After months of bids, declarations and speculation, Turin was announced as the host city of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest! Having enjoyed political support throughout the bidding process, Turin City Council has approved funding for the contest this week.
The frontrunner from the very start, last week it was confirmed that Turin will host the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest! Back in June, Turin City Council had unanimously supported the city’s bid and pledged to support bringing the contest to Turin.
According to Eurofestival News, earlier this week Turin City Council voted overwhelmingly in support of budget changes to fund the hosting of Eurovision 2022 (32 votes in favor, no against, 2 abstentions). The vote was brought about to confirm an increase to the 2021-2023 financial budget of the Municipality of Turin in order to fund the contest. According to a press release, this will provide an additional €5 million requested by Rai.
With the host city confirmed, we may still have a few months to wait until the hosting line-up is revealed. For reference, the hosts for Eurovision 2020/21 weren’t revealed until December.
Eurovision 2022 so far
A total seventeen Italian cities submitted their candidacy to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. However, only 3 of these proposed cities met all of the requirements. Notably, Verona, Naples and Bari did not submit bids after initially expressing interest.
After submitting their initial bids, each candidate received a more detailed document ahead of the next stage. Six of the above were then eliminated from the process following a meeting of the Board of Directors. Then, the remaining 11 candidates were cut to five. Rai, in coordination with the EBU, agreed to select the host city by the end of August…but ended up being delayed until October.
The Grand Final will be held in Turin’s PalaOlimpico on Saturday 14 May with Semi-Finals on 10 and 12 May, with Eurovillage 2022 set to be located at Piazza San Carlo.
The hosting line-up has yet to be revealed, but Alessandro Cattelan and Chiara Ferragni are currently the rumoured frontrunners.
Måneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with “Zitti E Buoni”, taking us to Italy for the first time since 1991. We will report as the selection process continues!
Are you excited for Turin 2022? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 national final season!
