17 Italian cities in the running to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022

Overnight the official Eurovision site revealed that the race is on to find the host city location for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022, with 17 Italian cities in the running submitting their candidacy.

As described in the article on the Eurovision site, the honour of hosting the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will be awarded to one of the candidate cities on the condition they can meet all of the criteria set out by the EBU, as well as state their ability to support the Contest through services and economic contributions.

The 17 Italian cities (and regions) that have submitted their candidacy to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022 are:

• Acireale (Catania)

• Alessandria

• Bertinoro di Romagna (Forlì – Cesena)

• Bologna

• Florence

• Genoa

• Jesolo (Venice)

• Matera

• Milan

• Palazzolo Acreide (Syracuse)

• Pesaro

• Rimini

• Rome

• Sanremo (Imperia)

• Turin

• Trieste

• Viterbo

On Wednesday July 14 the Italian national broadcaster, Radiotelevisione italiana (Rai), will submit bid books to the Candidate Cities. They will then have until Wednesday August 4 to submit full details of their attempt to host the Eurovision Song Contest.

Early in the month it was revealed that the Italian broadcaster will be selecting a Host City at the end of a bidding process with a number of fixed criteria set in place by the EBU.

Some of those conditions are listed below. Taken from the Eurovision site article.

The Host City must have:

• An international airport no more than 90 minutes from the city.

• Over 2,000 hotel rooms in the area close to the event.

• An infrastructure (stadium/venue/centre) capable of hosting a large-scale live broadcast with the minimum requirements listed below.

The infrastructure should:

• Be indoors with air-conditioning and have a well defined perimeter;

• Have an audience capacity in the main hall of around 8,000 – 10,000 during the event (which corresponds to 70% of maximum capacity of that venue for regular concerts, taking into consideration the specific stage and production needs of the Eurovision Song Contest);

• Have a main hall with the capacity to house the set and all other requirements needed to produce a high level broadcast production (this includes good specifications of load capacity in the roof, clearance to low beams, easy load in access, etc);

• Have ample space within easy access of the main hall to support additional production needs, such as: a press centre, delegation spaces, dressing rooms, artist facilities, staff facilities, hospitality, audience facilities, etc;

• Be available exclusively for 6 weeks before the event, 2 weeks during the show (which will take place in May) and a week after the end of the event for dismantling.

There’s still a long way to go in the bidding process. Fans are advised not to book travel or accommodation until full details of the event are revealed later in the year once a Host City has been confirmed.