Eurovision Song Contest 2012

The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following Ell & Nikki's win at the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany with the song "Running Scared". It was the first time Azerbaijan had 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 the grand final on 26 May 2012. The three live shows were hosted by Leyla Aliyeva, Eldar Gasimov and Nargiz Birk-Petersen.[4][5] It was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in a South Caucasus country.

Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Light Your Fire!
Dates
Semi-final 122 May 2012 (2012-05-22)
Semi-final 224 May 2012 (2012-05-24)
Grand 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)
Opening actGrand final: Alim Qasimov performing a short mugham intro followed by traditional Azerbaijani dancers, Ell & Nikki with "Running Scared"
Interval act
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/baku-2012
Participants
Number of entries42
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countries Montenegro
Non-returning countries
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Nul pointsNone
Winning song

Forty-two countries participated in the contest – one less than the record number of 43 set at the previous 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 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. This was Sweden's fifth victory in the contest, following their wins in 1974, 1984, 1991 and 1999. Russia, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Albania rounded out the top five. Albania achieved their best result in their Eurovision history. 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, along with objections to the contest's presence by Iranian officials – who felt that the event was anti-Islamic because it was, according to them, a "gay parade".

Location

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 & Nikki.[6][7] 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.[8][9] 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.[10] 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.[11] Even though the full cost of the contract was not named, the government allocated 6 million AZN for the construction of the venue.[12]

Baku Crystal Hall, Baku - host venue of the 2012 contest.

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.[13] On 25 January 2012, it was confirmed that the Baku Crystal Hall would be the venue of the contest.[14] Even though the venue had an extended capacity of 23,000 people, only 16,000 people were able to attend each show.[14] Tickets for the contest became available online for purchase on 28 February 2012.[15][16]

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,[17] 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.[18]

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.[18][19][20]

Semi-final allocation draw

Semi-final allocation draw ceremony at the Buta Palace in Baku.

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.[21] 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.[22][23]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6
1.^ Armenia withdrew after the semi-final allocation draw.

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".[24]

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.[25] 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.[25] 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.[25][26]

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.[25] 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.[27][28]

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.[29][30] 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.[31] 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.[32]

Participating countries

  Countries in the first semi-final
  Countries voting in the first semi-final
  Countries in the second semi-final
  Countries voting in the second semi-final

On 17 January 2012, the EBU announced that initially forty-three countries would take part in the 2012 contest.[33] The 57th edition saw the return of Montenegro, who was last represented by Andrea Demirović in 2009.[34] 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.[33] Armenia, who had originally planned to participate, later withdrew their application due to security fears of the continuous Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, subsequently reducing the number of participating countries to 42.[35]

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.[36][37] Kaliopi would then go on to represent Macedonia once more at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

Jónsi for Iceland[38] and Željko Joksimović for Serbia[39] 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.[40]

For a second consecutive year Jedward participated for Ireland, after their 8th-place finish at the 2011 Contest with the song "Lipstick".[41][42]

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.[43][44] The song, however, only came eighth in a closely fought national selection. Assia attended the event in Baku as a guest of honour.[45]

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.

Semi-final 1

Azerbaijan, Italy and Spain voted in the first semi-final.[21] The EBU allowed the Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) to defer transmission and only use jury votes due to a serious bus accident in the country.[46]

