Birmingham has been shortlisted to host Eurovision 2023: Here's what it means to super fans
Bryan Manley-Green and his husband Kevin are self-declared Eurovision super fans from Birmingham. Bryan tells us what the city being shortlisted to host the song concert next year means for them.
We’ve always both loved Eurovision, so when it came to Birmingham in May 1998, we were overjoyed. We’d never seen the city come to life as much.
I'm both gay and Jewish, so seeing Dana International win was the icing on the cake – a huge step forward for tolerance and acceptance. As this was one of the first contests tofeature tele-voting, her win was a truly popular result rather than a jury decision.
Eurovision is all about a world of culture and diversity – the very best thing about it has always been that you can’t vote for your own country.
Ten years after the contest, on our 20th anniversary of being together, we held our Eurovision themed civil partnership (we got the marriage certificate a few years later when the law changed again).
Back in 1998, being officially married wasn’t even a dream and having Eurovision in Birmingham would be a fabulous 35th anniversary present!
We featured in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in their “Birmingham, its people, its history” gallery. The exhibit told the story of both the contest in 1998 and our wedding in 2008.
We were always very proud of that – and that it was next to the story about the Pope’s visit and below a balti dish - showing what a diverse city we live in.
Let’s hope that the renewed interest in the contest will help them decide to bring it back out of storage and visitors to the museum will once again be able to remember those very happy times with us once again!
Of course, it’s hugely bittersweet that the UK has to host the contest on behalf of Ukraine.
But just as we’ve taken Malala Yousafzai into our hearts – along with so many others affected by conflict in this increasingly cruel world - we’re sure to give a very warm welcome to everyone who comes to celebrate Eurovision in this truly international city, just as we’ve done for the Commonwealth Games.
For so many of us who deeply regret the decision to leave the EU, let’s hope that having Eurovision in the country once again is a step to a better understanding with our European friends and neighbours.
Not to mention Australia who we are thrilled to see joining us on the Eurovision stage these days.