this week, it's time to party. eurovision rolls into liverpool, so we ask, are scousers really the greatest showmen? i'm proud to be a scouser. i'm proud to come from liverpool. a little taste of ukraine in the heart of merseyside. very nice indeed. and the midlife handbrake turn that saw one woman choose life on the road. i wanted to go and explore life and see if there -

was another way of living. hi and welcome to liverpool, where a wild extravaganza, otherwise known as the 67th eurovision song contest, is taking place this weekend after last year's winners, ukraine, were unable to host the competition because of the ongoing war. last year's event was watched by 160—million people. and this year, the city that knows how to celebrate is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the competition is bigger than ever.

now, later on, i'll be off to see some of the massive spectacle the city is putting on, with much of it dedicated to celebrating ukrainian culture. but first, will's been to find out why, out of the 20 cities that applied to host, liverpool was chosen. and it might be something to do with their reputation for showmanship. all: we love liverpool! in the 19th century, the port of liverpool was considered the busiest on the planet. at one time, an estimated 40% of global trade passed through these waters, exporting the fruits of the industrial revolution and importing commerce, culture and people from everywhere to england's northwest coast. these days, liverpool is known for a lot more than that — music, entertainment and this year, the eurovision song contest. it's thought the event could end up attracting an extra 100,000 people to come and see england's only

unesco city of music. so i've got one question. why are scousers such good entertainers? there's a long line of musicians, actors and comedians with deep connections to the city. i'm back from london! but new times mean new opportunities to entertain. i'm only at the - eurovision, aren't i?! like this one—man viral sensation. it's scott and rylan! he calls himself the queen of scotty road and he's as close to a professional scouser as you can get. 0h, hi. how are you? nice to meet you. this city is known for entertainers, big personalities, where does that come from? it'sjust the capital of entertainment. | the beatles, cilla black, . gerry and the pacemakers. you can go on and on and on. i'm proud to be a scouser. i'm proud to come from liverpool. i i'm just so proud.

let's just go and have a little look, eh? - come on. oh, it's all right. let's have a little look. come on. as you can see, it'sl just the place to be. all right. well, this is impromptu. come on. let's go to the next one. now, i'm an american, and i've got to tell you, the accent, sometimes i stumble. could you teach me a bit of the lingo? of course i can. now, "boss"... boss. ..means you're a nice guy. the queen of scotty road is boss. that's good. "ta"... ta. ..means thank you. ta, queen of scotty road. and the most famous saying of all — "times are hard - and friends are few, - "now ta—ra to you", will. and ta—ra to you. ooh! so where did this love of entertainment come from? to find out, let's rewind for a second. as liverpool grew with the trade from the docks, so did the number of irish

sailors who came into the port and never left. at one point, it was estimated that 20% of liverpool's entire population was actually born in ireland, and with that came a whole host of cultural traditions that laid the groundwork for the city we know today. and so, in a far cry from the signature eurovision style, i'm taking it back to basics. irish folk nights like these are a regular event across liverpool. i find this one already in full flow. hello, john. hello, there. hi. it seems your sessions are really popular. i walked through the bar, there are people dancing, there are lines outside. is this quite common? when you turn up, the people turn up? yeah. and it happens on virtually every night of the week in this city. why is irish music so popular here? there's been a historical link between liverpool and ireland since time immemorial, really.

in the early 1800s, principally in terms of digging canals, and then a little later, the railway, but also more significantly, in the wake of the irish famine in the 1840s. and they brought of course their music with them. it's notjust music like this, fantastic though it is. but three of the beatles, as you probably know, were of irish descent and maybe ringo, too. it's permeated every aspect of this city's life, its culture, and obviously its music. music ends, cheering. many of the descendants of those early migrants still find reason to come together every week to express themselves through communal singing. with two teams currently in the premier league, this city is a footballing powerhouse. oh, i'm supposed to kick it? all right. i'm not from this country. 0h! most weekends during the season, these streets come

alive with tens of thousands of fans on their way to the match. and as it heats up outside, i've quietly snuck inside to meet someone who lives and breathes this club. you're sort of the hype man. you're here to rev everyone up. what's your secret? i don't have a secret. i think this place is the secret. and we love an underdog in liverpool. it's almost that liverpool people become the loudest voice in the room for the quietest person. and i think eurovision is all about that, isn't it? it's all about the underdog. it's all about celebrating success and celebrating diversity as well. i think there'll be people that have never been to liverpool before that are coming strictly for the eurovision, that will, after that experience, talk about it forever and just be desperate to come back a second time. and as anfield starts to fill up, i finally get to see it for myself. this is incredible. the energy down here is unreal.

