Blackburn TV presenter AJ Odudu is to host the Eurovision Handover and Allocation Draw, as the song contest comes to the UK for the first time in 25 years.

AJ and co-host Rylan Clark-Neal will welcome viewers to BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on January 31 for the show for the show.

Taking place in host city Liverpool and in front of a live audience, this event will determine which country will compete in which semi-final of the contest when it takes place in May.

The show will also decide which semi-final the big five, Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and 2022 winners Ukraine will vote in.

37 countries will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 which the BBC is hosting in the United Kingdom on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine.

Thirty-one countries will go into the draw for the semi-finals, which take place on May 9 and 11, with 10 from each semi-final progressing to the grand final on May 13. The big five and Ukraine automatically qualify to compete in the grand final.

The last time the UK hosted the contest was in 1998, when it came to Birmingham.

AJ and Rylan will conduct the live draw assisted by young people from a local Liverpool school and members of the Ukrainian community who have settled in Liverpool since the outbreak of the conflict.

The programme will also see the Mayor of 2022 host city Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, hand over the official keys of the Eurovision Song Contest, known as the Insignia, to the Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson.

It will also be the night the 2023 contest’s unique look and slogan is unveiled.

AJ Odudu said: “It’s so exciting to have the Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom in 2023.

“New and existing fans are in for an event like no other come May with spectacular live shows on the BBC and a city take over in Liverpool, all with British creativity and Ukrainian culture at its core.

“I can’t wait to kick things off with the draw later this month.”

Rylan says: “From being part of the UK delegation since 2018, Eurovision has become such a big part of my life.

"I’m so excited to be presenting the handover and allocation draw which symbolises the start of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, the year in which the United Kingdom hosts Ukraine’s party.

“It’s going to be an amazing year for Eurovision. I genuinely can’t wait."