The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) have revealed that the city chosen to host the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2017 will be the country’s capital and largest city, Kyiv.

Kyiv fought off strong competition from Odesa and Dnipro to host the world’s most exciting musical event reaching over 200 million viewers, following Jamala’s win in Sweden this year with her self-penned song, “1944”.

The Ukrainian capital previously hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 as well as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 and 2013. The city plans to host the 2017 contest at the International Exhibition Centre, the largest venue of its kind in Ukraine with capacity for 11,000 spectators.

 “After a thorough selection process, we are very pleased to be announcing today that NTU will be working with Kyiv as host city for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest,” said EBU Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand. 

“We would like to congratulate NTU on their extensive and careful assessments of each bid. Kyiv presented an excellent case and we are looking forward to working together to create the most electrifying show yet next May.”

NTU’s deputy director general Victoria Romanova added that: "In the course of the selection we were deeply impressed with the efforts made by the bidding cities, the professionalism of their teams and the serious approach to their participation in the Bid."

"The process has demonstrated an unprecedented interest in the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine," she continued. "We look forward to maintaining that momentum, with thanks and congratulations to Kyiv -the host city of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest."

The decision was made after six candidate cities originally presented their bids to the Organising Committee of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, televised live in Ukraine. At that stage Kharkiv, Kherson and Lviv stood down, allowing Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa to continue their bids for final consideration. The committee and representatives from the EBU then reviewed and inspected the final city hopefuls and have now declared Kyiv the host for 2017.

The preliminary dates of next year's Eurovision Song Contest are 9 May (First Semi-Final), 11 May (Second Semi-Final), and 13 May (Grand Final) 2017. Tickets to the semi-finals and Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv will be available by the end of the year; check Eurovision.tv, @Eurovision and Eurovision Song Contest on Facebook for updates.