number one, in goal, alisson becker. cheering. number 66, trent alexander—arnold. cheering. and number 11 is mo salah. cheering yeah! what's the feeling like when you're reading those numbers and names out? i suppose it's a bit like a singer performing, isn't it, when a song goes down really well and you can hear certain names go down really well at the end. it still feels like an injection of adrenaline into your veins each time. if there's one thing i'm learning, it's that people here like being together, enjoying their thrills in a crowd. and my final stop is proof of that in spades. jonny! you got to get in here. have we got any irish| in the house tonight? cheering. two little ducks. quack, quack. founded in liverpool

byjonny bongo, this extravagant bingo night has spread to a0 other places around the uk. is that a bingo call there, love? - let's have a look. you've just won a henry hoover! of course, this isn't just a bingo night. jonny�*s taken a british institution that's normally associated with older players... £300! ..and given it a uniquely scouse twist. and the reason that eurovision has come to liverpool? - cos it's the besti city in the world! eurovision, bongo's bingo. they're also quite similar events. i eurovision is all about having fun and just letting _ loose and it's just such a colourful event. - and when it first got - announced, i almost felt like it's going to have to be liverpooh _ there's no better city.

jonny, thank you for tonight. that was incredible. yes. do you feel it? oh, i feel it all over. the energy... headache, leg ache. but the passion... i told you, strap yourself in. it was going to be a wild night, but you did it. - 0h, absolutely. you're killing it. are you going to come back? oh, yeah. i've not been in liverpool long, but i think i know why scousers are such great showmen. the musical heritage, the love of being among a crowd and the shared history have given the city a distinctive personality. and it's one that provides a perfect backdrop to the eurovision song contest. thank you, will. now, if football, bingo and bit of a jig aren't enough for you, there are still a phenomenal amount of other things to see and do here in liverpool. and here is our travel show guide to just some of them. around 600,000 beatles fans come every year, looking

to tread in the footsteps of their musical heroes. the beatles story on the royal albert dock is a good place to start. it claims to be the world's largest collection of its kind. there's also the two—hour magical mystery tour, which will whisk you past their childhood homes, along with some of the other places mentioned in their songs like penny lane and strawberry fields. liverpool biennial festival returns this june for its 12th year. this time, the contemporary artists involved have been asked to explore the city's role in colonialism, slavery and the british empire. it's on for 11! weeks, and alongside the usual galleries, there'll be exhibitions in historic buildings like the tobacco warehouse and cotton exchange. finally, because it's celebrating a 30th birthday, a mention for the liverpool— chester—liverpool bike ride. it's a non—competitive family cycle with routes from five to 100 miles, depending on your ability and ambition.

one of the highlights is the chance to cross the river mersey through the normally busy birkenhead tunnel, which will be closed to traffic on the day. still to come on the travel show... ..why this woman gave it all up for a life on four wheels. i wanted to go and explore life and see if there was another way of living, where i could be truly authentic and happy. and if this is what peace tastes like... wow. ..i'm up for seconds. so don't go away. this week, we're exploring liverpool and while we're here, i just wanted to show you a proper monument to pop history. now, over the last 50 years, many a tourist has frequented these streets in search of a shrine to pop music. because this is where the beatles first played their early gigs in their hometown.

ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the cavern club! hello! they started playing here at the cavern club in 1961, and since that time, the venue has been called a nationaljewel and even the most famous club in the world. people come from all over to see tribute acts. like these boys, who effortlessly embody the cheeky chappy spirit of the early beatles. we've got a set to play now, haven't we? what time is this going to be on? do we need to be on best behaviour?! what do you feel when you get offstage, having played that set to that adoring crowd? very sweaty! yeah, very sweaty! yeah. there's a real buzz about it, i though, you know, that people have come far and wide. you get lots of locals down there as well. i but every single time, - you're talking to someone from brazil or from australia, all over the world. _ so the fact that they've - all come down and watched the set in the place _ where it originally happened... and also, they want to

