BASEL (AFP) – Basel voters yesterday overwhelmingly approved the city putting up nearly USD40 million towards hosting next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, meaning the glitzy annual TV extravaganza will go ahead with its full customary pomp.
In Swiss referendums, most voters cast their ballots in advance by post, and after the polling stations closed at noon, intermediate results showed 66.4 per cent of voters in the city backed putting taxpayers’ cash into staging Eurovision.
Swiss singer Nemo won Eurovision 2024 with The Code, giving Switzerland the right to host next year’s event. Basel, on the border with France and Germany, was selected to stage the kitsch event.
But the small, ultra-conservative Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland party garnered enough signatures to secure a referendum on whether the CHF34.96 million (USD39.5 million) approved by regional authorities for the show should be granted.
Swiss voters are used to having a direct say on how taxes are spent and some bristled at the potential costs and hassle of the Eurovision circus.
Eurovision is a non-profit event, mostly financed by weighted contributions from participating public service broadcasters.
However, Eurovision says that “given the benefits that will flow” to host cities, they must also make a contribution. Based on the last two contests in Liverpool and Malmo, Basel hopes to make about CHF60 million from the event, in particular in tourism and hospitality.
Had voters rejected granting the money, Eurovision would have been scaled back to just the show itself, with no public events outside the main venue.
