Wirral's independent local news website
The BBC has today revealed just how the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will burst onto the screens of the 160 million people watching around the world.
For the last few weeks, the BBC has been teasing audiences with images of the famous faces that will feature in the ‘Welcome to Liverpool’ film which opens the first semi-final and in turn the 2023 Contest when it airs tomorrow at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Now audiences can watch the emotive film in full here
The film begins with the moment a young Liverpudlian boy discovers that his home city is set to host the 2023 Contest. He travels across the city telling his family, friends, and neighbours that the world’s greatest music competition is arriving.
Along the way we see some special guests with their own personal connections to Liverpool making their own preparations to welcome Ukraine to the city
The famous faces that feature include baker-extraordinaire and Wallasey born Paul Hollywood, Ukrainian Everton football star Vitalii Mykolenko, Liverpool FC women’s footballers Sofie Lungaard from Denmark, and Emma Koivisto from Finland, legendary actor Ricky Tomlinson who revisits his Brookside character Bobby Grant, Ukrainian Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kuzmin and Drag Race UK contestant Sister Sister to name a few.
One of the famous faces from Merseyside that also appears in the film is the late Paul O’Grady. This is one of the last things Paul filmed before he passed away last month and his appearance in the film was agreed with the blessing of his family and friends.
Paul took part in this film as he wanted to mark his pride in his home region of Liverpool hosting the contest on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine.
The film ends with the young Liverpudlian boy sitting down in his home to watch Tuesday’s first Semi-Final before he is magically transported through to Liverpool Arena to take part in a powerful opening act.
The opening act also features host Julia Sanina performing Маяк by her band The Hardkiss. Translated from Ukrainian for Lighthouse, the opening performance will symbolise how the UK is United by Music with Ukraine through the hosting the 2023 Contest.
Image: Flickr user Steve Punter, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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