Eurovision Song Contest 2012

The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the 2011 contest with the song "Running Scared" by Ell and Nikki. It was the first time Azerbaijan hosted the contest – only four years after the country made its debut. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV), the contest was held at the Baku Crystal Hall, and consisted of two semi-finals on 22 and 24 May, and a final on 26 May 2012. The three live shows were presented by Azerbaijani television presenter Leyla Aliyeva, newsreader Nargiz Birk-Petersen and singer Eldar Gasimov, the latter of whom was one of the previous edition's winners.[1][2]

Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Light Your Fire!
Dates
Semi-final 122 May 2012 (2012-05-22)
Semi-final 224 May 2012 (2012-05-24)
Final26 May 2012 (2012-05-26)
Host
VenueBaku Crystal Hall
Baku, Azerbaijan
Presenter(s)
Directed byLadislaus Kiraly
Executive supervisorJon Ola Sand
Executive producerAdil Kerimli
Host broadcasterİctimai Television (İTV)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/baku-2012 Edit this at Wikidata
Participants
Number of entries42
Number of finalists26
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countries Montenegro
Non-returning countries
  • A coloured map of the countries of EuropePortugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Morocco in the Eurovision Song ContestLiechtenstein in the Eurovision Song ContestAndorra in the Eurovision Song ContestMonaco in the Eurovision Song ContestPoland in the Eurovision Song ContestCzech Republic in the Eurovision Song ContestArmenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song ContestLebanon in the Eurovision Song ContestTunisia in the Eurovision Song Contest
         Finalist countries     Countries eliminated in the semi-finals     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2012
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Winning song
2011 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 2013

Forty-two countries participated in the contest. Montenegro returned to the contest for the first time since 2009. Meanwhile, Armenia withdrew due to security concerns in relation to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. Poland also did not participate due to financial concerns.

The winner was Sweden with the song "Euphoria", performed by Loreen and written by Thomas G:son and Peter Boström. The song won both the jury vote and televote and received 372 points out of a maximum of 492. Russia, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Albania rounded out the top five, with Albania achieving their best result to date. Out of the "Big Five" countries, Germany, Italy and Spain all managed to rank within the top 10, finishing eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.

The lead-up to the contest was met with political concerns and protests surrounding the host country, including its human rights record and allegations by advocacy groups that Baku was carrying out forced evictions in the construction of the contest's venue.

Location

Baku Crystal Hall, Baku - host venue of the 2012 contest.
Locations of the suggested venues in Baku, Azerbaijan: the chosen venue is marked in blue, while eliminated venues are marked in red

Azerbaijan got the right to host the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the previous 2011 edition with the song "Running Scared" performed by Ell and Nikki.[3][4] Baku, the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region, was named the host city for the contest, with the venue being the Baku Crystal Hall, built a few months prior to the contest on the city's coastline.

Shortly after Azerbaijan's victory at the 2011 edition, officials announced that a new 23,000-seat concert venue was to be built near National Flag Square in Baku, as a potential venue for the event.[5][6] Three days later, other venue options were revealed by organisers, such as the 37,000-seat Tofiq Bahramov Stadium and the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex.[7] On 2 August 2011, Alpine Bau Deutschland AG was awarded the contract to construct the Baku Crystal Hall. Preparations for construction began in the area shortly after the announcement.[8] Even though the full cost of the contract was not named, the government allocated 6 million AZN for the construction of the venue.[9]

On 8 September 2011, Azad Azerbaijan TV (ATV) reported that Baku Crystal Hall would be the venue of the contest, but no formal confirmation was made at the time by the EBU. On 31 October 2011, Ismayil Omarov, the director general of Azerbaijani national broadcaster İctimai Television announced that a decision on the venue choice would be taken by the steering committee in January 2012.[10] On 25 January 2012, it was confirmed that the Baku Crystal Hall would be the venue of the contest.[11] Even though the venue had an extended capacity of 23,000 people, only 16,000 people were able to attend each show.[11] Tickets for the contest became available online for purchase on 28 February 2012.[12][13]

Participating countries

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 – Participation summaries by country

On 17 January 2012, the EBU initially announced that forty-three countries would take part in the 2012 contest.[14] The 57th edition saw the return of Montenegro, who was last represented by Andrea Demirović in 2009.[15] Poland decided not to participate, due to the financial burden of the UEFA Euro 2012 (which Poland co-hosted with Ukraine) and the 2012 Summer Olympics.[14] Armenia, who had originally planned to participate, later withdrew their application due to security concerns related to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, subsequently reducing the number of participating countries to 42.[16]

