Nuno Artur Silva the Director General of RTP will chair the first preparatory meeting for Eurovision 2018 tomorrow in Lisbon.
RTP will hold their first meeting regarding the organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 tomorrow and already there is a front-runner to host the contest. Lisbon and the MEO Arena have taken center stage as the likely host city and venue for contest.
Mr Silva in an interview with the Observadorย revealed that RTPย had believed a victory in Kyiv was possible, but that no one at the channel had planned anything in the event they did win. As a result there is meeting planned for Monday morning with RTP management.
The Portuguese national broadcaster has been given a booklet of information from the European Broadcasting Union, regarding the basic criteria of what is required for hosting the contest. The European Broadcasting Union according to the Director General has already suggested that the Meo Arena in Lisbon be used as the venue for the competition.
MEO Arena – Key Facts & Figures
- Completed in 1998 as the pavilion for EXPO’98
- Has a capacity of 20,000
- It is the joint third largest indoor arena in Europe and the largest in Portugal
- The venue has played host to finals of a number of World & European sporting championships
According to Mr Silvia the budget that RTP is expecting for next years contest is around 30 Million Euro based on the cost of recent contests. If RTP had to pay for hosting the contest without the support of commercial sponsorship, participation fees and local Government, then the budget would take 16.33% of the broadcasters annual budget.
RTP will however as with many recent host broadcasters be looking to partner with commercial brands and other organisations in spreading the costs of hosting. The Director General is hopeful that the contest can draw the interest of commercial sponsorship.
The Mayor of Lisbon was requested for comment by the Observador, however declined to comment as the city has not started any discussions with RTP about next years contest.
The following countries have either confirmed or showed an interest:
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Estonia
- Finland
- Lithuania
- Portugal โ Host nation
- Russia
- Spain
To date Andorra is the only country to have ruled themselves out from participating in next years contest.
Source: Observador