Draw[47] Country[33] Artist[48] Song[48] Language[49] Place Points
01  Montenegro Rambo Amadeus "Euro Neuro" English2 15 20
02  Iceland Greta Salóme and Jónsi "Never Forget" English 8 75
03  Greece Eleftheria Eleftheriou "Aphrodisiac" English 4 116
04  Latvia Anmary "Beautiful Song" English 16 17
05  Albania Rona Nishliu "Suus"3 Albanian 2 146
06  Romania Mandinga "Zaleilah" Spanish, English 3 120
07   Switzerland Sinplus "Unbreakable" English 11 45
08  Belgium Iris "Would You?" English 17 16
09  Finland Pernilla Karlsson "När jag blundar" Swedish 12 41
10  Israel Izabo "Time" English, Hebrew 13 33
11  San Marino Valentina Monetta "The Social Network Song (Oh Oh – Uh - Oh Oh)" English4 14 31
12  Cyprus Ivi Adamou "La La Love" English 7 91
13  Denmark Soluna Samay "Should've Known Better" English 9 63
14  Russia Buranovskiye Babushki "Party for Everybody" Udmurt, English 1 152
15  Hungary Compact Disco "Sound of Our Hearts" English 10 52
16  Austria Trackshittaz "Woki mit deim Popo" German5 18 8
17  Moldova Pasha Parfeny "Lăutar" English6 5 100
18  Ireland Jedward "Waterline" English 6 92

Notes

2.^ Contained some phrases in Montenegrin and German.
3.^ Although the song was completely in Albanian, the title is in Latin.
4.^ Contained some phrases in Italian.
5.^ Specifically Mühlviertlerisch, a Central Bavarian dialect spoken in Upper Austria.
6.^ Although the song was completely in English, the title was in Romanian.

Semi-final 2

France, Germany and the United Kingdom voted in the second semi-final. Germany requested that they vote in this semi-final.[21] Before it withdrew, Armenia was drawn to perform in the first half of this semi-final.[35]

Draw[47] Country[33] Artist[48] Song[48] Language[49] Place Points
01  Serbia Željko Joksimović "Nije ljubav stvar" (Није љубав ствар) Serbian 2 159
02  Macedonia Kaliopi "Crno i belo" (Црно и бело) Macedonian 9 53
03  Netherlands Joan Franka "You and Me" English 15 35
04  Malta Kurt Calleja "This Is the Night" English 7 70
05  Belarus Litesound "We Are the Heroes" English 16 35
06  Portugal Filipa Sousa "Vida minha" Portuguese 13 39
07  Ukraine Gaitana "Be My Guest" English 8 64
08  Bulgaria Sofi Marinova "Love Unlimited" Bulgarian8 119 45
09  Slovenia Eva Boto "Verjamem" Slovene 17 31
10  Croatia Nina Badrić "Nebo" Croatian 12 42
11  Sweden Loreen "Euphoria" English 1 181
12  Georgia Anri Jokhadze "I'm a Joker" English, Georgian 14 36
13  Turkey Can Bonomo "Love Me Back" English 5 80
14  Estonia Ott Lepland "Kuula" Estonian 4 100
15  Slovakia Max Jason Mai "Don't Close Your Eyes" English 18 22
16  Norway Tooji "Stay" English 109 45
17  Bosnia and Herzegovina Maya Sar "Korake ti znam" Bosnian 6 77
18  Lithuania Donny Montell "Love Is Blind" English 3 104

Notes

8.^ The song also contained phrases in Arabic, Azerbaijani, English, French, Greek, Italian, Romani, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish and Turkish.[50]
9.^ Bulgaria received the same number of points as 10th placed Norway. In accordance with the applicable tiebreak rule, as the number of countries that voted for Norway (11) was higher than the number for Bulgaria (10), this resulted in Norway qualifying to the grand final over Bulgaria.