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012[17][18]
CountryBroadcasterArtistSongLanguageSongwriter(s)
 AlbaniaRTSHRona Nishliu"Suus"Albanian
 AustriaORFTrackshittaz"Woki mit deim Popo"German[a]
  • Manuel Hoffelner
  • Lukas Plöchl
 AzerbaijanİTVSabina Babayeva"When the Music Dies"English
 BelarusBTRCLitesound"We Are the Heroes"English
  • Dmitriy Karyakin
  • Vladimir Karyakin
 BelgiumVRTIris"Would You?"English
 Bosnia and HerzegovinaBHRTMaya Sar"Korake ti znam"BosnianMaja Sarihodžić
 BulgariaBNTSofi Marinova"Love Unlimited"Bulgarian
  • Krum Georgiev
  • Iasen Kozev
  • Donka Vasileva
 CroatiaHRTNina Badrić"Nebo"CroatianNina Badrić
 CyprusCyBCIvi Adamou"La La Love"English
 DenmarkDRSoluna Samay"Should've Known Better"English
 EstoniaERROtt Lepland"Kuula"Estonian
 FinlandYlePernilla"När jag blundar"SwedishJonas Karlsson
 FranceFrance TélévisionsAnggun"Echo (You and I)"French, English
 GeorgiaGPBAnri Jokhadze"I'm a Joker"English, Georgian
  • Rusudan Chkhaidze
  • Bibi Kvachadze
 GermanyNDR[b]Roman Lob"Standing Still"English
 GreeceERTEleftheria Eleftheriou"Aphrodisiac"English
 HungaryMTVACompact Disco"Sound of Our Hearts"English
  • Behnam Lotfi
  • Gábor Pál
  • Attila Sándor
  • Csaba Walkó
 IcelandRÚVGreta Salóme and Jónsi"Never Forget"EnglishGreta Salóme
 IrelandRTÉJedward"Waterline"English
 IsraelIBAIzabo"Time"English, Hebrew
  • Shiri Hadar
  • Ran Shem Tov
 ItalyRAINina Zilli"L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)"English, Italian
 LatviaLTVAnmary"Beautiful Song"English
  • Ivars Makstnieks
  • Rolands Ūdris
 LithuaniaLRTDonny Montell"Love Is Blind"English
  • Jodie Rose
  • Brandon Stone
 MacedoniaMRTKaliopi"Crno i belo" (Црно и бело)Macedonian
 MaltaPBSKurt Calleja"This Is the Night"English
 MoldovaTRMPasha Parfeny"Lăutar"English
 MontenegroRTCGRambo Amadeus"Euro Neuro"EnglishRambo Amadeus
 NetherlandsTROSJoan Franka"You and Me"English
 NorwayNRKTooji"Stay"English
 PortugalRTPFilipa Sousa"Vida minha"Portuguese
  • Andrej Babić
  • Carlos Coelho
 RomaniaTVRMandinga"Zaleilah"Spanish, English
 RussiaRTRBuranovskiye Babushki"Party for Everybody"Udmurt, English
 San MarinoSMRTVValentina Monetta"The Social Network Song (Oh Oh – Uh – Oh Oh)"English
 SerbiaRTSŽeljko Joksimović"Nije ljubav stvar" (Није љубав ствар)Serbian
 SlovakiaRTVSMax Jason Mai"Don't Close Your Eyes"EnglishMax Jason Mai
 SloveniaRTVSLOEva Boto"Verjamem"Slovene
 SpainRTVEPastora Soler"Quédate conmigo"Spanish
 SwedenSVTLoreen"Euphoria"English
  • Peter Boström
  • Thomas G:son
  SwitzerlandSRG SSRSinplus"Unbreakable"English
  • Gabriel Broggini
  • Ivan Broggini
 TurkeyTRTCan Bonomo"Love Me Back"EnglishCan Bonomo
 UkraineNTUGaitana"Be My Guest"English
 United KingdomBBCEngelbert Humperdinck"Love Will Set You Free"English

Returning artists

Four artists returned in this year's contest. Kaliopi for Macedonia who previously participated in the 1996 contest with the song "Samo ti", which placed in 26th position in the pre-qualifying round.[20][21] Kaliopi would then go on to represent Macedonia once more at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

Jónsi for Iceland[22] and Željko Joksimović for Serbia[23] both previously participated in 2004.Joksimović had represented Serbia and Montenegro in 2004 with the song "Lane moje" which placed second in that year, and co-hosted the 2008 contest with Jovana Janković. Jónsi performed "Heaven" in 2004, which placed 19th.[24]

For a second consecutive year Jedward participated for Ireland, after their 8th-place finish at the 2011 contest with the song "Lipstick".[25][26]

Martina Majerle, who represented Slovenia in 2009, returned as a backing vocalist for Slovenia.

Lys Assia, the winner of the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, had entered her song "C'était ma vie" written by Ralph Siegel and Jean Paul Cara into the Swiss national selection for the 2012 contest.[27][28] The song, however, only came eighth in a closely fought national selection. Assia attended the event in Baku as a guest of honour.[29]

Languages

The Finnish entry, "När jag blundar", sung by Pernilla Karlsson, was only Finland's second entry in Swedish (after "Fri?" by Beat in 1990) and the first entry at all to be sung in Swedish since 1998. Russia's entry, "Party for Everybody", sung by Buranovskiye Babushki, was the first entry ever to be performed in Udmurt. The Georgian entry, "I'm a Joker" was the first Eurovision entry containing the Georgian language while the Bulgarian song "Love Unlimited" had a few words in the Azerbaijani language, both of whom never appeared at the contest before.

