Seventeen cities expressed an interest in hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Italy. But, if fresh reports have it right, only five remain in contention: Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Rimini and Turin.
Il Resto del Carlino, one of the oldest newspapers in the country, which has several local editions, reports that “the final decision of the organizers is expected within days, between the end of August and the beginning of September.”
The Rimini edition of the paper goes on to say that “inspections are underway in the five cities to assess their respective potential.”
The home stretch of the selection process comes after an intense but efficient bidding process that started earlier this summer. In mid-July, 17 cities expressed their interest, and by the beginning of August 11 had submitted formal dossiers to the Italian broadcaster Rai.
@wiwibloggs_officialThe 5 cities that could still host ##Eurovision 2022. ##esc2022 ##eurovision2022 ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage
The newspaper suggests that Rimini’s Fair — which has 16 pavilions that are 20 meters high — put it in good stead, as does its proximity to Pesaro, which could supplement hotel stock.
But it adds that a “double derby” is taking shape with Bologna, a city of music and culture, which benefits from the wider Emilia-Romagna region, among the wealthiest and most developed in all of Europe.
Below you can read a bit more about the cities that reportedly remain in the race.
Bologna
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Among the most interesting candidates to host ESC 2022, Bologna, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, can count on one of the largest arenas in Italy, the Unipol Arena.
Located in Casalecchio di Reno, the arena has a capacity of approximately 18,000 spectators, with a structure height of 30 meters.
The Arena is located within a large commercial park (Shopville Gran Reno) but has no neighbouring structures that can be used as a press center. An alternative solution, in this case, could be the installation of a pavilion structure in the parking lot (similar to makeshift press center we saw in Copenhagen, for instance).
Unipol Arena can be reached from Bologna with extra-urban bus lines (83, 94 and 671) in about 30/40 minutes.
An alternative venue could be Bologna Fiere, about 3 km from the historic center.
The area is served by TPER buses, and the venue has several recently built pavilions, but with a height limit (only 12 meters) well below what is required by the EBU (about 18 meters).
Unipol Arena
Milan
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Milan, in Lombardy, is a major European hub, a cosmopolitan and modern city, as well as the economic heart of the country.
With three international airports within reach (Linate, Malpensa and Orio al Serio) and efficient ground transportation between the airports and Milan Central Station, it can certainly guarantee excellent connections, numerous hotel rooms and a wide range of services.
The City Councillor for Culture Filippo Del Corno commented: “Milan would be the ideal city to host Eurovision: the record industry is based here, music is produced and consumed here and here is an Rai headquarters with an important history.”
According to the councillor, it is time for the event to be hosted in the North, after the editions that took place in Rome (1991) and Naples (1965).
Assago Forum (currently Mediolanum Forum) is the most likely venue to be selected, with a structure capable of hosting up to 12,700 spectators.
The Forum has additional rooms, which can be perfect for setting up a press center or a separate Green Room.
The structure is well-connected to the rest of the city thanks to a dedicated stop on the M2 (green) metro line, the same line that connects the main railway stations.
The only downside? The height of the structure is 16.40 meters, slightly lower than the 18 meters required by the EBU.
A great alternative could be Palazzo delle Scintille, located in the City Life district, right next to three out of the five tallest skyscrapers in Italy (and not far from the Rai production center in Corso Sempione), in an area well served by public transport.
Mediolanum Forum (Assago Forum)
Pesaro
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Pesaro, a UNESCO City of Music in the region of Marche, was among the first cities to announce its candidacy to host Eurovision.
The mayor Matteo Ricci and the deputy mayor Daniele Vimini declared the following in a note on the city’s official website: “We fall within all the parameters required for participating….The presence of an international airport that is no more than an hour and thirty minutes away, a hotel offering of over 2,000 rooms in areas adjacent to the event and an infrastructure, the Vitrifrigo Arena, which meets the necessary criteria.”
Pesaro, they added, “boasts an important musical tradition in continuous evolution, and a dynamic cultural life that has constantly fostered a climate of experimentation and dialogue between all the arts.”
The city’s sports hall, Vitrifrigo Arena, perfectly meets the requirements with its 10,000 seats, and the urban area of Pesaro has 52 hotels with a total of 2,603 rooms.
Holidays turnout could be dealt with by diverting tourists to Fano (12 kilometers away by car), which has 2,090 beds and 1,152 rooms, or to Rimini which is 45 minutes from Pesaro and can count on the facilities of the Riviera.
Rimini would be the support city for the international airport, with its “Federico Fellini” airport just 38 minutes away by car.
Rimini
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A popular destination among European tourists, Rimini is a lovely town by the sea in Romagna.
Being a historic hospitality landmark in Italy, Rimini has all the credentials to seize this extraordinary opportunity: enormous accommodation and service capacity, logistics, adequate structures in the area, skills and know-how.
“The city of Rimini,” says the mayor Andrea Gnassi on the city’s official website, “meets all the requirements: it has an international airport less than an hour and a half away, offers over 1,100 hotels with more than 36,000 rooms and a multifunctional infrastructure suitable for hosting the event.”
The widespread presence of services, infrastructures and logistics, combined with the truly unique scenario of natural, historical and artistic excellence of the city, has the potential to make Rimini an unexpected but pleasantly surprising host city.
The city’s Fair is undoubtedly a flagship of Rimini’s candidacy, with a height of 20 meters and 16 pavilions.
Rimini’s fair
Turin
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The capital of Piedmont, Torino, is an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy.
