Graham Norton has confessed that he took the hosting position in addition to his customary commentary duty for Eurovision 2023 because he was afraid he would lose his ‘favourite job’ if he didn’t.
The 59-year-old host has been the voice of reason in Eurovision fans’ ears for the previous 13 years, and he wasn’t about to allow anybody else take over the position now that the competition has arrived in the United Kingdom.
The Eurovision final, which many consider to be the finest night of the year, will be held on Saturday, May 13 at the Liverpool Arena.
The city beat off other selected competitors such as Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, and Newcastle to become the host city.
The last time the event, in which European countries sing, dance, and shimmy their hearts out to earn votes, was hosted in the UK was in 1998.
Moreover, not even Eurovision star Graham has ever ‘hosted or been around [a Eurovision] that has been in the UK,’ so these are exciting times.
This year’s event will be hosted by Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham, Britain’s Got Talent’s Alesha Dixon, and Ukrainian vocalist Julia Sanina.
Graham, who has been commentating on the events for British viewers for many years, was concerned that if he would not take on that position in addition to his exciting hosting role, he would be supplanted in future years.
‘I know that’s really greedy of me, but I just thought if I let someone else do the commentating they could be better than me and then I’ve lost my favourite job,’ the TV personality told The One Show this evening.
‘So I thought, “No, I’m ring-fencing that”,’ he explained.
‘I’ll have to go, “Welcome to Eurovision”, then I’ll run back into my little rabbit hutch.’
Graham couldn’t believe the performance was coming to Liverpool in just a few months.
‘It’s incredible. But it will happen,’ the celebrity reflected, a smile breaking out.
The actor also said he was ‘looking forward’ to working with fellow host Julia, who he added was ‘very inspirational’.
Graham adores ‘everything’ about the cherished song contest, though he did jest in a muffled, jokey tone that ‘the duration’ is one disadvantage.
‘But apart from that, everything else is great. I just love it.’
Last year, Sam Ryder and his outstanding song Space Man took second place for the United Kingdom, narrowly behind Ukraine.
Our delegate for 2023 has not yet been announced, so keep an eye on this site (man).
The One Show airs weekdays from 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Source My Celebrity Life.