Other countries

Active EBU members

  •  Armenia – On 7 March 2012, the EBU announced that Armenian broadcaster ARMTV had decided to withdraw despite originally being included in the list of participating countries, after Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev had given a speech the previous week calling "Armenians of the world" one of Azerbaijan's "main enemies".[30][31] The country was consequently fined by the EBU and was expected to face further penalties, such as exclusion from participation in future contests if it failed to comply with the EBU requirements.[32][33] Armenia had been in a continuous state of war with Azerbaijan since the early 1990s due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[34]

Active EBU member broadcasters in Andorra, Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Poland confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] The Monegasque and Moroccan broadcasters did the same, despite previous speculations of a possible return.[43][44][45][46]

Non-EBU member

On 26 November 2011, it was reported that two official EBU documents showed that Liechtenstein's only national broadcaster 1 FL TV was being granted active EBU membership, sparking speculations of a debut for the nation.[47] However, it was clarified a few days later that these documents contained editing mistakes.[48]

Format

Presenters of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, from left to right – Leyla Aliyeva, Eldar Gasimov and Nargiz Birk-Petersen

In a meeting of the Eurovision Reference Group on 29 June 2011,[49] it was decided that the televoting system would revert the format used most recently in the 2009 contest, in which the phone and SMS lines opened for a fifteen-minute window after all songs had been performed, instead of opening before the show starts, which was the system used between 2010 and 2011. The results format of each show remained the same with each country's votes being decided on a 50:50 split between televoting and a national jury. Each participating country had their own national jury, which consisted of five professional members of the music industry.[50]

Under the official rules released on 24 November 2011, the number of participants in the grand final was raised to 26, including the host nation, the "Big Five", and the ten qualifiers from each semi-final. This was the second time in the Eurovision Song Contest that 26 countries were in the grand final, the first being the 2003 contest.[50][51][52]

Semi-final allocation draw

Semi-final allocation draw ceremony at the Buta Palace in Baku.
Results of the semi-final allocation draw
  Participating countries in the first semi-final
  Pre-qualified for the final but also voting in the first semi-final
  Participating countries in the second semi-final[c]
  Pre-qualified for the final but also voting in the second semi-final

The draw that determined the semi-final running order was held on 25 January 2012 at the Buta Palace. The participating countries, excluding the automatic finalists (Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), were split into six pots, based upon how those countries voted in past contests. From these pots, half (or as close to half as possible) competed in the first semi-final on 22 May 2012. The other half in that particular pot competed in the second semi-final on 24 May 2012.[53] This draw also acted as an approximate running order, in order for the delegations from the countries to know when their rehearsals would commence and determine which semi-final the automatic finalists would be allowed to vote in.[54][55]

Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5Pot 6

Graphic design

Stage design of the contest.

The design of the contest was built around the motto "Light Your Fire!", inspired by the nickname of Azerbaijan itself, "Land of Fire".[56]

Each introductory video postcard began with a shot of the artist and performers, followed with the flag and country name in a handwritten font with a background resembling the yellow, orange and red fire of the 2012 theme art.[57] The postcards consisted of various shots of Azerbaijan, with a caption displaying 'Azerbaijan' and underneath 'Land of ...' (e.g. Land of Abundance; Land of Poetry etc.), which were then followed by the name of a town or geographic feature, showing the landscape and culture of the country.[57] Some postcards focused on the host city of Baku with text changing to 'Baku' and underneath 'City of ...' (e.g. City of Jazz; City of Leisure etc.). The postcards finished with a shot of the Crystal Hall displayed in the colours of the performing country's flag. These postcards acted as a tourism mechanism to present the country to a wider audience.[57][58]

The artist, song and number graphics as well as tables and voting graphics were kept the same as those used in 2011, with a slight modification to incorporate the 2012 theme art.[57] The lower points (1-7) were highlighted in red squares while the top points (8, 10, 12) were highlighted in orange squares with each square increasing in size in relation to the point value. Both sets of graphics were designed by London brand design agency Turquoise Branding.[59][60]

National host broadcaster

İctimai Television (İTV), which was the EBU member that broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan, is one of country's public-service broadcasters.[61][62] Deputy Minister of Communication and Information Technology of Azerbaijan, Iltimas Mammadov, stated that telecom networks were ready to host the event. Azerbaijan's largest telecommunications operator, Azercell, was chosen as the presenting partner for the contest.[63] On 1 December 2011, İTV named the German production company Brainpool as its official production partner for the contest, citing the quality of its work on the previous year's contest.[64]

Contest overview

Semi-final 1

Azerbaijan, Italy and Spain voted in the first semi-final.[53] The EBU allowed the Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) to defer transmission and only use jury votes due to the Qafa e Vishës bus accident.[65]