Grand final

Draw[47] Country[33] Artist[48] Song[48] Language[49] Place Points
01  United Kingdom Engelbert Humperdinck "Love Will Set You Free" English 25 12
02  Hungary Compact Disco "Sound of Our Hearts" English 24 19
03  Albania Rona Nishliu "Suus"3 Albanian 5 146
04  Lithuania Donny Montell "Love Is Blind" English 14 70
05  Bosnia and Herzegovina Maya Sar "Korake ti znam" Bosnian 18 55
06  Russia Buranovskiye Babushki "Party for Everybody" Udmurt, English 2 259
07  Iceland Greta Salóme and Jónsi "Never Forget" English 20 46
08  Cyprus Ivi Adamou "La La Love" English 16 65
09  France Anggun "Echo (You and I)" French, English 22 21
10  Italy Nina Zilli "L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)" English, Italian 9 101
11  Estonia Ott Lepland "Kuula" Estonian 6 120
12  Norway Tooji "Stay" English 26 7
13  Azerbaijan Sabina Babayeva "When the Music Dies" English 4 150
14  Romania Mandinga "Zaleilah" Spanish, English 12 71
15  Denmark Soluna Samay "Should've Known Better" English 23 21
16  Greece Eleftheria Eleftheriou "Aphrodisiac" English 17 64
17  Sweden Loreen "Euphoria" English 1 372
18  Turkey Can Bonomo "Love Me Back" English 7 112
19  Spain Pastora Soler "Quédate conmigo (Stay With Me)" Spanish 10 97
20  Germany Roman Lob "Standing Still" English 8 110
21  Malta Kurt Calleja "This Is the Night" English 21 41
22  Macedonia Kaliopi "Crno i belo" (Црно и бело) Macedonian 13 71
23  Ireland Jedward "Waterline" English 19 46
24  Serbia Željko Joksimović "Nije ljubav stvar" (Није љубав ствар) Serbian 3 214
25  Ukraine Gaitana "Be My Guest" English 15 65
26  Moldova Pasha Parfeny "Lăutar" English7 11 81

Scoreboard

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.[51][52]

Semi-final 1

Voting results[53]
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
Montenegro 20128
Iceland 75555451043810142216
Greece 11610581238371245110101053
Latvia 1724443
Albania 146123104412105510107210121112124
Romania 1207485248661835121271012
Switzerland 4527321128388
Belgium 16421261
Finland 417611128123
Israel 33153136572
San Marino 314210753
Cyprus 91612123673110735178
Denmark 638183108443176
Russia 1528671268121212271271068827
Hungary 527866455452
Austria 8152
Moldova 100362410766536122626410
Ireland 92110310777122106845

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 AlbaniaAustria, Azerbaijan, Italy, Montenegro, Switzerland
RussiaBelgium, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Latvia
3RomaniaIreland, Moldova, Spain
2 CyprusGreece, Iceland
GreeceCyprus, Romania
1 FinlandHungary
IrelandSan Marino
MoldovaRussia
MontenegroAlbania

Semi-final 2

Voting results[54]
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
Serbia 15912105888121210810181010212103
Macedonia 538125767188
Netherlands 3521773384
Malta 703225664544632612
Belarus 3511412287
Portugal 396331554183
Ukraine 6443612251665122522
Bulgaria 4526261063325
Slovenia 31104854
Croatia 42127118121
Sweden 181781287107101061251212127106128
Georgia 3661103412
Turkey 801071228732316766
Estonia 100841233112710881077
Slovakia 22174361
Norway 45333321048414
Bosnia and Herzegovina 7755551512521264451
Lithuania 104641010744742521077510

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
6SwedenEstonia, Georgia, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia
4SerbiaBulgaria, France, Macedonia, Slovenia
2 Bosnia and HerzegovinaCroatia, Turkey
CroatiaBosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia
EstoniaPortugal, Sweden
1 BelarusUkraine
GeorgiaLithuania
MaltaUnited Kingdom
TurkeyMalta
UkraineBelarus

Grand final

Voting results[55]
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 Kingdom 121524
Hungary 1971182
Albania 1461018101125106412345121516312168
Lithuania 70184437516341257
Bosnia and Herzegovina 5567101710275
Russia 2593445101281031043743668563448778688108851077776
Iceland 464145664736
Cyprus 656221281255823
France 21226623
Italy 10172410713555225524473142542
Estonia 1201410421077108788610468
Norway 7313
Azerbaijan 15045127124212571010862121031081
Romania 713624712341107165
Denmark 21522525
Greece 6412852531411214132
Sweden 372571012661276312126687871010712612312121012121212128101212121212
Turkey 11210337128551473886127831
Spain 9766616853866122443110
Germany 11024276424210331010731281010
Malta 41738252176
Macedonia 7188328122681112
Ireland 46141103545454
Serbia 214112510255688103121012712710105310105261044
Ukraine 6510371831121626383
Moldova 81312185822116774725
Vertically, the table is ordered by appearance in the grand final. Horizontally, the table is ordered by voting order.

