London or Liverpool? King Charles and Queen Camilla visit the venue of Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which is being held the week after the coronation at Westminster. Photo / Getty Images
London or Liverpool? King Charles and Queen Camilla visit the venue of Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which is being held the week after the coronation at Westminster. Photo / Getty Images
Epoch-defining, once-in-a-generation events are like double-decker buses. You wait a lifetime for one to turn up, but if you’re in Britain this summer you’re likely to catch one.
Held at opposite ends of the country, you couldn’t find more perfectly opposed and complementary events if you tried. One is a show of pageantry and regal kitsch, bestowed by adoring crowds … the other will see Charles crowned King of England, New Zealand and the Commonwealth.
Yes, it’s Liverpool versus London. North versus South. Royalists versus Roundheads. There’s something for fans of Eurotrash and fans of trashing Europe.
It’s a schedule that encompasses Brexit, Monarchy, pop music and more hot-button topics from the heart of contemporary British culture than a BBC panel show.
For the impartial observer, the international traveller, it’s a fascinating time to visit.
After a long 70-years of stability, the anointing of a new figurehead means Britain is going through a period of soul-searching and contemplation. It appears the subjects have either one of two reactions: The first is “Keep Calm and Coronation”, visiting Gothic cathedrals and National Trust lawns. The second is to look for the new, the radical, and celebrate “ch-ch-ch-changes”, in the words of David Bowie, the UK’s patron saint of pop music.
Far from Anarchy in the UK, it’s this tension between ancient institutions and those that want to tear them down that leads all the way back to 1066. Both appear perfectly good causes for throwing a party.
Whichever side of the divide people fall, there will be something for everyone this May.
Eurovision 2023: Liverpool, pop capital
London might have the monopoly on monarchs, but Merseyside has George, Paul, Ringo and John.
Homeport to the Beatles, Liverpool’s music has made it a Unesco-recognised city of culture. The Liverpool Sound has produced hundreds of music groups and spawned countless imitators around the world. From Elvis Costello and the Zutons to one-fifth of the Spice Girls, it’s a city that has a lot of home-grown talent. This summer there will be an influx of international talent as the city hosts the Eurovision Song Contest.
Pop Capital: Liverpool is hosting the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest as the UK holds the event on behalf of Ukraine. Photo / Eurovision
What date is Eurovision 2023 final?
On May 9, almost a hundred performers from 37 countries will be heading to the Liverpool Arena to compete. Each act will be competing for a space in the final on Saturday May 13, and to avoid the dreaded ‘nul points’.
It’s a contest that prides itself in unconventionality. And there is nothing conventional about this year’s competition.
Britain is hosting on behalf of last year’s winners, Ukraine, since Kyiv was attacked by neighbours, and 2008 winners, Russia. It’s a strange marriage of geopolitics and pop.
Far from a Eurocentric event, it’s a competition open to contestants from outside the continent. Australia and Israel are in the running this year and Canada has recently joined the Eurovision lineup.
Conchita Wurst was a previous song contest winner for Austria. Photo / AP
Earlier this year the European Union’s ambassador to Aotearoa, Nina Obermaier, floated the idea of a Kiwi entry.
“I don’t see any reason why New Zealand wouldn’t be able to join,” she told RNZ last month.
Famously, nobody competes to win, but the week-long party is a geographically fluid good time.
Outlandish costumes, fanatical crowds and a long, proud lineage of European drag acts - there might be more that unites the coronation and the song contest than first thought.
The King might not be in Liverpool during the coronation week, but there’s no shortage of queens.
What’s happening in Liverpool for Eurovision 2023?
Tickets for the main event are hard to come by but there will be a Euro-pop festival running all week in Liverpool.
There will be open-air broadcasts of the competition at the Tate Liverpool; The British Music Experience; The World Museum; Everyman Playhouse; and St. George’s Hall and a programme of 24 separate Eurovision-themed events.
The Eurovision Village area in Pier Head will be open from 1pm to 11pm daily with DJs, performers and a broadcast area for the competition. Free events are being put on by the City of Liverpool around the area near the Mersey Ferries building, which will form a Euro-pop fan zone.
On Saturday May 13, for the grand final, the village will be closed to the public without an event ticket.
2023 Eurovision Song Contest hosts Graham Norton; Alesha Dixon; Julia Sanina; Hannah Waddingham, Photo / Eurovision; BBC
Outside the official fan zone, Liverpool will be hosting a pop-up party called EuroClub 2023. The official venue for after parties, located at Camp and Furnace on Greenland St, the club will be open from May 5 to 13 for your fix of Eurotrash music.
