A little over a fortnight after it was announced that Switzerland’s largest city Zürich had formally bid to host the upcoming 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, the cantonal government has approved funding that would allow the city to host.
Funding issues
The Cantonal Council approved the appropriation of 5 million Swiss Francs of funding should Zürich win the right to host the contest. The decision was approved by 105 councillors, and opposed by 62, with 1 member abstaining from the vote. This 5 million would contribute to the 20 million Swiss Francs that the contest was estimated to cost to host by the city council.
The decision to award the funding was not without significant debate; with the SVP and EDU/UDF signalling significant dissent with the decision. The EDU/UDF’s opposition stemmed from what they perceived as the politicisation of the contest, and regarded the debate around Israel’s participation as anti-Semitic. The SVP were not opposed to the funding of the endeavour but drew criticism that the 5 million would come from a fund designed to fund cultural charitable initiatives.
Zürich
Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland, with a population of around 415,000. The city is located in the north of the country, and leans more towards the east.
Zürich is one of the many German speaking cities in the country. The city is also home to one of the biggest sporting organisations around FIFA.
All About Eurovision 2025
Switzerland will be hosting the 69th edition of the competition following Nemo’s historic win at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö. A few weeks after their win, Reto Peritz, and Moritz Stadler, was announced as the Executive Producers, with the other roles revealed in July 2024.
The following cities have confirmed that they have submitted a bid to host Eurovision 2025:
With the bidding period now over, the candidate cities will now present their bid, with site visits commenced at the beginning of July. By the end of July 2024, SRG SSR is set to reveal the two potential host cities that are still in the running, with the winning Eurovision 2025 host city to be revealed by the end of August.
What do you think of Zürich’s aspirations to host? Would you go if it is in Zürich? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we head towards rehearsals for Eurovision 2024!
News Source: Blick
Photo Credit: Roland ZH / Wikimedia
Giwrgos Oiko 