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the grand final:[55]

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points
18SwedenAustria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom
4AlbaniaMacedonia, Italy, San Marino, Switzerland
AzerbaijanLithuania, Malta, Turkey, Ukraine
SerbiaBulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia
2CyprusGreece, Sweden
GreeceAlbania, Cyprus
MacedoniaBosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia
1LithuaniaGeorgia
MoldovaRomania
RomaniaMoldova
RussiaBelarus
SpainPortugal
TurkeyAzerbaijan

No country took nul points (receiving 0 points total) when both scores were added together, but France received 0 points at the televoting stage.

Other countries

  •  Andorra – On 19 October 2011, Andorra announced that there are no plans for the country to participate in 2012 due to financial difficulties; the country also had planned to withdraw from the EBU entirely.[56][57]
  •  Armenia – On 7 March 2012, the EBU announced that Armenian Public Television (ARMTV) had decided to withdraw from participation despite originally being included in the list of participating countries. Its decision came after President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan gave a speech on 28 February 2012 when he stated "Our main enemies are Armenians of the world and the hypocritical and corrupt politicians under their control."[58][59][60] The country was consequently fined by the EBU and were expected to face further penalties, such as exclusion from participation in future contests if it failed to comply with the EBU requirements.[61][62] Armenia had been in a continuous state of war with Azerbaijan since the early 1990s because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[63]
  •  Czech Republic – On 24 November 2011, it was reported that the Czech Republic would not compete at the 2012 contest, following the release of a television schedule by Česká televize (ČT).[64]
  •  Liechtenstein – On 26 November 2011, it was announced that two official EBU documents, published in March and October 2011, showed Liechtenstein's only national broadcaster 1FLTV as being granted active EBU membership, sparking speculations of a début for the nation.[65] However, on 29 November 2011, these documents were later confirmed as editing mistakes, and thus a début had yet to be planned.[66]
  •  Luxembourg – On 31 December 2011, RTL Luxembourg confirmed that Luxembourg would not participate at the Eurovision in Baku.[67]
  •  Monaco – It had been reported on 23 November 2011, at an EBU meeting in Geneva, that Monaco were considering a return to the 2012 contest.[68] However, on 3 December 2011, Phil Bosco, a former head of delegation told a French-speaking website that the Monegasque national broadcaster Télé Monte Carlo (TMC) did not intend to return to the Eurovision Song Contest any time in the near future, as there were no financial budget available.[69]
  •  Morocco – In an interview with the French delegation it had been revealed that Morocco were "likely to return" to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 with a new broadcaster 2M TV.[70] Reports about the proposed return of Morocco to the contest, after an absence of more than 30 years, were further enhanced at an EBU meeting in Geneva.[68][71]
  •  Poland – On 16 December 2011, it had been reported on the official Facebook page of Telewizja Polska (TVP) that Poland were not returning for the 2012 contest.[72] This was confirmed a few days later, stating that the broadcaster had decided to focus on the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship (which Poland co-hosted with Ukraine) and Summer Olympics. TVP stated that a return in 2013 has not been ruled out.[73][74][75]

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".[76][77] 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.[77] Human Rights Watch reported a "violent crackdown on protesters" on the eve of the contest,[78] 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.[79]

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.[80] 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, Eurovision 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".[81] The EBU cited the "apolitical" nature of the contest and the Azerbaijani government's claim that the construction was not tied to the Eurovision Song Contest.[80]

The festival's winner Loreen met local human rights activists during the contest, 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."[79] An Azerbaijan government spokesman criticized her in response, saying that the contest should not "be politicised"[79] and requested the EBU prevented further meetings of a similar nature.[82] Swedish diplomats replied that the EBU, Swedish TV and Loreen had not acted against the competition's rules.[83]