  Qualifiers
Results of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012[66][67]
R/OCountryArtistSongPointsPlace
1  MontenegroRambo Amadeus"Euro Neuro"2015
2  IcelandGreta Salóme and Jónsi"Never Forget"758
3  GreeceEleftheria Eleftheriou"Aphrodisiac"1164
4  LatviaAnmary"Beautiful Song"1716
5  AlbaniaRona Nishliu"Suus"1462
6  RomaniaMandinga"Zaleilah"1203
7   SwitzerlandSinplus"Unbreakable"4511
8  BelgiumIris"Would You?"1617
9  FinlandPernilla"När jag blundar"4112
10  IsraelIzabo"Time"3313
11  San MarinoValentina Monetta"The Social Network Song (Oh Oh – Uh – Oh Oh)"3114
12  CyprusIvi Adamou"La La Love"917
13  DenmarkSoluna Samay"Should've Known Better"639
14  RussiaBuranovskiye Babushki"Party for Everybody"1521
15  HungaryCompact Disco"Sound of Our Hearts"5210
16  AustriaTrackshittaz"Woki mit deim Popo"818
17  MoldovaPasha Parfeny"Lăutar"1005
18  IrelandJedward"Waterline"926

Semi-final 2

France, Germany and the United Kingdom voted in the second semi-final. Germany requested that they vote in this semi-final.[53] Before it withdrew, Armenia was drawn to perform in the first half of this semi-final.[16]

  Qualifiers
Results of the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012[66][68]
R/OCountryArtistSongPointsPlace
1  SerbiaŽeljko Joksimović"Nije ljubav stvar"1592
2  MacedoniaKaliopi"Crno i belo"539
3  NetherlandsJoan Franka"You and Me"3515
4  MaltaKurt Calleja"This Is the Night"707
5  BelarusLitesound"We Are the Heroes"3516
6  PortugalFilipa Sousa"Vida minha"3913
7  UkraineGaitana"Be My Guest"648
8  BulgariaSofi Marinova"Love Unlimited"4511
9  SloveniaEva Boto"Verjamem"3117
10  CroatiaNina Badrić"Nebo"4212
11  SwedenLoreen"Euphoria"1811
12  GeorgiaAnri Jokhadze"I'm a Joker"3614
13  TurkeyCan Bonomo"Love Me Back"805
14  EstoniaOtt Lepland"Kuula"1004
15  SlovakiaMax Jason Mai"Don't Close Your Eyes"2218
16  NorwayTooji"Stay"4510
17  Bosnia and HerzegovinaMaya Sar"Korake ti znam"776
18  LithuaniaDonny Montell"Love Is Blind"1043

Final

  Winner
Results of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012[66][69]
R/OCountryArtistSongPointsPlace
1  United KingdomEngelbert Humperdinck"Love Will Set You Free"1225
2  HungaryCompact Disco"Sound of Our Hearts"1924
3  AlbaniaRona Nishliu"Suus"1465
4  LithuaniaDonny Montell"Love Is Blind"7014
5  Bosnia and HerzegovinaMaya Sar"Korake ti znam"5518
6  RussiaBuranovskiye Babushki"Party for Everybody"2592
7  IcelandGreta Salóme and Jónsi"Never Forget"4620
8  CyprusIvi Adamou"La La Love"6516
9  FranceAnggun"Echo (You and I)"2122
10  ItalyNina Zilli"L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)"1019
11  EstoniaOtt Lepland"Kuula"1206
12  NorwayTooji"Stay"726
13  AzerbaijanSabina Babayeva"When the Music Dies"1504
14  RomaniaMandinga"Zaleilah"7112
15  DenmarkSoluna Samay"Should've Known Better"2123
16  GreeceEleftheria Eleftheriou"Aphrodisiac"6417
17  SwedenLoreen"Euphoria"3721
18  TurkeyCan Bonomo"Love Me Back"1127
19  SpainPastora Soler"Quédate conmigo"9710
20  GermanyRoman Lob"Standing Still"1108
21  MaltaKurt Calleja"This Is the Night"4121
22  MacedoniaKaliopi"Crno i belo"7113
23  IrelandJedward"Waterline"4619
24  SerbiaŽeljko Joksimović"Nije ljubav stvar"2143
25  UkraineGaitana"Be My Guest"6515
26  MoldovaPasha Parfeny"Lăutar"8111

Spokespersons

The order in which each country announced their vote was determined in a draw following the jury results from the final dress rehearsal. Similar to the 2011 contest an algorithm was used to add as much excitement as possible. The spokespersons are shown alongside each country.[70]

  1.  Albania – Andri Xhahu
  2.  Montenegro – Marija Marković
  3.  Romania – Paula Seling
  4.  Austria – Kati Bellowitsch
  5.  Ukraine – Oleksiy Matias
  6.  Belarus – Dmitry Koldun
  7.  Belgium – Peter Van de Veire
  8.  Azerbaijan – Safura Alizadeh
  9.  Malta – Keith Demicoli
  10.  San Marino – Monica Fabbri
  11.  France – Amaury Vassili
  12.  United Kingdom – Scott Mills
  13.  Turkey – Ömer Önder [tr]
  14.  Greece – Adriana Magania
  15.  Bosnia and Herzegovina – Elvir Laković Laka
  16.  Moldova – Olivia Fortuna
  17.  Bulgaria – Anna Angelova
  18.   Switzerland – Sara Hildebrand
  19.  Slovenia – Lorella Flego
  20.  Cyprus – Loucas Hamatsos
  21.  Croatia – Nevena Rendeli
  22.  Slovakia – Mária Pietrová
  23.  Macedonia – Kristina Talevska
  24.  Netherlands – Vivienne van den Assem
  25.  Portugal – Joana Teles
  26.  Iceland – Matthías Matthíasson
  27.  Sweden – Sarah Dawn Finer[71]
  28.  Norway – Nadia Hasnaoui
  29.  Lithuania – Ignas Krupavičius
  30.  Estonia – Getter Jaani
  31.  Denmark – Louise Wolff [da]
  32.  Latvia – Valters Frīdenbergs
  33.  Spain – Elena S. Sánchez
  34.  Finland – Mr Lordi
  35.  Georgia – Sopho Toroshelidze
  36.  Italy – Ivan Bacchi [it]
  37.  Serbia – Maja Nikolić [sr]
  38.  Germany – Anke Engelke
  39.  Russia – Oxana Fedorova
  40.  Hungary – Éva Novodomszky
  41.  Israel – Ofer Nachshon
  42.  Ireland – Gráinne Seoige[d]

