Joe GallopKing Charles and the Queen Consort Camilla visited M&S Bank Arena (cap. 11,000) yesterday, 26 April, to unveil the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 set and stage.
Designed by Yellow Studios director Julio Himede, the set features more than 450sqm of staging and 220sqm of independently moving and turning video screens. It also features over 700 video tiles integrated into the floor and 1,500 metres of LED lights.
The royals were joined by BBC director general Tim Davie for a tour and to meet staff, the creative team and apprentices getting the arena ready to host the event. They were then invited to light and animate the arena with the set designer, and sound and lighting directors.
The royals spoke to a selection of the Eurovision hosts including Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, actress Hannah Waddingham and BBC Radio 2 commentators Rylan and Scott Mills. They also met the UK’s entrant for the 2023 contest Mae Muller and music director of Eurovision 2023 Kojo Samuel.
The set has been designed on the theme of ‘togetherness, celebration and community’. It was unveiled to a soundtrack of the Eurovision theme composed by Ukrainian composer Michael Nekrasov.
Eurovision managing director Martin Green CBE said, “We are thrilled His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort have unveiled this landmark moment for 2023 Eurovision. It has been a fantastic collaboration between all of our partners and the BBC to get to this point and now the stage is officially set to capture everyone’s imaginations and bring together audiences from across the world.”
Liverpool was selected to be the host city for the 67th Contest by the BBC and event organisers the European Broadcasting Union in October 2022.
Watch the AAA Explores film that goes behind the scenes at M&S Bank Arena.