The search for 5 live's City of 2012
The UK is about to get a new city, as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It’s rare that city status is granted, and 25 towns have applied. Just one of them will be reclassified as a city next month. Being called a city doesn’t bring any additional powers or funding, but that hasn’t stopped the contenders from mounting fierce campaign to win the honorary title.
But what if where you live wouldn’t ever stand a chance of being made a city? On 5 live, we think size doesn’t matter, and we want to celebrate all that’s brilliant about where you live. So we’re searching for 5 live’s City of 2012.
Whether you live in a town, village or tiny hamlet, if you can persuade us that it’s special enough, we’ll make it a city just for an evening, and we’ll send Tony Livesey there to present a programme there in its honour. We don’t mind if it’s a bit run-down or nondescript or gridlocked with traffic – we just want to know what makes it such a special place to live, and we won’t know without your help.
The competition will run over two weeks. The first step is asking for your nominations via a this form. In the second week, we’ll ask a star-studded panel to draw up a shortlist of would-be cities, and hold a text vote to find a winner. The glittering prize in the form of Tony Livesey arriving in your neighbourhood will happen a bit later this month.
Our criteria for choosing the 5 live City of 2012 is essentially how special it is to live there, so rural idylls and suburban sprawls stand an equal chance of glory. Only current cities are excluded from applying. We may ask you to come on air to act as a champion for your would-be city, and tell the rest of the UK why it’s so great.
You can read the 5 live City of 2012 Terms & Conditions here.
Ellie Reuter is an assistant editor at 5 live.
Comment number 1.
At 10:35 9th Jan 2012, carrie wrote:How unfortunate that Salford was made a City in the 1920s.
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Comment number 2.
At 18:24 10th Jan 2012, Jackstumps wrote:Cor .... this has gripped the bloggers
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Comment number 3.
At 19:13 10th Jan 2012, alan hinton wrote:All this HS2 talk at the moment is baffling as I understand that the reason for needing this new rail line is congestion of the present rail network. I am at a loss to understand that if is going to take 14 years to build without any holdups how will this relieve congestion if it won't carry a single fare paying passenger until 2026. Surely what is needed is an upgrade of existing network fascilities so that the congestion can be reduced now or at least in the very near future.
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Comment number 4.
At 19:24 10th Jan 2012, what wrote:Whatever
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Comment number 5.
At 19:52 10th Jan 2012, Jackstumps wrote:Heard the answer this morning on R4: Add three carriages (very 'doable' apparently) and chop first class down to 1 carriage per train. Simple. At a fraction of the cost. Job done!
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Comment number 6.
At 20:36 10th Jan 2012, stirling wrote:To be called a city, first build a catherdral.
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Comment number 7.
At 21:16 10th Jan 2012, what wrote:...and they will come'
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Comment number 8.
At 20:18 11th Jan 2012, Nick Vinehill wrote:That criterion, a Cathedral to be a City went out of the window a long time ago when the Establishment realised that more and more people latched on to the fact that a commitment to religious values was not necesarily a precursor to a better life!
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Comment number 9.
At 20:22 11th Jan 2012, Nick Vinehill wrote:correction... the establishment realised that more and more people were becoming aware that a commitment to religious values was not necessarily the key to a better and more fulfilling life!
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Comment number 10.
At 19:28 12th Jan 2012, Jackstumps wrote:Interesting observation in the national media yesterday that a hardly welcoming sight for visitors to the new Salford complex is Colin Murray dragging on a fag - by the reception door.
Lovely
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