The ESC venue will be announced on Friday
Basel or Geneva: Next Friday it will be announced which of the two Swiss cities will host the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2025. At ten o'clock, the award will be communicated via the official channels, an SRG spokesperson told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
If Basel wins the bid, the St. Jakobshalle will become the main venue for the ESC, according to President of the Government Conradin Cramer (LPD). The government estimates the costs at CHF 30 to 35 million.
However, if Geneva becomes the venue for the world's biggest singing competition, the Palexpo exhibition center right next to the airport would become the venue. According to city president Christina Kitsos (SP), the costs here are estimated at around CHF 30 million.
The future venue can count on a huge advertising effect. After all, 163 million people watched the three live TV shows from Malmö in Sweden last May - according to Swiss television, almost 800,000 in Switzerland alone.
Jean-Marc Richard, who has been commentating on the Song Contest for French-speaking Swiss television station RTS for over 30 years, believes that Basel has a better chance of hosting the event. He told the news agency Keystone-SDA that interest in the ESC is greater in German-speaking Switzerland.
It is true that the response in French-speaking Switzerland has increased since Fribourg's Gjon's Tears came third in 2021. However, German-speaking Switzerland is closer to English and the entertainment formats of Eurovision.
Hotel night for more than 6000 francs?
Even before the two final cities were announced on July 19, hotel prices for May, when the ESC is due to take place, had already shot through the roof, at least in Basel, as the news agency DPA reported. It referred to the room prices taken from the website of a four-star hotel, which amounted to over 6,000 francs per night.
This price was confirmed by the agency following a telephone inquiry. When asked, it was then said that no prices had yet been quoted due to the ESC preparations. In Geneva, the price of CHF 399 per night in a four-star hotel close to the exhibition grounds was still more modest.
Political resistance to the ESC
According to the governments of both cities, the prospect of hosting the ESC was met with jubilation by the majority, but there was also resistance. For example, the Young People's Party of Geneva threatened a referendum if the city won the bid. "While many important areas need financial support, it is not justifiable to spend millions on such a controversial event," said the Young SVP.
In July, the Federal Democratic Union (EDU) also announced a referendum against the various ESC credits of the candidate cities. The EDU called for these to be put to a popular vote.
The risk of referendums is included in the evaluation of the cities that have applied to host the ESC. "The outcome of a referendum would not necessarily mean that the city would not be able to provide the agreed services. For the time being, it only means that there will be a referendum," said Edi Estermann, head of the SRG media office, when asked by Keystone-SDA.
If the loan is rejected in the referendum, the contract with the city stipulates what happens then. The ESC will definitely take place, it continued. The focus would be on the television show, which reaches 150 to 200 million viewers. The other events would have to be questioned in this case.
Zurich and Berne stopped
Before Zurich was eliminated from the race to host the event, the Young SVP and the Taxpayers' Association also voiced their displeasure. They launched a referendum against the city's 20 million euro loan.
A similar headwind was also felt in Bern. Exponents of the SVP and the Green-Alternative Party had submitted the referendum form for preliminary examination. "Wonderful", commented city councillor Simone Machado (Green-Alternative Party) on the end of the joint candidacy of Bern and Biel.
Wherever the big event takes place: It will be historic. With Nemo's victory at this year's ESC in Malmö, Sweden, the singing competition will return to Switzerland for the first time in 36 years. Traditionally, the competition takes place in the country of the previous year's winning nation.
In 1988, Céline Dion won the contest for Switzerland in Dublin with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi", after which it was held the following year at the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne.
On May 24, 1956, the first "Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson" - as the competition was still called at the time - took place in the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano. Lys Assia competed for Switzerland and immediately scored the most points with her song "Refrain". (SDA/swi)