believe it's you, right? they do. they want to believe you are the beatles. we have some people who do treat it like we are the... - you know, photos and . everything after the gig. but you take a certain element of that. - i have heard before the line, "you do realise he's not the real ringo, don't you?!" i'll take as a compliment, i guess. the cavern�*s had some ups and downs in its time — shut down, demolished, rebuilt. and purists will say it's not the original. but, hey, it's not about the bricks, is it? it's all about the connection to these four boys many people still genuinely feel in this little corner of liverpool. now, you may be aware of the song "when i'm 64", which was a big hit back in the day for these local guys, the beatles. but that was a time when most 64—year—olds were looking forward to retirement and putting their feet up. fast forward to 2023 and there's a growing number of people in their 60s who say

maybe this is not a time to slow down, but change direction and maybe face some new challenges. well, we've met somebody who's doing just that, who's hit the road and isn't looking back. dora the explorer, i love you. so this is my home on wheels, dora the explorer. i've lived in her now for nearly four years. people think you need to have fixed beds. i didn't want a fixed bed because i wanted the sitting room and i decided i didn't mind taking the time to make my bed up. when i was in my mid—50s, i was totally overwhelmed with life. i'd had a brother and sister who died of lung cancer. i'd had to have a hysterectomy because of pre—cancerous cells. i was feeling lost in my workplace.

i felt marginalised and voiceless and i was also struggling with the menopause. so all those things combined, i was overwhelmed with life. siobhan daniels quit herjob, sold her house, bought a motorhome, and began documenting her life on the road. i call myself a pro—age campaigner, and that's basically what i want to do, is to challenge ageism and challenge ageist stereotypes of what society seems to think that people do when they're in their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. because i don't feel that it reflects how we're ageing nowadays. do it for the "yes" tribe! yes! isn't it a beautiful day? my motorhome, i don't know if you can see it, it's there in the distance. we've got a stand—off and he's winning. i'm a bit scared. please move. it was very scary getting rid of my home.

so it was me getting rid of my security blanket. it was an emotional roller—coaster. ok, so ijumped in. but it's not that easy to get out! it'sjust mud. but once i'd got rid of the home, i felt this excitement. and that's what i wanted to feel. i wanted to go and explore life and see if there was another way of living where i could be truly authentic and happy. now, i've gone from being broken in my mid—50s to finding my happy place just approaching 64. it was an emotional triumph for more than just musical reasons. last year, ukraine won the eurovision song contest and liverpool was selected to hold this year's jamboree on their behalf. so this is a huge collective occasion for both liverpool

and ukraine because not only are they hosting the eurovision song contest together, but they've got the royal seal of approval because the king and queen are about to arrive. cheering. and they're here for the same reason as i am, to find out how liverpool and ukraine are working together to celebrate music and culture in the face of adversity. claire mccolgan was instrumental in securing liverpool's winning bid. but while she's busy with the royals, i've quickly nipped off to see ukrainian artist svitlana reinish, whose immersive eurovision exhibition, the soloveiko songbird, is on show for the first time today for the royal visit. soloveiko — "nightingale" in english, is national bird of ukraine. there's 12 of them around the city. what do they represent? it's very important to show

that we have our own culture, our own melodies. and it's really important during these times, during the war, to show that. and so with the eyes of the world on liverpool, i want to know how the city is doing just that, without taking the limelight from ukraine. why do you think that liverpool won this bid? so we had a whole programme of work curated by ukrainian artists and uk artists around eurovision and we also do those two things in liverpool really well. we've got compassion and it's bonkers. was there ever a danger that liverpool would hog the limelight? so we're very clear that this is their party. we're just, you know, we're just hosting it in our house. everywhere you go, you'll see ukraine. this will feel like a real ukrainian scouse mash up, the nation of ukraine and the city of liverpool, kind of all combined into one. talking of a ukrainian scouse mash up... ..this bakery has been

a bedrock of the local community for more than a century now, and during times of poverty and crisis, they've always lent a helping hand. and this year, because of eurovision, they're going one stage further in helping others in crisis. because they've created what they're calling a peace pie, combining a classic scouse stew with ukrainian ingredients. proceeds from the sale of each pie will be split between liverpool's food banks and ukraine's humanitarian charities. tell me, what are the ingredients? it's like a local stew recipe to liverpool. so really all this is, is a version of the scouse, but with the addition of what is a kind of classic ukrainian beef borscht soup. and then each thumb will go in. see? yep. good luck. my teacher has run away, probably because he's too embarrassed. ifeel as though i gave you the instructions? yeah, i could possibly eat that.

