In 2015 he co-hosted Eurovision’s Greatest Hits — the live television concert to mark the 60th anniversary of the song contest. And now the bookies think that Graham Norton is the presenter most likely to host Eurovision 2023 if it takes place in the UK.
The Irish chat show host currently tops the odds at Smarkets, where he’s listed as the favourite with a price of 1.47. He seems the obvious choice. Perhaps the most high-profile of all BBC presenters, he’s been the corporation’s Eurovision commentator since 2009 and fronts his eponymous chat show, which airs on Friday evenings.
He’s not just known in the U.K. either. Will Ferrell gave Graham a cameo in the commentary booth for the 2020 Netflix film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, making him the only of the 40 or so national commentators from around Europe and Australia featured in the film.
Eurovision 2023 presenters: Graham Norton favourite in hosting odds
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And while Graham seems the likely choice, he would most likely host with at least one other person. The last time a single host steered the Eurovision Song Contest was back in 2013, when Petra Mede had the honour in Malmö.
It’s tight for second with the bookies with three big personalities all in the race: Davina McCall (Big Brother, The Biggest Loser, The Masked Singer, Long Lost Family), Mel Giedroyc (The Great British Bake Off, Mel and Sue, Let It Shine) and Rylan Clark-Neal (Celebrity Gogglebox, Supermarket Sweet, This Morning). All three of them are listed at a price of 2.5.
Both Mel and Rylan have extensive Eurovision experience. She starred in the stage show Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision!, hosted the British national selection Eurovision: You Decide, and commentated alongside Scott Mills in the semi-finals starting with Eurovision 2015.
Rylan, meanwhile, was a regular panelist on Eurovision: You Decide, took over Mel’s role as co-commentator for the semi-finals in 2018, and was the country’s spokesperson in 2019.
TV host AJ Odudu (Big Brother’s Bit on the Side and Married at First Sight: Afters) is down with a price of 3, while cooking show icon Nigella Lawson is listed with a price of 5. Both of them have presented the UK’s Eurovision points, with AJ having had the honour recently in Turin.
Sandwiched between them with a price of 3.5 is the first of three Ukrainians — Timur Miroshnychenko. Timur, you’ll know, is the commentator for Ukraine at the contest. Because of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, Timur presented the show from a bomb shelter in May.
His co-hosts during the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 — Oleksandr Skichko and Volodymyr Ostapchuk — also appear on the list.
What do you think? Is Graham a shoe-in? Who would you like to see present alongside him? And what about the green room and the press conferences? Let us know down below!
got to be Nigel Farage!
Joe Lycett
VERKA SERDUCHKA AND KATERYNA PAVLENKO PLEASE GOD
Please just give me AJ Odudu
Should be 2 women 1 man
I totally see Graham plus a very impressive surprise like Geri, Kylie or even RuPaul
I’m earning 85 dollars/h to complete some work on a home computer. I not at all believed that it can be possible but my close friend earning $25k only within four weeks simply doing this top task as well as she has satisfied me to join.
Surely Rylan for the green room?
Volodymyr Ostapchuk for Ukranian co-presenter…. he’s cool, funny and great English.
Since Ukraine won, I think they should pick a Ukrainian host, at least a host of Ukrainian descent like Mila Kunis or Timur Miroshnychenko.
With that being said, if they are will to have a British host, I think Jameela Jamil should be the host or one of the host. Aside from her stint as a judge in HBO’s Legendary, she’s very charismatic and seems to have potential to wow the crowd. I would love to see her be a part of Eurovision.
Would prefer a couple of these people to host!
Steve Jones
Gethin Jones
Alex Jones
Rav Wilding
Although if the 3 Jones present, people might think they are siblings ?
sorry for off topic but I just read an interview with frontman of Kalush on metro site where he confirmed their coming collaboration with Sam Ryder, I have heard this rumor for months but now its confirmed, I think it’s kinda symbolic in lights of next Eurovision of UK/Ukraine edition, I can’t wait to hear it, as I know the song called Freedom
If held in Glasgow, they may get a famous singer known in Europe…Amy MacDonald perhaps?
Also, Joy Dunlop is also another suggestion. She is a BBC Scotland weather presenter who organised Scotlands entry to the Eurovision Choir Festival. A fluent Gaelic speaker which may be a nice touch…..remember Ireland doing their Intros in Irish!
Shall we wait until the official Eurovision location announcement?
Let’s have Steven Tyler as a host. He’s part Ukranian.
Will Ukraine be an automatic qualifier to the final next year?
Please reply only if you know the actual stance from the EBU. No speculation, please. Thanks.
They will
I do realize the irony that if there winds up being multiple Ukrainian presenters, then all the people nitpicking Fire Saga for having obviously non-British Eastern European hosts for a contest inn the UK will be proven wrong (and wait…what if it’s also in Scotland??).
*in – didn’t we use to have the ability to edit comments?
We did have fifteen minutes to make changes, but then one person started using that as a way to beat the moderation system… so no more.
Weren’t they Spanish in the movie?
