the taking.

“I’m very, very confident that ours will be the strongest bid. We’ve got the musical background, we’ve got the biggest metropolitan festival in the UK, in Parklife - Warehouse Project is the nightclub project in Europe. If it went to London it would just be such an obvious choice. There would be no thought put into it whatsoever, it would be a knee jerk reaction."

The shortlist will be confirmed on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show this morning. The blog below will provide updates throughout today, including reaction...

BBC Radio 2 announced that the news is set to be announced at