On 26 May, a flash mob of anti-government protesters were quickly dispersed by police.[76] Activists expressed fears that they would face a crackdown when the international spotlight left Azerbaijan again at the end of the contest.[77] Before submitting the results of the German vote, the presenter from Germany 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."[84][85]

Tensions with Iran

Iranian officials objected to Azerbaijan hosting the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. Iranian clerics Ayatollah Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari and Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani condemned Azerbaijan for "anti-Islamic behaviour", claiming that Azerbaijan were going to host a gay parade.[86] 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.[87] In response, Iran recalled its ambassador from Baku,[88] while Azerbaijan demanded a formal apology from Iran for its statements in connection with Baku's hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest,[89] and later also recalled its ambassador from Iran.[90]

On 30 May, the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan announced that they had thwarted a series of planned terror attacks against the Eurovision Song Contest, among the targets being Baku Crystal Hall, as well as Marriott and Hilton hotels in Baku.[91] 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 Eurovision Song Contest.[92]

Other awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards were first handed out during the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia honoring the best competing songs in the grand final. Founded by Christer Björkman (Sweden's representative in the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest and current Head of Delegation for Sweden) and Richard Herrey (member of the Herreys, Eurovision Song Contest 1984 winner from Sweden), the awards were named after the creator of the annual competition, Marcel Bezençon.[93] The awards were divided into three categories; Press Award; Artistic Award; and Composer Award.[94]

Category Country Song Performer(s) Composer(s)
Artists Award  Sweden "Euphoria" Loreen Thomas G:son, Peter Boström
Composer Award
Press Award  Azerbaijan "When the Music Dies" Sabina Babayeva Anders Bagge, Sandra Bjurman, Stefan Örn, Johan Kronlund

OGAE

Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision (more commonly known as OGAE) is an international organisation that was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jari-Pekka Koikkalainen.[95] The organisation consisted of a network of 40 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit company.[96] In what had become an annual tradition for the OGAE fan clubs, a voting poll was opened allowing members from the respective clubs to vote for their favourite songs of the 2012 contest. Below are the top five overall results, after all the votes had been cast.[97]

Country Song Performer(s) Composer(s) OGAE result
 Sweden "Euphoria" Loreen Thomas G:son, Peter Boström 375
 Italy "L'amore è femmina" Nina Zilli Christian Rabb, Kristoffer Sjökvist, Frida Molander, Charlie Mason 212
 Iceland "Never Forget" Gréta Salóme & Jónsi Gréta Salóme 211
 Serbia "Nije ljubav stvar" Željko Joksimović Željko Joksimović 199
 Norway "Stay" Tooji Tooji Keshtkar, Peter Boström and Figge Boström 164

Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award has been annually awarded by the fan website House of Eurovision since 1997, and is a humorous award given to the worst dressed artist each year in the contest. It is named after the Belgian singer Barbara Dex, who came last in the 1993 contest wearing her own self-designed and often-mocked dress.[98]

Place[99] Country[99] Performer(s)[99] Votes[99]
1  Albania Rona Nishliu 829
2  Ireland Jedward 551
3  Bulgaria Sofi Marinova 232
4  Netherlands Joan Franka 163
5  Ukraine Gaitana 145

International broadcasts and voting

Voting and 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.[100]