A charity concert Rave UKraine held by British act Hot Chip and Ukrainian DJ Mingulitka is being held simultaneously in Kyiv and Liverpool. The livestreamed collaboration, taking place thousands of kilometres apart, will raise funds for Music Saves UA.
In the words of Liverpool Mayor, Steve Rotheram, accepting the contest on behalf of Ukraine, “Liverpool is a lot of fun”.
“No region in the UK has had more number-one hits - and nowhere can throw a party quite like us,” he said.
Of course, it’ll cost a King’s ransom to stay in Liverpool during the contest. Since it was announced the city would be hosting the 2023 competition the average cost of an Airbnb shot up 400 per cent, to $1172 a night.
Neither London nor Liverpool will be cheap places to visit during the celebrations.
Charles’ coronation: Westminster & Windsor’s royal events
If there’s one thing that can command an audience more reliably than an international singing competition, it’s the classics.
The monarchy is Britain’s biggest draw card and for the coronation, they’re playing all the hits.
Whatever one’s personal position is on medieval forms of hereditary rule, the royal family have brought more visitors to the realm than any other institution.
The most visited attraction in Britain last year was Windsor Great Park, which is managed by the Crown Estate. The focal point of the royal funeral of Queen Elizabeth II saw more than 5.6 million visitors in 2022, with the castle and grounds being the most visited day trip in the UK.
However, it is the ancient capital in London’s the City of Westminster which is expected to be top billing. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee attracted 2.6 million visitors to London and the coronation is expected to have a similar historic draw for tourists.
Laura Citron, chief executive of Visit London, says they’re expecting next week to be one of the busiest for international visitors in years.
“The coronation of King Charles III will be a once-in-a-lifetime moment, with London at the centre of the celebrations. We’re looking forward to welcoming people from all over the world to experience the famous pomp and pageantry of this special event in May.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted police present King Charles with a coronation Present. Photo / the Royal Household
Who is playing at the coronation concert at Windsor Castle?
We’ve already seen British hospitality and hotels’ interpretation of royal menus and celebratory dishes for the coronation. There are events planned throughout the weekend-long celebration and even an official recipe for a Coronation Quiche, but the following day is a more direct answer to Liverpool’s International pop concert.
Not to be outdone by the northern music power house, the royal palace will be putting on a King’s Coronation Concert in Windsor.
Eurovision is unabashedly hit-and-miss. Masked Moldovan throat singers and Euro ballads are all very well, but the palace has lined up some A-listers for the special event on May 7.
Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Nicole Scherzinger are the cultural icons who have been named as headliners for the event, alongside Winnie the Pooh.
With the Top Gun performer named alongside Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor and tenor Andrea Bocelli as taking part, the coronation event will have international super-star power to rival even the Concours Eurovision.
The film stars and singers have reportedly been involved in scripted pieces to reveal lesser-known facts about the monarch.
The BBC’s Kate Phillips, who is overseeing the television extravaganza, said: “Against the stunning backdrop of Windsor Castle, it’s going to be a jam-packed evening of memorable moments, that their Majesties and everyone in the UK can enjoy”.
Both Eurovision and “Corivision” will be events that will be televised and seen by hundreds of millions of viewers. But what can visitors who make the effort to travel out to Windsor and Westminster expect from the coronation weekend?
Several processions through the streets of London, such as this one for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II last year, will be part of the coronation. Photo / AP
On Saturday May 6 the King and Queen Consort will be at Westminster Abbey with several processions expected through the streets of London.
The King’s Procession will make its way from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey with representatives from 34 Commonwealth nations. This includes a troupe of 7000 soldiers who have been practising for months.
The procession will then return down the Royal Mall past St James’ Park and Whitehall.
It’s a brisk 1.6km route compared with Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, but plenty of onlookers are expected to be in attendance.
This short, golden carriage ride is expected to be the crowning event of the UK tourism calendar.
“We know there is pent-up demand for travel and our royal heritage, pomp and pageantry are proven tourism draws,” said Patricia Yates, chief executive of VisitBritain.
“Our latest research shows that exploring Britain’s history and heritage is the top motivator for international travellers keen to visit this year, with visiting its iconic attractions also a strong draw.”
With a TV schedule clash of the titans set for the next fortnight, it appears there are no hard feelings between the two English cities. The King and Queen were in Liverpool last week to open the venue and wish British entrant Mae Muller the best of luck for the competition.
As the oldest person to ascend to the British throne, having waited 74 years for the occasion, it’s not an event Charles would miss for anything. Though one wonders where he would rather be if he were not being anointed King of England. A night at EuroClub 23 might be up there.
