Eurovision 2023: King Charles tells May Müller he’ll goad you on

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By Daniel Rosney, Eurovision correspondent April 26, 2023, 15:05 GMT

Updated 33 minutes ago

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King told May Müller that he would join Eurovision a week after his coronation

British Eurovision contestant May Müller has been told by King Charles III that he will urge her to come on and watch next month’s contest with “great interest”.

The King and Queen Consort met the singer when they visited the venue in Liverpool and revealed the set for the event.

Camilla said “no pressure” on Mueller, who responded, “I feel like good energy this year, nothing.”

She added, “As long as I can get up and say it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, I’ll be happy.”

The stadium will host its first semi-final in less than two weeks, with the UK hosting the annual competition on behalf of last year’s winner Ukraine.

The Grand Final will take place a week after the coronation.

“We will watch with great interest, and urge you,” King told Müller.

Image source, Getty Images

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The King and Queen also met Julia Snina, Rylan Clark, Hannah Waddingham, and Scott Mills.

The King and Queen Consort also met with co-hosts Hannah Waddingham and Julia Sanina, commentators Rylan Clark and Scott Mills, and members of the production team.

“They were absolutely fantastic, very talkative,” Clarke told BBC Radio 2 afterwards. And Queen Consort Camilla was like, ‘I heard you were in The Archers,’ referring to his appearance on a special Eurovision episode of Radio 4’s series.

Clarke went on to tell the King that he would have to “act himself this year” because Eurovision is in the UK, Mills said. “I won’t be able to tour Italy like I usually do,” Clark added.

“The ownership of this thing really made me laugh,” Mills noted.

The King and Queen also pressed a button to officially light up the arena for the first time.

The venue is equipped with over 2,000 specialized lighting fixtures, with a pink, blue and yellow color scheme to match this year’s Eurovision logo.

Lighting, audio and video cables can run up to eight miles if pulled.

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The King and Queen Consort pressed a button to turn on the lights in the Eurovision set

Image source, BBC/Nick Robinson

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This year’s stage was designed to symbolize the UK giving a hug to last year’s winners Ukraine

The semi-finals will be played on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 May, before the final on Saturday 13 May.

About 6,000 fans will be in the arena for each show, with an estimated 160 million viewers watching the final around the world.

Tickets are sold out, but there will be a fan zone at the Eurovision Village for thousands to watch the event on the big screens, and a two-week cultural festival will be held in the city alongside the competition.

BBC Director General Tim Davy said: “It is an honor to have Her Majesty the King and Her Majesty The Queen come here today to reveal the fantastic preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest programming.”

“This kit will be the focal point of all the celebrations and we can’t wait to see it light up Liverpool and TV screens around the world.”

“It was an interesting creative challenge coming up with a design that looks big enough in the arena and big enough on camera,” he said.

“Creatively, my team and I had to think about how to give the stage an identity – says Eurovision – one of the biggest musical shows in the world.”

He added that about half of the 37 participants will use the platform that extends from the main stage during their performance.

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Creation of the Eurovision group

Who pays for Eurovision?

As this year’s broadcaster, the bulk of the cost of broadcasting the three live television programs falls to the BBC.

The total amount is expected to be between £8m and £17m, but the company has not released its budget for the event.

Image source, Corinne Cumming

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Malta Buskers will compete in their first semi-final on Tuesday 9 May

The BBC, which is the UK’s co-broadcaster, does not make its contribution public.

However, officials say the majority will be spent on ensuring “the inclusion of Ukrainian culture”.

All the cumulative information, insights and analysis are explored every week on a BBC broadcast called Eurovisioncast.

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