The mayor Chiara Appendino wrote in a letter addressed to Rai that “the City of Turin meets all the required criteria, and has a particularly suitable and functional location for hosting the initiative in the immediate vicinity of the city center.”
The structure Appendino refers to is the Pala Alpitour, with a good capacity (more than 13,000 seats) and suitable internal volumes (18 meters of height).
Along with the venue, “there are a whole lot of other factors that could reward the city,” Appendino added, “like the proximity of an international airport, infrastructures on the territory, and accommodation capacity. Turin also has a certain fame, given that the capital in the coming years will host top-level international events, such as the ATP Finals.”
the only “realistic” venues for Eurovision 2022, out from the shortlisted cities (without considering availability and scheduling): Pala Alpitour in Torino Mediolanum Forum in Milano (but its height of 16.4 metres is slightly below the minimum requirement of 18 metres; as comparison, the 2015 host venue Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna has 17 metres of height, when the minimum requirement back then was 15 metres) Palazzo delle Scintille in Milano (but the seats need to be adjusted as it doesn’t have any seats by default) Unipol Arena in Bologna Pavilion 37 of Bologna Fiera (which will reportedly be the new home… Read more »
Whaaat?! Rimini not enough hotel rooms? LOL i guess, you have never been to Rimini? On the coast line almost every building is a Hotel and Riccione, which is the town just next to Rimini is exactely the same thing. The whole coast (riviera romagnola) is one infinite holiday resort. So i really don’t think that hotel papacity would be a problem at all?
According to an Italian blog Bologna is in Pole position for hosting.
I’m so sorry for Torino 🙁
Ottimo amici mieiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
If this is true, this has gotta be among Milan, Bologna or Turin. I passed through Rimini and let’s just say there are many *far more* beautiful places in Italy.
Rimini is a nice city, they recently opened a new Fellini museum and renewed many parts of the city, it would be a great occasion to visit next year too.
a web site have put the name of the city but is not clear what you see? I see Milano and you?
https://www.facebook.com/eurovisionin/photos/a.847822745577998/1467514963608770
For me RIMINI
looks like Milano, but it might be fake
They said in another tweet that people have misinterpreted that post and the Friday announcement isn’t about the host city.
having the production center of the Rai in the same city is irrelevant. every year to organize the Sanremo festival (on the Italian Riviera), Rai brings men and vehicles from the TV production centers of Milan and Rome, from the sets to the wheeled vehicles to broadcast the event
Yes, but that’s an event watched by 12,000,000 people in Italy five nights in a row, and the largest source of advertising income for RAI for the year. Eurovision will do ok for Rai but can’t compete with that in terms of profit.
I have the feeling that it’s going to be Bologna. Senhit would definitely be very happy about it. 🙂
I still don’t think that it will be Rimini or Pesaro, but we’ll see.
Btw, I think it would be great if you published an update on the confirmed participating countries as well. 🙂
Milan and Bologna get my vote. Though I wouldn’t be disappointed if Turin host either, they are certainly capable and the 3 cities are stunning and have everything from art, fashion, food, history etc ..all visitor types are catered for.
RAI seem to want Turin to host most, so I’m like 80% sure that Torino will have the honour of being Eurovision host city in 2022.
My unpopular faves, Rimini and Pesaro, still holding strong!
If it’s Rimini, I want Fellini-style postcards.
Next year ‘s Eurovision deserves to be big and hosted by a big , vibrant city such as cosmopolitan Milan.
Milan was the first city in Europe to close down in March 2020 and to stop music, concerts etc and it would be great if it will be the first country to do a big eurovision where people can attend and enjoy a large event without restrictions
Add visiting Valentina Monetta’s backyard.
I want Rimini or Pesaro to host the contest.
we don’t saw a surprising host city in a while and it will be great to let less known city to host.
Turin and Milan will be boring choices like Tel Aviv and Roterdam.
It’s not about the location, but the arena. Maastricht wouldn’t be a better experience than Rotterdam’s ahoy arena and Tel Aviv would obviously host because Ber Seva doesn’t have an eligible arena and Jerusalem is… Jerusalem
Again For me, Eurovision means also tourists so I think that as a model it should be given to the least visited cities from all the eligible cities. I agree that Maastrich and Roterdam was similar experiences but I want to strengthen the city that got less tourist so I would choose Maastrich. Same in Israel, I think Jerusalem is the only really suitable place to host Eurovision so when they decided to take opinion B I would preferred them even to cover that stadium in Peath Tikva as A.Tel Aviv don’t need the tourists and B. Tel Aviv didn’t… Read more »
Ok, why not, I get your point from Maastricht but Jerusalem couldn’t host for religious purposes… We had many Palestinian incidents in Tel Aviv, imagine the backlash if they would host a paneuropean song contest in a city in war!
Rotterdam was surprising. Everybody expected amsterdam before the official bidding started and only then Rotterdam started becoming a hot favorite.
Rotterdam was always one of the favorites, Amsterdam is internationally more known but every Dutch person knows that Amsterdam and Rotterdam have almost the same capabilities to host anything, and when Ziggo dome was not available Amsterdam had no change anymore.
Sad for Rome…
But at least Turin is still on the race. I would definitely board a plane from Jakarta to Turin to watch Eurovision if it was held in the city where Juventus plays, closest to the Italian Alps.
So no Rome? That’s a shame because Rome is a very beautiful city. Nevertheless these 5 cities would all make awesome host cities so I don’t mind that much.
I guess Rome didn’t fulfill all the requirements to host. I think it will be Turin in the end.
Yeah seems like Turin has been RAI’s favourite since the beginning. Well I hope that whoever hosts will do a good job!