Eurovision Song Contest 2017

The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and a final on 13 May 2017, held at the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, and presented by Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk, and Timur Miroshnychenko. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine, which staged the event after its legal predecessor, the National Television Company of Ukraine, had won the for with the song "1944" by Jamala. It was the first contest since the inaugural edition without a female host.
Broadcasters from forty-two countries participated in the contest. and returned to the contest after a year's absence, while did not participate on financial grounds. had originally planned to participate, but later withdrew after its representative, Julia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine by virtue of having travelled directly from Russia to Crimea, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, to give a performance, which is illegal under Ukrainian law.
The winner was with the song "Amar pelos dois", performed by Salvador Sobral and written by his sister Luísa Sobral. The song won both the jury vote and televote, and,,, and rounded out the top five. This was Portugal's first victory in 53 years of participation, the longest wait for victory by any participating country in Eurovision history. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since "Molitva" for. The top three countries – Portugal, Bulgaria and Moldova – all achieved their highest placings in their Eurovision history, while host country received its worst placing to date, finishing 24th in the final.
The EBU reported that 182 million viewers watched the contest, 22 million fewer than the 2016 record.

Location

Venue

The contest took place in the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, following Ukraine's victory at the 2016 contest with the song "1944", written and performed by Jamala. The International Exhibition Centre has a capacity of approximately 11,000 attendees and is the largest exhibition centre in Kyiv. Located in the western part of the Livoberezhna microdistrict, the centre was opened in October 2002, and its head since its construction was Anatoly Tkachenko.

Bidding phase

The Deputy Chief of host broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine and Head of Delegation for Ukraine, Viktoria Romanova, stated on 18 May 2016 that the first organisational meeting for the contest would take place before 8 June, during which the European Broadcasting Union and UA:PBC would go through the technical requirements for the contest, as well as any training required for the contest to take place in Ukraine. Romanova also announced that the venue for the contest would be announced over the summer.
UA:PBC and the Ukrainian Government formally launched the bidding process for interested cities to apply to host the contest on 23 June. The selection of the host city was scheduled to be conducted in four stages:

24 June – 8 July: Interested cities were formally invited to submit their bids.
8–15 July: A working group within UA:PBC and a government-appointed Local Organisational Committee headed by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman reviewed submitted bids prior to their formal presentation.
18–22 July: Candidate cities formally presented their bids to the LOC. The bids of three cities were shortlisted and handed over to the EBU.
22 July – 1 August: The three shortlisted cities were inspected by representatives from the EBU and LOC to explore their infrastructure and implementation of their bids. A press conference was initially planned to be held during this period to announce the selection results and the host city.

The following criteria were outlined for the selection of the host city:

The venue must be covered with a capacity of at least 7,000 but ideally up to 10,000 attendees.
An international press centre must be able to accommodate no less than 1,550 journalists.
Venues must also be provided for the opening and closing ceremonies of at least 3,000 attendees.
The host city must have fairly priced hotel rooms to European standards, that are located in close proximity to the venue and the city centre. At least 2,000 hotel rooms must be provided: 1,000 for participating delegations and 1,000 for accredited media and fans.
The host city must be able to guarantee the safety and security of participants, members of delegations and guests.
The host city must have modern transport infrastructure: an international airport and readily available transport between the airport, the city and hotels, in addition to convenient traffic in the city and the opportunity to provide additional transport routes.
The host city must provide a social program alongside their bid, showcasing the hospitality, originality, cultural values and identity of both the city and Ukraine.

Six cities submitted applications by the deadline of 8 July: Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa. Prior to the opening of the bidding process, the cities of Cherkasy, Irpin, Uzhhorod and Vinnytsia had declared their interest in hosting the contest, but did not submit a formal bid. Ukrainian Culture Minister Yevhen Nyshchuk stated on 30 June that an appropriate venue for the contest does not exist in Ukraine, suggesting that the construction of a new venue in Kyiv or Lviv should be considered.
The six candidate cities were officially presented to the LOC on 20 July in a two-hour live discussion show titled City Battle, broadcast from the UA:Pershyi studios in Kyiv and moderated by Timur Miroshnychenko, with radio commentary from Olena Zelinchenko. The show was broadcast on UA:Pershyi, Radio Ukraine and the UA:Pershyi YouTube channel with commentary in English and Ukrainian. During the show, a representative from each candidate city presented its bid in front of a live studio audience:

Dnipro: Borys Filatov
Kharkiv: Ihor Terekhov
Kherson: Volodymyr Mykolaienko
Kyiv: Oleksii Reznikov
Lviv: Andrii Moskalenko
Odesa: Pavlo Vugelman

Members of the LOC, media representatives, Ukrainian musical experts and fans also participated in the discussion.

Host selection

UA:PBC announced on 22 July that the bids from Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa had been shortlisted for further consideration.
The EBU announced on 30 July that the host city would be announced "in due course", rather than on the previously stated date of 1 August, with Executive Supervisor of the contest Jon Ola Sand stating that the EBU "really want to take the time it takes to come up with the right decision". The Deputy General Director of UA:PBC, Oleksandr Kharebin, stated on 10 August that the host city would be announced on Ukrainian Independence Day, 24 August. The announcement was later scheduled to take place on 25 August; however, it was postponed at 14:00 EEST, one hour before it was due to take place, with NTU citing the need to further consider some fine details regarding the decision.
After several delays in announcing the host city, UA:PBC announced on 8 September that they would be meeting with the Ukrainian Government and the LOC on 9 September and that a press conference to announce the host city was scheduled to take place at 13:00 EEST on the same day from the Government Press Centre in Kyiv. Kyiv was announced as the host city for the contest with the International Exhibition Centre selected as the venue.
Key
Host venue
Shortlisted

City	Venue	Notes
Dnipro	DniproEuroArena ‡	Proposal included the complete reconstruction of the Meteor Stadium and Sports Complex Meteor, which would have been completed by March 2017. Withdrew after the host city announcement being postponed for a fourth time.
Kharkiv	Metalist Oblast Sports Complex	Hosted three group stage matches of UEFA Euro 2012 & EAMV Recording Label. Would have required significant construction including the addition of a roof.
Kherson	"Yuvileinyi" Concert Hall	Proposal included expansion and reconstruction of the venue, which would have taken approximately 7–8 months.
Kyiv	-	-
Kyiv	Palace of Sports ‡	Hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009. May have conflicted with contest preparations as the venue hosted part of the 2017 IIHF World Championship Division I ice hockey tournament between 22 and 28 April 2017.
Kyiv	International Exhibition Centre †	Venue was initially submitted as a reserve. Kyiv later announced on 24 August 2016 that this was their preferred venue for staging the contest.
Lviv	Arena Lviv	Hosted three of the group-stage games for UEFA Euro 2012. The arena required the construction of a roof.
Lviv	Unfinished venue	An unfinished venue originally planned for EuroBasket 2015 that was 25% complete when construction halted.
Odesa	Chornomorets Stadium ‡	Proposal included plans for reconstruction of the venue and options for providing a covered roof.

Other sites

The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during the events week. There it was possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. Located at Independence Square in Kyiv, it was open from 4 to 14 May 2017.
The EuroClub was the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub was restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It was located at the Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center.
The "Red Carpet" event, where the contestants and their delegations are presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at Mariinskyi Palace in central Kyiv on 7 May 2017 at 19:00 CEST, followed by the Opening Ceremony at the Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center.