The bid process

Four cities were in the running to host the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest; Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Hannover. Over the summer months, each city made an extraordinary effort to offer host broadcaster NDR and the European Broadcasting Union the best possible conditions to organise an unforgettable event in May 2011. Just as in the contest itself, only one could win. After detailed analysis and evaluation visits to all four cities, a series of practical challenges had to be overcome. Once all challenges were solved, the official announcement could be made immediately.

"Berlin, Hamburg and Hannover had very imaginative and elaborate applications. All cities were working hard and dedicatedly to host the Eurovision Song Contest. For this commitment, sincere thanks are given to Berlin, Hamburg and Hannover by the NDR team," Schreiber concluded.

NDR's Director General Lutz Marmor said: "Düsseldorf twelve points - North Rhine-Westphalia's capital city provides the best conditions for the Eurovision Song Contest. I congratulate Düsseldorf cordially - and just as cordially I thank the other three cities for going into the race enthusiastically with attractive concepts".

ARD Head of Entertainment Thomas Schreiber: "Düsseldorf scored mainly with the arena and its surroundings. More than 24,000 viewers can attend each of the two Semi-Finals, the Grand Final, and also the Dress Rehearsals. It was important to us that the most populous EU member state offers as many fans from Germany, but also from the neighboring countries, the opportunitiy to experience this event live. As part of the metropolitan area Rhein/Ruhr, Düsseldorf has a vast urban catchment reaching even into the Netherlands and Belgium."

According to the production team, the conditions for a television production with more than 40 participating countries are "excellent". The arena has perfect acoustics and provides enough height and space behind the scenes for the short alteration breaks between the songs. Journalists will have optimal working conditions in the neighboring athletic sports arena.

About Düsseldorf

While the City of Düsseldorf only has some 600,000 inhabitants, it is located close to the Dutch and Belgian borders and finds itself near the Ruhr area, the home of more than 10 million people. Within a 100-kilometer radius you will find cities such as Bonn, Aachen, Cologne and Dortmund. Apart from Düsseldorf Airport, which connects to nearly every major airport in Europe, there are various other ways to get to the Eurovision Song Contest capital of 2011. You can fly to Cologne, the largest low-cost airport of Germany, and Weeze, which is just 40 minutes from Düsseldorf by train.

Düsseldorf is...

• ...twin-city with Moscow, host of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest;
• ...located on the east bank of the river Rhine;
• ...the capital of the German advertisement and fashion industry, famous for its art academy and its museums;
• ...ranked 6th on the Quality of Living Survey by Mercer;
• ...famous for its television tower, which carries the largest digital clock in the world;
• ...a beer city with what they call 'the longest bar in the world'; 250 pubs and restaurants side by side in the cosy Altstadt (Old Town), promising lots of fun for your stay