The Eurovision Young Musicians 2018 was the nineteenth edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians contest. It was hosted by the United Kingdom, for the first time since the inaugural contest in . This edition was a co-production between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Edinburgh International Festival and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as host broadcaster. Musicians representing eighteen countries with EBU membership participated in the contest, with making their debut alongside seven returning countries, while withdrew from participation for the first time. The final concert took place at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh on 23 August 2018, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under their principal conductor Thomas Dausgaard. It was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for broadcast by BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 3, with Petroc Trelawny and Josie d'Arby being the presenters for the show. Ivan Bessonov of Russia won the contest, marking the country's first win in the competition and the first pianist to win since Poland's Stanisław Drzewiecki in . Location Usher Hall, the venue for the final, is a concert hall situated on Lothian Road, in the west end of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,900 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its acoustics. The Hall is flanked by The Royal Lyceum Theatre on the right and The Traverse Theatre on the left. Historic Scotland has registered the Hall with Category A listed building status. The hall previously hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 after , which won the year before, was unable to provide a suitable venue. The last time the United Kingdom hosted a Eurovision network contest was the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 in Glasgow. Bidding phase According to an earlier statement by Vladislav Yakovlev, the former executive supervisor of the event, Budapest could host the 2018 contest after bidding for the 2016 edition. On 27 October 2016, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) launched a call to submit applications for the competition. Host city announcement In early October 2017, Norwegian broadcaster Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) confirmed in an online article regarding its national selection Virtuos, that the United Kingdom would host this edition of the contest in August 2018. On 30 October 2017, the EBU announced that this edition of the contest would be held in Edinburgh between 16 and 24 of