Detailed voting results

The EBU and PwC audit company checked and verified the individual jury and televoting results, which were combined to create the overall national vote for the contests. On 18 June 2012, the EBU published the following results.[72][73]

Semi-final 1

  Qualifiers
Split results of semi-final 1[73]
PlaceCombinedJuryTelevoting
CountryPointsCountryPointsCountryPoints
1  Russia152  Albania131  Russia189
2  Albania146  Moldova107  Romania132
3  Romania120  Greece103  Albania131
4  Greece116  Cyprus90  Ireland116
5  Moldova100  Romania87  Greece110
6  Ireland92  Denmark81  Cyprus99
7  Cyprus91  Hungary76  Moldova85
8  Iceland75  Russia75  Iceland79
9  Denmark63  Israel72  Denmark53
10  Hungary52  Ireland72   Switzerland49
11   Switzerland45  Iceland70  Hungary39
12  Finland41  Finland57  Finland36
13  Israel33   Switzerland45  San Marino25
14  San Marino31  San Marino42  Montenegro24
15  Montenegro20  Belgium38  Latvia18
16  Latvia17  Montenegro28  Israel16
17  Belgium16  Austria27  Austria15
18  Austria8  Latvia17  Belgium2
Detailed voting results of semi-final 1[74][75]
Total score
Montenegro
Iceland
Greece
Latvia
Albania
Romania
Switzerland
Belgium
Finland
Israel
San Marino
Cyprus
Denmark
Russia
Hungary
Austria
Moldova
Ireland
Azerbaijan
Italy
Spain
Contestants
Montenegro20128
Iceland75555451043810142216
Greece11610581238371245110101053
Latvia1724443
Albania146123104412105510107210121112124
Romania1207485248661835121271012
Switzerland4527321128388
Belgium16421261
Finland417611128123
Israel33153136572
San Marino314210753
Cyprus91612123673110735178
Denmark638183108443176
Russia1528671268121212271271068827
Hungary527866455452
Austria8152
Moldova100362410766536122626410
Ireland92110310777122106845

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the first semi-final:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points
5  Albania  Austria,  Azerbaijan,  Italy,  Montenegro,   Switzerland
 Russia  Belgium,  Denmark,  Finland,  Israel,  Latvia
3  Romania  Ireland,  Moldova,  Spain
2  Cyprus  Greece,  Iceland
 Greece  Cyprus,  Romania
1  Finland  Hungary
 Ireland  San Marino
 Moldova  Russia
 Montenegro  Albania

Semi-final 2

  Qualifiers
Split results of semi-final 2[73]
PlaceCombinedJuryTelevoting
CountryPointsCountryPointsCountryPoints
1  Sweden181  Sweden145  Sweden180
2  Serbia159  Serbia141  Serbia148
3  Lithuania104  Ukraine109  Lithuania128
4  Estonia100  Estonia102  Turkey114
5  Turkey80  Malta97  Estonia88
6  Bosnia and Herzegovina77  Bosnia and Herzegovina77  Norway72
7  Malta70  Croatia66  Bosnia and Herzegovina70
8  Ukraine64  Georgia62  Macedonia63
9  Macedonia53  Macedonia58  Bulgaria59
10  Norway45[e]  Lithuania55  Netherlands51
11  Bulgaria45[e]  Belarus52  Malta39
12  Croatia42  Portugal49  Belarus37
13  Portugal39  Turkey42  Portugal37
14  Georgia36  Slovenia40  Croatia34
15  Netherlands35[f]  Slovakia40  Slovakia32
16  Belarus35[f]  Netherlands31  Slovenia27
17  Slovenia31  Bulgaria27  Ukraine24
18  Slovakia22  Norway25  Georgia15
Detailed voting results of semi-final 2[76][77]
Total score
Serbia
Macedonia
Netherlands
Malta
Belarus
Portugal
Ukraine
Bulgaria
Slovenia
Croatia
Sweden
Georgia
Turkey
Estonia
Slovakia
Norway
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lithuania
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Contestants
Serbia15912105888121210810181010212103
Macedonia538125767188
Netherlands3521773384
Malta703225664544632612
Belarus3511412287
Portugal396331554183
Ukraine6443612251665122522
Bulgaria4526261063325
Slovenia31104854
Croatia42127118121
Sweden181781287107101061251212127106128
Georgia3661103412
Turkey801071228732316766
Estonia100841233112710881077
Slovakia22174361
Norway45333321048414
Bosnia and Herzegovina7755551512521264451
Lithuania104641010744742521077510