i'll leave it to the professionals. very nice indeed. thank you. glad you like it. wow. showcasing and sharing the art, food and culture of ukraine is one way of expressing solidarity here in liverpool. but to really appreciate the disruption and devastation of war, you've got to get how it affects everyday life, like having to have sandbags to protect statues from being destroyed. artwork reflecting the war in ukraine can be seen throughout liverpool. and one particularly poignant reminder of why eurovision is being held in liverpool can be seen in the city's iconic cathedral, where the public is invited to share the horrors of escaping war through an immersive video experience. is there one particular bit of the journey that has a really strong emotion for you? yeah, it is the very beginning.

so it's the most painful part. yeah. we can see the trip from the east part of ukraine to the west part, for escaping the war and find a safe place. it must be kind of strange. people are saying, "wow, this is an amazing piece of work", and you're thinking, hang on a minute... yeah. the truth is that i wish i never do this installation. you wish you'd never had to do this? yeah. right, well we've come to the end of our time here in liverpool, but we've got plenty more treats next time when... oh, my gosh, they're so adorable. hey, buddy. ..ava's in vancouver, meeting the seals and sea lions trying to live their lives in the shadow of canada's biggest port. we're on social media,

if you want to see more in all the usual places, along with loads of other great travel stories from around the bbc. but for now, from me — rajan datar — and the rest of the travel show team here in liverpool, it's goodbye. hello. thanks forjoining me. time to see what's happening on the weather front over the next ten days or so. in the short term, it's actually looking fairly promising for many of us. i think saturday especially is going to be a nice day with warm sunshine.

come sunday, some rain clouds on the horizon. but let's concentrate on saturday and you can see a large area of high pressure across the uk. it won't last for very long. there is a cold front approaching, which we will talk about in just a second. but focusing on saturday, sunshine right from the word go across many western areas. a little bit of a nip in the air first thing, but notice how cloudy it is across many parts of england. first thing on saturday. it will take time for that sun to break through the clouds, but eventually it should. maybe some north sea coasts remaining cloudy through the course of the afternoon. so here it will be cooler, say around 11! degrees in hull, but widely the high teens to 20 degrees in cardiff, in belfast, in glasgow, probably in london as well. so a beautiful day overall for many of us. however, the sun is very strong this time of the year and the uv index will be officially high in many parts of the country. now, on that cold front, so saturday night into sunday, the high pressure weakens and it basically allows that cold front to just gently waft

in off the atlantic. it's not going to be roaring through, but it will bring a breeze, an increasing breeze to the north west of the uk. thicker cloud and some rain for northern ireland, scotland, the northwest of england. and you can see the western fringes of wales as well as south western england. so we've got the cooler yellows and even lime greens there. temperatures really struggling in some areas in the north and west. the warmth and the sunshine contracts to the southeast and eastern parts of the uk. could be 22 degrees in london on sunday. and then another area of high pressure builds behind that cold front that will have moved across the country during the weekend. and behind it we also see fresher air riding around this area of high pressure. so the cooler air from the north atlantic once again slips over the uk. and that, of course, means a cooler atmosphere. the temperatures are going to drop. and if you look at the wind arrows, they're pointing in from the north, pushing in cloud a few showers because we're still close to a weather front here. it's not going to feel

particularly pleasant, i think, on the north sea coast or parts of east anglia on monday. and really disappointing temperatures for this time of the year. look at that, 12 to 15 degrees celsius on monday. not really where we'd like to be in may. now, here's tuesday's weather map. so still just about the chance of some showers in the southeast there. but generally speaking, it's a rather large—ish area of high pressure. you can see it here centred, well, just to the west of ireland. but look at the wind direction. it's coming in from the north. so it's a relatively cool source. again, the temperatures are going to struggle. 0urfriends in lerwick may see temperatures no higher than eight degrees celsius and at best around say 15 to 16 degrees across some central and southern parts of the uk. the high pressure still with us on wednesday. so that does mean that, yes, slightly cooler conditions, but generally dry weather. and let's have a look at the outlook, see what the icons are saying for next week and into next weekend. well, it does look as though the temperatures may recover somewhat.

and overall, eyeballing it, you can see generally speaking, we are talking about mostly dry weather. bye.

live from washington. this is bbc news. the first day of a new era at the us—mexico border. as title 42 expires, we have reports from our correspondents in both countries, with coverage from the ground in el paso. and i'm in mexico, where the government has said it will only accept 1000 deportees each day from the us and won't be issuing migrants with any more transit visas. with new immigration rules in place, communities along the borderface an uncertain future. we ask current and former us officials whether the new system will hold. and crossing jungles and riding freight trains — one family's weeks—long journey to the border in search of a better life.