I’m not sure whether Graham will do it or not, I’m thinking it’ll either be just him and 1 or 2 Ukrainian presenters, or he’ll stick with commentating and there’ll be a couple of hosts from the UK and a couple from Ukraine. I can absolutely see Rylan in the green room. I was never really a massive fan of him in the past but he did a really good job this year, and you can tell he cares about it. Scott Mills will be involved (unfortunately imo), but probably just with commentating, I can’t see him hosting. I think… Read more »
Graham Norton, Mel Giedroyc, and Timur Myroshnychenko for a Ukrainian touch.
Sarah Millican could be fun in the green room calling everyone “flower” in her Geordie accent 🙂
Naa, not Timur… his English sucks and he is a stiff presenter. Volodymyr Ostapchuk is far better, more charismatic and his English is great. I think he would work better with UK presenters, far more so than Timur….
I would like to see Diane Morgan/Philomena Cunk in the Green Room (wearing a ridiculous frock) but Europe would probably not get the joke. It works with Linda Woodruff though.
Linda Woodruff is a proper cringey, cheesy character which just ain’t funny.
Sarah Millican? Please, NO, NO, NO!
I think Graham doing the UK commentary, Mel and Timur to host. And Ukraine interval act or a Ukraine UK collaboration interval act.
I don’t know any of them except Graham Norton thanks to his comments on BBC for Eurovision but I don’t see him as a host and who will comment on BBC if he doesn’t ? No I want and prefer him to comment on BBC if the Uk host period. However it seems that Bruxels could host too as a symbol as it is considered as “the capital of Europe” so for Ukraine and the world it would be a nice symbol. Honestly The Uk or Belgium, whatever, I only want a good esc edition like in 2016, in 2018… Read more »
why people keep bring Jamala name as potential host only to say something BS about her? first her English is just fine and second she said many times she is NOT interested to host Eurovision, leave her alone for god sake, she doing her hard work with charity tour to help country in this horrible times
from Ukrainian side I see Timur or maybe Mila Yovovich or Mila Kunis as they both has Ukrainian roots
How about different presenters for the semi-finals? Will they even move up to BBC One next year?
This is something the BBC have to get right. I’d say no to Mel, Sue, AJ and Rylan. We want to show Europe we now take this seriously and I think they would poke fun at the contest and have a humour Europe may not get. I must say though Rylan does a great job commentating on the semi finals. Davina is not a bad idea as she is fluent in French and I think along with Graham Norton can turn on the professional tone while striking the right balance of humour, something that Petra and Mans perfected. Having Timur… Read more »
Who’s ready for Ukraine winning again in 2023?
Please check out the song titled ” the eyes of the world ” by Marcus Nand on YouTube that could win the Eurovision song contest for Ukraine . The song has passionate lyrics to inspire people of all countries to vote and be a winner for Ukraine again. All financial gains from the song will be donated towards rebuilding Ukraine and its brave people.
Yours sincerely
Chris Nand. K
Every day I see/think of potential UK names for this gig. My far-and-away favourites right now are: Jack Whitehall: He’s a huge Eurofan and has more than enough experience in hosting live events and playing to arenas as well as carrying some cross-Atlantic recognition for those in the States. Scott Mills: Like him or loath him, he’s been doing the Eurovision circuit for a while now and is possibly the one person on the British media scene who knows the contest inside and out – maybe even moreso than Graham. Alesha Dixon: Has been a familiar face in reality television… Read more »
Why not Romesh Ranganathan? He’s on forking everything else.
Hah, something tells me Romesh’s signature deadpan style wouldn’t be best suited for Eurovision.
Maybe James as a spokesperson?
Graham Norton is too old. This is not ’90s Eurovision where mostly people over 50 watched. Get someone younger.
He’s not too old, that’s just ageism. I hope Angela Rippon comes back.
He will literally be 60 when Eurovision takes place next year. SIXTY. Do you really think “YAAAAAAAAAS” crowd watching Eurovision will get him?
It would be nice to see her back, but I hope she now knows the difference between “six” and “dix” in French unlike in 1977. I’m sure you are too young to remember Jonas!
I was still to be born, but this is what YouTube is for!
So what if he’s nearly 60? He has mass appeal. People of all ages like him.
Mass appeal for whom? British folk? Remember this is not a show for the UK, it’s a show for the world. People outside of UK will not get his humour.
This is a lovely idea…in theory. Sadly, I think that Embers performance kinda showed that might not be his area of expertise. But he seems like a lovely guy!
i don’t think they should be presenting it should be ukraine centered and not have british presenters involved at this rate it would probably be best in ukraine BBC are just going to flood it with union jacks and be a mini jubilee no thanks
Give it to Mel and Sue, with an additional Ukrainian host as well who can kinda meld with the personalities Mel and Sue have! They damned wouldn’t need a script that way ?
I want to add one more thing : the presenters don’t need to know any other language but english. Don’t make such a big deal about that one single phrase in french they must say. It’s sad if knowing french makes the difference, and we’ll have somebody that is second best, just for the merit of speaking french. Anybody can learn that phrase in french.
