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ESC 2016

July 8, 2015

Known for kitsch, wind machines and outrageous costumes, the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Stockholm next year. Sweden won this year's pop event, and the winning country is free to choose a host city.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Fv0z
Man Zelmerlow, winner of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, Copyright: Reuters/H.-P. Bader
Image: Reuters/H.-P. Bader

Pop lovers around the world can now mark their calendars: The Eurovision Song Contest final will take place on May 14, 2016, in the Ericsson Globe arena in Stockholm.

"The venue's regular capacity is between 14,000 and 16,000 spectators," the European Broadcasting Union, which organizers the pop contest, said in a statement Wednesday (08.07.2015). Some 180 million people tune into the event on television.

"The Eurovision Song Contest is a musical party and a festival, and in Stockholm we can offer both," said Hanna Stjarne, chief executive of public broadcast SVT.

Sweden won the right to host Eurovision next year after Mans Zelmerlow won the 2015 event in Vienna, Austria, with his crowd-pleasing number, "Heroes." The Scandinavian country is home to Abba, which won the contest in 1974 and rocketed to global fame. Sweden also hosted ESC in 2013, in the southern city of Malmo.

kbm/jgt (AFP, dpa)

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