Eurovision Song Contest 2012

The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in the Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan in May of 2012. 42 countries took part, with Sweden winning with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen.

It was held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan after they won in 2011 with their song "Running Scared" in Düsseldorf, Germany. The show was hosted by Leyla Aliyeva, Nargiz Birk-Petersen and Eldar Gasimov, who won the competition in 2011 alongside Nikki Jamal.

 Overview 
The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 consisted of 26 countries. These included the previous winning country (Azerbaijan), the Big Five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and ten countries from each of the two semi-finals.

 First semi-final 
The first semi-final took place on the 22nd of May 2012. Eighteen countries took part. Those eighteen countries plus Azerbaijan, Italy and Spain voted in this semi-final. The ten qualifiers were decided by the combined results of groups of professional jurors and the public televotes from each country.
CountryArtistSongResult1Rambo Amadeus"Euro Neuro"Eliminated2 IcelandGreta Salóme & Jónsi"Never Forget"Qualified3 GreeceEleftheria Eleftheriou"Aphrodisiac"Qualified4 LatviaAnmary"Beautiful Song"Eliminated5 AlbaniaRona Nishliu"Suus"Qualified6 RomaniaMandinga "Zaleilah"Qualified7 SwitzerlandSinplus"Unbreakable"Eliminated8 BelgiumIris"Would You?"Eliminated9 FinlandPernilla"När jag blundar"Eliminated10 IsraelIzabo"Time"Eliminated11 San MarinoValentina Monetta"The Social Network Song"Eliminated12 CyprusIvi Adamou"La La Love"Qualified13 DenmarkSoluna Samay"Should've Known Better"Qualified14Buranovskiye Babushki"Party for Everybody"Qualified15Compact Disco"Sound of Our Hearts"Qualified16 AustriaTrackshittaz"Woki mit deim Popo"Eliminated17 MoldovaPasha Parfeni"Lăutar"Qualified18 IrelandJedward"Waterline"Qualified

 Second semi-final 
The second semi-final took place on the 24th of May 2012. Eighteen countries took part. Those countries plus France, Germany and the United Kingdom voted. Armenia was supposed to compete in this semi-final but quit the competition because of security concerns relating to their conflict with Azerbaijan. The ten qualifiers were decided by the combined results of groups of professional jurors and the public televotes from each country.
CountryArtistSongResult1 SerbiaŽeljko Joksimović"Nije ljubav stvar"Qualified2Kaliopi"Crno i belo"Qualified3 NetherlandsJoan Franka"You and Me"Eliminated4 MaltaKurt Calleja"This is the Night"Qualified5Litesound"We Are the Heroes"Eliminated6 PortugalFilipa Sousa"Vida minha"Eliminated7 UkraineGaitana"Be My Guest"Qualified8Sofi Marinova"Love Unlimited"Eliminated9 SloveniaEva Boto"Verjamem"Eliminated10 CroatiaNina Badrić"Nebo"Eliminated11 SwedenLoreen"Euphoria"Qualified12 GeorgiaAnri Jokhadze"I'm a Joker"Eliminated13Can Bonomo"Love Me Back"Qualified14 EstoniaOtt Lepland"Kuula"Qualified15Max Jason Mai"Don't Close Your Eyes"Eliminated16 NorwayTooji"Stay"Qualified17Maya Sar"Korake ti znam"Qualified18 LithuaniaDonny Montell"Love Is Blind"Qualified

 Grand Final 
The Grand Final took place on the 26th of May 2012. Twenty-six countries took part in the final. These were the host country (Azerbaijan), the Big Five countries and the twenty countries which passed the semi-finals.

Each country used a combination of groups of music professionals called a 'jury' and public televoting to rank the songs. Each country then awarded 12 points to their favourite song, 10 points to their second-favourite and 8 to 1 points to their third to tenth favourite songs.

The winner of the competition was Loreen, who represented Sweden with the song "Euphoria". The runners-up were the Buranovskiye Babushki from Russia with their song "Party for Everybody". This was Sweden's 5th win in the contest. Both Loreen and Moldovan contestant Pasha Parfeni returned to Eurovision 2023, which Loreen also won, making her the second person and first woman to win Eurovision twice.
CountryArtistSongScoreNo.1 United KingdomEngelbert Humperdinck"Love Will Set You Free"1225th2Compact Disco"Sound of Our Hearts"1924th3 AlbaniaRona Nishliu"Suus"1465th4 LithuaniaDonny Montell"Love Is Blind"7014th5Maya Sar"Korake ti znam"5518th6Buranovskiye Babushki"Party for Everybody"2592nd7 IcelandGreta Salóme & Jónsi"Never Forget"4620th8 CyprusIvi Adamou"La La Love"6516th9Anggun"Echo (You and I)"2122nd10Nina Zilli"L'amore è femmina"1019th11 EstoniaOtt Lepland"Kuula"1206th12 NorwayTooji"Stay"726th13Sabina Babayeva"When the Music Dies"1504th14 RomaniaMandinga "Zaleilah"7112th15 DenmarkSoluna Samay"Should've Known Better"2123rd16 GreeceEleftheria Eleftheriou"Aphrodisiac"6417th17 SwedenLoreen"Euphoria"3721st18Can Bonomo"Love Me Back"1127th19 SpainPastora Soler"Quédate conmigo"9710th20 GermanyRoman Lob"Standing Still"1108th21 MaltaKurt Calleja"This is the Night"4121st22Kaliopi"Crno i belo"7113th23 IrelandJedward"Waterline"4619th24 SerbiaŽeljko Joksimović"Nije ljubav stvar"2143rd25 UkraineGaitana"Be My Guest"6515th26 MoldovaPasha Parfeni"Lăutar"8111th

References

Category:2012 in music
2012
Category:History of Baku
Category:Events in Azerbaijan
Category:21st century in Azerbaijan