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the second semi-final:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points
6  Sweden  Estonia,  Georgia,  Germany,  Netherlands,  Norway,  Slovakia
4  Serbia  Bulgaria,  France,  Macedonia,  Slovenia
2  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia,  Turkey
 Croatia  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Serbia
 Estonia  Portugal,  Sweden
1  Belarus  Ukraine
 Georgia  Lithuania
 Malta  United Kingdom
 Turkey  Malta
 Ukraine  Belarus

Final

  Winner
Split results of the final[73]
PlaceCombinedJuryTelevoting
CountryPointsCountryPointsCountryPoints
1  Sweden372  Sweden296  Sweden343
2  Russia259  Serbia173  Russia332
3  Serbia214  Albania157  Serbia211
4  Azerbaijan150  Italy157  Turkey176
5  Albania146  Spain154  Azerbaijan151
6  Estonia120  Estonia152  Germany125
7  Turkey112  Ukraine125  Romania117
8  Germany110  Azerbaijan118  Albania106
9  Italy101  Moldova104  Greece89
10  Spain97  Germany98  Ireland89
11  Moldova81  Russia94  Macedonia79
12  Romania71[g]  Cyprus85  Estonia78
13  Macedonia71[g]  France85  Moldova75
14  Lithuania70  Lithuania82  Lithuania68
15  Ukraine65  Bosnia and Herzegovina71  Cyprus63
16  Cyprus65  Malta70  Bosnia and Herzegovina57
17  Greece64  Macedonia69  Italy56
18  Bosnia and Herzegovina55  Greece60  Spain45
19  Ireland46  Iceland53  Iceland39
20  Iceland46  Romania53  Ukraine37
21  Malta41  Denmark51  United Kingdom36
22  France21  Turkey50  Hungary20
23  Denmark21  Hungary30  Denmark18
24  Hungary19  Norway24  Norway16
25  United Kingdom12  Ireland14  Malta10
26  Norway7  United Kingdom11  France0
Detailed voting results of the final[78][79]
Total score
Albania
Montenegro
Romania
Austria
Ukraine
Belarus
Belgium
Azerbaijan
Malta
San Marino
France
United Kingdom
Turkey
Greece
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Moldova
Bulgaria
Switzerland
Slovenia
Cyprus
Croatia
Slovakia
Macedonia
Netherlands
Portugal
Iceland
Sweden
Norway
Lithuania
Estonia
Denmark
Latvia
Spain
Finland
Georgia
Italy
Serbia
Germany
Russia
Hungary
Israel
Ireland
Contestants
United Kingdom121524
Hungary1971182
Albania1461018101125106412345121516312168
Lithuania70184437516341257
Bosnia and Herzegovina5567101710275
Russia2593445101281031043743668563448778688108851077776
Iceland464145664736
Cyprus656221281255823
France21226623
Italy10172410713555225524473142542
Estonia1201410421077108788610468
Norway7313
Azerbaijan15045127124212571010862121031081
Romania713624712341107165
Denmark21522525
Greece6412852531411214132
Sweden372571012661276312126687871010712612312121012121212128101212121212
Turkey11210337128551473886127831
Spain9766616853866122443110
Germany11024276424210331010731281010
Malta41738252176
Macedonia7188328122681112
Ireland46141103545454
Serbia214112510255688103121012712710105310105261044
Ukraine6510371831121626383
Moldova81312185822116774725

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the grand final:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points
18  Sweden  Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Hungary,  Iceland,  Ireland,  Israel,  Latvia,  Netherlands,  Norway,  Russia,  Slovakia,  Spain,  United Kingdom
4  Albania  Macedonia,  Italy,  San Marino,   Switzerland
 Azerbaijan  Lithuania,  Malta,  Turkey,  Ukraine
 Serbia  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Montenegro,  Slovenia
2  Cyprus  Greece,  Sweden
 Greece  Albania,  Cyprus
 Macedonia  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Serbia
1  Lithuania  Georgia
 Moldova  Romania
 Romania  Moldova
 Russia  Belarus
 Spain  Portugal
 Turkey  Azerbaijan

