BBC bosses 'laughed' at UK hosting Eurovision insisting 'it'll never happen'
Eurovision hasn't been hosted in the UK since 1998, following Katrina and the Waves' victory with Love Shine A Light the previous year.
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Fans, contestants and commentators are all gearing up for the Eurovision Song Contest, the biggest music competition in the world.
In 2022, Ukraine took home the trophy thanks to Kalush Orchestra with their song Stefania.
This win put Ukraine in the record book as the first country in the 21st Century as well as first Eastern European country to win Eurovision three times.
However, in February last year, Russia invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine which resulted in thousands of deaths on both sides.
With the Russo-Ukrainian War still at play, the UK was able to take over hosting duties as singer Sam Ryder was awarded second place.
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Eurovision fanatics have wanted to see the competition brought to the UK again for decades but with continuous low scores, it seemed as if Britain was never going to make it to the top of the left side of the leaderboard ever again.
Even the BBC had lost faith in the music event of the year coming to the UK as BBC Director of Unscripted, Kate Phillips found out.
During the press launch of Eurovision 2023, Kate gave an insight into what's to come ahead of the contest.
But she also joked that despite everyone's eagerness for the return of Eurovision, the BBC itself had lost faith.
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Kate explained: "A few years ago, I had a BBC interview for my previous job as Director of Entertainment and it was the second round with one of those big BBC interview panels.
"And the final question was 'So Kate, if you became Director of Entertainment, what would be your biggest ambition?'
"And without a beat, I said 'That we get to host Eurovision.'
"And the panel just laughed and went 'That'll never happen', so I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be doing this."
So far, the UK has welcomed the Eurovision Song Contest eight times.
The competition has taken place four times in London, once in Edinburgh, Brighton, Harrogate and the most recent time in Birmingham back in 1998.
It has been 25 years since Eurovision has been in this country but will return in just a matter of days in Liverpool.
The Eurovision Song Contest final takes place on Saturday, May 13, at 8pm on BBC One.