It's over for ESC veteran Peter Urban: this year's Eurovision Song Contest will be the last for the Hamburg journalist. This was announced by the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) on Wednesday.

"I'll be 75, it's the 25th ESC and that's a perfect time to stop. And at some point it should have been anyway," said Urban of the German Press Agency in Hamburg. The NDR journalist took over the task in 1997 and only had to sit out once due to illness.

Since then, the 74-year-old has commented on the entries in the European singing competition with a mixture of calm, appreciation, expertise and subtle irony. The decision to draw the line came from himself, the native of Lower Saxony continued. "Let others do that now."

The ESC is considered the largest television music event in the world, with around 200 million people tuning in every year in more than 40 countries. The 67th edition will be played in Liverpool on May 13 - although Great Britain only finished second last year. The reason for this is the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The BBC is working with Ukraine on this. The Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the ESC in 2022 in Turin with the title "Stefania".

The first of the ARD will be broadcast live. The Hamburg rock band Lord Of The Lost will represent Germany with the song "Blood