Broadcasts

Most countries sent commentators to Baku or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, the provision of voting information.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Show(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)
 AlbaniaRTSHTVSHAll showsAndri Xhahu
 AustriaORFORF einsAll showsAndi Knoll[80][81][82]
FinalStermann and Grissemann and Lukas Plöchl [de]
 AzerbaijanİTVAll showsKonul Arifgizi and Saleh Baghirov [az][83]
 BelarusBTRCBelarus-1All showsDenis Kurian
 BelgiumVRTéén, Radio 2All showsAndré Vermeulen and Peter Van de Veire[84]
RTBFLa UneJean-Pierre Hautier and Jean-Louis Lahaye [fr][85]
 Bosnia and HerzegovinaBHRTBHT 1All showsDejan Kukrić[86]
 BulgariaBNT All showsGeorgi Kushvaliev and Elena Rosberg
 CroatiaHRTHRT 1All showsDuško Ćurlić
 CyprusCyBCRIK 1All showsMelina Karageorgiou[87]
 DenmarkDRDR1, DR HDAll showsOle Tøpholm[88]
 EstoniaERRETVAll showsMarko Reikop
 FinlandYLEYLE TV2, YLE HD [fi]All shows
  • Finnish: Tarja Närhi [fi] and Tobias Larsson
  • Swedish: Eva Frantz [fi] and Johan Lindroos
[89][90]
YLE Radio SuomiSanna Kojo and Jorma Hietamäki
Yle Radio VegaEva Frantz [fi] and Johan Lindroos
 FranceFrance TélévisionsFrance3.frSF1[91]
France ÔSF2Audrey Chauveau [fr] and Bruno Berberes [fr]
France 3FinalCyril Féraud and Mireille Dumas[91][92]
Radio FranceFrance BleuFabien Lecœuvre [fr] and Serge Poezevara
 GeorgiaGPB1TVAll showsTemo Kvirkvelia
 GermanyARDDas ErsteAll showsPeter Urban[93]
NDRNDR 2Thomas Mohr[94]
HRhr3Tim Frühling[95]
 GreeceERTNETAll showsMaria Kozakou[96]
 HungaryMTVAm1All showsGábor Gundel Takács [hu][97]
 IcelandRÚVSjónvarpiðAll showsHrafnhildur Halldorsdóttir[98]
 IrelandRTÉRTÉ TwoSemi-finalsMarty Whelan[99][100]
RTÉ OneFinal
RTÉ Radio 1Shay Byrne and Zbyszek Zalinski[101]
 IsraelIBA All showsNo commentary
 ItalyRAIRai 5SF1Federica Gentile [it][102]
Rai 2FinalFilippo Solibello [it] and Marco Ardemagni [it][103]
 LatviaLTVLTV1All showsValters Frīdenbergs[104]
FinalKārlis Būmeisters[105]
 LithuaniaLRT All showsDarius Užkuraitis [lt]
 MacedoniaMRTMRT 1All showsKarolina Petkovska[106]
 MaltaPBSTVMAll showsElaine Saliba and Ronald Briffa
 MoldovaTRMMoldova 1All showsMarcel Spătari
 MontenegroRTCGTVCG 1SF1/FinalDražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković[107][108]
TVCG 2SF2[109]
TVCG MNEAll shows[110][111][112]
 NetherlandsNPONederland 1All showsJan Smit and Daniël Dekker[113][114]
 NorwayNRKNRK1All showsOlav Viksmo-Slettan[115]
 PortugalRTPRTP1All showsPedro Granger [pt][116]
 RomaniaTVRTVR 1All showsLeonard Miron and Gianina Corondan[117]
 RussiaRTRRussia-1All showsOlga Shelest [ru] and Dmitry Guberniev[118]
 San MarinoSMRTVSMtv San MarinoAll showsLia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo[119]
 SerbiaRTSRTS1, RTS SatSF1Dragan Ilić[120][121][122][123]
SF2/FinalDuška Vučinić-Lučić
 SlovakiaRTVSJednotka, Rádio SlovenskoAll showsRoman Bomboš
Rádio FMFinalDaniel Baláž [sk] and Pavol Hubinák[124]
 SloveniaRTVSLOTV SLO 2 [sl]Semi-finalsAndrej Hofer [sl][125][126]
TV SLO 1 [sl]Final[127]
 SpainRTVELa 2SF1José María Íñigo[128]
La 1Final
 SwedenSVTSVT1All showsGina Dirawi and Edward af Sillén[129]
SRSR P3Carolina Norén and Björn Kjellman
  SwitzerlandSRG SSRSF zweiSF1/FinalSven Epiney[130]
RTS DeuxJean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner[131]
RSI La 2SF1Clarissa Tami [it] and Paolo Meneguzzi[132]
RSI La 1Final
 TurkeyTRTTRT 1, TRT HD, TRT Türk, TRT Müzik, TRT AvazAll showsBülend Özveren and Erhan Konuk [tr][133]
 UkraineNTUPershyi NatsionalnyiAll showsTimur Miroshnychenko and Tetyana Terekhova[134]
 United KingdomBBCBBC ThreeSemi-finalsScott Mills and Sara Cox[135]
BBC OneFinalGraham Norton[136]
BBC Radio 2Ken Bruce[137]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Show(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)
 ArmeniaAMPTVArmenia 1All showsGohar Gasparyan and Artur Grigoryan[138]
 AustraliaSBSSBS OneAll shows[h]Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang[139][140]

Incidents

Human rights concerns

Azerbaijan's large investment in hosting the Eurovision contest was widely discussed in Western media as an attempt to "mitigate misgivings about its poor democracy and human rights record".[141][142] Elnur Majidli, an activist imprisoned during the Arab Spring-inspired 2011 Azerbaijani protests, was released in an apparent effort to soften Azerbaijan's image ahead of the contest, but many political prisoners remained.[142] Human Rights Watch reported a "violent crackdown on protesters" on the eve of the contest,[143] and Amnesty International condemned the "stern crackdown of freedom of expression, dissent, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), critical journalists, in fact anyone who criticised the Aliyev regime too strongly" that continued up to the contest.[144]