  1.  Albania Andri Xhahu
  2.  Montenegro – Marija Marković
  3.  Romania Paula Seling
    (Romanian representative in 2010 and 2014)
  4.  Austria Kati Bellowitsch
  5.  Ukraine – Oleksiy Matias
  6.  Belarus Dmitry Koldun
    (Belarusian representative in 2007 Contest)
  7.  Belgium Peter Van de Veire
  8.  Azerbaijan Safura Alizadeh
    (Azeri representative in 2010 Contest)
  9.  Malta – Keith Demicoli
  10.  San Marino – Monica Fabbri
  11.  France Amaury Vassili
    (French representative in 2011 Contest)
  12.  United Kingdom Scott Mills
  13.  Turkey – Ömer Önder
  14.  Greece – Adriana Magania
  15.  Bosnia and Herzegovina Elvir Laković Laka
    (Bosnian representative in 2008 Contest)
  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 – Viviënne van den Assem
  25.  Portugal – Joana Teles
  26.  Iceland Matthías Matthíasson
    (Icelandic representative in 2011 Contest as part of Sjonni's Friends)
  27.  Sweden Sarah Dawn Finer
    (as Lynda Woodruff)[101]
  28.  Norway Nadia Hasnaoui
    (Co-Host of 2010 Contest)
  29.  Lithuania – Ignas Krupavičius
  30.  Estonia Getter Jaani
    (Estonian representative in 2011 Contest)
  31.  Denmark – Louise Wolff
  32.  Latvia Valters Frīdenbergs
    (Latvian representative in 2005 Contest as part of Valters and Kaža)
  33.  Spain – Elena S. Sánchez
  34.  Finland Mr Lordi
    (Winner of 2006 Contest as lead singer of Lordi)
  35.  Georgia – Sopho Toroshelidze
    (Georgian representative in 2011 Contest as part of Eldrine)
  36.  Italy – Ivan Bacchi
  37.  Serbia – Maja Nikolić
  38.  Germany Anke Engelke
    (Co-Host of 2011 Contest)
  39.  Russia Oxana Fedorova
  40.  Hungary Éva Novodomszky
  41.  Israel – Ofer Nachshon
  42.  Ireland Gráinne Seoige10

Notes
10.^ Ireland was originally scheduled to announce its votes as the 32nd country, but instead voted 42nd (last). The reason for this was technical difficulties in the minutes running up to the voting presentation.

Commentators

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.

Participating countries

The commentators of the 42 participating countries were as follows:

