Boris Johnson thinks Eurovision 2023 should be held in Ukraine: “I hope they get it”

In a statement, the EBU also revealed that it “will now begin discussions with the BBC, as this year’s runner-up, to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision song contest in the United Kingdom”.

“It is our full intention that Ukraine’s win will be reflected in next year’s shows,” the update continued. “This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts.”

The competition was last held in the UK in 1998 after the UK won with Katrina And The Waves’ ‘Love Shine A Light’ the previous year. Last month, the 2022 entrant Sam Ryder gave the nation its best result since ’98 – coming in at second place with 466 points overall.

The @EBU_HQ has issued the statement below regarding the hosting of next year’s #Eurovision Song Contest.

Find it online here ➡️ https://t.co/mAxSdReBj3 pic.twitter.com/JYqy58eHqV

— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) June 17, 2022

Upon his return from his trip to Kyiv, PM Johnson said today (June 18) that he wants Ukraine to host Eurovision 2023.

“The Ukrainians won it fair and square, even though we had a brilliant entry, and they should be given the chance to host it,” Johnson said (via the BBC).

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“It’s a year away. It’s going to be fine by the time the Eurovision Song Contest comes around and I hope they get it.”

Various cities in the UK – including Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool – have already expressed an interest in hosting next year’s Eurovision, should the competition return to these shores for the ninth time.

Elsewhere, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan took to Twitter to say that the capital “would welcome Eurovision with open arms”.

“We’re ready to step up and support Ukraine by hosting a contest that pays tribute to and honours the Ukrainian people, and also celebrates the very best of Britain too,” he added.

In yesterday’s statement, the EPU wrote: “Given the ongoing war since the Russian invasion of this year’s winning country, the EBU has taken the time to conduct a full assessment and feasibility study with both UA:PBC and third-party specialists including on safety and security issues.”

The EPU went on to acknowledge that the coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest was “one of the most complex TV productions in the world with thousands working on, and attending, the event and 12 months of preparation time needed”.

It continued: “Following objective analysis, the Reference Group, the ESC’s governing board, has with deep regret concluded that, given the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organise and produce the Eurovision Song Contest under the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled by [Ukraine’s public broadcaster] UA:PBC.”

Oleksandr Tkachenko, the Ukrainian Culture Minister, has since responded by saying “we will be demanding to change the decision”.

“Hosting Eurovision 2023 in Ukraine is a powerful signal to all the world, which is supporting Ukraine now,” he said.

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Nightlife industry urges Boris Johnson to “let us dance” on New Year’s Eve

Kill referred to reports shared by the media in recent days that the new variant “may not be as aggressive as previous variants” and said it had “been clear for some time that late-night economy venues, particularly nightclubs, with the appropriate measures in place, are not a major source of virus transmission”.

“Even so, given the extended restrictions including COVID certification recently enforced by you, this should be enough to give people the confidence in your leadership and assure them that they can, in fact, participate in nightlife safely, through these measures,” he wrote.

Earlier this month, Johnson made mask-wearing mandatory in indoor public spaces and introduced the requirement of a COVID pass to attend gigs, nightclubs, theatres and cinemas.

Clubbers celebrate after pandemic restrictions are lifted CREDIT: Chris Eades/Getty Images

Kill continued: “Full closure of venues on top of this does not give people any confidence in your current mitigations and backs our sector into a corner with no chance of survival, based on very little scientific evidence.”

The CEO noted that the industry did not want to “rely on public funding” but was being left with “no choice”, given that chancellor Rishi Sunak’s new support package of £1billion is “simply not enough for many businesses to survive”.

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“In view of the above, we urge you to act with clarity and decisiveness, as soon as the data allows, to firmly reject calls for further draconian measures against our sector as we fear that they will be unnecessary and will not contribute to the fight against the virus,” he wrote. “Every hour of uncertainty condemns thousands of businesses to failure with all the human, social and economic consequences that entails.”

Kill concluded the letter by writing: “Let’s not end this year as we did last. End the uncertainty and Let Us Dance on New Year’s Eve.” You can read the letter in full here.

