Christopher BarrettMartin Green CBE, chief creative officer of the Government’s £120m UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK festival and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, has been appointed MD of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
As host broadcaster of the event, the BBC has revealed details of the senior management team responsible for Eurovision’s delivery. At the helm is Green, while James O’ Brien has been hired as executive in charge of production. His large scale event experience includes working on MTV Europe Music Awards, the London 2012 Olympics and this year’s Commonwealth Games. He will oversee a team responsible for the technical delivery of both the Eurovision live shows and broadcast, and all other elements within the venue precinct.
Rachel Ashdown has been confirmed as the lead commissioner for the BBC on Eurovision. She will work with BBC Studios, which will produce the three live shows – the two Semi-Finals and the final. Heading the BBC Studios team will be Andrew Cartmell, who has been appointed executive producer.
Lee Smithurst has been named head of show for Eurovision 2023. He will be responsible for the editorial content and take the creative lead for the three live shows. Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen will again take on the role of head of contest, which he held for the 2021 and 2022 shows in Rotterdam and Turin respectively. He will have the responsibility of working with the national delegations to deliver the creative on-stage ambitions of their artists.
Green said, “I am thrilled to have been asked to lead the delivery of Eurovision 2023 for the BBC. As a lifelong fan of the contest, it’s a dream come true. I’m looking forward to working with the brilliant team at the BBC, in Liverpool and the EBU and of course colleagues from Ukraine; I speak for us all when I say we’ll do you proud.”
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is to be staged in Liverpool at the city’s 11,000-capacity M&S Bank Arena. Operated by The ACC Liverpool Group the venue will host the final of the contest on 13 May, with semi-finals staged on 9 and 11 May.
Following Kalush Orchestra’s victory for Ukraine at this year’s event in May, it was decided the 2023 contest could not be held in the winning country for safety and security reasons. Last month, a shortlist of seven UK cities was reduced to two; Glasgow and Liverpool.