Country SF1 / SF2 / Grand final Commentator(s)
 Albania SF2 & Grand final Andri Xhahu
 Austria[102][103][104] All Andi Knoll (ORF eins)
Grand final Stermann & Grissemann (ORF eins)
Grand final Lukas Plöchl (ORF eins)
 Azerbaijan[105] All Konul Arifgizi (İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti)
Saleh Baghirov (İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti)
 Belarus All Denis Kurian (Belarus 1)
 Belgium[106][107] All Jean-Pierre Hautier (French, La Une)
Jean-Louis Lahaye (French, La Une)
André Vermeulen (Dutch, één) (Dutch, Radio 2)
Peter Van de Veire(Dutch, één) (Dutch, Radio 2)
 Bosnia and Herzegovina[108] All Dejan Kukrić (BHT1)
 Bulgaria All Elena Rosberg (BNT)
Georgi Kushvaliev (BNT)
 Croatia All Duško Čurlić (HRT1)
 Cyprus[109] All Melina Karageorgiou (RIK 1)
 Denmark[110] All Ole Tøpholm (DR1)
 Estonia All Marko Reikop (ETV)
 Finland[111][112] All Tarja Närhi (Finnish, Yle TV2, Yle HD)
Tobias Larsson (Finnish, Yle TV2, Yle HD)
Sanna Kojo (Finnish, Yle Radio Suomi)
Jorma Hietamäki (Finnish, Yle Radio Suomi)
Eva Frantz (Swedish, Yle TV2)
Johan Lindroos (Swedish, Yle TV2)
 France SF2[113] Audrey Chauveau (France Ô)
Bruno Berberes (France Ô)
Grand final[114] Cyril Féraud (France 3)
Mireille Dumas (France 3)
Grand final[115] Fabien Lecœuvre (France Bleu)
Serge Poezevara (France Bleu)
 Georgia All Temo Kvirkvelia
 Germany All Peter Urban (Das Erste)[116]
Tim Frühling (hr3)[117]
Thomas Mohr (NDR 2)[118]
 Greece[119] All Maria Kozakou (NET)
 Hungary[120] All Gábor Gundel Takács (m1)
 Iceland[121] All Hrafnhildur Halldorsdóttir (Sjónvarpið)
 Ireland[122] All Marty Whelan (RTÉ Two) (semi-finals), (RTÉ One) (grand final)
Grand final Shay Byrne (RTÉ Radio 1)
Grand final Zbyszek Zalinski (RTÉ Radio 1)
 Israel All No commentator
 Italy SF1[123] Federica Gentile (Rai 5)
Grand final[124] Filippo Solibello (Rai 2)
Grand final Marco Ardemagni (Rai 2)
 Latvia All[125] Valters Frīdenbergs (LTV)
Grand final[126] Kārlis Būmeisters (LTV)
 Lithuania All Darius Užkuraitis (LRT)
 Macedonia All Karolina Petkovska (MRT)
 Malta All Elaine Saliba (TVM)
Ronald Briffa (TVM)
 Moldova All Marcel Spătari (TRM)
 Montenegro All Dražen Bauković (TVCG1)
Tamara Ivanković (TVCG1)
 Netherlands[127][128] All Jan Smit (TROS)
Daniël Dekker (TROS)
 Norway[129] All Olav Viksmo-Slettan (NRK1)
 Portugal[130] All Pedro Granger (RTP1)
 Romania[131] All Leonard Miron (TVR1)
Gianina Corondan (TVR1)
 Russia[132] All Olga Shelest (Russia-1)
Dmitry Guberniev (Russia-1)
 San Marino[133] All Lia Fiorio (SMRTV)
Gigi Restivo (SMRTV)
 Serbia[134] SF1 Dragan Ilić (RTS1)
SF2 & Grand final Duška Vučinić-Lučić (RTS1)
 Slovakia[135] All Roman Bomboš (Jednotka, Rádio Slovensko, RTVS)
Grand final[136] Daniel Baláž (Radio FM)
Pavol Hubinák (Radio FM)
 Slovenia All Andrej Hofer (RTVSLO)
 Spain[137] SF1 & Grand final José María Íñigo (La 1), (La 2)
 Sweden[138] All Gina Dirawi (SVT1)
Edward af Sillén (SVT1)
Björn Kjellman (SR P3)
Carolina Norén (SR P3)
  Switzerland German[139] Sven Epiney (SF zwei)
French[140] Jean-Marc Richard & Nicolas Tanner (RTS Deux)
Italian[141] Clarissa Tami and Paolo Meneguzzi (RSI La 2, semi-finals and RSI La 1, grand final)
 Turkey[142] All Bülend Özveren (TRT 1)
Erhan Konuk (TRT 1)
 Ukraine[143] All Timur Miroshnychenko (First National TV Channel)
Tetiana Terekhova (First National TV Channel)
 United Kingdom Semi-finals[144] Scott Mills (BBC Three)
Sara Cox (BBC Three)
Grand final[145] Graham Norton (BBC One)
Ken Bruce (BBC Radio 2)[146]

Non-participating countries

The commentators of the non-participating countries were:

Country SF1/SF2/Grand final Commentator(s)
 Armenia[147] Grand final Gohar Gasparyan (AMPTV)
Artur Grigoryan (AMPTV)
Australia[148][149] All Julia Zemiro (SBS)
Sam Pang (SBS)
China Grand final No commentators (CCTV-15, broadcast the grand final on 1 December 2013, shortened into two hours)
Kazakhstan[150] All Norberg Makhambetov (Arna Media)
Kaldybek Zhaysanbay (Arna Media)
Kyrgyzstan All Elmar Osmonov (OTRK)
Aibek Akmatov (OTRK)

Official album

Eurovision Song Contest: Baku 2012
Compilation album by
Released4 May 2012
GenrePop
Length
  • 63:02 (CD 1)
  • 62:55 (CD 2)
LabelUniversal
Eurovision Song Contest chronology
Eurovision Song Contest: Düsseldorf 2011
(2011)
Eurovision Song Contest: Baku 2012
(2012)
Eurovision Song Contest: Malmö 2013
(2013)

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.[151]

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
German Compilation Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[152] 2

See also

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