Yesterday (December 22), a total of 106,122 COVID-19 cases were reported in the UK, breaking the 100,000 figure for the first time in the pandemic. It is unclear how many of those cases are the Omicron variant.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) [per Sky News], Omicron is 50 to 70 per cent less likely to cause hospitalisation than the Delta variant, although cases have predominantly been found in people under the age of 40 so far, who are typically able to fight off the virus better than those who are older.

The agency also found that the impact of booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine begins to wane after 10 weeks, but believes it will still protect against serious disease beyond that. It added that further analysis is still needed to fully understand the effects of Omicron.

Managers of venues across England have called the latest restrictions imposed by the government “a lockdown of stealth” and criticised the support package offered by Sunak. Stacy Thomas, manager of London pub and music venue The Lexington told NME: “What the government is [giving is] barely touching the sides and is about as next to pointless as you can get. We’ll take anything we can get and it’s appreciated of course, but it’s not going to keep us open.”

Earlier today, both the Scottish and Welsh governments introduced new restrictions, with Scotland introducing a new law that will see nightclubs closed for three weeks from December 27. Wales, meanwhile, has brought in new social distancing rules and restrictions on venue capacities, with outdoor events capped at 50 people and indoor events capped at 30.

Music fans can support their local music venue by purchasing official merchandise, while NME readers can also help and get £10 off packs of Fightback Lager.

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Elton John claims Boris Johnson is ignoring his requests to meet about touring visas

“So I’m on the warpath to try and get this sorted out,” he said, adding, “I’ve requested a meeting with Boris Johnson. I’ve yet to hear back from him”.

John has been vocal in his criticisms of the Government’s failure to negotiate visa-free travel and Europe-wide work permits for touring musicians in January’s Brexit deal.

In July, he and husband David Furnish took part in a virtual meeting with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michael Barnier, to discuss free movement and visa-free arrangments for artists.

“David & I will continue to fight for all artists, especially those at the start of their career, who are losing out because of the gaping holes in the UK Government’s disastrous trade agreement with Europe,” John shared on Twitter at the time.

Earlier this week, John announced that he’d be postponing his forthcoming European and UK ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour’ dates, due to a hip injury.

The already-rescheduled shows were set to kick off at the end of this month, but will be pushed back to 2023.

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Elton John and Charlize Theron ask Boris Johnson to help with fight against AIDs

“While naturally Covid-19 is currently dominating the agenda, it is vital that you and your fellow leaders also protect and build on what we have achieved in the fight to end AIDS and use that in the struggle against Covid-19.

“The Covid-19 crisis has shut down HIV prevention and treatment services, in many countries literally overnight. It has cut off millions of girls from school, and driven up poverty, gender-based violence and human rights violations. All of these factors increase people’s risks of acquiring HIV or of developing AIDS. Already we have seen a steep increase in rates of adolescent pregnancy, which we know will mean a surge in HIV infections too.

“The Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has warned that HIV service delivery has been massively disrupted with HIV testing falling by 41% across 502 health facilities in Africa and Asia. The World Health Organisation has highlighted widespread disruption to HIV treatment supply chains.”

Boris Johnson. CREDIT: Tolga Akmen / POOL / AFP

Theron is the Founder of Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project while Sir Elton is the founder of his Elton John AIDS Foundation.

“As leaders and champions of the global HIV response, we now fear that the number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths will climb again.”

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The letter continued: “The G7 meeting in June, coming on the heels of the UN High Level Meeting on HIV and the Fortieth Anniversary of the first AIDS cases, presents a vital opportunity to rally the world to act together. You rightly plan to focus the G7 meeting on addressing global health and pandemics. We have seen over the past year how such pandemics thrive on the fault lines of racial, social and economic inequality.”

“We must end Covid-19, and AIDS, everywhere, together. The G7 must commit to increased investment in tackling long-standing, new and future pandemics together. The UK must drive ambitious G7 support for international progress as convenor and by example.”

It concluded: “The eyes of the world, Prime Minister, are on the UK, and on you.”

You can read the letter in full here.

Meanwhile, Elton John was honoured with an Icon Award at last week’s (May 27) iHeartRadio Music Awards, where a number of artists also performed a medley of his biggest hits.

H.E.R., Brandi Carlile and Demi Lovato were on hand at the Los Angeles ceremony to perform ‘Bennie and the Jets’ and more.