No to Davina. I think if it is held in the UK it should at least have a Ukrainian host in the mix as they actually won the contest.
Who is James Newman….?
I could not think of anything worse than James Newman hosting.
It makes sense to have Graham Norton as presenter if the whole event is not too scripted. The 2020 Dutch presentation was over scripted with humorless puppets sticking to the approved text. Last years Italian chaotic presentation was already a bit more loose and better. Hope that the Brits, especially Graham Norton, can bring back a bit of tongue and cheek.
I really like the idea.
I will say this – I never used to like Rylan Clarke. I thought he was cringey and a bit obnoxious. However, in the last couple of years, I’ve listened to him in interviews, presenting gigs etc and he as actually a really smart, witty guy. He’s also self-deprecating and actually very erudite in the right context. He also seems to keep his cool very well – especially during the last semi final shows. I was impressed by him.
Davina McCall…? What is this, 2005? – Let some fresh, young talented presenters have their chance to enjoy it – there’s doezens of awesome young presenters out there.
Why not some presenters in mid-age ?
Graham has already ticked that box!
Jane McDonald? She could make a glamorous entry on one of her cruise ships and, in a shock twist, be revealed as the San Marinese representative.
Please… Davina is an icon in the UK. She’d make a great host!
I think we should have a co host from Ukraine, only fair. Plus hopefully Måns Zelmerlöw as he lives in the UK and has experience, and possibly a third person perhaps Mel or Rylan. Graham is fabulous but let’s keep him as our commentator!
Dont use this opportunity to let Mans in AGAIN, we all know he is begging BBC to do everything
Knowing the BBC, it is going to be somebody really cringe.
A name I’m not seeing on here is Richard Osman. He’s funny, has presence and actually is really into his Eurovision. I wouldn’t mind seeing him do it alongside somebody like Mel Giedroyc actually. I also love the idea of Timur being part of the hosting team. Loved him in 2017 and think he’d be an excellent addition.
Graham obviously would be a great choice, too!
A name I’m not seeing on here is Ben Barnes. Interna?ional name, he wanted to represented UK, and he is not avoiding to talk about it today.
Richard Osman – are you having a laugh? He’s the most boring, square bloke on the planet – and his TV shows are absolutely terrible, although Pointless is somewhat OK.
Who tf wants Norton to host he’s lmao
Sure, UK can find anytime somebody who wouldn’t touch ESC before 2022, and I’m sure it will. If Italy had Mika, UK can find somebody who can say something nice about ESC for the right amount of money, too.
Graham Norton must be on stage. He did a great job with Petra Mede in that show for ESC 60 years anniversary “Greatest Hits”, and he was so big fan of ESC during UK hard times, he is genuinely happy everytime he talks with an ESC participant from any country. I can’t imagine ESC in UK without Graham Norton.
Vick Hope is fluent in French, she’d be a great host.
For now, I’m sticking with three British names: Tom Holland, Conor Maynard, and Connie Talbot. Tom is a famous actor, famous for his roles as Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and the newest Avengers films like “Endgame”. Conor and Connie are also here for the same reason. They are some of the most famous and influential young British singers that may have interest in hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 if it is held in the UK. Eurovision needs to give the younger generation a chance to host the contest. I know it’s not gonna happen anytime soon, but it’s never… Read more »
Not one of these three have any live presenting experience. Atrocious idea.
Owain Wyn Evans and Alex Jones in Cardiff
Two women – for once!
I could see Ant and Dec as hosts they are popular over here with maybe a Ukrainian female host and I someone like Divina or a left field choice like Michelle Visage or Ru Paul
Ant and Dec would be great, but they’re with ITV. Since when have they done anything on the BBC? Besides, Britain’s Got Talent will be on then, and they may be contractually obliged to not take on any major jobs during that time (mind, I don’t actually know that, it’s just my guess).
If the UK hosts, they should go all out and get the top presenters the UK has to offer
Female presenters: Holly Willoughby, Davina McCall or Dawn French.
Male presenters: Dermot O’Leary or David Walliams.
Green room presenter: Rylan Clarke.
I do think there should be at least ONE Ukrainian presenter. However, British humour is quite dry, and I’m not sure if there’s a Ukrainian presenter who has the capability to understand and handle it. Are there any British-Ukrainian or American-Ukranian TV personalities?
Why on earth are we even discussing this nonsense? Ukraine won – they may not be able to host it on their territory but it’s still their show. If EBU has any backbone, UK hosts are irrelevant.
There will be UK hosts if the BBC are in control of production. That doesn’t mean there won’t be an Ukrainian names, too.
It may turn out to be irrelevant, but, we’re discussing it because it’s the Eurovision quiet season and it’s nice to have something to chat about.
The UK having any presence whatsoever in this production is irrelevant… but you’ll happily see millions of pounds of BBC funding to pay for this wonderful Ukranian showcase masterpiece production. Jog on, mate.