This year, Sam Ryder, an online viral sensation, came second prompting EBU (European Broadcasting Union) to open talks with the BBC in June. Ryder provided the UK with their best result since 1998, whilst Kalush Orchestra took Ukraine to the top of the leaderboard with their song “Stefania”. Their win automatically qualifies them for the Grand Final, along with the Big Five, which includes the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Whilst it has been confirmed that the UK will host the contest, the host city has yet to be decided. The EBU specifies that the host venue should be able to accommodate approximately 10,000 audience members, have a good distance to an international airport and have enough hotel accommodation for a minimum of 2,000 delegates, journalists and spectators.

Early interest has been expressed by several UK cities, London, Sheffield and Manchester have already confirmed they will be putting in an official bid. Glasgow has also announced that they have been “working hard” on a bid since last month and it appears to be the Scottish favourite. Their 14,000-capacity OVO Hydro was the world’s second busiest music venue in 2019 and has hosted a number of notable events including the MOBO Awards, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards and the MTV Europe Music Awards. The bidding process is set to begin this week and The BBC and European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will publish the longlist later this summer. 

The news was welcomed by Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries. “Following a request from the European Broadcasting Union and the Ukrainian authorities, I’m delighted that the BBC has agreed to step in and host next year’s contest,” she said, “I’m just sorry that due to Russia’s continued acts of bloodshed it has not been possible to host the event in Ukraine, where it should be.”

The Grand Final usually takes place in May and last year tickets were available for nine shows, including the semi-finals and the grand final. Fans can expect tickets to go on sale late this year, or early 2023. Tickets massively varied in price last year with some fans managing to snap up tickets for just €10 (£8.50), whilst the most expensive sold for around €350 (£297).

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Ahead of the band’s inaugural Glastonbury performance, frontman Psiuk spoke to Sky News concerning their appearance, “We want to share our culture and our music. And Eurovision was one point where we showed our Ukrainian music and want to spread it all over the world. We’re super happy to be here and we really want to impress everybody here. Right now, I feel a great support of all over the world. It’s great that people from here also support Ukraine. And we are very thankful to everybody, to each person who supports Ukraine.”

The band was initially birthed as a side project by the rap group Kalush, the Kalush Orchestra was formed in 2021 and became known for their unique blend of hip hop and folk. The group consists of core members rapper Oleh Psiuk, Ihor Didenchuck, MC KylymMen and Orchestra members Tymofii Muzycuck, Vitalii Duzhyk and vocalist Sasha Tab. They rose to international fame after winning this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the band clinched first place with their winning song “Stefania”, the collective’s recent win marks a Eurovision hat trick for Ukraine.

Due to the conflict and raging war in Ukraine, certain members of the band were part of Ukraine’s resistance against Russia. Just weeks before the collective were crowned Eurovision winners, those enlisted in the resistance were fighting against Russia’s violent invasion. Since the confirmation of their Eurovision win, the band have become beacons of hope amid the chaos and “Stefania” has turned into an anthem of empowerment and courage.

Due to the band’s triumphant win, “Stefania” has also become a worldwide hit but is currently the band’s only known hit within the UK. In preparation for their Glastonbury performance, the band had to work quickly to produce a full set list and in the span of 10 days, a dozen songs were written and produced. The rapid writing and composing sessions paid off, armed with a set list of 13 songs the band took to the stage to win over Worthy Farm.

The group performed largely in Ukrainian with some lines and raps spoken in English, with an electric stage presence they were still able to connect to the 3,000-strong crowd. Equipped with an onstage translator and enough catchy hooks to fill an album, any form of a language barrier was soon broken and the collective quickly became a festival highlight. As per the request of the roaring crowd, the band closed their set with a reprise of  “Stefania”. Whilst on stage, Psiuk took some time in-between songs to give an emotive speech concerning the conflict in Ukraine and told the audience “Just imagine it’s the last party of your life“.

Psiuk has spoken on the group’s debut appearance, “We are so excited to be playing at Glastonbury Festival alongside some of the biggest names in music from around the world. This is the perfect place for our first ever British performance and we hope it will be the start of many in the UK. We are very grateful for all the support we receive from the people of Britain, both for us and our country, and we are preparing a very special Ukrainian surprise for the fans at Glastonbury. What is it? You’ll soon see. See you there.“

Described as a “dance-driven alt-pop song“ by NME, MIKA said that with the track he wished to “write a song that could make you cry and dance at the same time. It’s a song to make the world, in all its harshness, feel better. Something that will always be there to comfort you. I wrote this for you, as you listen in your room, or in a club: it doesn’t matter it’s just about you.”

If you like the track then be sure to tune in for his performance on tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest, which starts on BBC One at 8pm. MIKA will be presenting alongside the Italian singer Laura Pausini and Alessandro Cattelan. Among their other special guests will include last year’s winners Måneskin, who will be performing their latest single “Supermodel“.

Some of the contestants include the UK’s very own Sam Ryder, who gained fame on TikTok posting videos of himself singing songs such as Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time“. Apparently many say he has a good chance of even bagging first prize, but not as much as the Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine, whose song is called “Stefania”.

Of course, recent political events on the world stage can’t have been ignored, with Kalush Orchestra’s Oleh Psiuk having his say on what it means to represent his country during a time of crisis. “To represent Ukraine in the international arena is always a responsibility, but to represent it during the war is just the highest responsibility possible.”

As for MIKA, he hasn’t released a new studio album since 2019’s My Name is Michael Holbrook, and he only had one single to his name last year, so this latest offering should be exciting news for fans of the “Grace Kelly“ star. He’s also got some tour dates lined up around Europe, visiting the likes of Switzerland, France and Italy between June and September. If you fancy looking into some of these, you can find tickets here. As for those of you who don’t fancy switching countries to see him, he’ll be performing in London’s Roundhouse venue this July 3^rd.