I wouldn’t call myself a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest, but it’s one of those big, international events which pulls everyone together which interests me; a big show full of pomp and ceremony which can reveal a lot about how a city or country wants to present itself to the rest of the world. While I think it’s fabulous that it’s going to be hosted in the UK next year, I must say I’m quite bemused to hear that London isn’t in the running to be the host city. As reported here by the Beeb, “The shortlist of UK cities that could host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest has been revealed, with seven locations in the running. Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield will vie to stage the event in May. Twenty cities expressed an interest, the BBC said, and those not making the shortlist include London and Belfast.” I can’t help raising an eyebrow upon hearing that. Surely London is the obvious choice: we already have the infrastructure in place. One of the obvious possible venues would be the O2, which has a capacity of thousands, good if not great public transport and is well used to hosting mega events. Are there any similar venues anywhere else in the country?

Of course, it could be argued that London has hosted so many large, international events, it’s about time somewhere else got a turn. I certainly think that’s a valid point: as the UK’s capital city and largest metropolis by far, I think London is a bit of a default venue for such events. Perhaps it’s time somewhere else got a turn on centre stage – after all, look how well Birmingham just did hosting the Commonwealth Games.

Yet I still think London would be the logical, sensible option, simply due to the infrastructure the capital already has; we have the experience and cultural gravitas here, and a Eurovision Song Contest hosted by London would surely have been incredible. Perhaps I’m slightly biassed having lived here for twelve years, but I can’t help feeling slightly bemused that the capital is already out of the running for this. The drive to ‘level up’ the country and let other towns and cities have a bit of the limelight is all well and good, but might it have caused the UK to miss a trick in the process?