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Dua Lipa calls out Boris Johnson’s pay rise for nurses in BRITs acceptance speech

“I think this is such an incredible initiative to give another part of your award to someone and I’ve chosen that my Best British Female of the year is Dame Elizabeth Anionwu.”

A powerful message from @DUALIPA tonight 🙌💙 #BRITs pic.twitter.com/KwP7tOr5dE

— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) May 11, 2021

Lipa continued: “She has spent her stellar nursing career fighting racial injustice. She has also spent so much time and is a strong, strong advocate for protecting frontline workers.”

It was here where Lipa took aim at Johnson’s controversial 1 per cent pay rise for nurses. She continued: “[Anionwu] has also said that there’s a massive disparity between gratitude and respect for frontline workers because it’s very good to clap for them but we need to pay them.

“And so I think what we should do is we should all give a massive massive round of applause and give Boris a message that we all support a fair pay rise for our frontline.”

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Earlier in the evening, Dua Lipa opened the event alongside Coldplay who delivered a performance of their new single, ‘Higher Power’ on the River Thames.

Chris Martin and co. opened the ceremony with a lively performance that began with fireworks and featured dancing holograms. The group performed on a specially constructed riverboat stage on the Thames which overlooked the O2 Arena where the awards were being held.

You can follow the event live on our rolling blog here.

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Boris Johnson looks set to unveil passport trials for venues next month

Reports suggest Johnson will give the passports the go-ahead from Monday.

Nightclubs are yet to reopen (Picture: Getty)

Last week, the PM responded to questions about the reopening of the UK’s performing arts sector during a 90-minute questioning from senior MPs.
Speaking to the Liaison Committee today on March 24, Johnson was asked by Conservative MP and chair of The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Julian Knight whether he would support government-backed insurance for festivals forced to cancel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson did not say whether he would back the idea, but said: “We’ve got 1.57 billion that we’ve put into the sector to support it in all sorts of ways.”

He also said that he hoped for “A proper return to our cultural life in the autumn in a way that everybody would want.”

“I think one thing I don’t want to see is people unwilling to take risks on productions or performances on events,” Johnson continued, “because you think about what happened last year when we thought we could get things open. And then sadly, because of the way the pandemic went, we couldn’t move forward.”

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He added that getting the industry up and running by the autumn will take “a huge amount of time, preparation and expense, and I totally get that. So that’s why we’re looking at what we’re doing to top-size some of the 1.57 billion to see if we can be useful in that way.

“There are difficulties with this whole business of indemnifying the entire sector, but that’s what we’re looking at.”

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Stormzy – Cold

[Intro]
Okay
Coldest nigga alive, I’m so cold
You niggas get on my nerves, you’re so old
Easy, yeah, alright

[Verse]
I baited my whip in the vid like a prick
Now I’m carless (Cold)
Now it’s a Uber ting
I’ve still got this regardless (Cold)
Who? What? Them man there?
Nah, them man are harmless (Cold)
I just went to the park with my friends and I charted (Wow)
I have never been a victim, never been a target (Cold)
The girls love this shit, yeah, they love it like Barfest (Cold)
#Merky the label and I’m coming like Darcus (Cold)
I was on the roads when Giggs made "Talkin’ Da Hardest" (Wow)
Look, rudeboy, done him on sight
One time, check two, bun him on sight
Niggas ain’t brave I can’t see it on your face
Let me tell you ’bout the days I was running on a hype like
Who are you? Where you been? Where your snow line?
Where your stacks? Where your strap? Where your crow line?
Big pump, don’t stunt when it’s showtime
Kinda funny how I didn’t need a cosign
Shut your mout, you ain’t squeezing (aye)
Pussy boy, I just leave him (aye)
I’ve been cold the whole season aye)
I should call my next one "Freezing"
Touch the mic, then just wheel ’em
You man have got too much feelings
Late night, I’m at Neasden
Filet-o-Fish and I’m breezing (skrrrrrrt)
Ain’t dropped nothin’ for a minute, I’m fine (Cold)
Roll to the booth, then I bill it with rhymes (Cold)
Know a couple OGs that are living off crime (Cold)
But a young black boy made a milli’ off grime (Wow)
So tell Boris Johnson "suck your mum, we don’t care" (we don’t care, bruv)
And tell them riot feds "oi, buss your gun? You won’t dare (you won’t dare bruv)
All my young black kings rise up, man, this is our year
And my young black queens right there
It’s been a long time coming, I swear
If you don’t turn this up, it’s no fun
You ain’t heard of us? You’re so dumb
Can’t be scared of pussy-hole youts
You can have your burner tucked, I won’t run
You can have all the hype, I won’t dust
You can send all you like, you won’t buss
Man can’t bluff me out, I call bluffs
Them boys get fucked about and call us
Crikey
"Oh my god, it’s big Mikey!"
Cut the whip, it’s so pricey
I should call my next one "Icy"
Touch the mic and get lively
Don’t draw me out, I asked nicely
Do the road and do wifey
I wonder why they don’t like me
Cah’ I’m… cold
Cold
Cold
Ride out everyting’s cold as a cold, cold summer
Cold, everyting’s cold
#Merky 20-sh..
I’ve been cold the season
I should call my next one "Freezing"
I’ve been cold the season
I should call my next one "Freezing"
I’ve been cold the season
I should call my next one "Freezing"
I’ve been cold the season
I should call my next one- easy

