It’s the first event in the Eurovision calendar that officially marks the start of a brand new contest!
This year host city Liverpool have chosen the magnificent St. George’s Hall as the venue for a ceremony where the ‘official keys’ of Eurovision are handed over from the previous host to the next.
Italy put on the party last year, so on Tuesday 31st January, we’ll witness the Mayor of host city Turin passing over the keys (known as the insignia) to the Mayor of Liverpool.
Mayor Stefano Lo Russo will meet Mayor Joanne Anderson to offer some helpful hosting advice. We’ll also hear from some famous Ukrainian faces about what the country’s Eurovision win means to them.
If you’re new to the contest, let’s catch you up on the allocation part of the ceremony. 37 countries are taking part in Eurovision this year and during the draw, we’ll find out which Semi-Finals they’ll be performing in.
During the show, it will also be revealed in which Semi-Final the ‘Big 5’ (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and 2022 winners Ukraine will vote in.
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom are grouped together as the ‘Big 5’ as they are the countries that automatically get a Grand Final placing due to the contributions they make to the contest.
The remaining 31 acts will perform in two Semi-Finals with 10 countries from each show qualifying for the main event, the all-important Grand Final.
Expect plenty of Eurovision excitement during the live Handover and Allocation Draw with hosts AJ Odudu and Rylan! Don’t miss it on Tuesday 31st January from 7pm GMT on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Watching from outside the UK? Stream it from 8pm CET on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.
