GENEVA — The Swiss city of Basel will host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest from May 13 to 17, organizers announced Friday.
The mostly German-speaking city on the Rhine River was selected over Geneva in a faceoff that generated buzz and anticipation across Switzerland.
The Alpine country won the right to host the annual glitzy song-and-dance extravaganza, which draws hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide, after Swiss singer Nemo won the contest’s 68th edition in May.
Nemo was the first Swiss winner since 1988, when Canada’s Celine Dion competed under the Swiss flag.
The song contest is organized each year by the European Broadcasting Union, which is based in Geneva, with dozens of participating broadcasters.
Switzerland hosted and won the first edition in the southern city of Lugano in 1956.
