King Charles reveals Eurovision 2023 staging

King Charles III and Queen Consort Kamilla on Wednesday pushed a button to officially light up the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool that will host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, hosted in Britain on behalf of Ukraine, the winner of last year’s event.

That’s according to the BBC, Ukrinform reports.

"It is an honour that His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort have come here today to reveal the fantastic staging for our Eurovision Song Contest programming,” BBC director general Tim Davie said. "This set will be the focal point for all of the celebrations and we cannot wait to see it lighting up Liverpool and TV screens across the world."

The venue has been fitted with more than 2,000 specialist lighting fixtures, with a pink, blue and yellow colour scheme to match this year's Eurovision logo. The cabling for the lighting, sound and video could reach eight miles if rolled out.

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

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

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

Ukraine will be represented by TVORCHI with an entry Heart of Steel.

Photo: Getty Images, BBC