The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Roy Gladden, has written to the Mayor of Odesa to express his pride that the city will represent Ukraine by hosting the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.
Liverpool was announced as the host city one week ago, and after the win, the Lord Mayor penned a letter to the Mayor of Liverpool’s sister city to express his pride and determination to do Ukraine proud.
Here is the letter in full:
Dear Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov,
As Lord Mayor of Liverpool I wanted to write to you to express how proud I am that this city will host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine.
When it was announced that we were the winner, it was a bitter-sweet moment. We know this is your event – it should be you and your colleagues across your country working together on plans to host the competition in 2023 – but sadly that is not to be.
Ukraine is at the heart of our Eurovision plans – we will do our utmost to celebrate your culture, your people and your country – giving it a scouse twist which we’re sure you’ll approve of.
As our much-loved sister city, your support throughout the bidding process was invaluable. Your messages of encouragement touched us – and I’m not ashamed to say they made some of the bid team cry! Your communications resulted in us being all the more determined that we should have the honour of staging this event on your behalf. And it truly is an honour.
I’m sure our team in Liverpool will continue to liaise with colleagues in Odesa as we head towards May and the incredible spectacular that will be Eurovision.
Best wishes,
Councillor Roy Gladden
Lord Mayor of Liverpool