Human Rights Watch also criticised the Azerbaijani government and the Baku City Authority for carrying out forced evictions against local residents, in order to allow for the demolition of flats to make way for construction in the neighbourhood where the Baku Crystal Hall was built.[145] The Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy, a transparency and economic rights campaign group, had described the evictions as a "violation of human rights", and as having "no legal authority". However, in a statement to the BBC, the EBU said that on a recent visit to Baku they had observed "that the construction of the concert hall [which] media reports refer to was already well under way on a clean construction site and thus there are no demolitions needed".[146] The EBU cited the "apolitical" nature of the contest and the Azerbaijani government's claim that the construction was not tied to the contest.[145]

The contest's eventual winner Loreen met local human rights activists during the event weeks, the only entrant to do so. She later told reporters, "Human rights are violated in Azerbaijan every day. One should not be silent about such things."[144] An Azerbaijan government spokesman criticized her in response, saying that the contest should not "be politicised" and requested the EBU prevented further meetings of a similar nature.[147] Swedish diplomats replied that the EBU, the Swedish broadcaster SVT and Loreen had not acted against the competition's rules.[148]

On 26 May, a flash mob of anti-government protesters were quickly dispersed by police.[141] Activists expressed fears that they would face a crackdown when the international spotlight left Azerbaijan again at the end of the contest.[142] Before presenting the results of the German vote, the German spokesperson Anke Engelke gave a live statement that alluded to the human rights issues in Azerbaijan, saying: "Tonight nobody could vote for their own country. But it is good to be able to vote. And it is good to have a choice. Good luck on your journey, Azerbaijan. Europe is watching you."[149][150]

Tensions with Iran

Iranian officials objected to Azerbaijan hosting the contest, with Iranian clerics Ayatollah Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari and Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani condemning Azerbaijan for "anti-Islamic behaviour", while also claiming that Azerbaijan was hosting a gay parade.[151] This led to protests in front of Iranian embassy in Baku, where protesters carried slogans mocking the Iranian leaders. Ali Hasanov, head of the public and political issues department in Azerbaijani president's administration, said that gay parade claims were untrue, and advised Iran not to meddle in Azerbaijan's internal affairs.[152] In response, Iran recalled its ambassador from Baku,[153] while Azerbaijan demanded a formal apology from Iran for its statements in connection with Baku's hosting of the contest,[154] and later also recalled its ambassador from Iran.[155]

On 30 May, the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan announced that they had thwarted a series of planned terror attacks against the contest, among the targets being Baku Crystal Hall, as well as Marriott and Hilton hotels in Baku.[156] On 22 August, The Daily Telegraph reported that according to Western intelligence services, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei personally gave orders to the elite Quds Force unit to launch terrorist attacks against the West and its allies, including Azerbaijan during the contest.[157]

Other awards

In addition to the main winner's trophy, the Marcel Bezençon Awards and the Barbara Dex Award were contested during the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The OGAE, "General Organisation of Eurovision Fans" voting poll also took place before the contest.

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and 1984 winner Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest's final.[158] The awards are divided into three categories: Artistic Award, Composers Award, and Press Award.[159]

CategoryCountrySongPerformer(s)Composer(s)
Artistic Award  Sweden"Euphoria"Loreen
Composers Award
Press Award  Azerbaijan"When the Music Dies"Sabina Babayeva

OGAE

OGAE, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll first held in 2002 as the Marcel Bezençon Fan Award. After all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry in the 2012 poll was also the winner of the contest, "Euphoria" performed by Loreen; the top five results are shown below.[160][161][162]

CountrySongPerformer(s)OGAE result
 Sweden"Euphoria"Loreen375
 Italy"L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)"Nina Zilli212
 Iceland"Never Forget"Greta Salóme and Jónsi211
 Serbia"Nije ljubav stvar"Željko Joksimović199
 Norway"Stay"Tooji164

Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award is a humorous fan award given to the worst dressed artist each year. Named after Belgium's representative who came last in the 1993 contest, wearing her self-designed dress, the award was handed by the fansite House of Eurovision from 1997 to 2016 and is being carried out by the fansite songfestival.be since 2017.[163][164]

PlaceCountryPerformer(s)Votes
1  AlbaniaRona Nishliu829
2  IrelandJedward551
3  BulgariaSofi Marinova232
4  NetherlandsJoan Franka163
5  UkraineGaitana145

Official album

Cover art of the official album

Eurovision Song Contest: Baku 2012 was a compilation album put together by the European Broadcasting Union, and released by Universal Music Group on 4 May 2012. The album featured all 42 songs that entered in the 2012 contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.[165]

Charts

Chart (2012)Peak
position
German Compilation Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[166]2

See also

Notes

References

40°20′39″N 49°51′01″E / 40.3442°N 49.8502°E / 40.3442; 49.8502