Cold – Stormzy lyrics

Lyrics Stormzy – Cold

Okay
Coldest nigga alive, I’m so cold
You niggas get on my nerves, you’re so old
Easy, yeah, alright.

I baited my whip in the vid like a prick
Now I’m carless (Cold)
Now it’s a Uber ting
I’ve still got this regardless (Cold)
Who? What? Them man there?
Nah, them man are harmless (Cold)
I just went to the park with my friends and I charted (Wow)
I have never been a victim, never been a target (Cold)
The girls love this shit, yeah, they love it like Barfest (Cold)
#Merky the label and I’m coming like Darcus (Cold)
I was on the roads when Giggs made “Talkin’ Da Hardest” (Wow)
Look, rudeboy, done him on sight versuri-lyrics.info
One time, check two, bun him on sight
Niggas ain’t brave I can’t see it on your face
Let me tell you ’bout the days I was running on a hype like
Who are you? Where you been? Where your snow line?
Where your stacks? Where your strap? Where your crow line?
Big pump, don’t stunt when it’s showtime
Kinda funny how I didn’t need a cosign
Shut your mout, you ain’t squeezing (aye)
pu*sy boy, I just leave him (aye)
I’ve been cold the whole season aye)
I should call my next one “Freezing”
Touch the mic, then just wheel ’em
You man have got too much feelings
Late night, I’m at Neasden
Filet-o-Fish and I’m breezing (skrrrrrrrrt)
Ain’t dropped nothin’ for a minute, I’m fine (Cooold)
Roll to the booth, then I bill it with rhymes (Cooold)
Know a couple OGs that are living off crime (Cooold)
But a young black boy made a milli’ off grime (Wow)
So tell Boris Johnson “suck your mum, we don’t care” (we don’t care, bruv)
And tell them riot feds “oi, buss your gun? You won’t dare (you won’t dare bruv)
All my young black kings rise up, man, this is our year
And my young black queens right there
It’s been a long time coming, I swear
If you don’t turn this up, it’s no fun
You ain’t heard of us? You’re so dumb
Can’t be scared of pu*sy-hole youts
You can have your burner tucked, I won’t run
You can have all the hype, I won’t dust
You can send all you like, you won’t buss
Man can’t bluff me out, I call bluffs
Them boys get f*cked about and call us
Crikey
“Oh my god, it’s big Mikey!”
Cut the whip, it’s so pricey
I should call my next one “Icy”
Touch the mic and get lively
Don’t draw me out, I asked nicely
Do the road and do wifey
I wonder why they don’t like me
Cah’ I’m.. cooold
Cooold
Cooold
Ride out everyting’s cooold as a cooold, cooold summer
Cooold, everyting’s cold
#Merky 20-sh..
I’ve been cooold the season
I should call my next one “Freezing”
I’ve been cooold the season
I should call my next one “Freezing”
I’ve been cooold the season
I should call my next one “Freezing”
I’ve been cooold the season
I should call my next one easyyy.
Stormzy lyrics
Video Stormzy