Last month, representatives from Rai travelled to Geneva to meet with the EBU’s Eurovision Reference Group. Following the meeting, Italian Head of Delegation Simona Martorelli stated that the first task ahead was to select a host city. Last week, the bidding process was officially launched, with the publication of the criteria for eligible host cities. Following bids from Turin, Pesaro and Bologna, Jesolo has become the fourth city to confirm the submission of their bid.
As reported by Eurofestival News, Jesolo, a seaside resort town in the Metropolitan City of Venice, has submitted its bid to host Eurovision 2022. This makes them the fourth publicly-declared bid so far. However, with the capacity of their proposed venue being below the requirement, it will likely be disregarded once reviewed by Rai.
Ours is a city with an international vocation, used to hosting and organizing large events. I remember that, if we look at the last few years, in Jesolo we have had events such as the Beach Bum Rock Festival, Miss Italia, the Full Moon Dj Superstar, the Air Show (the largest and most important civil air show), the Coca Cola event. Live Mtv… until the Ironman that we will have in September, in a region often home to world-class events, such as the Cortina Olympics.
So, in addition to having structures and accommodation, we have always shown that we have a great organizational machine, in an excellent combination of public and private. We believe that the whole city, due to its international vocation and its organizational skills, can and should aim for this type of event capable of having a breath that goes far beyond national borders.
President of the JesoloVenice Consortium
The bid proposes the PalaInvent as their choice of venue. However, with its 4,000 capacity, it falls well below the 8,000 minimum outlined by Rai and the EBU’s requirements. The bid also proposes using the outdoor lighthouse area, which is also against the requirements that specify that the venue must have a roof.
Four bids so far
Måneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with “Zitti E Buoni”, taking us to Italy for the first time since 1991. Shortly after their victory, a number of cities have announced their interest in bidding to host the 2022 contest. By our estimations, Turin is currently a frontrunner, and is seeing support from local politicians, who have officially supported the bid.
So far we’ve heard from the following cities (*confirmed to have submitted a bid):
- Bari
- Bologna*
- Florence
- Jesolo*
- Milan
- Naples
- Pesaro*
- San Remo
- Reggio Emilia
- Rimini
- Rome
- Turin*
- Verona
However, with the publication of the infrastructure and resource requirements for prospective host cities, a few of the cities above will be ineligible.
We will report as the bidding process continues!
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