This morning we woke up to the news that Ukraine’s NTU would announce the Eurovision 2017 host city — only to have them CANCEL the announcement 20 minutes before the planned reveal.
The EBU issued a rather opaque statement explaining that “this is due to some final details which need consideration.” Apparently these details need so much consideration that they were not considered before scheduling today’s original announcement. Colour us confused.
Now, in the aftermath of the third postponement, it appears that NTU’s Director-General Zurab Alasania may have publicly revealed Dnipro is out of the race.
Writing on Facebook he said that Kyiv and Odessa each have advantages and disadvantages, and that it could take another week to decide between them. Noticeably missing is the third finalist city, Dnipro.
Hmm. General-Director of NTU says Odessa and Kiev both have advantages and disadvantages…no mention of Dnipro pic.twitter.com/8Ddpp59LxS
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) August 25, 2016
Boris Filatov, Dnipro’s mayor, is angry — and he’s letting everyone know.
Writing on Facebook this morning he described the latest postponement with two words: “shame” and “shame”.
Following Alasania’s comments he updated the post with the same screen grab we Tweeted above along with some direct words.
“Mr. Alsania, rather than apologise and explain the situation, was smart enough to give priority to the two candidates before the end of the announcement results,” he wrote.
“It seems that the fate of Dnipro has already been determined by pundits from the capital. Even announced in advance.”
About Dnipro
Dnipro, known as Dnipropetrovsk until May 2016, rests on the banks of the Dnieper River and is known primarily for its industrial sector.
In the 1940s the Soviets built a military machine factory in the city. In the 1980s one plant manufactured 67 kinds of space ships and a variety of space rocket systems (which could have come in handy for Lidia Isac’s Eurovision 2016 performance).
The (somewhat unsightly) industrial area is located right next to the proposed Eurovision 2017 venue.
Dnipro surprised many by making it to the final round.
During final presentations of the bidding process, the city’s mayor stressed that Dnipro had helped fend off aggression from Russia in the Spring.
About Dnipro Euro Arena
Organisers propose adding some unique characteristics to the old Soviet-style arena, including green vertical facades and a lightweight roof casing, with a mesh-like design.
The casing will allow officials to hide technical elements in the roof, while also giving the equipment plenty of ventilation.
The stadium’s capacity is expected to reach 9,500 spectators.
What do you think of Dnipro and the DniproEuroArena as the home of Eurovision 2017? Do you think it’s OUT of the race? Or is NTU’s director just throwing a curveball?
Leave your comments below!
9500 people maximum tho :S let’s hope germany or russia win again soon
@Lucy
I love it! 😀
Honestly at this rate, NTU should just do a Eurovision pop up party. Announcing the venue a week before the date. It’s better than just toying fans.
Dnipro should be the host city this year ,Odesa and Kyiv are well known, like Malmo in 2013 it was unknown and it is now well- known. The arena is stunning, so hopefully Dnipro 🙂
LOL Estonia has already sold out tickets for it’s national selection whereas Ukrainians can’t even select a date (after 4 attempts) just to announce the future capital of Eurovision. Other organization issues are coming next.
Creepy delays but at least with local drama now 🙂
I think they’ll keep teasing us for some other months…
The English Wikipedia article of ESC 2017 actually says that Dnipro’s out! They refer to an Ukrainan site! Someone that’s speaking Ukrainian?
We will know it in still 2018 thats sure!!
Well, saying “these two have advantages over the third one” is pretty much the same as eliminating it, just in a more diplomatic way.
It was my fav but now Kiev….Oddessa will be the worst host city ever….
Dnipro?
More like DONTipro!
Amirite?
The head of NTU: “The host city and venue have not been selected today either. Two out of the three cities – Kyiv and Odessa – have advantages over the third one. They go toe-to-toe”.
Nothing about elimination of Dnipro.
I love the design of the Dnipro Arena, but as the saying goes: Location, Location, Location. The arena may look amazing, but the surroundings and the city itself have to be taken into account. I’m pretty sure that why, if the director-generals hints are to to be considered true, the race has been narrowed to Kiev and Odessa. Still a little unsure about it, but I think Odessa would be the most beautiful choice. Whether it’s practical or not is another thing entirely.